Progression and Fortune

Three walls down, one to go. Tuesday we put together the east wall, Thursday we finished the west wall and the bottom half of the south gable, and on Friday and the next Tuesday, nearly finished the top half of the south gable. With only two weeks to go before the big house raising (June 14), we're in a good spot. However, we've still got a few details to work out (floor joists, wood orders, well digging, etc.)More good news: we've got one more worker! My good friend Ashley decided to move to southern VT for a couple months this summer, and he's going to be helping us up at the cabin. It's incredibly useful to have someone who was raised in a cabin, and knows a bunch about 'simple living.' And, he's just fun. We've already had reason to break out the axes and machete to play.We cut a new center beam for the house, as the yellow birch we had previously cut had rot in its core. We chose a straight red maple just a stone throw from the cabin site, and with judicious use of axes, we felled it right where we wanted it to go. Who says you need chain saws when you've got a good axe and crosscut?! (In fact, the chainsaw has not been touched for the entire project, and we've already removed ~30 trees -- all to be used in a suitable fashion). Edwin and Ashley made quick work debarking the tree, and it's ready to be kerfed and squared.

Yesterday, we started work on our garden near the driveway. We debarked white birch, and set them 2' deep in the tilled soil. They stand 4' 4": tall enough for a 4' metal wire fence. Trevor went ahead and planted our tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and muskmelons. We've still got some basil and carrots to put in, but those will wait until a load of soil is dropped off later this week. The whole thing looks quite nice -- it has a farmhouse quality to it.

We've also changed our plans a bit and decided to dig a well for hand-pumped water. This Thursday, Ashley, Edwin, and I will pick up the shovels and start digging. We hope to get a 12' well, but it will most likely take more than one day. Wish us luck! It will certainly be fun, at the very least.

The more and more I think about it, I feel like a strange mix between a general contractor and a pioneer. Perhaps, a naturalist? Woodworker? Homesteader? Dog enthusiast? Nah. Maybe just canine.

Woof.

(Edit: The first picture and the wood-chopping pictures were taken by Joy Auciello. Her blog is at http://joystarstory.blogspot.com. Go visit!)