View Full Version : Farm Cabin started
Dad and I have talked for years and years about building a cabin on the farm by one of the ponds. I think Dad plans for him and mom to move into it full time and he is hoping that my family will move to the farm and stay in the big house.
Dad is 74 with lots of energy. I think I'll start a blog for him and chart the progress of the cabin. I was up there recently and he made the final decision on where to put the cabin. Hauled in a load of rock, built a swing (for thinking/planning/enjoying), put in a fire pit and has hauled maybe 30 logs in so far. He is waiting on his backordered saw mill to arrive.
Its going to be a fun project.
That sounds like great material for a blog! I would definitely follow it.
Holy! Being involved in such a project would be a dream come true for me. Actually living it would even be that much more of a dream!!! I have such a love for cabins.
Disclaimer: I started this this morning and only took about 1/2 hour or so to get some posts up. I'll go back and edit and add more details later, so please don't point out the bad grammar or misspellings...yet.
Dad was thrilled with the idea and said he'd send me more photos, this way my brother in Oregon can keep up with the process as well - he and I both love the farm and had a wonderful childhood growing up there. Its about 5 hours from where I live but hopefully I'll be back up that way in a few weeks. It will have more progress in the fall and winter than the heat of July I imagine. He is just getting started with site selection and pulling in some logs.
http://cabinonthefarm.blogspot.com/
How exciting. I've bookmarked your blog. My husband wants to do something similar so I will be following the adventure.
Hehehe...FloatOn, when I read your last note I thought you meant that you only took a few minutes to get some REAL posts up on the cabin...I thought, wow, what a wonderwoman! Then I realized it was BLOG posts you referred to....duh...
Thanks Float On. :) This is something I'm really going to enjoy!
Cool! Your dad sounds really neat. I'll be visiting your blog!
The blog has a great start! I just checked it out. What a lovely piece of land. What wonderful sounds must come from that pond at night! I go to sleep at night listening to tree frogs and an occasional green frog outside my window, just from a couple little water gardens I have. What a symphony must come from that pond in your pics!
There are three ponds and one stream thru the back woods, one creek that wraps around the south and east property lines, and 2 tiny live springs. When dad bought the place it had been a pig farm, horrible erosion. He said the old farm couple who'd lived there always threw their trash into one of the ditches. It took 12 big dumptruck loads to clear out their trash. That's the reason he planted so many of these pines to fight the erosion and repair the ditches. Pretty cool to know that the logs in your home you planted yourself.
Sounds like the previous owners weren't very good stewards. Sounds like your dad has taken good care of it. 12 dumptruck loads??? That's awful!
Looking forward to watching the progress on the blog.
Love the new pic addition to the site Float On! Thanks. P.S. Are you getting your hands dirty yet helping? :laff:
Originally posted by Float On.
He said the old farm couple who'd lived there always threw their trash into one of the ditches. It took 12 big dumptruck loads to clear out their trash.Shame on them!
I'll probably head up that way after July 2nd. Boys are going to take turns spending a few weeks. May be too hot to work by then!
Wish I could tag along with you Float On. Fingers crossed for cooler more comfortable temps.
I love that two of the first things he put in are a swing and firepit. I haven't checked out your blog yet, but will.
That really sounds like both fun and hard work. Like a good veggie garden.
I love to hear about dreams come true.
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=158&d=1294388504
fidgiegirl
6-20-11, 7:01pm
Neat! Looking forward to following your progress.
Wow! What a cool little sawmill! How about some more pics?
I'm waiting on dad to email me more. I was just telling him the other day that I needed some progress updates. It's finally cool enough to start working on it again.
Oh goody! I love this thread! Looking forward to future updates. Thanks FO.
Hey Float On...........how's your dad's cabin coming? More pics please!
I know! Thanks for the reminder. I have notes and photos on my desktop at home that I must get uploaded on there. Dad's been calling every few days with "hey, you haven't put more stuff on that blog thing yet". He is waiting on his wood to cure and has more time to be impatient with me.
"waiting for his wood to cure and has more time to be impatient with me"........lol!
Okay. I'll try to be patient too. :)
I finally added a few more photos!
Thanks for the update Float On! Your dad seems like an interesting fellow!
We have a big oak tree that got hit by lightening and died. Sure would love to have something made
with that wood..........but not being handy with those things, I think it would cost a fortune to have
someone else do it.
About that invasive insect.........we have several invasive plants covering our acreage and they're always from
Asia. I think the plants and insects from there really take off here because we're essentially in the same temperature
zone as that area, only we don't have the natural predators/balance that the area in Asia has had for centuries.
I'm always afraid of stuff (plants/insects) that show up from that area, as they always seem to become invasive.
What kind of damage do those insects do?
What does your dad use the swingset frame for? Maybe leaning things up against, so he can work better when he's all by
himself? I use mine in my garden to grow cucs and beans up!
Thanks again for the update. Tell your dad he's doing a great job!
Float On
11-15-11, 10:39am
The old swingset frame has a porch swing on it. Mom and dad walk down there most mornings to sit and talk. They pulled the little camper down there too and sometimes spend the night. I'm hoping to get up there for Thanksgiving.
We're dealing with an awful invasion of 'tree of paradise' or something like that also a tree that is from Asia that I just can't kill in my yard. Seems everytime I pull a sprout up three more shoot up.
That insect bores a hole (much like a carpenter bee but a little smaller). Thankfully it's not been enough to weaken the logs but I can see how an entire woods could be wiped out. I haven't read up too much about them yet to see what the conservation dept is doing other than having people report it.
Cathy, is that tree down yet? It really might not be all that much to have some planks milled (would make a neat tabletop). A local famous century tree finally was unsound and unsaveable after multiple lightning strikes. It became tabletops for a local restaurant.
And yes, dad is quite the interesting guy. I would love to move back to the farm and just learn as much as I can from him. If things don't improve for us in this part of the state (our business has dried up to almost nothing) we may do just that.
I have alot of concerns for all the invasives. Then again, I think "this is just evolution in the making". I'm trying to be zen about it, but its not working too well, when all we can see under the trees is japanese bush honeysuckle. And more recently the Russian olive is taking off and the bramble bushes and hops vines and garlic mustard. Its an endless battle to get rid of this stuff, especially when we don't want to use chemicals.
But it seems like there isn't anyone overseeing all this stuff coming into the country. Many nurseries are still selling the "bad" (invasive exotic) stuff.
You might want to get some videos of your dad. We really regret not making videos of "interviews" with my MIL. She had so much neat to say about the family line, experiences as a child in the early 1920's, and stories about her mom, who came to American from Hungary when she was 18. Videos of them telling stories would be a great thing to pass down to children/grandchildren.
Keep those pics coming!
Float On
11-15-11, 11:51am
I do have a couple of videos but haven't loaded them onto that site, I may need to set them up on youtube first for quicker download or something.
Oh, I just meant for your own person use. DH really regrets not getting some talks with his mom, while she was alive. We have videos of Christmases past, etc., but I mean just sitting down with the person and talking about their life and experiences.
DH is trying to do this with the lady who cuts his hair, who is almost 90 and was a dear friend of his mom.
Wow, what an adventure! I too, will try to follow the blog! :)
Great blog - love the pics! More more more...I love to look at pics of what people here are doing, what they have done in the past, their kids, their pets, their homes, themselves. MORE MORE MORE :-)!!!
Stupendous! What a way to live the excitement through all the pictures. Thanks for the updates Float On, and for staring this thread.
Added a few photos from our last visit - dad scored rock at a neighbor's auction paid less than $200 for rock and lots more (flashing and other items) and the neighbor even delivered it. I think there are 3 new posts. http://cabinonthefarm.blogspot.com/
How cool Float On!
What is that green little structure on stilts in the background? Is it something like a duck blind?
What is that green little structure on stilts in the background?
It's a hunting stand. Mainly deer. Dad even has heaters in all his stands around the farm now, beats sitting in the cold in top of a tree. He started building the stands after a friend of ours fell in a tree; caught his leg in the V of a tree and ended up hanging upside down about 40 min. until someone found him. He names them after hotels - there is the Hilton, the Hyatt, the Marriott, the Radison, etc....
Great update photos! My favourite part is yet to come.
http://cabinonthefarm.blogspot.com/
If you are interested there is progress on the cabin project on the little blog I update for my dad.
He's funny, he'll send me a photo with maybe 4 words to describe it, makes for quick posts.
We're headed up there Thursday evening and I expect dad will put us all to work....he mentioned something about starting on the decks....
This is just lovely, Float On! What great progress! It's looking so nice. Now I'm extra excited about seeing the roof go on and so forth. P.S. Moms, are so good at supervising, aren't they! LOL! Thanks a bunch for posting.
Wow Float On........It looks great! Your dad is amazing!
that is *so cool*. i'm impressed with his ability to create awesomeness. :)
http://cabinonthefarm.blogspot.com/
Finally added a few more photos of dad's progress. He emailed me some photos the morning of my accident and I finally crawled up the stairs to the computer that those photos were on.
Haven't added much in the way of comments but I thought some of you might like to see how it's turning out. Dad had the Amish come out to help with the roofing since it was so steep. Mom enjoyed feeding them the 2 days they were there.
I think he has the chinking done on two walls. If I make it up there for Thanksgiving or Christmas and he has the woodstove set up we may have a camp out in the cabin.
Float, this is so exciting! I'll bookmark your blog and look forward to following the build and cheering your family on. We just came back from our shed/cabin at our homestead.. so I'll have to skim back through this post and updates later after I settle in for the night :)
Simply lovely, Float On! Can't wait to see what's in store for the interior design/plans/layout.
That's just great Float On! Your dad should be extremely proud of his work! What a neat place!
When should I show up to spend the night and listen to the wildlife from the front porch? :)
How about wine, CathyA? Should we bring some? http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/smileys/teehee1-smiley.gif?1292867687
very cool. looking forward to seeing the finished product. And that Ash did put on a show for the fall!
ToomuchStuff
10-23-12, 12:14pm
I wish he went into more detail about the sawmill. (why that one verses other models)
Dad is very short on his written descriptions. I'll ask him TMS about that sawmill. Seems I remember it was a 'killer deal' and he had to wait several months for it, kept being backordered. It was pretty simple to put together and I've never heard him say anything about having any problems with it. Dad is very frugal and tinkers with everything - heck they still have the same toaster they got as a wedding present 50 years ago - he's fixed it and everything else many times.
Wow! he's done alot of work on the place in a very short time. Looks great. A turkey roasting on the woodstove by Thanksgiving maybe?
dado potato
10-25-12, 7:04pm
The blog is great! Congratulations on the cabin progress to date!
Did you have to go through hoops to obtain permits for well and septic? (Once, a few years ago, I discovered the DNR in Wisconsin had many excellent regulations in place!)
Bump!
Felt it was time to resurrect this thread for our newest members to enjoy, and, to get ready for more progress come Spring!
Not hard to tell who's battling Spring Fever, huh!
The blog is great! Congratulations on the cabin progress to date!
Did you have to go through hoops to obtain permits for well and septic? (Once, a few years ago, I discovered the DNR in Wisconsin had many excellent regulations in place!)
Dad has a pump in the cellar not far from the cabin to pull (and treat) pond water. Drinking water will be hauled. He is still 'thinking' about septic and may go composting. There is no county sewer lines available to hook into.
He's pretty happy with the little wood stove. He's been down at the cabin daily just enjoying his quiet time there.
I say: go compost!
I want to compost here in the city, even. I learned that it's possible with three good compost bins.
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