Real Estate Listing Picture...

I found the original picture that was posted with the real estate listing back in 2007. We sure have come a looooooong way! :)

-J

Closed For The Season...

Another season came and went and the Blog Cabin is now officially closed for the season. P and I will stop in every now and then and post pictures of the snowy brook and cute cabin covered with snow. Maybe we will build a snowman on the front lawn to keep our little cabin company while we are away :) Season 4 is right around the corner, so stop in every once and a while for a visit and some off season surprise posts. Happy Holidays! J & P

Some Soffits and Rough Wiring...

The soffits on the top front peak of the cabin have been built and hung! With every new addition our little cabin is getting closer and closer to looking like an actual home! In addition to the soffits on the top peak, the soffits in the back have also been completed. The ones on the side are scheduled for the spring and there will be no soffits on the lower peak because we are putting a farmers porch with an over-hang there. Ahhhh - a farmers porch with a couple of rockin' chairs has country charm written all over it :)

ELECTRICAL:

We have also started the electrical! The first floor has already been "rough wired." Rough wiring means that all those little blue electrical boxes have been mapped out and installed but, the wire has not been run and the boxes have no components (or guts) inside them yet. Even though we have no juice running through them, it's pretty cool to be able to see where all our switches, plugs and recessed lights are gonna go.

Blue electrical boxes:
Real cheap - only a couple of bucks a pop!



Recessed lighting:
Not so cheap - about 20 bucks a pop, but the ambiance will be worth it :)



Stay tuned for more...

-J

Johnson's Farm & Sugarhouse in the Fall!

Breakfast at Johnson's Farm & Sugarhouse in the Fall **sigh**...really, I ask… is there anything better? Seriously, I have been craving it all day and I am counting the days until we are back at the Blog Cabin so that I can stuff my face with all their yummy treats! This place has got to have the best, I repeat, - THE BEST - pancakes, omelets and French toast that I have ever eaten. I am personally in love & going steady with the maple walnut pancakes! YUMMY! They come with a dollop of butter and an adorable warmed up mini-jug of their homemade maple syrup made right on site in the sugarhouse ** which is open for tours upon request!** It is country cozy and when you walk in you are overwhelmed with the delectable smell of fresh brewed coffee and home cooked deliciousness! They have a giant specials board loaded up with seasonal favorites like the pumpkin pancakes – SO GOOD – don’t tell the Maple walnut pancakes but, I had an affair with the pumpkin pancakes a few weeks ago - Shhhhhh! Did I mention their homemade cider donuts yet??? Your mouth will begin to water as soon as you start sinking your teeth into the cake like delight – Mmmmmmm! I think I just went up an entire pants size thinking about them! Hahaha lol. They serve yummy dinners as well – stuffed chicken breast and mashed potatoes, smoked ribs that literally fall off the bone and a Yankee pot roast that can bring tears of joy to your eyes. The wait staff is always amazing and the owners, Steve and Dee treat you like you are a guest in their own home. Johnson's is a Blog Cabin staple and P and I have been going there from the very Blog Cabin beginning. We make it a point to visit as often as possible and you should too! For realzzzz...if you are ever in town, take my word for it and pay them a visit – you won’t regret it! If you can't get there in person, pop by online! http://johnsonsfarm.net/welcome

Farewell to the Pile –O- Tools…

Yes…it is time. According to “Our Wayne” now that the foundation is complete and the structure has been framed and the sheathing has been hung, there is really no need for the giant pile-o-tools that has accumulated in our Blog Cabin kitchen to stick around.

It has taken it 3 years for our pile to grow into the fine young pile he is today. Yes… I am giving our pile-o-tools a gender and congratulations…it’s a boy! Throughout his infancy and childhood we had some growing pains with our little pile, like when I stubbed my toe on a rogue brick hammer in the middle of the night and when P poked her finger on a retractable knife that refused to re-tract. After that, for safety purposes, we tried relocating our growing boy. He started his journey as a little guy growing up in the left front corner of the Blog Cabin behind the front door. As we took on more projects we started feeding him more tools adding screw drivers, power tools, a few tape measures and some nails here and there. We were constantly feeding the little guy and then, and then one day he started to grow. He grew so much and got so big that he started to block the front door from opening! At that point we knew he needed more room for out little guy because he and we could barely move! So, we moved our not so little pile from behind the front door to in front of the sliding glass door. We thought for sure he and we would be more comfortable with him there… but, the pile continued to be fed and the pile continued to grow and then, we ripped out the sliding door to put in our new French doors! The pile was so big he was getting in our way again. At that point we had to move our growing boy to the kitchen and this is where he has lived for the past year. He continued to grow so we continued to organize and reorganize hoping to make more room and keep everything consolidated. We tried grouping like items together, a small bucket of tape measures, a large bucket of nails, crow bars and levels leaned vertically & neatly in the corner by the cabinets, screw drivers in a coffee can, but no such luck the pile grew and spread where ever he wanted when ever he wanted. It was getting overwhelming and the pile looked a bit neglected. AND THEN…AND THEN…this past Saturday Our Wayne was passing by our pile–o-tools and said, “Ya know…we can probably go through all this and take a bunch of these tools back to my garage.” P and I were like, “What??” Our Wayne said, “Well, we really don’t need a lot of this stuff anymore and it’s taking up a lot of space.”
P and I weren’t really sure if we were ready to let our pile move out and go off into the world on his own. Was he really ready? After thinking about it for some time, we realized that we must set the tools free…we mustn’t keep him around for our own selfish reasons. We must let him go off into the world and continue to build and not sit in the kitchen and collect dust. So, today on the twenty-fifth of October in the year two-thousand and ten we bid farewell to our pile-o-tools. Farewell.

Lol - ok seriously...we are not sad to see this pile go... AT ALL! We have both stubbed our toes waaaay too many times! hahaha GOOD RIDDANCE! :)

Hey…here is something interesting I just realized…I can look at this picture and look at each item and tell you exactly what it was used for . Go ahead try me... pick a tool any tool comment me the question and I will tell you exactly what it was used for in our Blog Cabin Journey. Awwww...it's like looking back at a remembrance album :)

Fall Is Here…

Fall is definitely here at the Blog Cabin. The smell of dry leaves and wood burning is thick in the air. You can hear the dry leaves skipping across the road as the chill in the air makes itself known in the Autumn wind - CHILLY! There is a pumpkin stand and corn stalks for sale on almost every corner and big buckets of mums on every farmer porch we pass. Saturday morning was 29 degrees! Burrrrrrrr! P and I used 3 blankets and had the propane stove running all night – with no insulation we were still able to keep the Blog Cabin between 65-68 degrees at night. Not too bad. During the day we were nice and cozy - once the sun came up and hit the cabin it took the chill out and warmed us right up.

We got a lot accomplished this weekend. Our Wayne has been busy while we have been away. He finished the last portion of the foundation connecting all four sides. We now have foundation under the entire cabin – a huge Blog Cabin milestone! I finished tarring the last portion of block on Sunday and when we head back in a couple weeks, we will back fill the front of the house an call it complete! P and I are happy to be finishing the foundation – it was backbreaking and we are sooo tired of digging! Our Wayne also covered the entire exterior with house wrap which helped a bit with keeping the heat in – next step for the exterior…siding. P and I have decided to go with the traditional Log Cabin siding…after all, it is called the Blog Cabin and we can’t very well continue to call it that if we don’t have the traditional log siding.

Oh, and in other Blog Cabin news, P and I are in the process of buying a small parcel of land right next to the Blog Cabin! This will give us a nice side yard for the cabin and maybe someday a nice space for a driveway or a relaxing picnic area. We won’t be building on this property because one of the agreements we made is that we would not take down any trees and out of respect for the trees and the beauty of the land we will honor our word. The property is 30 feet of road frontage and 85 feet of water frontage – 2550 square feet overall. Right now the Blog Cabin sits on a 1 acre lot and once the purchase & sales goes through it will bring it well over an acre – not too shabby for our little camp.

It’s been a productive season at the Blog Cabin. We knocked down and burned the original cabin, we built and raised the walls of the new blog cabin, we built a new roof and tar papered it, we started and completed the new septic system, put in the new shower, put up the bathroom wall and door, put in the spiral stairs, moved the propane tank, put up a temporary railing in the loft, hooked up the propane stove, house wrapped the exterior, completed the entire foundation, back filled 2 sides of the camp and re-routed the water lines. Coming soon - ELECTRICAL :)
Stay tuned...

Here are some pictures taken from the new property we are purchasing...

Back side of the cabin:


View of the brook from the new property:

Who Needs Marshmallows?... & Welcome Clever Cat!!!

Hello Blog Cabin Fans!!! I would like to make a very IMPORTANT announcement! This past weekend P and I had a very special visit from a VIP Blog Cabin fan! It was just like when Scooby Doo started featuring special guest stars like Tim Conway & Phyllis Diller - only this was Blog Cabin style...
AHEM...
Ladies and gentlemen, today's Blog Cabin Blog features special guest star - THE CLEVER CAT!...and for the few of you who aren't familiar with the Cat herself, you can check out her blog at: http://theclevercat.blogspot.com/ ...if you visit soon, you can check out her latest post all about her amazing visit to yep, you guessed it - THE BLOG CABIN! If you mention her Blog Cabin visit, she will mail you a tasty homemade cider donut just like the one she enjoyed at the Blog Cabin this past weekend! Ok that was a Blog Cabin white lie - there will be no donut, but nonetheless, visit her blog and become a fan - you won't regret it! Here are some Clever Cat highlights from her blog cabin adventure:

Fun with chips and fire...



When asked what her favorite Blog Cabin moments were, the Clever Cat replied, "tending the fire because I felt like I was contributing...even though I almost let it go out once and I had to have J rescue it." :)

Other Clever Cat favorites were falling asleep to the sounds of the brook, cider donuts and taking detailed notes & tips on construction from Our Wayne:



Overall our Blog Cabin VIP guest visit was a 10 out of 10! Here are some other pics from our weekend!

Buddy in awe of The Clever Cat!



The Clever Cat by the babbling brook...



The babbling brook without the Clever Cat...



The 3rd portion of the foundation THAT IS NOW COMPLETE!!!...



Me eating Chips...AGAIN!!



A lady with some funny pants!



3 of the 17 frogs we rescued from the giant hole we dug - no frogs were harmed in the making of the Blog Cabin!



The Clever Cat tending a MEAN fire!



...and P's poor little hand that I smashed with a shovel :( Sorry P!



And that wraps up our weekend!

See you soon for more BLOG CABIN ADVENTURE!!!!

-J

A Very Productive Weekend...

Happy Labor Day Blog Cabin Fans! P and I had a very productive weekend! Our Wayne really cracked the whip on us this weekend and our muscles are still super sore -ouchie! We completed multiple projects - check us out...
We went from this...

To this...

And then we dug out the other side of the cabin to prep it for the footings we are planning to pour this coming weekend!

We also put up our bathroom wall and door...

We built the platform for our hearth and placed our stove...

Then we hung up some Christmas lights in the loft to make it more festive :)


And then once everything was complete, we gave Our Wayne a camp chair and a bag of overstuffed Campfire marshmallows for some Blog Cabin R & R :)


Stay tuned :)

Just a Pic Post : )

Here it a picture from the top of our stairs looking down. You have to use some imagination and envision them with nice solid oak treads - Ooooooo. Hey...I just noticed that my tobies and pajammer bottoms got in the shot! hahaa lol
-J

Take 2! Cabin Video

My apologies Blog Cabin Fans! This video uploading isn't easy! I decided to take a quick video so that you can take a virtual tour of the place, but for some reason my first attampt was a bust and my second attempt is only allowing me to upload half my video :( Boooooooo! Well...at least half of it is working...maybe one day I can figure out how to upload the full file and it will give us all something to look forward to :) Please excuse the following in the video: 1. The large pile of tools that we have accumulated in our "soon to be" kitchen area - it is still a construction zone after all :) , 2. the lack of bathroom wall that is still on the list of "things to build" - the curtain works ok for now, but a wall with a door is coming soon to a theater near you :),3. the camera shake - as soon as I started filming the "low battery" icon began flashing red so I kinda' rushed through it a bit. Oh Yeah...also take notice of our new shower stall complete with hot water and our new spiral stairs! The stair treads are temporary, but we are planning on making them oak! Enjoy and I will cross my fingers that you don't get too motion sick ;)

Another Footing Down!

Yesterday, despite the weather, we were able to start and finish the footing for the entire right side of the Blog Cabin! Here is a refresher course just in case anyone forgot… it has been a while since we did foundation work: “The bottom part of a foundation is called a footing (or footer). The footing is generally wider than the foundation wall and is located about 12 inches below the frost line (the average depth at which soil freezes year after year). The footing distributes the house’s weight to prevent settling or movement.” For New England, the frost line is 4 feet down from ground level and the footing needs to extend 4 inches past the cinder block on either side. So, without going into detail, P and I had to dig one, giant a$$ ditch in the ground ;) We have been working on the one giant a$$ ditch for a couple of weekends now and it was completed this past Saturday! Hooray for us! 8 O’clock Sunday morning, P and I woke up ready to work! Our Wayne met us with coffee and shovel in hand. The three of us were all geared up to start mixing cement and all of a sudden,…it started to pour. We were like "WHAT??? - it hasn't rained in like a year and it has to start now???" :( We waited inside the Blog Cabin for a while, played a couple of games of checkers - I won of course ;)ate some snacks and then, when we realized the rain was not going to stop, we all agreed to suck it up, get soaked and git er’ done! We braved the weather, shoveled the gravel, mixed the cement, carried it over to the giant a$$ ditch 5 gallon bucket by bucket, dealt with the mud, soaked our clothes completely through and in 2.5 hours and about 40 buckets later we had completed the footing! YEAH! Now we can start stackin’ the cinder block! Once we complete that side only two more sides to go and the entire foundation will be complete! Hip Hip Hooray!

Here are some more pictures!



-J

Help Us Pick Out Our Siding!

This past weekend we began wrapping the outside of the Blog Cabin with Tyvek. “Tyvek” or house wrap is a material that is made out of polyethylene fibers, it is very thin, strong and it creates a water barrier. Once we wrap the entire Blog Cabin in it, we can then choose our siding and shutters to finish the outside of the Blog Cabin! P and I are having some trouble agreeing on what kind of siding we want and what color. We know we want a country cottage look and we want low maintenance so an imitation or vinyl siding is necessary. We have to choose a style such as barn board, cedar shingles, clapboard etc. Once we chose the style, we have to choose a color, a trim color, a shutter color and a color for our front door. Any suggestions Blog Cabin fans?

Here are some examples...

MOOSE!

Yes and actual Blog Cabin moose sighting! We spotted this friendly little guy a few miles down the street from the Blog Cabin! We were driving along on a peaceful Saturday afternoon and then all of a sudden I looked out the passenger window and yelled, "MOOSE!" P quickly stopped the car and we jumped out for a closer look. We were able to get pretty close, about 25 yards and we decided that since this woodland creature was about 4 times our size, we were close enough :) Enjoy the pics!
-J

















Here are some fun and interesting moose facts courtesy of: http://www.moosefoundation.org/moose_facts.htm

DID YOU KNOW???

The word "moose" comes from the Algonquin Indians. These were native people who lived throughout the northern regions of Canada. The Algonquins called this strange looking creature mooswa. It means "twig-eater" or "the animal that strips bark off of trees." Early explorers heard this work and through the years, it eventually changed into "moose."

For the Algonquins, the moose was an important animal. It supplied them with food and other things for their survival. Moose meat was a source of nourishment during the long winters. The hide was used to make clothing and provide shelter. And moose bones and antlers were shaped into useful tools. (Information from "Our Wild World" Series on Moose by Anthony D. Fredericks, published by NorthWord Press, Chanhassen, Minnesota)

The moose is the world's largest deer. The moose can run 35 miles per hour and can easily swim 10 miles.

Moose eat willow, birch and aspen twigs, horsetail, sedges, roots, pond weeds and grasses. Moose eat leaves, twigs, buds and the bark of some woody plants, as well as lichens, aquatic plants and some of the taller herbaceous land plants. Can actually feed under water.

Moose are found in northern forests in North America, Europe, and Russia. In Europe and Asia, moose are called elk. (Information from the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming, Educational " Wildlife Flash Cards" Series. The Foundations' e-mail: wildlifeheritage@wyoming.com

Hooves are the first line of defense!

While a male may use its antlers to hold off a predator, a moose's sharp hooves are its first line of defense. Moose are able to kick out in all directions, but generally use their front feet.

They're faster than they look!

A moose's long legs allow it to move easily over rough terrain and through deep snow. A moose can run almost as fast as a horse, or about 30 miles per hour for a short time period. (Information from "Living in Harmony with Moose" page 5, Nancy Lord, Editor)

Moose live for a long time.

Cow moose have been known to live for as long as 20 years. Bull moose may reach 15 years of age. ("Living in Harmony with Moose")



How are antlers different than horns?

Antlers, seen on male mule deer, elk and moose, are solid bone. While the antlers are growing, they are soft and tender and covered with a thin skin, called velvet, which contains thousands of blood vessels. The velvet supplies the antlers with calcium and other minerals for building strong bones. Once the bone inside the velvet is hard, the velvet is shed from the antlers and members of the deer family are ready for their fall breeding season. Later in the winter, the antlers are shed, and the growing process starts again.



Horns, in contrast, are never shed. They have no blood supply and are made of keratin-- a hard protein which is also in fingernails and hair. This keratin forms a tough outer layer over a bone which is permanently attached to the skull. In Utah, horns are seen on both males and females of bighorn sheep, bison, and mountain goats. (Information from Project Wild, Utah, USA)





Old Bucket Nose



The moose is the largest member of the deer family currently roaming the planet. The moose seems as if it should belong to a different, larger scale of animal because it dwarfs its commonly seen cousin the deer. They are different from any of their equally proportionate relatives the deer and elk. Moose are top heavy bearing most of their body weight high in the air perched on four long legs.

The upper lip of the moose is oddly larger than the rest of its face rounding off at the end, resembles a bucket. Therefore earning the nickname Old Bucket Nose. Moose also have a beard like a flap under their chin called a dewlap or bell, male moose have large antlers that are shaped like scoops that can measure 60” or better tip to tip and can weigh in excess of 70 pounds. A full grown moose can weigh up to 1,800 pounds and stand 7 feet tall at the shoulder, making moose one of the northern hemispheres largest land dwelling mammals.

2 Windows, French Doors, a Front Door & a Bear!

We have been Blog Cabin busy bodies these past few weekends! We put in the downstairs windows, french doors & front door! P and I even stayed overnight at the Blog Cabin this past weekend and for the first time since we bought the place, we slept like babies! The Blog Cabin is put back together and OPEN FOR BUSINESS! Sleeping in the "all new" structure was delightful! No more smelly old weathered cabin wood and creepy crawlies creeping around us! All new fresh smelling, fresh cut lumber is the rage at the Blog Cabin these days! The new high ceilings and the loft really open the place up and it was nice to be able to sleep and not worry about any mice trying to share my bed! Lol - Now that the mice are gone and the spiders are at bay we have a new Blog Cabin visitor! WE HAVE OUR VERY FIRST BLOG CABIN BLACK BEAR! Grrrrr! Now hold on, before you get all excited, this is not a picture P & I took - it's compliments of google images, BUT...if we do get a good shot of our new friend I will be sure to post it! P & I have not seen this Blog Cabin crasher yet, but we have been on the lookout for him safely through the windows of our little cabin. According to our neighbor, our less than little visitor was caught in the act taking a little drink from the brook in our backyard! Our neighbor gave us some safety tips as well. P and I don't want to have any unexpected run-ins with this furry friend. We have seen the movie the Great Outdoors a million times and since we don't have a shotgun lamp to save ourselves, we paid close attention! She said not to hang any bird feeders and to always make sure trash is kept indoors. P and I did a little research of our own online and found out that black bears are pretty common in the area and they usually keep to themselves and back away once they realize your presence. We read that if we do come upon our Blog Cabin visitor that we are supposed to calmly stand our ground, not make any sudden moves and slowly back away. Hmmmm... I wonder...is this before or after I pee my pants??? lol. We are always hospitable to our Blog Cabin fans and visitors, but this is one visitor we don't want to make feel at home. We are keeping an eye out for our new fan and will keep you all posted if he stops over for anymore quick drinks. In the mean time, here are a few more pics of some of the things we have done. Enjoy!
French Doors:
Interior View of the Front of the House:
Exterior View:
See you soon!
-J

...AND CLOSER....

Getting Closer...

Today "Our Wayne" was Blog Cabin bustin' his hump! It's almost a cabin again! We are almost there - YAY!!! Stay tuned...

Kickin' It Old School

This weekend we were "Kickin' It Old School" at the Blog Cabin! By this, I mean we set the air compressor and nail gun aside and went back to the old hammer and nail. With the modern technology of a nail gun, you can frame a wall in about 20 minutes once all your cuts are made, it all comes together quite quickly. With a hammer, nail and little bit of umph, you can frame a wall in about an hour which is why our fast pace society has taken to the ol' gun in the first place. Even though modern technology has made it easy for us to build bigger structures faster & cheaper, there is something to be said about going back to the basics of hammer and nail. There is something there that you miss out on when using a nail gun. You miss the primitive sensation that occurs when the swing of the hammer gains momentum and quickly connects with a direct hit to the head of a nail. In that instance You become connected to whatever it is you are building. You can literally feel the nail being driven deeper and deeper, sinking itself into the dense piece of wood. Whap! Whap! Whap! Even the sounds the older tools make are much richer than the modern tools. A hammer connecting with a nail has much more flavor than the quick sharp pop of a nail gun.
Growing up, my dad and grandfather were always renovating, building and constructing. To this day the smell of sawdust can take me back 25 years in 3 seconds flat. I can remember the sounds of each tool so vividly. I remember exactly how many strikes of the hammer it took for my father to drive an 8d nail into a 2 x 6(six). I can remember the silly, awkward, wobbly noise the handsaw blade made when it's tooth hit against something hard. The handsaw is another tool that made an interesting sound - a light, slow tearing sound as my grandfather held the teeth to a board and slowly pulled back getting the teeth to bite the board and sink in a bit. Once the teeth were sunken in, it turned into a faster motion to continue the momentum and the cut. When he was almost to the end of the cut is when the strokes would be the fastest until the blade all of a sudden ripped through the other side of the board sending the excess chunk of wood to the ground with a hard THUD.
Building is an art and I sometimes feel that the modern tools are taking the romance out of the build. There is a connection and a passion that is missing between the carpenter and the structure today that existed way back when it took 3 times the amount of time to build a structure or a home. They are right when they say, "Rome wasn't built in a day", but I wonder why those structures able to stand the test of time and the office building that I work in that was constructed 5 years ago falling apart already? Maybe when things are hard, people take pride in them a bit more. Maybe the hard is what makes them great and the great is what creates passion for people. The handsaws and hammers are the canvas and brush for a carpenter. We can replace the canvas and brush with photoshop, but we can't expect the Mona Lisa right? So, today the Blog Cabin paid homage to the tools of the past. We took ourselves back to the grassroots of building and even with kickin' it old school we were able to put up the 2 remaining walls! YEAH! The journey of the day may have taken a bit more time and a bit more umph, but today we built a little bit more love into our little Blog Cabin and we even built memories to go along with it:)
Check it out:

A.P.B. ALERT!! WHO STOLE THE BLOG CABIN???

After a long hard day at work, P & I came home, popped open our email and found this Blog Cabin surprise waiting in our inbox! At first I thought it was photo-shopped, but it's not...IT IS REAL! I am not going to write a whole lot because in this case, the picture really is worth 1000 words! lol, Our Wayne was at it again - he knocked down the remaining portion of the Blog Cabin and this Saturday P & I will be assisting him in building 3 brand new walls and a roof! The only remaining portion of the original Blog Cabin is the floor and that is in excellent condition so, it's a keeper! P & I are a little sad to say goodbye to the original Blog Cabin, but saying goodbye means, the NEW and IMPROVED Blog Cabin is on it's way - YEAH! We will be Blog Cabin Blogging about our Blog Cabin Building Adventure this Saturday...

Stay tuned...
-J

The System of the Septic...

WARNING!! DO NOT EAT WHILE READING! lol Here are a few shots I took of the Septic System install...at least we won't have to mow the lawn anytime soon:) The awesome thing I just found out is that once everything is done, the septic people (1 man by the name of Eddie)will bring in a load of dirt and grass seed to top things off! How exciting! We will have our very own Blog Cabin lawn! Very posh for a cabin if I do say so myself! A lovely green lawn compared to the crab grass and pine needles **sigh** Though...there is something to be said about crab grass and pine needles around a camp. They definitely add to the "campy" feel of the Blog Cabin, but when it rains...dirt, crab grass and pine needles are no so fun - no...not so much:( so, I say, "BRING ON THE GRASS SEED!" :)Here is a cute one of P digging a trench for Our Wayne to complete and bury the electrical for the septic. There is so much I have learned that I never knew about a septic system - mostly because I am not really interested in the behind the scenes of what happens after I flushie, flushie, but because my blog is not only fun, but also educational a little lesson is in order. Here we go...All conventional septic systems have a septic tank, which is usually a large buried rectangular or cylindrical container made of concrete, fiberglass or polyethylene - I dunno what ours is made of, but it's green. Waste water from all plumbing fixtures drains into the septic tank. Heavy solids settle to the bottom (gross) where bacterial action produces digested sludge and gases (double gross). Lighter solids that float such as grease, oils and fats, rise to the top and form a scum layer (triple gross). Systems constructed before 1975 in King County (where ever that is lol) usually have single compartment tanks. Those built from 1975 and on are usually two compartment tanks. OK, enough about the dates and history of the septic - now about the pump tank! Because the Blog Cabin sits on a hill, our septic needs a pump tank. I opened the lid of this pump tank this past weekend and peeked in to see a bunch of different gadgets - fancy! So complex! This pump tank contains a sewage effluent pump, control floats, and a high water alarm (hence the electrical work done by Our Wayne:) The control floats are set so that a specific volume of effluent is sent to the drain field. When the effluent in the pump tank rises to the level of the "on" float the pump is activated and pumps the level of the effluent down until it reaches the "off" float setting. Should the "on" float fail to activate the pump or should the pump itself fail the level of effluent in the pump tank will continue to rise in the pump chamber. When this level reaches the alarm float an audible and visual signal will be activated - LOTS OF NOISE AND SIRENS AND STUFF! next, on to the drain field! The drain field is where liquid from the septic tank flows through pipes in your yard for final treatment by organisms in the soil. Grass and/or shallow-rooted plants are the best covers for your drain field. Ok we got the grass covered...Hmmm...note to self - buy some plants.
So - next time you flusie, flushie, you now have the behind the scenes and have the inside poop scoop on the system of the septic :)

-J

The Meditation Stone

With spring in the air and the newly thawed earth, we brought in the backhoes, broke ground and started the process for installing our brand new septic system! YAY!...and then we hit a GIANT rock! Booooo! This rock was no ordinary rock...oh no...this rock was huge. It was a solid mass of problem that stood in the way of us and our brand new system of septic! This rock meant business, but unfortunately...this rock had to go! Before we could banish this rock from Blog Cabin road block existence, we had to put some thought into this giant rock surprise - for instance, How do we get around this rock? Can we get around this rock? Can we pipe over, under or perhaps around the rock? If not, we have to move the rock...can we move the rock? How would one lift such a large rock? Could it be lifted and if not, do we have use explosives to get it out of the ground? How much does moving or exploding a rock cost? If we move it, where do we move it to? Is it a good looking rock that I would want in the blog cabin yard? If it's not a good looking rock, does the company that moves or explodes the rock take it with them? Does that cost extra? Who can answer all these questions that need answers? Who???
Who you ask...
Ahem... ladies and gentlemen...making his blog cabin season 2 premier: OUR WAYNE!!! YAY! **insert claps, cheering and accolades here**
That's right everyone - Our Wayne is back and he is picking up right where he left off on last years Blog Cabin Adventure! A rock? A rock is no match for Our Wayne! Our Wayne will crush that rock with his bare hands! He will roll that rock right out of our Blog Cabin way because nothing stands in the way of our Blog Cabin Adventure! NOTHING!
So, after 2 days, a few phone calls, a really large machine and $1,100.00, we have a very unique Blog Cabin lawn ornament! Or as my mother likes to call it "An $1,100.00 rock that we can't even wear" - funny right? So, for no extra charge we had our very expensive rock moved and nooked into the edge of the yard overlooking the babbling brook. It's actually a very peaceful place to sit and watch the brook. P & I have named it the Meditation Stone. We have grown to love our pet rock and it has now become a permanent piece of Blog Cabin history.
-J