Blog Cabin Adventure: October 2010

10.29.2010

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

10.25.2010

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 :)

10.24.2010

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:

10.04.2010

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!