Baby Mama...

Soon we will be hearing the pitter patter of little feet around our cozy blog cabin! 800 little feet to be exact! While moving some cinder block P & I ran into this female wolf spider and yep...you guessed it...she is expecting! You can't really see it in the photo, but she is carrying around a giant white egg sac under her belly and inside of that egg is up to 100 babies! Once the egg hatches she will carry all of those babies around on her back until they are old enough to go off on their own. The miracle of life **sigh**

To be completely honest being around her creeps me out big time. I really want to tell her, "Ahem... I am very sorry, but there is no room at the inn", but I would feel awful putting her out in her condition or killing her just because I feel she is ugly...not to mention the 100 babies she is carrying - I am certainly no baby killer...so, we must tolerate her sharing the blog cabin land to raise her small family of 100.

Surprisingly enough, P & I are starting to get used to the creepy crawlies that live around us in the woods, under the rocks and old rotted pieces of wood. I think it may even be some sort of exposure therapy for us or something...the more we are around it, the more it doesn't phase us. P was even brave enough to place a quarter next to our new friend to give the photo some scale.
Perhaps if our baby mama sticks around long enough we will even give her a name...any suggestions??? ;)
-J

Come On In! Let Me Show You Around...

Some of you have been asking, with all the outdoor pictures P and I are taking, what does the inside of our famous little blog cabin look like? So, without further ado... come on in and take a look around! It is cute, cozy and comfy! It's great for a wonderful weekend away in the country! Right now it is 1 large room with a full bathroom off the back. We have a queen size pull out that we crash on for the weekends, a small TV and DVD so we can watch some movies on rainy days and an every cabin "must have"...a trunk full of board games and a pair of snow shoes! Once the foundation is done we will start our addition for our new bigger bathroom and a brand new kitchen! It will be so wonderful to have a kitchen with a large fridge, a stove, a sink and a small dishwasher **sigh**Out of everything, I am looking forward to the stove the most. Right now our only means of cooking is a microwave and over an open campfire. We use the campfire for cooking the most and the food tastes unbelievably delicious, but it take a lot of time and prep work to get the food and coals ready. Having a stove and some counter top for prep work will be an amazing treat.

In the picture to the left you can see my most prized blog cabin possession to date! Our new red propane stove! This baby runs off a thermostat! It's great for early spring and fall and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to walk in and push a button to turn on the heat. We used to have a wood stove and that got old really quick! When it's freezing inside and your teeth are chattering finding dry wood, kindling, paper and matches is a chore - the last thing I burned was A through M in our phonebook ;)...not to mention the 20 minutes it takes to get the fire started AND, once it is started, it's not over! Keeping a wood stove lit is a whole other ball game! The worst was getting up 4 or 5 times a night to feed the fire and that was interrupting my beauty sleep so it had to go. The one thing I do like about wood stoves is smell of wood burning in the fall, but our neighbor has a wood stove (sucker) so we get to enjoy all the perks of a wood stove without the hassle :)

Anyways, take a look around and when you're done you can show yourself out...don't forget to lock up :)

-J

Stackin' Block...

As promised we started laying our block last Sunday. For this we didn't need to use our $25.00 cement mixer, all we needed were a few bags of ready mix cement, a garden hose for water, a cement mixing tray (at least I think that is what it's called) a hoe, a hand trowel, a 4' level and a 2' level, and some thin nylon rope to use as a guide.

First we took the mixing tray and added the ready mix and some water. With a hand trowel we mixed it all up like a huge vat of cake batter - just not as yummy. We then took our very first block coated or shall I say "iced" the bottom of it with our not so yummy batter and stuck it to our beautiful footing. We started at the corner and worked our way along the footing. I was told that you start at the corner so that the corner block locks together when it wraps around the house...this along with staggering the block adds strength to the foundation. If you look at the picture above you can see how the block is staggered. It sure is purdy!

We continued...or I should say "Our Wayne" continued to stack, stack, and stack some more. We had to make sure that the first row was completely level as this sets the tone for the entire foundation. We used the nylon rope and levels to guide us.

As my dad continued to mix the batter, ice the block and layer the cake...Ooooo cake:) - If we were making a foundation out of cake and icing I would totally make it chocolate batter, butter cream filling and vanilla icing **sigh** oh to dream~! Anyways...I digress...where was I again?? OK yeah...Cement, cinder block, and stacking! P sat and watched in amazement as the block went up, up, up (doesn't she look amazed???) lol. She assited my dad by handing him block or tools when he needed them.

We completed 3 rows of block in 3 hours! Not too bad! Stay tuned for more block!

TO BE CONTINUED.....

Blog Cabin Wear...

Seriously, our blog cabin adventure could totally be the next TLC hit reality show - where are all the TV sponsors? Why are the top TV executives not beating down my door???
Well…due to lack of sponsorship from any major home improvement television network (for right now at least ;) we have to dig deep into our shallow pockets to create our own blog cabin wear. With no money to budget for wardrobe, for less than one dollar, my brother-in-law Jon has designed our very first official blog cabin hard hat. A must have in any construction zone especially when I am strollin’ around the site ;) It’s perfect and fits with our whole “small budget” “big dream” theme that we have going on! Not too shabby for a recycled hard hat, a piece of blue painting tape and a black Sharpie. Just like Martha, you can make your very own with these simple instructions:

1. Find an old used hard hat (the more beat up the better.)
2. Take a piece of blue painters tape about 4” long and cover the existing logo (more tape may be required depending on the size of the existing logo.)
3. Take a black Sharpie marker and write BLOG CABIN big and bold on the blue tape.
4. Place the hard hat on your head and wear with pride.
5. Lastly, using your very best Martha Stewart impression, take a look at you work, take a deep sigh and say, “It’s a good thing.”

Interesting fact:
**Blog Cabin Trivia** The Sharpie marker is the number one stolen office supply product.

Block Confirmation...

The block must be 16" because the total fat in a Whatchamacallit is only 11.37 grams...not bad! Perhaps I shall enjoy another delicious bar tonight:)
-J

Time to Learn About Block...

It's almost time to start laying the block - The very first block will be laid this Sunday 07/19/09. Some of you may be wondering, "what's the hold up?” “Why such a long hiatus between the footings and the block stacking?"- well...the truth of the matter is that my car needed to undergo a very major and very expensive surgery and well...you guessed it..."Our Wayne" is not only a master builder, but also a master mechanic and a master magician. He was able to take my $600.00 repair job and magically turn it into an $80.00 job with the only stipulation being that we use some blog cabin hours and put it toward my much needed car operation. So, without any hesitation on my end, that is just what we did and this past Sunday we fixed up my Jeep and it's as good as new! I have brakes again! Brakes are apparently a very important part of driving...well, maybe not so much for driving, but very important for "stopping" the driving;) Now that my car is all better the blog cabin is up and running again! So, I say...ladies and gentlemen...back to the block! (cute car repair pictures to be posted at a later date.)Ok - so, the concrete footings have been poured and are now set. The next step is to remove the wooden forms we built and start laying the block on top of our beautiful new footings. Before we get into the actual "laying of the block" we should have a quick overview on block terminology and block laying technique. For starters, we will be using two types of block. The first type is "Stretcher block" Please refer to the chart above. Stretcher block is what will make up the body (inner portion) of our foundation. We will be using 16" Stretcher block and for those of you who are like me and are looking at the chart thinking..."hmmm...is that the block with the 3 holes or the 2 holes"...I asked and I was informed we are using the 2 holed Stretcher block....hmmmm...on second thought...now that I think of it, I am not 100% sure if 16" is correct as I was eating a whatchamachallit while it was being explained to me and 16 may have been the number of fat grams my chocolate bar had in it
:( but 16" sounds right for cinder block too...hmmmm...I dunno, but for now lets just call it 16" cinder block:) The stretcher block will be laid out in a staggered pattern (much like bricks only larger) as this creates the strength in a foundation. The blocks will be bonded together with 1/2" of concrete mixed by yours truly:) When we get to the corners we will need to use our second type of block..."Half Corner block" Half Corner block will be used...yep...you guessed it, on all the corners. Half Corner block is flush on one side to create a nice sharp corner for when our foundation wraps around our blog cabin.So, now that you are all briefed on the "how to" and terminology of laying block we are ready to get to it.
Stay tuned!-J

Injury Alert!

Ok - It is official. I have received my very first blog cabin
injury:( No injuries in the first two years is pretty good for me considering I am constantly tripping over my own two feet and I figured I would have at least broken something by now - BUT - anyways...I digress as I usually do...so, without further ado...on to the details of my injury.
Remember that wonderful "steal of a deal" cement mixer we purchased? Well...it works really, really, well - but that "little" sucker is very, very, heavy and I crushed my poor little finger with it:( Ouchie. **insert sad J here** There was nothing broken, but notice the size of the bruise! It started from the tippity top of my knuckle and grew all the way back toward the cut. Pretty bad ass huh? Grrrrrrrr ;)~