2014: Moving In and Having Fun!

Unpacking boxes and discovering our "stuff" was how we occupied the early winter months of 2014.  We found all of our art and careful placed paintings and pictures in just the right place.



















We also worked on our staircase....  our kitchen and dining room,

Stairs

And rails

Moving the butcher block out of the garage

Chinking the dining room logs.

while we waited for the snow to melt....

April found us building coat racks, trimming windows and doors and installing baseboard.

Coat rack with oak pegs

Tile, window trim and baseboard

The weather in May turned warm enough for us to move outdoors. It was time to end the slipping and sliding down the hill to gain entrance to our home.

But as with most springs, the weather was not always outdoor project worthy, so... we found time to put the oil finish our hickory floors.

July, summer in full swing, the porch railing was created, stained, and installed on our front porch and later in the month, Connor and popi worked on the east deck boards.

East porch decking

North porch railing

Progress was made into August on the east porch deck and railing.

We did not miss the opportunity to harvest raspberries which we picked and ate just as fast as we could!

Creating our home is our idea of fun but we did manage to have some extra fun with good friends.  In September, Jeff and I purchased a camper which we took to Ted Chu's Oregon home, to go salmon fishing.  We met Jerry, Carrie, Iva Dell and Mike Todd and had a blast walking on the beach, fishing and having a wonderful, much needed friend break.

Breaking in the camper

Good Friends

Happy times

Footsteps in the sand

Oregon Coast Goodnight

After our fishing trip to Oregon, our deck and railing became our priority, working most days making deck board and railing.  Not a board from our deck was store bought.  Jeff milled the lumber, planned the board to make them smooth, router the edges for a finished look and stained each board in the deck and railing.  By November, we had pretty much finished the deck and railing.

One solar array gave us plenty of power when we lived in our 300 square foot cabin, but we quickly found out that our home would consume more power, especially during those long, winter months.   So... we installed a second solar array and solar hot water.  Most days the solar hot water will raise our water heater temperature to 106 degrees, but on those cloudy, cooler days of winter, we just flip a switch and turn on our propane boiler to raise the temperatures a few degrees, so we can enjoy that long, hot shower.

The snow was starting to fall and it was time to think of the holidays.  I had turned 60 this year, so with my birthday day money, we purchased a mattress for the spare bedroom.  What a better way to spend my birthday donations, than a mattress which all our family and friends could enjoy.  Jeff got busy, building a timber bed frame and by the end of November, we were ready for company.

Timber bed frame

Ready for company

Our final couple of projects included a firewood box made from the alder we brought back from our September fishing trip to Ted's house in Oregon.  And, a bench for the entry way, so we and our guests would be comfortable removing our shoes. Our bench could be used at our dining room table, when our house overflowed with family and friends.

Well, 2014 is gone.  Another year has gone by much too quickly.  Jeff and I are happy and healthy and at home, snug in the Big Hole Mountains, on Sawbuck Acres.  Come visit us sometime....we have a spare bedroom!