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Friday, October 2, 2009

Progress Update #4, Cabin Building


Back in August, my husband and his two older boys went up to Maine to work on our little cabin. I was too sick with morning sickness to go with them, but I did have my youngest stepson to help me keep little Karl entertained.
The Ellis men were able to get the roof rafters and roof sheeting installed. Three of the four windows went in. While there was no time for interior work or to put shingles on the roof, the roof has been temporarily waterproofed by stretching and securing a blue tarp over the roof sheeting. As you can see, there is a very steep pitch to the roof. The cabin kind of reminds me of an IHOP restaurant with their steep, blue metal roofs! They boarded up the cabin and came home.

We're not sure if we're going to be able to make another trip this late in the season. Next on our list for building the cabin is to get the insulation and interior walls in, and shingles on the roof. If this has to wait until next spring, then we'll be dividing our time between cabin building and planting fruit trees.

Live better, a little every day.

4 comments:

  1. Great job on the Cabin. It looks great

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  2. Thanks- Not bad for never having built a house before! We're really hoping to get the exterior finished before the winter settles in, but we'll just have to see how things go.

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  3. Beware of fruit trees! We have them here in Florida, if you're not on top of them, they can bring unwanted visitors. If the fruit drops to the ground and you don't clear it, it will attract citrus rats...the rats, in turn, attract snakes. Not sure how it is in Maine, but wanted to give you the heads up!

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  4. Pretty sure we won't see citrus rats in Maine. :) Seriously though, we will probably see animals more like deer nibbling at our fruit trees, which will make it easier to pack the freezer with venison. We're planning on planting dwarf varieties so that they will be more manageable. Mostly apple, pear, paw-paw, and then some blue berry bushes and grape vines. We already have plenty of red raspberry bushes all over the property.

    The great thing about fruit-bearing trees, shrubs, and vines is that you plant them once and they produce food for you on an on-going basis.

    As far as the snakes, I know they freak a lot of people out, but there are no poisonous snakes in Maine. There used to be some in the southern part of the state, but haven't been seen in about 50 years. The garder snakes there are actually helpful in keeping the field mice to a minimum. Still, the animals that would be around to scarf-up fallen produce at our property would be deer, squirrel, maybe a porcupine.

    However, we plan on harvesting as much of the produce as humanly possible. Like with apples, we can get applesauce, apple crisp, apple pies, dehydrated apples, etc. We will have a couple of miniature lemon and orange trees in pots, but they don't get too big, and won't produce tons of fruit. They will have to be kept in a greenhouse during the winter, or even brought indoors. But, at least we'll be able to still have them on occasion.

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