Inspecting the Pit

Driveway

We got the good news over the weekend that the driveway was in! The contractor actually made it out last week and put in the driveway, cleared a few trees from the building site and dug the pit for the outhouse. We took a trip up there yesterday to check it out. The town of Cumberland was all decorated for Christmas and looked charming. Having a driveway really changes the whole place. Now we can actually pull in and park the car. That is a far cry from pulling off the road into the woods. Now it actually feels like a destination. It was really pretty out there with snow on the ground. We don't have any snow yet at home so that was kind of a surprise. The place looks really different without all the leaf cover. We do lose some of the privacy. The two neighboring houses are more visible. But we also gain a much better view of the lake. There is thick tree cover at the edge of the wetland that blocks the view in the summer. Eventually, we will thin those trees a bit so we have a nice view from the cabin, but for now when the leaves are in, it is hard to see the water. This time, though, the water was easy to see. The lakes are not iced over yet, so there were still plenty of birds to watch. It is hunting season up there now. The deer tracks were quite visible in the snow and there were gunshots audible all afternoon. That might be the last time we make it up there this winter. Now we turn our attention to finishing the outhouse, which Ray moved into the garage last night, and planning the cabin!

Excavation Update

We seem to be slowly moving forward with our excavation contractor. I have been frustrated with him because we hired him almost a month ago and he still hasn't done the work. The weather has been more than perfect - highs in the 50's, sunny and dry. Unheard of for November. He keeps saying he's busy with other jobs but I think it may have something to do with the fact that it's now deer hunting season. After several phone calls this week, Ray got him to commit to doing the work on Monday. We'll see. The weather for next week is cold with rain and snow. We haven't paid him anything yet, which is possibly why he doesn't feel obliged to do any work for us. But that means the worst case scenario is that we get someone else to do the job and all we've wasted is time. The township finally cashed the $25 check we wrote a month ago for the permit fee. I still don't have a permit in my hands or a driveway on my land but it feels like we're inching closer to getting something accomplished. If this gets done before the holiday next week, I know what I'll be thankful for this year!

Fort Necessity

We have started building the outhouse! In our backyard. We are using the same kind of plan that we used to construct the tent platform. We designed the privy to be built in four panels and then hauled out to the site. We got a good start on the walls last weekend. I found a website from some university agricultural extension service that allows you to download free building plans. The available plans are mostly for agricultural buildings such as chicken coops and slaughter houses. I downloaded outhouse plans as well as the blueprints for a bomb shelter. Guess which one Ray wanted to work on first. The plans called for a 4x4 foot building. We wanted to make sure that was roomy enough so we used this system to check the dimensions. We taped a square on the deck and determined the outhouse should be roomy enough for both a person and a dog to use comfortably. We went on to frame up all three of the side walls. Eventually, they will be insulated and paneled. This is what they look like right now. It will have a translucent corrugated fiberglass roof and of course, a crescent moon on the door.I did not want to use or maintain an outhouse with a gross plywood bench so I have been doing research on what is politely called an outhouse pedestal. I found a Canadian company that makes a very nice fiberglass model that should be able to withstand our temperature extremes as well as being very easy to keep clean. This is a picture of that pedestal.We will not have a concrete slab as pictured here. Our plans call for a plywood floor assembly that will be covered with a nice, easy to clean linoleum. I don't want to sound like too much of a princess, but if the plan is to build an outhouse, I would like it to be the cleanest, most pleasant outhouse possible.

Waiting Game

I have to apologize for my lack of recent posts. Between work and school, I haven't had a chance to update. It seems like every year the kids get busier and busier, which only reaffirms my thought that we need a place to get away! I can't wait until we can just throw a backpack in the car and disappear together for the whole weekend. We are in a holding pattern as far as our progress is concerned. We hired an excavator to put in a driveway, clear the building site and dig a pit for the privy. We had to get a permit for the driveway which required a township inspector to take a look at the site. The man responsible for that task is a long haul trucker who is only in town from time to time. Ray talked to him last night and apparently he has been out to the site and declared that everything looked great. They have yet to cash the check for the permit fee or actually issue a written permit, but those seem to be insignificant details that only I am concerned about. Now that we have his blessing, our contractor can go ahead and bulldoze his heart out as soon as the weather cooperates. We are looking forward to at least one more trip out this winter to inspect his work. Once he is done, we will have Fort Awesome ready to go up, a nice gravel driveway, a building site graded and clear of trees and a place to go to the bathroom. I'm proud of all we've accomplished in under 3 months. We should be in great shape to start building the actual cabin in the spring!