Steve's Cabin - part 7

Navigation:
Part 1 - The beginning - 2008, getting ready for the roof
Part 2 - 2008-9, building the roof, start inside floor
Part 3 - 2009-10, building the loft and fireplace
Part 4 - 2001-12, building the doors, trim and finishing work
Part 5 - 20012-14, chinking, interior finishing and detail work, start porch
Part 6 - 2014, porch roof, deck, and bath framing
Part 7 - 2015-17, bathroom addition, details <= You are here

August 2015

Much of 2015 was busy for Steve in ways that did not involve the cabin, so there were no major work sessions - he fit in a few days here and there as he could. By August he had the tar paper up on the bathroom addition and was working on the siding.

Bath siding early August

Back in the winter I had used some of Steve's left over boards to build a bookcase. We went out to the cabin to install it in August. It sits at the top of the stairs and, when combined with a remaining segment of old railing, will become part of the railing/barrier between the loft and stairs.

Bookcase
Bookcase

While Steve may have not have been at the cabin as often, it was nevertheless occupied. We didn't see the resident mousetrap(s), but the number of shed skins indicated that it had not been going hungry.

Snake skins

By the end of August Steve had the siding on the bathroom completed. The old style bathtub can be seen on the deck, waiting to be installed.

Bath siding completed

November 2015

Several of us went to the cabin on a clear November weekend. Steve had been making steady progress on the inside of the bathroom.

Bathroom fixtures

But it was also clear that the purpose of visits to the cabin was changing. Trips to the cabin were becoming more about using it than building it. Interior Decorating was in evidence, with an old family portrait and a well stocked hospitality shelf.

Interior decorating

We had a wonderful quiet evening cooking over the fire and sharing stories and goodies from the shelf.

Fireside cooking

The next morning was cold and frosty, but cozy in the cabin with smoke rising from the chimney.

Frosty morning

A man and his cabin.

A man and his cabin

Early 2016

Visits to the cabin in February and March showed a number of improvements, one of which was solar lighting:

Solar Lighting

The bathroom had a door added, as well as a composting toilet ("a crapper with a gearshift")

Bathroom Updates

One of the visits included a hike and a sociable toast afterwards.

A toast after hiking

A March visit included cutting an opening for the bathroom window and installing it.

Cutting Bathroom Window Opening

Bathroom Window Installed

January 2017

We visited Steve at the cabin on a chilly January evening. He had added a porch railing (to make his insurance company happy)

Porch Railing

And he had added a section of railing to the end of the loft bookshelf to finish off that part of the loft.

Bookshelf Railing

Loft View

After an evening of standard cabin activities involving a warm fire and adult beverages, we awoke to a light snow falling.

Snowy morning

Steve cooked a nice hot breakfast with some help from his solar powered lighting


Afterwards we wandered about the property to inspect the extensive damage from the Emerald Ash Borer which has arrived in the area. Infected trees are easy to spot even at a distance because the bark has been stripped by birds hunting for the larvae. It looks like this will become an increasingly common sight in our area. At least Steve will have a steady source of firewood near the cabin.


October 2017

After a busy summer Jean and I met Steve for a crisp fall evening at the cabin.

October Cabin Evening

On a hike in late Fall of 2014 Jean and I had found a grove of Persimmon trees with ripe persimmons. We saved a bunch of seeeds which Jean managed to sprout and grow into small trees. We couldn't think of a better place for a new grove of Persimmon trees than on Steve's cabin land.

Load of Persimmon Trees

Persimmon Planter

The Persimmon trees (and one Paw Paw) were planted and marked with flagging tape, just before a big rain that came a couple of days later to help settle them in.

Persimmon Planting

We returned again at the end of October with Ed, and the colors had gotten a lot brighter, both outside and from inside the cabin.

Fall Color Outside and Inside

Steve admitted that once the cabin became usable that progress had slowed. But it was also getting more decorative touches of a "homey" cabin - both natural ones like mud dauber nests and intended ones like an antique thermometer.

Mud Dauber Nest and Thermometer

On the day after a customary cabin evening of steaks grilled over an outside fire, Steve and Ed cut and fit the last door on a utility closet.

Cutting the Utility Door

Checking that measurement one more time.

Ripping the Door

The door fits, now to put on the hinges.

Installing Hinges

The hinges work and the door opens without interference. Then the last step - the Z brace on the inside of the door.

Testing hinges and installing Z brace

All the doors are done, although the latch on this latest door still needs a bit of work. In the meantime a lock rock gets the job done.

Alcove Doors

Except for some interior trim, the cabin is pretty much done.

Cabin Corner View

Looks like it has always been there.

2017 Fall Cabin

To Be Continued...


Navigation:
Part 1 - The beginning - 2008, getting ready for the roof
Part 2 - 2008-9, building the roof, start inside floor
Part 3 - 2009-10, building the loft and fireplace
Part 4 - 2001-12, building the doors, trim and finishing work
Part 5 - 20012-14, chinking, interior finishing and detail work, start porch
Part 6 - 2014, porch roof, deck, and bath framing
Part 7 - 2015-17, bathroom addition, details <= You are here
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