9/12 Well update/Matt moving up

Well I guess we ran out of luck this week. They began drilling our well. We were thinking it would be between 100 - 200 feet deep based on surrounding properties. On Thursday I received the call letting me know they got all the way to 325 feet and are barley getting a drop. WORST POSSIBLE NEWS (OK not "worst" but bad!) So they are going to go back on Monday with a Hydro driller and pump a bunch of water into the hole they drilled to create a fissure in the bedrock and get some water. They have told me they have never failed with the Hydro drill. But what was going to be a $4,000 - $7,000 well in now in the $13,000 area. OUCH!!! Looks like I'll keep working at my job in the cities until at least December.

9/6-7 Rained Out

Well the rain put a damper on our work plans for the weekend. We packed up the car Friday night and there was rain, so we waited and woke up Saturday morning and checked the weather....rain, with rain expected Saturday into Sunday. So we had a weekend at home. Matt and I went to the architectural salvage stores in the area and got a great front door for an awesome price! Other than that last week was a bust all around. The well never got dug (our well guys was delayed on another job), The fireplace never shipped (delayed) and no construction progress. The building process is not the smoothest thing.

Thank you!!!

Wanted to give a big thanks to my Mom who set us up with some fantastic culinary delights for the long week on the land!!!!! Thanks Mom!

The week up north

I have a new definition for the word "EXHAUSTED".... and "DIRTY"..... but we got a heck of a lot done!! We got the tyvek, siding, windows , loft joists, loft sub floor and roof started, but we did not get the roof up or waterproofed. We had a couple of delays because of rain and product being delivered 2 days late.... We also came home Sunday to have a bit of rest before heading back to the daily 9-5 grind. It was great being up on the land a bit longer, we finally had some squirrels and chipmunks hang around the camp site and we heard wolves howling back in the 1700 acres of county land behind our property. The wild raspberries and blueberries were plentiful and we ate all of them around the camp site. It did get pretty darn cold (Embarrass Minnesota is the coldest spot in the Continental US) 27 degrees on Sunday night!! Our well should be dug this week (everyone send a little good luck our way) and we will be on the edge of our seats to see how deep it has to be, and how much it will cost. That will dictate when I get to move up north, and Matt will be moving to the house with the dogs as soon as it is insulated . Our fireplace is being shipped this week and the solar is on order.

8/18 The walls are up!

Went up to the land on Saturday, Matt cut his hand up at work on Friday so we were unsure how much we would be able to do. But the rest of the walls only took about 2 hours. It is really amazing how easy the building part has been. The physical work of nailing the wood together, leveling it and putting it in place has been without confusion or problems (knock on wood) All the problems have been either the weather or the planning aspects. It continues to be very difficult to get the right amount of materials. I'm always making some changes on site and we are working from a plan of my own design so once I see it in real scale I can't help but change my mind. Next Saturday we will go up to the land and be there for 10 days straight! We hope to get the roof up, and the whole structure weather tight. Then we will be focusing on the interior and all the finishing work. It is getting more and more difficult to get Matt to come back to the cities at the end of the weekend. Our current timeline has Matt moving up as soon as it is insulated and me moving up once we have paid off the bills, hopefully by the end of winter. But we have to earn enough money not to work for a while so it is all about saving money!

8/12 Great weekend up north!

Great weekend up north!! The weather was great and things went very smoothly. We got the carriage bolts installed and started framing walls. I must say this weekend was very fun. The walls going up was really satisfying and being able to look out my future window and see the view made it all feel very real. I also drew the floor plan on the sub floor to see how it all lays out. I think I may tweak a few things, relocate a couple of windows for better views. I figure now is the time to second guess myself. The weather is getting very cold at night and Matt made ME get up and start the morning fire. It just shows who the tough one is! I also ordered the fireplace/cookstove. This is one area I really splurged and feel like we made a good selection. We chose a "bakers oven" by an Australian company. Mainly because 1) I can see and enjoy the fire 2) It has an oven to bake in and 3) it is a combustion heater. Isn't she a beauty!

8/6 Problems & Delays

As a city dweller I'm used to convenience.....ok, I have grown dependent on it! Every store and product I could ever want is basically within a 10 mile radius of me. So planning a construction project without the need for endless trips back to the local building supply store has proved difficult for me to achieve. This weekend we needed to put the carriage bolts through the beams and posts. I had bought the drill bit, confirmed with the "experts" at the store that it was correct for the carriage bolts, then drove the 4 hours north to install them only to discover the bit did not fit into the new drill. Late Saturday afternoon on the Iron Range is not the time to find a new one. So we were not able to start the walls as I had wanted. Another delay. We will have to learn to plan ahead in all aspects of our life soon enough. (I hope to enjoy that lesson more once I have a roof over my head!)