The first day of my ( involuntary) week off started with a 6 mile hike on a newly discovered trail. It was a gorgeous day and being in the woods for a few hours was exhilarating. The trail ended at a river and along the way we saw turtles snails, a deer and a groundhog plus lots of bugs and butterflies.
After a refreshing nights sleep , I woke up and started hauling stuff up to the cabin. I started the insulation with what i have ( need to get more) and also placed the safety fire ring. Next i went down to remove a patch of stones by my house and replace the old weed cover which is longer effective. It was a very long day and i ended it with a 2nd bath and lying back on some heating pads:)
Tomorrow i plan to finish the stone area and get to Lowe’s for some more supplies. I have to figure out a new plan for the interior cabin walls because the shiplap bundles i got were very expensive and will only cover half of one wall. I will order 2 more bundles of that and just make an accent wall there. Not sure what to use for the rest, but i’ll figure something out.
It’s getting there. Hope you all are getting outside and staying active!
As I posted yesterday, I will soon be starting on some more improvements to my property and stuff.So today just for a change I decided to give ya’ll a short tour of what’s here. Enjoy!
inside- 1st floor
1st outside shed
and finally. The inside of my cabin as it is currently
Last year on June 26th, i announced my dream of having a small cabin space in my little patch of woods. By September 2022, in spite of all the unexpected challenges , expenses and sweat filled days- i finally achieved that dream. I took a very long break for the winter and had expected to start back to work on the surrounding site and interior by May of this year. But as I posted, it’s been a difficult year with family issues and the passing of my brother.
Still, better late than never- i have bought the ceiling insulation and the shiplap boards for the interior. Very soon I will also be getting the wall insulation and the fire pit ring and will be working on all of these installs.
The thing about it is, i really haven’t used the cabin as much as i have wanted. I could have stayed over night in it dozens of times by now, but haven’t and my mind hadn’t wrapped around why. To break it down :
I work nights and sleep days
It’s been pretty hot and muggy so sleeping up there isn’t ideal during the day, not to mention no electric for even a fan
i’ve been working 6-7 nights a week so when i do have a night off, my boyfriend usually stays over. We just chill and watch movies then go to sleep early( i enjoy this very much and also getting some much needed rest.)
but , most of all , i must admit- it’s been the hassle of dragging my essentials ( the ones i cant leave up there) up and back that has deterred me.
So, in thinking on this i have looked into a motorized way of getting stuff up there. I can and have driven my vehicle up through just to test it out and it is fine. I can even turn around pretty easily. But the deal with that is, i don’t want to leave my vehicle up there for too long ( like hours) because trees are always falling. Next i started looking at golf carts .Even the used ones are way to expensive just for driving up there and back.I have also considered using our riding mower and pulling a cart ( i have a lovely metal one). But we store it up in another shed by the edge of the woods and its very difficult to get it in and out, not to mention if i am walking that far up with all my stuff, i may as well just keep going. So, i have started looking at ATV’s – oddly i have seen a few on Amazon that i am pretty sure will be just fine for the job and are under $1500. There are also quite a few really good new and used ones for sale out there if i want something more rugged down the road becaaaaauuuse…
I am ready to announce my new dream publicly:)
I’ve decided to sell my house in the next year or so and purchase a large patch of wooded land! This decision did not come lightly….
When i bought the house in 2019, i was ecstatic. I hadn’t owned a home of my own since 2011. I had been either living with someone or renting. The last place i rented was in a bad part of the city and after 3 years, i just needed to get out. This new place was a huge milestone for me and was wonderful in so many ways. But after being here for 3 years, even with the lovely cabin in the woods there are just too many things i can’t continue to live with and cannot change- #1 being the loud,constant traffic. When i bought it i had no idea there was so much of it, for most of the day and into the early evening. It’s actually louder than in the city. If it weren’t for that, i would happily stay into retirement. #2 though is my love of hiking and walking in the woods. But driving somewhere to do this all the time is getting annoying- even though several parks are less than 3 miles away. It’s not just the drive though, it’s a problem with being able to go when i want ( they close at dusk) and the lack of bathrooms. You cant just squat anywhere because there are other people around.
So- now it’s out there.
I have been quietly working things out in my head financially ( and otherwise) for a few months, and i have a pretty solid base plan. The next two years will be difficult in many ways, but it can be done. Here’s to new dreams!
Wake up! 