Tag Archives: Treehouse

Family and Friends, The Adventure, The Cabin

In the middle of the in-between

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When we realized that our week with Joe and Kim overlapped with the time a sweet niece and her family (whom we hadn’t seen in over two years) were at The Cabin (a mere four hours away!), we couldn’t resist sneaking over for a quick visit.
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Seeing the cabin, pond, and treehouse full of kids was so wonderful!
We hung out at the pond for hours in the afternoon
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and they even got me into the rowboat to check out the cattails!
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I got to snuggle with the two littles which always does this Gramma’s heart good.
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I taught a traditional cabin card game to the bigger kids
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while one of the littles was instructing Gary on her very own version of War.
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Pops was very confused.

I think everyone but momma and the baby had spent at least one night in the treehouse, and with the addition of a couple of hammocks – I’m pretty sure many more hours will be spent in that new space.
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It might have been just barely 24 hours – but so worth the drive!
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Time at The Cabin is always about making memories – and what lovely memories we made during that visit!
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Family and Friends, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure, The Cabin

From vision to reality

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It might’ve been in late summer 2021 that Gary first said, “I think the kids would really like a treehouse up here at the cabin.” It was a new thought to me, but I’m pretty sure that he had been mulling it over for a while. In late April of 2022, he started scoping out different groups of trees that might work for what he had in mind. By early May we had settled on this group of trees
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that was just the right distance from the cabin, in a different direction than the pond, and had enough different trees to support his design. (Not that any of us actually knew what his design was. But we have learned to trust him!)
And so it began! We came up for two weeks at the end of July and he started in.
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By the end of July he had the basic frame up, the deck part down, and the ship’s ladder built.
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We returned for most of September, and by the time we left to head south the deck railing was up and the building all framed in.
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Thankfully she wintered well, and Gary was able to resume construction in early May.
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He worked pretty steadily throughout May (with the exception of a long weekend with our Ohio families) –
roof –
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windows
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walls
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and siding.
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When we left for our June SOWER project the outside was complete, and it was certainly usable!
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But Gary wasn’t done yet. We returned last week to finish up one final detail – the flooring! We had been collecting lots of odds and ends of plank laminate flooring to use and while it took a try or two to actually come up with a design that worked with the different options, I think it has a nice eclectic vibe!
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Today was our last day. Gary mowed and finished up with any outside clean-up. I took care of the “inside” chores as we worked to pack up for an early morning departure tomorrow.  It’s been a quick week, but I know that the chief architect and builder of the Cabin Treehouse is feeling like it’s ready and open for business!
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Good thing, too – the families start arriving on Saturday!

Thanks for coming along as I reminisced about the treehouse that started as a thought and ended up as a beauty!
Steph

 

Family and Friends, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure, The Cabin

One last thing

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One last mowing –
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at 7:17 am.
One last walk to the pond –
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and finding treasures along the way.
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One last walk to the tree house
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to marvel at my husband’s handiwork
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and think about how much fun this next generation (and the generations to follow) will have in it!
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One last totally unexpected excursion to join my friend at a small quilt show at the Billings Farm and Museum in Woodstock. It was a preview, only open to exhibitors and their guests. My friend Lynne was an exhibitor and I was her guest, so it worked out just fine!
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And there were cows to view too!
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And one last thing –
Happy birthday to possibly (if not probably) the cutest little girl on the planet who turned three (3!!!!) today!
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Happy Birthday, sweet Evers! We love you to the moon and back!

Tomorrow it’s pack up and skedaddle back to the real world.
Sigh.
But it sure has been a great day of One Last Things!
Steph

Family and Friends, Pictures of the Adventure, The Cabin

Every Day in May – Almost!

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Maybe if I had gone with the “Every Day in May that I’m at the Cabin” blog post goal, it would have been more attainable. By my count, though, I only missed 7 days and that’s still a pretty good streak for me! Even if each day did not include an official blog post, May was still a very good month! For one thing, we got to watch SPRING happen! From our first morning –
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to this morning –
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it’s been amazing to watch the rebirth of the season unfold!
The main cabin construction project went from this
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to this!
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There is still some interior work to be done, but the outside is complete! Great job, Gary!
While he was busy building a treehouse for (we hope) generations to enjoy, I was busy taking big pieces of fabric, cutting them into small pieces, and then sewing them back together for The Graduate’s quilt.
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I think she knows how much love and prayers were sewn into that quilt!
I’ll be honest – Gary worked much harder up here than I did. But then again, he always does! The beauty of The Cabin is that we each get to do what brings us joy. I’m quite content to wake up to the sound of power tools (or weed whacker as was the case this morning)
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because I know that is what makes him happy. And I think he’s happy to let me sleep until I wake up (could be 6:30, could be 9!), putter around the cabin, do a bit of gardening, catch up on some reading, and generally enjoy the cabin ‘my way’!
We’re down to our last two full days here (we head back to our June SOWER project at Montrose Bible Conference on Saturday), and I’ve actually convinced him to do something fun (as in not project/chore related) tomorrow. So we’re heading to the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury. In all my years of coming to Vermont, I have never been to that museum, so I’m looking forward to it! Since we’re out-n-about we may also be checking out some Restores looking for some flooring for the treehouse, but I still think it’s a pretty good compromise!

It seems pretty crazy that tomorrow is June 1 – but my calendar doesn’t lie. So farewell and thanks, May – you were filled with so much goodness!

Family and Friends, The Adventure, The Cabin

Real Time Update (RTU) – Siding!

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Since we picked up the siding for the treehouse from our friends who have a small sawmill on Saturday,
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and we had an extra set of hands today (Lynne, my cohort in the Mother’s Day ice cream treat)
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it only seemed right that we get started on the treehouse siding!
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The tricky part of putting siding on a treehouse is that it is HIGH!! Gary was on the scaffolding (and then on the ladder on the scaffolding) and I was way higher than my comfort zone high on the ladder, making sure the board was lined up with ‘the mark’. And then holding it there while he screwed it into the wall.
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(Lynne was my most excellent ladder holder and she only walked away to take this picture. Can you see how I’m hugging that tree???)
It was quite the day to be sure. Although you might consider that tree to be in the way, but for me it was just a little bit of extra security! Yes, I was a tree-hugger today!
Thankfully we got the first side done not too long after lunch.
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Looks pretty cool, right?
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Tomorrow he’ll move the scaffolding around to do the back. There’s a window there, so that will make it a little bit more tricky. And my ladder-holder is leaving tomorrow morning, so that could be a complication too! We’ll see how it all works out!
Trust me, it may look precarious, but I’m a pretty big chicken if it doesn’t feel safe.  Gary is very careful to make sure the ladder is secure before I head up it! Since he likes me and everything!

We’ll have to see just how far we get tomorrow!

Steph