Almost done with Phase One

We are finally finishing up with phase one of our cabin project.  It consists of building interior walls in the main part of the house.  Insulating those walls and covering them as well as insulating and covering the ceiling.  Wiring, painting, adding trim, stairs, heating and flooring.  To date we have just completed adding the stairs and moving everything out into the main parts of the house.  We will install the heating before the summer is out and some of the flooring and most of the trim by winter.

Next will be the new arctic entry which will be completed before winter and then we will take a break for the winter and begin thinking about our water system, solar panels and battery bank, bathroom addition, underpinning and additional insulation and exterior siding.  Also at some point we will have to bring a load of furniture and house hold items up from Georgia.

Below is the newly completed stairs, we will be adding a raised floor to the dining room and will add 2 more steps going down from the platform.  We will also be adding a pipe railing and a decorative balcony railing in the loft later.

Stair platform

Stairs to loft

We can finally move into the den and dining room and enjoy the view

This is our temporary kitchen, when we bring furniture from Georgia, we will furnish the kitchen

A tribute to Samson

The best thing about snow . . .

is burying your head in it!

Just a few months into our Alaskan journey, Wendel and I made an addition to our family.  Samson was almost 5 when he found us and quickly became part of our lives.  When we bought our property, he traveled right along with us, in the 4-wheeler trailer, in the sled and in the jeep.  He was always up to take a ride!  We lost Sam to cancer this winter and find it definitely different going out to the property without him.  He will be greatly missed!  Below are some of his memorable moments at the house on the point.

I do like to ride!

Me and mommy taking a rest

I do love the snow

I like riding the sled to the house

I could take a nap!

My last trip out

Behind the scenes and moving out of the Camping Room . . .

Wendel now has installed and wired just about all the lights, switches and outlets . . .

 

The insulation is blown in the ceiling and put in most of the walls . . .

After months of "camping" in what will be the pantry, we have now move up stairs to our bedroom.

Taking down bed platform in "camping room"

Putting up new platform in bedroom and moving in

The Beauty of it All . . .

A lot of you probably shake your heads and wonder why we go to the trouble to have a place so remote.  Well, it's hard to explain, but being in this place, the remoteness, the quite, the peacefulness is calming and in today's world calm is hard to find.  It also feels good to actually accomplish something with your own hands and your own sweat and determination.  Easy is not usually rewarding, but working for something is.  Below is part of the reason we love it here.

Chocolate Lily

Geraniums

Moose in the front yard

View from our front window

Wild Ferns

Lupine

Bog Iris

Enjoying the journey

Hauling in supplies

Not only is it a challenge to complete a project of this size, when you have only weekends to do the work, but also when you're just getting supplies and equipment out or dealing with weather.

Sometimes the conditions are good for the jeep

Sometimes they require a snow machine

Sometimes you can carry the load with a 4-wheeler

but, even in the best conditions . . .

accidents happen

Even under the worse conditions . . .

you can dig yourself . . .

OUT!

The walls were next . . .

We bought some leftover spruce 1X8 siding from an older gentlemen here in town.  It is enough to cover all of the main interior walls and our bedroom walls.  We have used a whitewash effect when painting them, so they look weathered and worn like an old barn.

Our Bedroom

The interior walls look unfinished, but that's on purpose and we will add some shelving later.

Wendel built two light fixtures like the one above for our bedroom

 

The Den and Dining Room

The partial loft floor you see on the right will be removed and be replaced by the stairs

Wendel created this light out of black pipe and 1930's street lamps

The extension above is called a "pick" and allows us to work over the open area.  It will come down later.

The Kitchen

This is our temporary kitchen, we will bring antique furniture up from storage to furnish the kitchen and Wendel wants to get a commercial style stove.

Walls in upstairs loft

Putting in the ceiling

We found some really interesting corrugated ceiling panels that came off of an old cannery in Kodiak, Alaska.  The tin has different colors of paint and rust on it.  We have covered the entire ceiling of the main house with these panels.  We love it!