A few words...

We had originally thought to stain the logs ourselves. We'd had experience doing the Bethany Cabin over the years and thought we could pull it off! But, with Rick and Andy working on finishing the garage before winter and so much else going on we were faced with leaving the logs unprotected through winter, and while not a bad thing, it would certainly mean more work come spring having to clean the logs before even thinking about the stain.

We'd been calling painters for a few weeks, and not getting any return calls. Suddenly, last Saturday a team showed up to give us an estimate and they had a window of opportunity to start on Monday (nice warm weather forecast for the week)...BUT...we didn't have the stain yet!

Enter Lok N Logs to the rescue!!! I can't say enough good things about the service they have provided. Their stain warehouse had closed for the weekend and we thought there was no way to get the stain and be ready to start at 8 AM Monday. I took a chance and called Pat (our rep at Lok N Logs) on his cell and explained what was happening. He offered to go get the key, grab the pails of stain we needed, bring them to his home, and we could take a road trip on Sunday to pick them up (road trip=400 miles round trip). It all went off without a hitch and you have already seen the results from the last batch of pics we posted.

Thanks Pat!!!

The exterior being stained...

These pictures speak for themselves!!!

We think the color is perfect...
Exactly how we wanted it to look!

And best of all it's done before Winter...Had we waited until Spring we'd need to scrub all the grey spots before we could even think about the stain. This way we are protected going in to the first winter.

This is a BIG load off our minds! And the fact that it's exactly what we wanted is wonderful! Sometimes it's so hard to tell what a stain will look like on the home.

We have STAIRS !!!

No more ladders to get upstairs!

View from front door...
Using the ladders to get to the loft was always interesting. AND...it kept moving! You'd go up to check something out and by the time you'd want to come back down you had no idea where the ladder would be.



After the first few times I'm sure they were doing it on purpose...

Moving upstairs...

Upstairs vanity lights installed...

Upstairs bathtub faucets...

Where to begin???

Downstairs bathroom vanity/sink...

Downstairs cabinet with mirror...

Downstairs shower faucets...

The garage project continues...

The left side is finished...


We move along to the "Man" door...

And now we have the right side (almost) done...

This picture made me go WOW...

Once again, this is one of those pics that just made me stop and think how wonderful this home is going to be when finished. This is taken from the loft/balcony looking down the stairwell.

The stairs aren't in yet...due tomorrow.

You just get a peek into the master bedroom, and downstairs (where the foot of the stairs will be) is a closet and the front door.

And what do YOU see???

A beautiful wood wall?

Or an alien peering out at you???

The storage over the bathtub...

This was going to be dead space. I previously showed a pic where it was just framed in...now it has walls. We picture a double door, but aren't decided yet. The fiberglass tub (or whatever magic material they call it) is fully enclosed and there should not be a moisture problem up there.

We originally thought the door would be on the bedroom side of the wall, but realized we have a large piece of furniture on the bedroom side that would block access from the bedroom.

The (upstairs) bathroom is coming together!

We are very happy with what's happening here.

The shower is along the right side end wall.

Rick and I agreed on these faucets. However, credit goes to Rick for finding them! We knew what we wanted, but I tended to get overwhelmed by all the choices...


My honey knew exactly what we wanted and had no doubt in his mind once he spied these in the store!

The loft wall is finished...

The TV wall in the loft is finished...

The is the half wall that will hide the side of the TV...It's the same half wall as in the first picture but it looks a whole lot wider from this angle.

The garage siding...

The siding is started...

It moves along.
It's going really...really good!


A pic from the inside...This is going to be a wonderful garage both inside and out!

Upstairs bathroom...

Over the tub we have some unused space that will be used as a nice storage area. We are planning on a double door. It's pretty high up, but if it's stuff you only use once a year I think it will be very convenient!

The mirror over the sink...it's natural cherry and we love it...There will be lights over it (4 lights) and the fixtures for them are oiled bronze. The sink faucets will also be oiled bronze.

More in the hallway...

The bathroom side of the hallway...

The walk-in closet is looking really good...

The interior walls of the closet are done...

Now they have started on the outside walls in the bedroom hallway.

Did I mention Hot and Dry conditions???

So, remember how I was complaining about all the rain earlier this summer? Well, now that there's no rain I've been forced to water the trees that we planted back in the spring. We had watered them ourselves the first two weeks or so and then Mother Nature was watering them for us. As we still don't have running water at the house, I've been filling buckets at Andy's Creek and using the tractor and trailer to help do the watering. It's working nicely and all the trees are doing well.
And, yes...I do talk to them...*silly grin*

The roof shingles for the garage are DONE!

The weather was hot (very hot) and dry for putting on the garage roof. Some of the hottest days of summer. For the past week Rick and Andy were starting earlier in the morning to get things done before the burning sun of the afternoon kicked in. When the shingles started to burn your hands you knew it was time to quit for the day.

So the roof went from this...

To better than half way done...

To FINISHED...

It looks fantastic and I'm thrilled!

Another month...another state of affairs missive...

Labor Day is over and the long weekend is at an end. We are closer to a move-in date! Although nothing is written in stone yet. We are hopeful that things will come together. There's lots happening behind the scenes. Our well should be hooked up and running today or tomorrow! Water to the house...WOW...I keep hearing 6 weeks...but my personal feeling is Halloween! I think that would be a fitting day. We moved into our Bethany Log Home on Halloween 1979!
So, moving into our new log home 29 years later (to the day) seems to be fitting.

Our doors (Timber Valley WI) are on the way and should be here any day. Once we can lock up the home we will be bringing out the bathroom fixtures, lights, toilets, vanities and all the rest of the items we have been accumulating over the past 6 months.

The Kitchen Cabinets are under construction as I type (rustic hickory if anyone needs to know). They should be ready in about 3 weeks now. Our maple flooring for downstairs is ready to be picked up from the kiln. We will most likely be moving in before the floor is laid. That will be our first project AFTER we move in.

We have chosen Buck's County Limestone for the chimney and hearth. We have a wonderful woodstove (in lieu of a real firelplace). We anticipate heating with the woodstove as much as possible. It's centrally located and we have ducts thru the stairwell wall with fans to bring the heat to the bedrooms. The stove is called a "Schrader Fireplace" and the company is long since out of business. This is our original wood stove which we took with us when we moved. It's a large oversized wood stove with doors that open and fold back and a screen that let's you enjoy the beauty of the fire when you want to just sit in front of it! We have lots of wood that's been seasoning since March (when we cut down the trees we saved and stacked the wood).

Our appliances are just waiting for the "OK" from us to deliver. We are excited!

Rick and Andy continue to shingle the roof of the garage (same shingles that are on the house) and Andy's son Dan has several times given up his weekends to help us. He bounces around that roof as if he were only 3 feet off the ground and does the work of 2 men. I bow in the presence of GREATNESS...(Thanks Dan)

So, that's where we stand currently. Make no mistake there is still much to be done, but things are really coming along and each day brings us closer to being able to wake up in our new home and enjoy the feeling of contentment.