Have you heard about Brett Favre?

Brett Favre is coming to the Vikings and people in the state of Minnesota are just a little bit excited (See below). Not only do we get a future first ballot hall of famer but we really get to stick it to those Packer fans just across the river (as well as the traitors living within our own borders). Sure, he's almost 40 and has a huge ego but we used to have Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels competing for the starting job, ever heard of them? If nothing else interest in the team has never been higher and the game days vs. the Packers will be like state holidays. I think we are actually getting a few extra minutes of daylight due to the #4 packer jersey burnings that are taking place.

Shelly's cousin Mark stopped out this weekend to show off this little project. I guess the steer horns for the hood are on order. SKOL Vikings!

Nearing the End.....of logs that is

Burned up my last 2 disposable vacation days for the year and put in a 5 day work week. Wanted to finish up the log walls and nearly made that goal. Still have 4 more logs to go. Dad was working with me again (Thanks Pops, wouldn't be close to this point without you) and we managed to put up 13 logs. Considering our previous high was 9 I think we did alright. We had to break out the neighbors big tractor (Thanks Denny!) to get the last few logs on. Dad rigged up a pulley system between trees but we lost control of one and it turned into a battering ram on the back wall. I thought it was going to break right out the other side but it held without a scratch. I guess that was the strength test. Next weekend we'll finish up the logs and finish figuring out how we're doing the roof. Oh yeah and Jonah shot a rabbit.

Long Time, No Updates

After missing a couple of weeks we were back at it last week. We are now 53 inches high with a goal of 84. At 84 inches we'll put a couple of logs across to support the upstairs floor and then 1 more layer of logs. We should end up at a final wall height of about 92 inches or so. I did manage to get some new logs last week. Had to pay through the teeth for them but they are already peeled and are blessedly straight. The original logs we have left are very crooked and a real pain to get seated right. We also celebrated Jonah's 10th birthday last weekend. Hard to believe he's already 10. Only 5 more years until that learners permit. **shudder**

Now we're getting somewhere

Put up 7 logs this weekend. Really starting to feel like a cabin. Dad started cutting notches and having 2 chainsaws going at the same time really speeds things up. I am already almost out of logs. Need to find some more, hopefully ones that are already dried. Only have about half the logs I need. Taking 2 weeks off due to work commitments and hopefully that will give me time to call around and find logs before we get started again.

4th of July Fun

Found more time for fun than work this weekend. I've got to kick it in gear next weekend because I've got pager for several weeks in a row at the end of July.

4th of July Work

Did a lot of playing this weekend so not much work got done. Still got a few logs up and cut 2 more trees down.

Slow Going

Only got 3 more logs on today. Starting packing the center cuts with insulation. I just about blew a gasket on the back log. Just mutilated the notch on the south side. Think we are all about worn out after being here for a week. Supposed to rain on Saturday so we may just head home a day early. We are coming up for 3 days over the 4th of July so we'll hit it hard again then.

George Jones Isn't Getting Any Younger

Actually felt sorry for the poor guy for the first 3-4 songs. He got warmed up and did better the rest of the show but he doesn't have too much voice left. Still had a great time and the usher was cool enough to let me sit in some empy seats down front for some better pictures. The show was so exciting that the guy in front of me fell asleep before George even came out. I think I counted about 10 people who were younger than me. One was my brother in law. Back to cabin work tomorrow.

Notching is harder than it looks

Took me all day today to notch the flat logs and get one more side log on and notched. Not happy with my notches yet although the last big side log is the best one so far. Covers up some of the ugliness on the one below it. We are taking Thursday off to build new stairs for the A-frame and then we are headed to a George Jones show at a casino about 40 miles away. We've earned some "fun" time.

First Logs pt.2

Cut sides off of the first 4 logs with a chainsaw using a 2x6 as a guide. Then used a power planer to smooth them out. At the end of Tuesday we had the first logs down.