14-March Cabin Time

Today I put a 2nd coat of stain on the south gable end wall above the kitchen and sleeping loft. Yesterday I applied a 2nd coat of satin poly on the living room east wall, put the 1st coat of stain on the south gable end wall and a 1st coat of poly on the west wall. Also trimmed out the south painted wall of living room and repaired 3 squirrel feeders so they'll hold whole cobs of corn. Can't let the squirrels starve!

Winter at the cabin

Although the cabin was built to accomodate modern conveniences and is wired for power supplied by a 4000 watt generator or batteries, the best time to enjoy it is when no power is involved. This late winter afternoon picture of the lanterns illuminating the porch while a warm fire burns inside makes curling up for a cold winter's night something to look forward to.

Kitchen

The cabin kitchen is still under construction but the main asset is this small 30" wood burning cook stove. It was purchased on Craigslist for $200 in Hocking County, Ohio. The stone veneer is from Menard's. We colored the gray stones with liquid charcoal mortar coloring and also used the charcoal coloring for the mortar. The hanging pot rack was purchased at Amazon.com for about $30. Kitchen base cabinets are from Lowe's and are floor stock items. The cabinet counter top is from Menard's for $45. The eating bar in the kitchen is handmade using about $60 of supplies from Menard's. Its a sheet of aspen wood with 1"x5" aspen boards trimmed with molding strips from Lowes. It was stained Early American and then an acrylic seal was poured on top. The padded saddle bar stools are from JC Penny for $30.

ManCamp fireplace



The new firebox was a Craig's List bargain at
$200. To build a fireplace, I started with a good foundation



Once finished and confirmed to be functional and safe,
a sense of pride having accomplished a major project.



The fireplace is the focal point inside the cabin. Since I don't consider myself a carpenter, a contractor or a mason, I didn't know how to build a cabin let alone a fireplace; but Nic really wanted a fireplace in it. Once the cabin was well on its way under roof, the option of a fireplace soon became a reality. We agreed we wanted a rustic, 'manly' look and now that it's finally finished, we're satisified with the results. It was economically built using some items purchased on line. The 36" fire box was purchased unused on Craigslist for $200. The stones are veneer stone from Menard's that I colored myself using charcoal liquid mortar coloring. I think we used 5-6 boxes of stone at about $40/box. The mantel is a hand hewed timber that we purchased on Craigslist for $45. It came from a 150 year old homestead on the banks of Paint Creek below Bainbridge, Ohio. It was stained a dark brown and sealed in semi gloss polyseal. The paneling was purchased from Menard's and stained with Early American stain and sealed with a satin poly. For about $600, we got a bargain of a fireplace that we're proud of.