Opening Day 2013

We've been here one weekend already this year, but Memorial Day always feels like the first weekend. Of course, it rained all freaking weekend.

So... We played Bags in the house. (And my 12 year old with a broken arm beat me).
And we played cards.
We ate.
We went to the neighbors.
We fixed a faucet (see picture of superacids husband below)
We went to the dance at the pavilion (wow. Just wow.)

Also new this year is a flushable working toilet (woohoo!) and actual level ground in front of the cabin, with (gasp!) grass! And we finished the last window trim project. (Not the part around the patio door and transom window, that would be way too fancy.)

So, we found out what we're missing for the year (need more serving spoons and a rubber spatula - how did we manage 6 years without one?) and we still haven't mastered how to pack food so we don't have massive leftovers.

We also went on our first kayak rides. The lake is not to where it should be but take better than last year. The association continues to insult our intelligence by talking around it or not talking about it all. But at much prettier this year - so far. We don't have a lot of faith in the redneck mafia. Truly, the animals are running the zoo here.

We're hoping it stays roughly where it is. It's such a beautiful lake when it isn't dried up. Lots of wildlife!

That's about it. As always, more pictures to come. Really. I promise!

Froggy Love

My sweet sweet friend Kate was up at the cabin this last weekend, with her sweet sweet sweet kids. As I mentioned in the last post, we caught a few frogs. We told Ez she should give the frog a kiss and she didn't even hesitate.

Girl after my own heart.

Opening Day at the Cabin

Summer is here - time for long and short lazy (!) weekends at the cabin. And by lazy I mean mowing, trimming, painting, digging, carrying rocks and crawling in the mud under the cabin to fix plumbing. The difference between the cabin and home is that we drink a beer between these activities, and sometimes during.

The cabin held up well this winter. The toilet is still a manual flush and it's disgusting. Apparently the leak in the dam has been fixed but the summer has been dry so far, so it will be  awhile before we see if the yahoos really fixed it this time.

Wildlife abounds. The eagle is back, and we caught multiple frogs and tadpoles. And apparently the robins were getting busy this spring too (see photo at right - found their nest on top of my ladder - now I can't use my ladder)!  I saw their young, identifiable by their spotted breasts with a hint of orange. Lots of Goldfinches. It's just bird heaven up there.

Headed there again soon. Can't wait.

Take a chance on me...

Cue the ABBA. We have a cure for boredom here at the cabin.

My daughter and I found a clear cookie jar at a garage sale a couple weeks ago. My husband scoffed, saying that it was one more thing that will never have a use and I stuck it on top of the fridge to await inspiration.

Inspiration came in the form of a whiny seven year old who had the audacity to proclaim boredom at the cabin.

Seriously? How can you be bored? We have 35 trees on this property. Go freaking climb one.

The solution, however, was in the cookie jar. I challenged the girls to fill it with a 50-50 combination of chores and fun things to do.

They worked on it all night, filling


slips with things like "skip rocks" or "find a cool stick." but also "sweep the deck" and a few other less fun things. Hence the "chance."

Of course, being the weird kids they are, there are also some bizarre chances. "Hug the lotion." wha?

The "take your chances" jar really works. They love to draw out the slips they wrote and occasionally I get the deck swept.

Peace,

Jen


- Posted on my iPhone. Please pardon the typos!

Bring on the pressure

My deck is filthy. As a result of our 3 year long quest to fight the natural flow of water, we traipse up and down and over the deck with mud caked shoes all the time.

I had to get a new power washer, due to the fact that the one I.. er... borrowed from my dad smokes whenever I use it and blows a fuse. (sorry dad!)

Stopping by Lowes I found a fine little 1500 psi machine by Green Works.

Huh. Never heard of them. Did a little mobile recon (googled it on my phone) and found pretty good reviews, although apparently I missed a big sale on next more expensive model by only a couple days.

Gotta say, I'm digging my little green machine. I finished half the deck today, and believe me, it was in bad shape. I'll let it bake dry this week and seal it next week.

So, oil based seal or no? Should I apply a colored stain? Weigh in.

Repurposed cabinets

Saturday was the annual Grande Ave garage sale in my town.

Here's a cabinet door I found for $2.




A little white and chalkboard paint and I've got a chalkboard for the kitchen area:



I did a second one for my potting bench at home, also a repurposed project:



Have a great week!

Little projects, big impact!

Today my friend JV came up to help me add trim to the windows and doors at the cabin.
JV's a maven, so she's the right person to ask. She hadn't done it before but she fully educated herself on the process via YouTube the night before - one of the many reasons I really love that chick.
Well, I didn't measure, much, so we were a little short on supplies, but we did get two windows done. Here's a before, during and after gallery.

Before:



After:

Location:126th Ave,Zwingle,United States

Cabin Kitchen Kitsch

This is a snapshot of our kitchen. It's in a rare state of cleanliness in this photo.


The shelf is a painted 2x8 from Lowes, as are the brackets. The blue metal cabinets were in the cabin when we bought it. We painted them, but really need to re-porcelain the sink. The fridge came from craigs list, the island repurposed from my mom's kitchen. The washboard on the wall belonged to Doug's mom and gets used now and then.

Location:Leisure Lake

Grill Sergeant

So the girl likes to grill, and she's actually pretty good at it. She can also start a fire in the pit as well. Not too bad for a 10 year old.


We've been working on the kids for a few years on being helpful at the cabin. They have their chores and we don't have to nag too god awful much.

Pictures are a-coming!

So this little iPad that I can't live without does have a few limitations. Like when I try to post pictures it doesn't work so well. I do have an app for it and my iPhone so we'll get some up soon. That and customizing the blog so it doesn't look so cookie cutter.

Anna's Cabanana Pancakes

Like I've said in previous posts, I don't have much for cooking options. We try to eat healthy at the cabin (that way we don't feel so bad about the beer) and this is something we made up this weekend:

Anna's Cabanana Pancakes

Butter spray
2 bananas
Complete Pancake Mix
Water
Granola (with flax if you can get it)

Slice bananas and place about 6 per pancake in the electric skillet, coated with butter spray. Turn skillet to 360 and start cooking.

Mix pancake mix, according to directions and how many pancakes you want. Pour mixture over bananas. While cooking, sprinkle granola on the tops of the pancakes. Cook until bubbles form, then flip and cook until done. Serve with syrup, marmalade, jam and/or whipped cream.

Can't you see that it's just rainin'... Ain't no need to go outside... Makin' banana pancakes, pretend that it's the weekend..." Jack Johnson, Banana Pancakes

Hello from the Lake!

And welcome to Life at the Cabin. I started this site because I feel like there's a lack of Internet information/sharing/resources for those of us who have cabins that are actually "cabins."

Our little cabin is on a puddle of a lake in Jackson County, IA. We've got a leak in the dam and a whole lot of nothin' going on to fix it.

Our cabin is 635 sq. ft. and was gutted to the studs when we bought it in 2006. We finished it ourselves, which is readily apparent by all the drywall seams that are completely visible - and not just if you know they're there. We toil on our weekends to fight drainage under the cabin, noxious weeds and vines, groundhogs under the cabin, swarms of carpenter ants and various other forms of wildlife.

My cooking options are a charcoal grill ( husband is from Wisconsin and apparently gas grills are for men who are challenged in the shorts), an electric skillet and a P.O.S microwave that won't pop popcorn.

Sounds like heaven, eh? It is. We love to sweat and move dirt, mow 3 foot tall weeds, dig up big ass rocks and shovelful by shovelful build a wall from limestone we pulled from the terrain. It's wonderful to lay in bed and think "I can't move a friggin' muscle.

We play hard and we sleep well.

So if you have a little cabin somewhere and want to talk about the woes of draining your pipes in the winter, compare DIY remodel stories, swap groundhog deterrent remedies and other natural phenomena that occur when you live part time at a lake, stick around. We are your people.