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.