We received a copy of the preliminary floor plans from Battle Creek Log Homes today! Woo Hoo! Now to review and make any changes we feel necessary.
Monthly Archives: June 2013
trail happy
A major reason for purchasing a piece of land the size we had, was so that we would have plenty of room for riding ATVs and dirt bikes. We now had the land, but it was completely wooded, so a trail would have to be cleared before we could make use of it. Dave was completely psyched when one of our neighbors put him in touch with a fellow who lived nearby that might be able to help us out. He happened to own a John Deere 333D excavator with a Loftness Carbide Cutter attachment that will tear down trees and grind up anything in its way, creating an 8′ wide path as it moves along. Though it looked like a lot of fun to use, Dave opted to have Todd do the job for us. Dave had been down the weekend prior and marked the area for our trail and, having received word that it had been mostly cleared, we were anxious to drive down to the lake and check it out. Todd had said he still had a bit of clearing left to do, but the trail was mostly complete.
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- I want one of these!
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- really, I do
Check out this video clip of a carbide cutter in action….how much fun does this look?! (This was not filmed on our property.)
Undaunted by the fact that it had been raining for days and days and knowing that the ground would most likely be a bit muddy, we headed down early Sunday morning with the hopes of doing a test run. We also wanted to see how the new dock had faired with all the recent rain. We were not surprised to find the water spilling over the dam as we drove up to the lake.
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- the lake was clearly high after the recent rains
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- the dock generally sits a foot above the water line…the lake had risen right to the base but no further
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- excess water spilling over the center of the dam
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- I love the waterfall that’s created in the collapsed area of the dam after a heavy rain
Happy to find that the dock had withstood the high waters, we turned our attention to what we had really come down to do. We suited up and hopped on our vehicles.
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- Dave says, “really? you’re taking pictures of this?”
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- awesome new helmet Dave
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- Max suits up
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- mustn’t forget the gloves
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- hey Max, you forgot your chin strap
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- thanks dad!
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- dang these things are tight, even on my little pinhead
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- Max and Jill, ready to go
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- let’s do it!
We crossed over Colemans Lake Rd and headed over to the other side of the property to see what we would find. We drove directly into the entrance of the new trail without considering that we might want to check it out before bringing Max along on his dirt bike. Probably not an awesome parenting decision. The path was extremely slippery, very rough, and still had stumps protruding from the ground as well as broken branches hanging down from the trees above. Max lasted about half way into woods before refusing to go any farther. I had been following behind on my ATV keeping an eye on him and could see that he was having difficulty, so was somewhat relieved when he wanted to turn around and go back. Dave, too, was happy enough to take his own dirt bike back and trade it in for the ATV. We rode Max back to the truck where he happily sat playing on his iPad while Dave and I went back to check out the rest of the trail atop the much more stable ATVs.
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- hooray, we have trails!
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- hmmm, it’s a little muddy
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- uh oh, Max is starting to slide and it’s making him pretty nervous
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- Max say’s no way is he driving through this
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- ever the patient dad, Dave walks Max’s bike across to drier land
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- Max was NOT ready to advance from completely flat land, to riding on such precarious terrain, but at least he’s still smiling!
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- Dave ditches his dirt bike and hops on the ATV
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- we head back over to see how far we get
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- yep, it still needs more clearing I do believe
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- that was much fun but I really need to figure out a solution to the helmet hair issue
We had much fun on the ATVs, but definitely need to wait till the trail is cleared completly before taking the dirt bikes back out! Once we’d explored as much of the trail as we could, we headed in, cleaned off as much of the mud as possible and called it a day.
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- Dave drives the ATVs into the lake to clean them off
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- yep, it’s working
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- he then rinses off the lake water with a few gallons of fresh water we had brought along
Let the building process begin!
The contract has been signed! Next step, collaborate with Battle Creek Log Homes designer to come up with the perfect log cabin.
play time
Having spent all Saturday and Sunday working on the new dock, we were looking forward to going back on Memorial Day to test it out. So, Monday morning we loaded up the dogs, picked up Max’s BFF, Chris, and headed down to Ford for a day of fun at the lake.
The boys wasted no time and headed down to the dock….
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- Waffles and Daisy check out the new dock
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- Chris and Max debate whether or not to jump in the lake
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- a little squishy on the bottom but they soon get used to it
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- Waffles, feeling very left out
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- come on mom, can’t I go join them?
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- Max, trying to keep Chris out of the kayak…what are friends for?
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- paddling towards the dock
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- Waffles, ready to help the boys back onto the dock
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- Daisy ready to lend a hand as well
Dave hopped into the one man kayak to try a little fishing…
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- no Waffles and Daisy, you can’t come along
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- first cast…
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- back on the dock, Daisy and Waffles can’t believe that Dave has left them behind
Having tired of the lake, the boys put on their dry clothes and took out the ATV and dirt bikes…
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- Chris and Max choose their vehicle
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- round and round they go…
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- Dave joins in the fun
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- um, Dave, where’s your helmet?
Time for lunch so we headed up to Waffles Ridge….
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- we loaded up the ATVs
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- and headed up top while Waffles and Daisy ran after us
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- good girls!
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- lunch time
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- time to roast the marshmallows
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- yummm
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- the view of the dock from Waffles Ridge
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- Dave and Waffles hangin’ out on the ridge
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- sure am thirsty ma
After a full day we packed everything back into the shed and headed home. I do believe a good time was had by all!
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- Dave hangs up the tools
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- and the toys
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- and me? I’m supervising…and drinking sangria 🙂
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- the boys bring in the kayak and helmets
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- then put away the vehicles
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- yep, still love this place!
Categories: Fun times at Colemans Lake
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no dock? no problem, we can fix that
One thing I’ve learned through the years, living with Dave “Just-Frame-It-Up” King, is that much can be accomplished on one’s own with the right amount of research and planning, the right tools and materials, as long as you break it down into simple steps. The successful building of our dock on Memorial Day weekend was just one more example that has reenforced that lesson.
Day one:
We drove down Saturday morning, feeling pumped and ready to get to work, thankful that the weather was supposed to be warm and sunny all weekend. We stopped in Petersburg to pick up supplies at one of our most favorite stores- The Home Depot. I remember as a kid being dragged into Hechinger’s, which was my dad’s favorite home improvement store, and thinking there could be no place worse on earth to be. Unless, of course, it was the fabric store with my mom, but I digress. I find it ironic, now, that I can spend hours perusing the isles of Home Depot, thinking of all the projects that we may want to undertake, much like my dad did back in the day. (And yes, I do the same thing when I go to the fabric store these days.)
After loading the lumber into our van, we continued on down to Colemans Lake. We were a little bummed that the sky began to cloud up as we approached the lake, but no worries, we have learned that it is always breezy at the lake so had packed extra layers just in case it was a little chilly. And thank goodness, because, sure enough, when we pulled onto the property, it was completely overcast and a bit chilly. Knowing some of us were going to get wet, we were hoping for warmer temperatures, but we would continue on with our project even so.
We unpacked the van and operation build-the-dock began.
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- Max and Dave unload the lumber
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- Dave lays out the dock frame
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- and dock construction begins
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- Max helps Dave find the center point
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- just because….
Once the frame was built, we walked it over to the lake. The next step was to put 2 x 4s out into the water, to act as temporary supports for the frame, until we could get the posts in place.
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- Dave attaches smaller boards at the base of the 2 x 4s, that will rest on the lake floor
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- we walk the frame to water’s edge
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- Dave wades out into the chilly lake in order to put the frame in place
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- Max helps hold the frame along the shore
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- there was no talking Max into wading out to help Dave, so guess who gets to go out and lend a hand
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- and this is the point that the cold water hits my stomach…brrrrr
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- I hold the frame while Dave puts the 2 x 4 in place
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- Dave holds the frame in place while I place the first screws
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- on to the second support beam
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- now to check to see if it is level
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- just a slight readjustment is needed
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- frame in place – now we can drive the posts
Next, we took a ladder out into the lake so that Dave could use it to stand on while he drove the posts into the lake floor using a sledge hammer.
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- we attached smaller boards to the posts in order to be able to tell how far down into the lake floor to drive the posts
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- Dave carries over the posts..notice the sun is shining on that side of the lake
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- Max hands him the first post…still cloudy where we’re working
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- first post in!
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- placing the next post inside the frame
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- he then climbs up on the ladder and begins to pound it in
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- last corner post in place and he’s still smiling!
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- measuring where to attach the frame
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- yay, it’s level, we can remove the temporary supports
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- the cloud cover is moving off slowly and the sun is working it’s way toward us – hooray!
Corner posts in place, we were able to get out of the chilly water and work from dry land. Wouldn’t you know, at this point the clouds pushed off and sun finally made it’s way to where we were working.
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- we laid down a few boards so we could walk out and place the center posts
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- putting the last post in place
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- Dave and his right hand man, Max, after a full day’s work
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- the end of day one, we were quite pleased with our progress
We decided this was a good stopping place, so we packed the remaining supplies and tools into the shed, with plans to return the following morning and pick up where we left off. We were very pleased at the progress we’d made and extremely happy that it had all gone smoothly and according to plan!
Day 2:
After picking up more lumber at Home Depot, we returned Sunday morning to finish what we had started the previous day. We were happy to see that the dock frame was still standing when we arrived back at the lake. The plan for the day was to use the chainsaw to remove the top of the posts, making them level with the frame, in order to be able to lay down the floor boards. We also wanted to attach cross beams under the deck frame to create more stability and then, after placing the floor boards, stain the dock. Though still a bit breezy, the sun was shinning brightly so it was a perfect day to be working outside.
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- Dave works on placing the supporting cross beams
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- Max, ever ready to help out, hands Dave the screws
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- cross beams in place
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- Dave saws off the tops of the posts
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- on to the next one
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- t-i-m-b-e-r-r-r-r…
After the last post was topped off, Dave and Max carried the floor boards down to the lake and began attaching them to the dock frame.
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- Max and Dave bring down the floor boards
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- Max places the first screw
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- Dave supervises
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- I help push the boards in place
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- Max places the last screw
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- after the board are all in place, Dave saws off the overhanging boards to create an even edge
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- construction finished, Dave takes a well deserved beverage break
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- I join him
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- while Max tests out his handy work
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- woof…
After construction was complete, we stained the dock so it would be ready for us to put it to use on Memorial Day.
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- Max sweeps off the dirt to prepare the dock for staining
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- Dave and I roll on the stain
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- after finishing, we decided we didn’t really like the way the crossing support beams looked so decided to remove them
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- yes, much better – after the floor boards were placed they stabilized the structure enough that we didn’t really need the cross beams anyway
We wrapped everything up at that point and headed for home, looking forward to returning the next day to make good use of our newly constructed dock!
the coleman cabin 
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