September 8, 2022 – Leelanau County, MI – Written by Jim

Sorry if that title is so confusing. There’s a lot to unpack here.

Back when we put up the barn, I had three levels of scaffolding erected while I was siding the back of it. Our friend George visited during that phase and looked me square in the eyes and said, “Be very careful. If you get hurt, this all comes to a grinding halt.” Rarely a day has gone by where I haven’t thought of him saying that. And I have heeded those words.

Most accidents are a result of being tired. I had been pushing hard to get our flooring done, all the while multitasking and putting baseboards in the closets as I went. It was nearing the end of the day and I was really dragging, so I decided to wind up the air hose and put it in the barn for the night. I laid it over the compressor and turned to walk out the door and hooked my foot around a loop in the hose. I was so focused on the concrete I was about to meet up with that I didn’t notice that I had attempted to grab the upper part of Diana’s china hutch that was standing by itself near me. BAM. I hit the ground hard on my left hip. To add insult to injury, the hutch came down on my shoulder and head a split second later. Thank goodness the glass doors and shelf did not break.

At first, I thought I broke my hip. It took me a bit to get myself up and realize that I was probably just going to be really sore. I decided to take it easy the next day and see what the following day brought. I did a little work that day before stepping wrong and pain shot up my leg. Now I was really sure something bad was going on in there! Off to the med center for X-rays. Luckily, I didn’t have anything broken, but I had pulled some muscles and bruised the heck out of my hip. I took the next three days off.

Once I got back to work, I somehow managed to get the flooring done!

With that behind me, I started installing and spray painting the doors.

Once the pre-hung doors were installed, I took the doors off the hinges and painted them in the spray booth I had set up in the barn. Between the 6 doors and the 30 bifold panels, the sprayer got a workout!

I even managed to NOT trip over the air hose! As those were drying each day, we installed the closet shelving and any other baseboard or door trim we could. As of now, we just have to trim out the closet door openings and any adjoining baseboard, plus a few other minor odds and ends. We are getting close to having the inside of the cabin done. After that, we only need to do the entryway deck and we will be finished.

One other thing that I want to mention: the reason this project has moved along as well as it has and stayed on track is because of Diana keeping the wheels on our train! Not only has she helped with the project itself, she has done nearly everything we both normally do on a daily basis. I’m a lucky guy, indeed!

Our other new addition:

Asphalt! We have had several heavy rains that washed out the steep portion of our gravel driveway, so we decided to pave it to the top of the hill. I’ve been adding the white drain stone along the sides to help with drainage and to add support if a wheel goes off the edge.

So you might be wondering what the “Accidentals on purpose” was all about. Many of you know that we follow the band The Accidentals, as many folks from around here do. We jumped at the chance to see them when they played locally at Fountain Point Resort along with Kaboom Collective, a student orchestra based near Cleveland, Ohio. It was our 40th anniversary gift to each other.

Kaboom had ‘reimagined’ many of the bands older favorites. Sav and Katie had met in orchestra class in high school, so hearing their songs performed by an orchestra blew them away.

Katie shredded her electric guitar and belted out Melissa Etheridge’s “I’m the Only One” at one point, which was totally unexpected. We loved every minute of the show!

So the next time we write, we should be wrapping up our building project. I will be sure to keep an eye out for my nemesis, the air hose. Be sure to stay tuned for that post. Until then, safe and happy travels to all!