Beginning the Cabin Remodel

On Saturday, March 21st, Abigail and I headed to the cabin for a single day trip. We had 2 goals for the day and got to work right when we arrived.

Abs warming up by the heater

After getting our supplies unloaded, we started taking down the counter and shelves. After that, I began pulling out the beds and cleaning underneath and behind them.

Counter top disassembled

No more TV shelf

Cleaning under the beds

After a quick lunch, I cleaned everything out of the bathroom and we got the target set up to do some shooting. Abigail has gotten a lot more confident with the 22, so I moved the target out to 50 yards which is challenging even for me with open sights. For the most part, she held about a 5 inch grouping in her shots which was awesome. I then followed up by finishing sighting in the muzzleloader with a single pellet of powder. 

Abs eating some lunch at our
make-shift table

Target practice with the 22

Bathroom all cleaned out

After shooting, we loaded up all of the lumber that we took down to take home to cut, prime, and paint for the new counter top and shelves then headed out on the ATV to pull trail camera cards. We got a lot of great pictures over the previous 3 weeks but we were also greeted with 2 fallen trees on the ridge food plot (to be cleaned up another day). 

Heading out to check trail cameras

Tree down!

Before heading for home, we did the last step of taking down the bathroom wall and packing up the last few things into tubs. Abigail was a huge help on this trip and it was especially nice to have some extra hands. It was another beautiful day at the cabin and this trip really kicked off the remodel work. Including this weekend, I will spend 8 of the next 10 weekends working on the remodel along with planting and other chores at the cabin. There is a lot of work to be done but I'm very excited to do it!

Cabin Cleanup and Various Other Jobs

I headed for the cabin on the evening of February 28th with a cold coming on. I knew that I wouldn't be feeling great for the weekend either way so I figured I might as well get some work done. My main focus was continuing the big job of packing up the cabin and cleaning.

I got an early start on Saturday morning as plugged in the vacuum and worked on getting all of the cobwebs that have built up over the last several years. I also trimmed off the excess spray foam that we had used to fill in some gaps in the drywall on the ceiling. After that, I turned my attention to taking everything off the walls and packing things away into tubs.

Back of the cabin with most things packed up

Old carpet pieces removed and everything else in tubs and crates

After the frost got burned off, I changed and headed outside to get a bunch of random jobs done. I messed around with the ATV battery for awhile before realizing that it needed some water added to it. After getting that handled and putting a charger on the battery, I hooked up the wagon to the riding mower and headed for the ridge. I had some downed trees to cut up and I also installed the new seat and back on the ridge tree stand.

New seat and back rest on the ridge tree stand

There is a country song in there somewhere

Downed tree in the big field food plot

Next, I grabbed the hand seeder and some clover seed and headed out to do some frost seeding. I had a good stand of clover in the ridge food plot last year so I just lightly over seeded that. Then I headed to the south end of the small field. The clover was a bit sparse there last year so I over seeded that a little heavier. Frost seeding has worked great for me in the past so I'm hoping for the same results this year. 

Ready to spread some clover seed

With the remainder of daylight, I hooked up the ATV mower and mowed off the plot screen on both food plots to prepare for burning later this spring. I also worked on getting several of the t-posts left behind in the orchard out of the ground and removed the old cages along side the cabin as well. 

ATV and mower ready to work

What was left of the small field plot screen

The brush mower did a good job

As the sun was setting, I walked down the big field to get a good picture of the sunset. There was a doe out feeding in the big field food plot so I snapped some pictures of her too. Even though I wasn't feeling the best, it was a beautiful ending to a great day. 

Doe feeding in the big field food plot

Beautiful sunset

After mass on Sunday morning, I got out the target and started working to sight in the muzzleloader with a single Triple-7 pellet for Abigail to hunt with. It is a tedious task to sight in a muzzleloader but I managed to get 8 shots in and am about half way there I think. A couple more range sessions with it and we should be good to go for youth season. 

Sighting in the muzzy

With everything done that I had planned, I headed for home late morning. I will be returning in a couple of weeks to finish cleaning in the cabin and take down all of the walls and shelves in preparation for finishing the drywall the first weekend of April. There is a lot of work ahead, but I'm excited for it!

Pruning the Orchard and Other Fun

On the weekend of February 22 - 23, I headed for the cabin with both Abigail and Bridget in tow. After getting things setup and eating some lunch in the cabin, we headed off in search of shed antlers.

Everyone needs a special shed finding mask

Searching for some antlers

The remainder of the afternoon was spent working on pruning the fruit orchard and yelling at the girls as they refused to get along with each other. Between fighting, they did actually manage to help me a little bit by carrying the sticks and branches over to the burn pile. 

The girls helping out

Before dinner, I gave the girls the opportunity to each choose a spot to place a trail camera. In addition, I put the cameras on video mode to make it even more exciting. They loved riding around in the wagon to find just the right tree for their cameras. 

All ready to put up trail cameras

Abigail picked a tree along the big field food
plot because she saw a lot of deer tracks

Bridget picked a tree on the ridge food plot, because that is where
all of the big deer are

As I made Easy Mac and hot dogs for dinner, the girls curled up in their beds and Abigail read to Bridget. After dinner we settled in for a movie and went to bed. 

Abigail reading from the top bunk

Bridget listening from the bottom bunk

After church and breakfast the next morning, I worked on finishing up pruning the orchard. It ended up being more work then I expected but I'm glad to have it done. 

Breakfast of champions

Abigail helping while her sister plays inside, it was much
better this way

Freshly pruned orchard

After the work was done, I loaded up the 22 rifle, target, and both girls and we headed for the big field blind for Abigail to do some more target shooting. Once again, Abigail did an excellent job shooting and following directions. Bridget also did a great job watching and listening. 

Abigail lining up her shot

Bridget waiting "patiently" in the wagon

Bridget plugged her ears because the
rifle was so loud...

While the burgers were on the grill for lunch, I began packing up some things in the cabin as well as installing a new seat and back rest on the cabin tree stand. 

Working to pack everything up in the cabin

New seat and back rest

Firing up the grill for lunch

After lunch, I gave each girl another ride on the ATV before packing everything up and heading for home. The girls were not very good at all for this entire trip as they just could not get along with each other. I think it may be quite some time before I'm willing to take both of them to the cabin together again. In spite of that, we did have some fun and made some memories. There is a lot to look forward to in the weeks and months to come. 

Bridget's final ride on the ATV 

Abigail's turn

Bridget being silly