THE TWINS

D and I were startled on the hill during one of our many hikes years ago. First there was rustling, then some bleating. A small, spotted fawn came bounding up toward us through the tall grass and immediately froze. It didn't expect to find us. Maybe he was looking for his mother? Not far behind we heard more noise suggesting a second little guy. They disappeared as quickly as they appeared. We were thrilled with the surprise introduction.

(click to enlarge)

The next season we spotted two again, grazing quietly up on the hill while the sun silently set. Their antler's proudly displayed four points for each young buck. They looked identical. Could they be the same two we had unexpectedly met a year or so before? We would like to think so.

That is how we named Twin Buck Hill.

Our family knew the story but Charlie and the guys didn't which is why it was so incredible when we saw these posts being peeled and perfectly placed on the front deck for all to see...

Charlie called them the twins.
Coincidence? Divine intervention? Dumb luck?
Charlie said it was his angels and you know what...I believe him!

(right twin)

(left twin)

WORK WEEK TWO

August 1 - August 10, 2007.


Before the crew came back from their break D ran up for the window delivery. They are so cool and will look great with the logs.

They drilled - no oil but lots of water.

(entry in progress)

(front deck progress)

It was another full 10 days - bags on at 8:00 and work until beer-thirty, most times for us much later. D spent his time juggling between fulfilling his deck building promise and acting as general contractor (keeping lumber and supplies on hand) with moments of electrical work sprinkled in between. Juggling all those things makes for very slow progress on everything. At times it was very frustrating. Especially when guessing at the overhang's lighting placement and taking most of the day putting them up only to spend the next day reinstalling them in the correct spots...F..U..N!

(first installation)

(correct locations)

Heave-ho with the osb.

The guys muscling up the overhangs.

Good catch from Traverse Bay.

More pictures from week two here.

CARHARTT DAY

Here's that good looking Carhartt crew again. I was seriously expecting a group of old guys with beer guts and suspenders to pull in the drive - ha ha! Mike and Anne were nice enough to pass along the pictures they took. They are so great I wanted to share them with you. Check out a few of my favorites below. To see the rest go here.

WORK WEEK ONE

July 16 - July 23


Charlie and the crew were off like gangbusters. In order to keep the job site moving their work week is actually 10 days in a row working 10 hours a day and six guys make it a double crew. They sleep on site then break for a long weekend, come back and start again. Real troopers!

(meet Philadelphia Cream Cheese)

We have friends in high places...Ann and the rest of the crew (pic above) from Carhartt paid a visit to the job site. They observed, took notes and questioned the guys about work wear product. Oh yeah, and they brought some great swag. Thank you so much Carhartt gang for making the trip! We are looking forward to seeing Carhartt chaps in the near future!




Our job was to build the outside decks. Did I mention we've never built a deck...ever? Let me tell you it was a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows. Charlie's eagle eyes were never far away and his wealth of knowledge and experience was our guide. He did his best to keep us from messing up but we did anyway. I won't tell you the details because you can't see the fubar but it's there and D & I will always know it. Of course Charlie had a solution so we trudged on and worked our hardest to keep up with the crew. The front deck tied in with the roof so we needed it done pronto. You gotta love a working vacation!

(meet the deckheads)
Our reinforcements arrived after a few panicked calls for help.
We couldn't have built the deck without them.
Thank god for great family!

(a good deck moment)

Taking a breather from deck duty, you can see the cabin forming quickly around us...

Did you know that each log is handled about 22 times before it is finally set into the cabin wall?


(second floor)

It didn't take D long to fire up his own chainsaw and take a stab at sawing like a real logger. He learned alot of tricks from Charlie and the crew. He even tried his hand at log peeling...

(setting the beam)

Even after all the long, hot days of hard work - sometimes not eating dinner until dark - it was very hard to leave. That morning, the beam was set and Charlie and the crew began installing the roof trusses and it looked like a totally different cabin. But it was back to the city for D & I. The above pic it what we saw in our rear view windows.

To see the entire first week of picture click here.