We call our Log Cabin the Loons' Nest

A while back I had a contest to name our log cabin and "The Loons' Nest" was the winner! And appropriately so since we have loons on our lake and as many of my blog readers know - I am loony about those loons!

After I saw the cabin sign the good folks received at Magic Cabin (check out their great blog - they are living the life in Alaska!) - I had to have one from the same guy! They were kind enough to send me the link to Matthew Henry's Lodge and Cabin Signs. Matt has such a great selection and had to be one of the nicest people ever. The wooden sign will take him about a week to make. The actual background color will be tan - and the loon will have its' classic red eye.

Anyways, I'm very excited to receive my sign and hang it on my log cabin! I'll post the actual photo once I get it. If you have a name for your homestead - I'd love to hear what it is! Please post it here and how you came up with your name.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This pumpkin is carved to be the state of Michigan. It was at a halloween event we attended a couple weeks ago.

Well I'm off on my broomstick to head to the log cabin! Watch out for witches who like to make Christmas CD's!






P.S. If you are interested in a log home, I am hosting an open house on November 8th in Gaylord, Michigan. Please contact me if you would like to attend!

Christmas gifts from the Log Cabin

I know - Halloween hasn't even passed yet and I'm talking about Christmas! I am making Christmas CD's for our friends and family that come to visit us at the Log Cabin (The Loons' Nest) over the holidays. I have a membership to MP3 Suite which allows you unlimited music and movie downloads. To make it more personal, I'm pushing my skills to the max to make the CD covers for them too. The first Christmas mix I made was the Transiberian Orchestra - I just love their music!

But now I want to make another mix with your (my blog readers who aren't bored with me yet) favorite Christmas songs and the artist that sings the best rendition. For example - I like Bill Crosby's version of 'Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.' Please post YOUR SUGGESTIONS here. Once I compile them with your input - I think I should offer these as a GIVEAWAY - what do you think? Or maybe you are already able to download your own music and I'm behind the times??

I bought scrap booking supplies from Michaels to make the CD covers.

I do like my xmas stickers!

The Loft Project

As my friend Jen at Unglazed would say, I need to get "cracking" on the loft! So far we have carpeted and put a guest bed up there. On our to do list are blinds, furniture (night stand, seating area) and a room divider screen. Our loft is a little over 300 square feet and all open so I wanted to make sure I made good use of the space. The room divider screen will add a little privacy for the guests in the loft and allow me to create a separate seating / reading area. Here are a few that I found:

I found the above room screens at Home Decorators, Black Forest Decor and Target. I'm still on the hunt for more!

Geez - will somebody put some blinds up?

Memory Lane

Today's post has nothing to do with log cabins. Although we had our wedding reception in one! Today's post is dedicated to my husband on our 3rd wedding anniversary and to go down memory lane once again. Te llamo mucho Gregorio! (See Greg - I know more spanish than you think.)


We were just pronounced husband and wife. I think the polish priest on the right doesn't approve of the kissing but our deacon on the left seemed to have good humor!

Ha - kissing outside the church again!

A beautiful walk in the woods.

Isn't he handsome?!

We had a Mariachi band playing during dinner - very fun!

Okay, enough of the romantic mushy stuff. Back to the "log cabin" tomorrow.

Tomorrow's Wedding Anniversary

Tomorrow - October 28th - is our 3 year wedding anniversary! That is our wedding cake pictured above that Greg's aunt made for us. Our reception was at a log cabin on the grounds of a country club. That place was so perfect - the chinked walls, stone fireplace - we couldn't wait till we had our own log cabin back then. Greg asked me what I would like for our anniversary - did I want that digiscope for my camera? Jewelry? What?

I told him I would like to spend a long week together at our log cabin. And so my loving husband has obliged me. We leave this Friday and I'm already planning our days. Hiking, maybe some kayaking, hitting a Christmas craft show or two, have some friends visit and of course Greg's favorite - gathering rocks in his ATV - ha!

I can't wait till Friday! (Love you honey!)

Birdwatching at the Log Cabin

One of the best things about having a log cabin in northern Michigan is all the different types of birds we get to see. We have seen Bald Eagles, Pileated Woodpeckers, Black Capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches and so much more. Setting up bird feeders all over our property and seeing all the different feathered visitors have given us as well as our log cabin guests much enjoyment. I think it's great for the kids in teaching them about nature and wildlife. My 9 year old stepson can now identify every bird that visits our feeders.


If you do decide to feed the birds, I would recommend the following items:

• Buy a Field Guide for Birds so you can identify all your visitors. Amazon has a good selection here.
• Pick up a decent set of Binoculars. These are especially handy for those hikes in the woods and will also help you with bird identification.
• Bird Feeders - I have a varied selection - suet cages, tube feeder, platform feeder (not all birds will feed from a tube feeder) and thistle bag. I would highly recommend getting some baffles or squirrel proof feeders so your birds have a shot at the food!
• Good selection of Bird Seed. The quality seed will attract a better variety of bird - I stay away from the cracked corn and other cheap birdseed fillers. I get the Black Oil Sunflower seed - (many bird's favorite), suet cakes (woodpecker's favorite) and thistle for my finches.
• A heated birdbath - this was one of the best investments I ever made. This is such a popular place in the winter for birds who need water - it expends too much energy for them to eat the snow - plus they still like to take a bath in the winter. (In the summer, just unplug it and you can still use it.) It will also attract birds that won't necessarily come to your feeders. I had a Coopers Hawk drinking out of it last winter - of course no other birds joined him while he was there!
• Bird Houses - we got to experience baby Black-capped Chickadees being raised and learning how to fly this past summer - it was so precious! Not all birds will use a bird house and the birds that do use it have specific requirements sometimes and the opening has to be a certain size, etc. Consult w/ your bird supply store or online.
• Window decals or sun catchers to prevent bird strikes. Over a million birds die per year because of hitting a window. I had 4 chickadees bang their head on my cabin windows last week so I put up the sun catcher I have pictured below.

HAPPY BIRDWATCHING!!

I bought this sun catcher at a local gift shop and affixed it to my window with a suction cup holder.