Good Friday

We are headed out the door today to Chicago to spend Easter weekend with my aunt, uncle (whom I affectionately call "The Padrino") and cousins! We always have a lot of fun and eat a lot of good food.

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Easter with your families! I'm not sure if I'll have internet access this weekend so I look forward to catching up with all of you on Monday!



P.S. Will anyone be eating green eggs & ham? Ha,ha!

Log Cabin Follower Winner

Greg drew the first winner of my Log Cabin Follower Giveaway and the winner is Sarah at Ten Years! Sarah has 2 blogs, a knack for decorating, a beautiful family and is a wonderful photographer. Be sure to check out her blog! Congratulations Sarah! Please email me your address at shelleyupnorth at gmail dot com. I will be sending you a surprise little gift from my nature store!

My next winner will be drawn next Thursday!

A drawing and a good recipe for Easter!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow night for my drawing! I will draw a name out of my log cabin followers and send them a little gift from my Nature Store. To all my followers (and visitors!) - thank you for visiting me! I have met so many wonderful people!

On a side note, I have discovered a great recipe for corn casserole by Paula Deen! This would make a great side dish for the Easter table. My brother-in-law hooked me onto this and then I had to make it. Yummy and easy to make!

Corn Casserole - Paula Deen
Ingredients
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8-ounce) package corn muffin mix (recommended: Jiffy)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter. Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with Cheddar. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm.

Last of the photos

I just realized I've taken thousands of photos of our log home. Here is the last of them. Some of these you may have already seen before. Our place is still a work in progress and my next projects include landscaping, finishing the basement and completing the loft furnishings. Oh - and getting a real LIVE dog to put in there! Greg - if you're reading this - get ready!

P.S. Each Thursday for the rest of April, I am going to draw a name out of my followers and send them a SURPRISE GIFT from my nature store. So you get ready too!






Here's the loft freshly carpeted. Looks like a great place for a party!





My moose themed bathroom.




I don't know who is going to change those light bulbs!





Can you picture Scarlett O'hara coming down these stairs? ha,ha!






Here's our log cabin before it was stained.





We stained it with a medium red-tone brown. The darker stains last longer - approximately 5 - 6 years.




This year we'll be able to stain our deck. This is my observation point to check on all my neighbors. Seriously.





Marvin has requested a window seat. We'll see....

More Log Cabin Anniversary Photos

I'm still reflecting on my log cabin construction memories from a year ago! My biggest memory was of all the snow and the poor crew shoveling constantly. In the beginning they had to build a bonfire to keep warm until they could get the heat installed. We have a full log home but put a half log wall on the lake side to provide extra insulation due to all the windows on this wall and the inevitable cold that would blow up from the lake. Here are some photos from when the crew was working on the interior:


Here we were still waiting on the windows to be delivered.










Framing the interior walls on the main floor.





Our log staircase was installed. It's one of my most favorite items in our log home.





I'm probably sitting here cuz none of the construction crew will let me use their tools and help. Ha! Ha!




I think I could climb that scaffolding....




Framing the kitchen cupboards.



One of our bedrooms.




Our view from the master bedroom.




Randy our GC and builder is a big guy - about 6"4. It was amazing to us how he could swing around so easily on the scaffolding and reach those touch spots. I'm pretty sure he could carry a tree with one hand. Seriously!




Our maple hardwood floor that our builder got a good deal for us on. He had all the right connections.



My Loon bathroom which is located in the basement.




6 panel doors in the bedrooms.



I'll post the last of these tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed looking back with me!

One Year Anniversary at the Log Cabin

I missed my log cabin anniversary date. We've been in our log cabin now for one year! We've experienced all the seasons (mental note to self - become a snow plow driver and get very rich in Michigan)and the projects never end. I thought it would be fun to share a few photos with you from the beginning....


We had just closed on our property and they were starting to dig the basement. I offered assistance, the builder said no thank you. Ha!



It was at the end of October and the last of the fall leaves were beginning to fade away.



The logs arrived on November 9th 2007 - on my husband's birthday!



Here's the crew loading the logs onto the site. I asked if I could use the boom truck. Surprisingly they said no.



I've got windows! All the better to spy on my neighbors with! Just kidding...I think they spy on me.



The snow came! The crew was scurrying to put the roof on.



Framing the roof!



Starting to look like a log cabin. I asked Greg if we could camp in there yet - he said no. Surprising again - huh?


I'll post a few more photos later this weekend. (Unless you've already seen enough of my glory days. Let me know!) Have a good weekend!

Nature Lover

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
~Native American Proverb

"Let us a little permit Nature to take her own way; she better understands her own affairs than we." ~Michel de Montaigne




This is a photo of Kolke Creek which is not too far from where our log cabin is located. Can you see the animal tracks in the snow? Perhaps from a rabbit or squirrel. I'm looking forward to going back and catching a glimpse of my wildlife friends.