Yikes! The shadows are growing longer, autumn colors are arriving, and the northwest winds are hinting at what’s to come…again. And yes, this week marks an entire year since we last posted. But ALL IS WELL!!

There’s lots of catching up to do and it won’t all happen at once, but we hope […]

It took all of a week for Mother Nature to transition from a nearly perfect autumn ‘gutter-mounting’ day to today’s overcast rainy afternoon, but it’s really great to see rain water heading to the fields, the rain gardens and, eventually, to our cistern, just as we’d planned.

Most of us don’t really think much about […]

No, the Root River has not wiped us off the face of the planet; we have not been wandering aimlessly in the woods; there is no mystery.

It’s just been a long summer—a very long summer!

October first. Days are noticeably shorter, temperatures cooler, and already the migration is underway. The colors of the valley […]

Activity at the house is moving as quickly as humanly possible these days and while the crews have a nice break this Memorial Day weekend, Nancy and I are still going full-tilt as several things near completion—and that’s great news! More on that in subsequent posts…but there’s other ‘news’ being reported this weekend that we […]

A week ago today, our cabinet bases arrived wrapped in old bedspreads and blankets. Jake Shetler and his driver/installers brought them from his Utica, Minnesota workshop on an open trailer. It was a big day.

Inside the house, Ryan King (the finish carpenter) moved saws, stacks of wood and a tangle […]

It’s 5:15, first light is filtering into our Lanesboro apartment, and the early bird’s chirps are now a chorus. I crashed at 10 last night after a full day of painting and oiling wood, then woke from a dream patterned with the swirls of red elm.

My cloud of early morning thoughts thickened and […]

As we begin the week, we are a few brush strokes away from completing the interior painting—and it’s looking good! And had it not been for the great preparation work the Newman Drywall crew did in recent weeks (see March 4, 24 and April 1 postings), I’m sure it would have been a bigger chore […]

Ceilings are one of those things that are easy to take for granted—after all, who really ever looks at ‘em, right?   Well, after seeing all the attention our ceilings have received over the past couple of weeks from so many builders, it’ll be hard to ever take them for granted again!

The sheetrock taping, mudding […]

After several sunny, warm spring-like days, clouds moved across the area today, scattered rain is in the forecast, and a possible late-winter rain/snow/sleet event may be in the offing later in the week. But spirits are high as work resumes this week on the ceiling, painting, exterior siding and more. We’ll have a few catch-up […]

When the weather was arctic, deep driveway ruts were never an issue and clean floors were an upside. But with the snow slowly melting away, it’s smart these days to get in and out of our driveway early or late in the day, when the ground is still frozen. This past week, grading and gravel […]