You didn’t hear a peep from me during September. I’ve been in New Hampshire with my partner, working remotely and riding bikes in Vermont on the weekends. It’s been an amazing month!

🍁 Now that the leaves are turning, I couldn’t be much happier. I’m returning to New York in mid-October to wrap up the final work before the winter. ❄️

Here’s what’s been going on with the cabin project in the last month!

🛠️ Log Cabin Repair (Again)

I’m heading back to meet the log repair folks that did such a wonderful job last time. They were also kind enough to spread the work out into two trips, to save my checkbook from a massive hit. 😅

They said I should have knocked the cabin down. I’m glad I didn’t. I believe in paying craftspeople for their craft so I don’t mind the cost. The cabin was basically thrown in for free with the property. The project does require some financial planning though.

They repaired all the glaring issues last time. This time around, they’ll be fixing the logs that will become a problem in the next 5 years. After their work is done, and with the new coat of stain and sealant, the cabin exterior work should finally be wrapped up. That is a huge deal! I can start to focus on the cabin interior next year.

Electricity! ⚡

The stretch goal this year is to get electricity wired and connected. I did have the utility company come to the cabin and tell me what the right steps would be. They informed me that the utility pole is privately owned by me (who knew!?) and is connected to the grid. To get a meter installed and to connect the cabin to the grid, I just need to pass an inspection.

Well, I ripped every bit of electric wiring out of the cabin in the demolition so there’s nothing to inspect, besides the old breaker box. I had ideas of roughing in electrical myself, but I find myself at the crossroads of learning things and getting stuff done. I think it’s time to hire someone.

Luckily there’s only 400 square feet to wire up

The same company I called does solar installation, so that will be a future piece of the puzzle to plan for. I’d love to have the cabin running on solar and with well water. Water might be the goal for next year.

Some Plans for the Future

I can’t give guidance to an electrician on what I want if I don’t have a clear plan. So my focus lately has been on designing the interior space. I found FloorPlanner.com and have been noodling around with designs for a few days now. I think I finally have the layout solidified, so I’ll be working towards this.

The dream is to have a solid kitchen space, cozy living room with books and a record player and a sleeping loft (not pictured here). The patios are extremely optional at this point.

So all that’s left now is…

New Flooring
New Windows
Staining the interior
Building the patios
Uh, everything else you see? 😂

As I wrote last time, this project is about the doing-of-it, about seeing a dream come true and not at all about getting-it-done. That’s the only sane attitude I can imagine with an endless, joyful project like this one.

Adios!

That’s the dreams for now folks. I’ll write you again in October when the logs are repaired and, perhaps, there is power and lighting in the cabin for the first time since the 90s. If you aren’t getting these posts in your email, consider subscribing! I don’t write that often, I promise.

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Hey! If you’re new here, this is West Bluff Food Forest. I'm building a permaculture orchard and cabin home in the Finger Lakes region of New York. I write about the lessons I'm learning and update you along the way.

West Bluff Food Forest

Designing the Next Phase of the Cabin