CousinFest 2011 a success!

Even though a few of you (a-HEM, Eric, Heather) thought you had more glamorous places to be, those of us who came to the Lloyd's Landing Open House enjoyed a picture perfect day, decent food, cold beer, and of course, engaging and lively conversation from some of the most fascinating people you could hope to meet.

Kathy Adams joined us on Friday afternoon, so it was great to get the extra help getting ready, but even more enjoyable to get so much of her undivided attention!  We caught up on all the family, shared stories, and swapped recipes. 

Betsy and Mike Kileen brought Aunt Loretto, and it was great to catch up with her.  Uncle John came with his daughters Mary Jo, Sara, and Laura, and son-in-law Ken.  They were tickled with the improvements since they last saw the cabin, and didn't seem to brokenhearted about all the 70s wallpaper that is no more.

Chris Nelson came by with his friend Lorne and dog Lily, and shared some insights about the "Maurie years."  We also shared Paul Roy's version of the Canoe Incident, which both Chris and Loretto enjoyed. 

My sisters Breta and Julie were both able to join as well, with Breta brilliantly reducing her drive time by flying to Fargo and driving from there.

We will definitely do this again, and hopefully even more Hyldens will be able to join.  Thanks to all of you for the love and support you've given Dave and I as we have transformed This Old Cabin into Lloyd's Landing.

Ready for Renters

The first renters of the season are arriving tomorrow!  It's never as ready as we want it to be, but we're pretty pleased with the cabin overall.  Mostly, it's a beautiful thing to have a roof that doesn't leak.  Here's a view of our stunning new roof, which is steel in Hunter Green:

 

We had been planning to have my wonderful brothers come and help install some new windows over Memorial Day weekend, but unfortunately, the windows didn't arrive until June.  Adrift without windows to install, they kept mumbling something about never getting in a sailboat on this lake and they wandered around the property until they found something useful to do: put a steel roof on the hapless little Tool House!

Every time we make a run to the dump, we take at least one interesting item out of the Tool House.  There's just so much to choose from.  Who amongst us would clean a fish with a rusty curry comb?  So I take that to the dump.  I think my favorite item was an oddly shaped piece of heavy canvas that was imprinted with "Reward. If found, call Joe Schmoe, 555-2525"  I say Joe Schmoe because it was a name I didn't recognize at all.  I first wondered which Hylden was attempting to claim the reward, and then I wondered who would offer a reward for an oddly shaped piece of canvas.  Dave studied it for a minute, and then wisely concluded that this was actually a cover for a boat motor.  Judging from the age and wear of the canvas, the motor was no longer worthy of a reward, even if Joe were alive at the number listed.  So it went to the dump.

When my laptop is reunited with the camera and a USB cable, I'll post more photos of the many improvements to Lloyd's Landing.
Enjoy, Amy

We are Legit in the 'Hood!

We are back in our comfy, mostly bug-free home and reflecting fondly on that unfinished place up north.  I don't have photos of staged rooms, but I am proud to say that we have a legitimate street address!  This is harder than it sounds.  Wild Rice Electric can deliver service to the cabin and properly bill us, but they didn't have a correct address.  When we looked into that, it turned out that the cabin has never had a street number.  This never bothered anybody, since most people figured street addresses were for receiving mail and unwanted guests, neither of which were deemed necessary for a lake place.  But in today's world of safety-minded paranoids like us, we are partial to the notion of having a 911 identifier, and this turns out to look an awful lot like a street address:

But the Mahnomen County Sheriff's Department shall not be rushed on such matters.  After all, in a real emergency, anyone within 50 miles knows that the address of our cabin is "Two Doors Down from Paul Roy."  In fact, if you said anything other than that in an actual 911 call, the responders would be delayed while the dispatcher looked up your silly street number address.  So it was a full year from the time Dave first called upon the Sheriff's department until we were granted our 911 identifier.  We find it helpful.  I don't think it ruins the ambiance of the place.

We are most excited about the new roof that will go on the cabin next week.  Look for more pictures, proud descriptions of how the porch doesn't leak any more, and glowing reviews of our contractor.  I know I can't wait!
Eagerly, Amy

Life shouldn't imitate TV commercials

There are no pictures in this post because we have just about every room in the cabin in some state of repair.  The remaining rooms are stacked with furniture, wall hangings, and boxes of blankets and towels.  The kitchen is at least usable.

The whole week has been a lot like a Cialis commercial, where you're up to your elbows in paint and dry wall dust until the walls fall aside to reveal a picturesque lakeside setting.  The only difference is that our walls are not props and when they fall down it's usually from dry rot brought on by 40 years of neglectful cheapskates who all happen to be my relatives.  Then, as we're re-constructing the walls and NOT thinking about matching clawfooted bathtubs, Dave goes on a rant about the shoddy workmanship of the Hyldens.  Eventually we resolve the whole thing by going to the Pinehurst to watch hockey.

Actually, we haven't had a single wall fall down this week, and while Dave continues to question some of the construction choices made over the years, we really haven't had any unpleasantly large surprises.  That could change in 10 days, when we get a new roof.  But for now, we're pretty happy with the progress we're making.  I don't know how much we'll have staged by the time we leave tomorrow, but things are heading in the right direction.

Optimistically, Amy

The birds are busy, and so are we

Yesterday morning the lake was like glass, which is beautiful all by itself, with the stark trees reflecting off the surface in the soft morning light.  But it also highlights how busy the birds are this time of year.  Every time a pair flapped and squawked at each other, the whole lake rippled, and you realized how much they all have to do. 

I've never been much of a birdwatcher, but up here, even I can get into it--at least I can spot the big birds.  We've seen ducks, snow geese, hawks, bald eagles, and of course, the uppity loon.  They know everyone is trying to imitate their call, and it makes them the smuggest birds on the lake. 

This morning the wind kicked up, probably in advance of a good storm, we're trying to get as much raking done as possible.  Once the rain starts, we'll return to our inside projects, which include finishing off a bedroom and enclosing the closet in the bathroom.  The closet in the bathroom is where we placed the water heater and pump, so it's truly a water closet.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures of finished projects by the end of the week!
Ever the optimist, Amy

What is it with Shelf Paper?

I don't know if it was the cure-all of its time or if it's just a thing with my relatives, but there is hardly a flat surface that hasn't seen shelf paper.  Perfectly good wooden surfaces were covered in shelf paper, sometimes several times.  I don't mind lining the insides of drawers and cupboards with shelf paper, but coating the top of a night stand with some loopy motif in depressing winter tones just did not improve the night stand.  In fact, it looks far better without.

My favorite was the rotting picnic table.  We know that this picnic table is old because the base is made of steel and it weighs a ton.  To make moving it even more challenging, the rotting wood on the ends crumbles in your hands when you pick it up.  And yet, a fresh layer of shelf paper had been neatly smoothed over the rough-hewn top.  Yeah, shelf paper really spruced that one up.

So when I started cleaning the kitchen this morning, I took a long look at the open cupboards, which have at least three layers of shelf paper.  Some layers only go a third of the way back into the cupboard, while others make it almost all the way back.  It all had to go.  So when I started pulling the layers off, I realized that the base layer was some kind of decorator board from the 1970s.  I pulled that up, to discover that the actual cupboard was a nicely painted forest green, in great shape.

It was good that we had been planning to work inside today.  There was a light coating of snow when we arrived, and naturally it didn't melt overnight.  So this is May 2, 2011:

Thankfully, the snow was melted by the late afternoon.

Overall, we've been pretty pleased with the state of things upon arrival.  The new well turned on like a champ, and once again, the local critters did not find their way in.  One tree that we wanted to take down anyway fell without damaging anything else.  I wonder if it made a sound on the way down.

There's plenty of work to do, so I better get back at it.
Smelling of Formula 409, Amy

Collecting the 2011 lists

Dave and I are preparing for what is now our annual opening week at the cabin.  Both this year and last, we take a full week in early May, just the two of us. Even though it's all work and no play, we enjoy having the time together.  Well, there is a little bit of play--the NHL playoffs are on the big screen at the Pinehurst every night! 

So last year we loaded up the van with what we thought were the right tools and went up with not much more than a positive attitude.  We spent the first two days dealing with water issues, which hopefully won't haunt us this year, since we got a new well in June last year.  Overall we spent quite a bit of time driving to the nearest home improvement warehouse, which is 45 minutes away.

This year I'm better prepared with my lists.  I've got a list of top priority jobs, rainy day jobs, jobs I can do while Dave runs to Home Depot, and nice-to-have jobs.  I've got lists of gear to bring, cleaning supplies, and groceries.  I've got lists of things to do before we leave and people to contact while we're there.  The positive attitude is still riding shotgun, but naivetee has been left behind.

Here's a picture of the adjacent State Forest from Spring, 2010.  It's been a cold winter, so I'm thinking things won't be so green up there this time.

Thinking warm thoughts, Amy