size matters

There hasn't been much going on here. We went to Home Depot to look at planers, and we think we found one we like. Then we talked to the tool guy. Turns out it is a good thing we changed our building log size from 6 to 5 inches. Apparently when asked if a saw will cut though a 6x6 you aren't really asking that. It is less than that. Who thought this up. And a 2x4 isn't really a 2x4. Apparently I should have said "rough cut" 6x6 when asking. Well live and learn. But does anyone know why this is? Why isn't a 2x4 a 2x4? And why is a 5x5 a 5x5 when talking about a planer but not with any other power tool. Inquiring minds want to know.
This weekend I hope to cut down more trees. YAY. Who would have thought playing with power tools could be so much fun.

A lot got done

We got a lot done on the weekend. I cut down a tree. All by myself. It was kind of neat. Me , with my 45cc chain saw, with my father in law giving me instructions. The one I liked bet was "When the tree is about to go, move the other way. Forget about the chainsaw." Righty-oh. No way did I want to be squished by a tree. The second tree I cut down got stuck in a birch tree on the way down. We are going to pull it down with the horse because we don't want to cut down more trees than we have to. Towards this end, we have changed our plans and are going to make the logs 5x5 instead of 6x6. That way we can use more of the tree. Still want to figure out how to do the dove tail thing at the end of the logs so they sort of lock together. If anyone out there knows, please let me know.
I also limbed a bunch of trees. The Monday I was sooo sore. Who would have thought I never use the muscles in my forarm. The kids were all excited to watch me cut down a tree and they all yelled "TIMBER" when it fell. Don't worry they were far enough away that even if I had screwed up they wouldn't have been hit.
Once December starts my busy time will be over and I will be able to spend more weekends up on the farm working on the house/cabin.

Questions and queries

As we start gathering the trees for the house (We have 50 down so far but we have to wait for it to get colder so the horse doesn't slip in the mud) we have a bunch of options to consider. The one we are pondering right now is Septic system or holding tank. I prefer a septic system but it is more expensive than just a holding tank, but then you have to factor in the pumping out of said holding tank 2 or 3 times a year. Yuck. Plus you have to deal with the gray water. In the land of infinite money (a land my husband and I like to pretend we live in sometimes) we would go with septic. On a positive decision making note, we may have found a place to get our roof. I know, the house isn't even built yet and already I'm thinking of a roof. What can I say, I like to be prepared. Anyway, this company Ideal Roofing, (NAYY) is based in Ottawa, Canada, which is where we are when not at the farm. They even have a cranberry roof. Love it! I think a log house should have a red roof. My husband likes forest green. See? More decisions. But I guess I will go down to the plant and see what is what.

New Purchase

I was in the local Home Depot today to pick up some screws and I thought I would wander by the power tools and drool a little. When low and behold, the 12"sliding compound mitre saw I've been eyeing was on sale $125 off ! Before tax! And then the sales guy said that until Sunday they were throwing in a $199 stand for it. I couldn't pass it up. A quick call to hubby and I bought the saw. It took up almost the whole box of the truck. I had to be careful though, because my husband was doing some work on the truck and had removed the tailgate. And somebody cleaned the cab of the truck (Thank you Jackie!) but also removed my tie downs. Needless to say I was driving a little more carefully than usual with one eye on the rearview and one on the road. I LOVE my new toys.

Janet

On or off the grid ?

We are trying to decide which is better. This cabin will never (well, not by us anyway), be a primary residence. We will stay in it on weekends and for a week at a time during haying season. That is why it will be small. It will be 20ft x 30 ft. Getting electrical run will cost about $5000 but going off the grid would be about the same. But then you have to get propane fridge and stove etc, or pay electricity bills. And would I have to double wire the house? I'm the one doing the electrical and plumbing and stuff like that, and since we are going to be hiding the wires inside the logs I would prefer not to have to re wire at a later date. Questions, questions. Plus I have to figure out how to make a spiral staircase. I haven't been able to find plans anywhere. Yes, I can find manufacturers of them but I want to make my own. Both because it would be fun and to save money. I'm big on saving money. It must be the Scott in me. I want cheap but not cheap if you know what I mean.

My First Post

This is my first post in my first ever blog. My huband, Father in law and I are building a log cabin and I wanted to be able to keep a record of it, and maybe see if there are others out there doing the same thing. I will add pictures, once I figure out how to do that.
We found a beautiful place to put the cabin, on top of a hill with great views of the surrounding farmland. Unfortunately my DH and I disagree on which is the best view. He wants to look at his parents house and I want to look across the feilds.
We have a farm and we are using the wood off the farm, so my FIL is cutting down the trees. He used to be a lumberjack so he knows what he is doing. My job on the weekend was to skid out the trees he had cut.
To those who don't know what skidding is, you attach the cut and limbed log to a chain and then attach the chain to a device called a whipple tree (it looks like a metal bar) which in turn is attached to the horse's harness. You then steer the horse out of the bush and the horse drags the log behind him. Don't feel sorry for the horse, he is huge! He is 7 feet tall at the shoulder and has a giant head. He is a Belgian, so he likes working in the bush.
I have never worked with a horse before so this was all a new experience for me. But I prevailed. I had to jump over the logs a few times when I realized I was on the wrong side and the log was coming over to squish me. A couple of times I had to let go of the reins when there was a tree in front of me and nowhere to go but once the horse gets the log out of the bush he stops.
We have 10 trees, we need 200. This is going to be a lot of work!