A couple of drawings of a 'once upon a time' plan.

 A number of years ago I started working on plans to move into the cabin as a permanent home.

The main log section is on a dry laid stone foundation so was not suitable for plumbing.

So I had to plan an addition that would contain the water works for a kitchen and bathroom, with heat and AC.

This is a sketch I did that I ended up really liking.

While no longer needed I think it is still a very doable plan.

Well, maybe some day.

Girl Scouts restoring Old lodge.

 I have not seen this place yet, but my wife has.

An old lodge called Trefoil Lodge at one of the Girl Scout Camps they us a lot.

I will be neat to see how it ends up.

What a difference a couple of days make.

I have always liked a very white chinking between the logs I like the contrast between the grey logs and the white chinking. Just a personal preference.
We got most of the chinking down last weekend on the Adirondack Shelter.
I went out again today to check on the place and to see if our chinking had started to lighten yet.

 Last Sunday, still grey.

Today, much lighter.

 Sunday, still grey.

Today. Starting to look more like the main cabin in the back.

 Last Sunday, grey.

 Inside today, starting to lighten.

The long west rows. Getting much whiter.

Just a few more from last weekends work.

 South side finished.

 John working on one of the long rows in the back (west side).

 From the south-west.

 Diane working on the inside.

 Fast becoming one of my favorite views.

 Chairs back up to finish off our afternoon.

 A little detail around the faux floor joists.

Finished north side.

Adirondack project - Great weekend and lots done.

 Although a little warmer than I like for October I got to spend Saturday and Sunday out at the cabin working on the chinking for the Adirondack project.

While unloading my truck this handsome buck was watching me.

 This photo was right after I got started.

 By ten a.m. by good buddy had shown up and we were able to double team the outside.

 This is the south side, and the first side we got finished on Saturday.

 Nearing the end of our day, my helper takes a break.

He had finished the north side and we were getting ready to start on the back.

 Saturday evening we finished the first two rows on the west side.

Bigger gaps between the logs took a little more work.

 Another view of the back or west side.

 North side looking neat and finished

Within a couple of days the chinking will start turning whiter like the chinking on the main cabin in the back ground,

John's wife sent down the making for a tortilla soup. We had it simmering by the time she showed up. Made for a nice finish to our day.

We got all the outside finished and a little over half of the inside.

One more time out and I should have it chinked.

 After skipping last year this colorful mushroom returned this year in the same tree.

 The color and size is incredible. You can see my camera in the lower left corner to give you some perspective on size.

 While two years ago the 'shroom' was only on one side of the tree in the large cavity. This year it was on all sides and outside the cavity.

 Another photo giving you an idea of how big it is.

With the cabin in the back ground.

Found

My daughter was asking if I had a drawing pad she could borrow.
I said yes and went to find her one.
Found an old pad I had not used for a very long time.

Inside was this sketch I did of one possible configuration of what I now call the Pitt's Blacksmith shop.

Needless to say it didn't turn out anything like this sketch.

In this sketch it looks like I was planning on a very large wood shed.

Often when working on one of my building projects I will find time to do a sketch of what I hope it will look like. Sometimes I do this while taking a break from the project, other times it will be when bored at some other time in my day.

I have found I have done a sketch for most of my cabins.

This one dates back to about 1994 I believe.

My last sketch was for the Adirondack project.

Cleaning up . . .

 As I near the end of the Adirondack project I have started cleaning up the logs I have left over to see if any are usable for more than firewood.

Most have long, deep sections of bad wood. Some just have bad ends.
Some, actually most have only small areas of good wood.
But it is amazing after 150 years or more of being down and shaped how good some of the wood still is.

I still have one more big pile of
logs to go through and I hope I have enough for one small project of some kind.

As I go through the logs if I find any features I think are worth preserving I am cutting them out and will put them some where safe.

Some of the logs having some neat and well done notches that are worth keeping and using as a 'teachable moment' for anyone interested.

And for the most part I can remember where these logs were on the original building and how they were used.

This is a notch in one of the cap logs (the last log to go on).

 Another view.

 And this is that section cut out. I will clean it up and put it where people can see it, but where it is protected from the weather.

 Another view showing the other side.

I am also going to explore some of the old nails and see if I can find both hand forged and cut nails.

A little more done on the Adirondack Shelter.

 With a nice cool misty kind of day for early Sept. I got out to the cabin for a while.

The morning found me cleaning the inside of the main cabin to get ready for fall/winter/spring use.

Twice a year deep cleaning whether it needs it or not.

 No, I didn't get to take a nap here today.

 This is about where I left off on the shelter a couple of weeks ago.

Like I said, I had gotten the two short sides done with stones I had gather at a nearby creek.

 The back required a little more work because the spaces between the logs was a lot wider.

 Instead of being able to just use rocks between the logs here, which would have required long narrow rocks, I used bricks in the same method.

I then went and placed some nails in the logs around the bricks and filled the large openings with smaller stones.

Lots of stuff for the chinking to hold onto.

 The two lower rows were not quite as wide so I was able to mix stones and bricks.

Had to also work around the 'faux' joist logs.