Construction Mode

I feel like I am writing a serial for the movies. As you can tell from the picture, the fire site is pretty well cleaned up. Even today it looks better than this picture. We have also got Planning and Zoning approval for two new cabins. New #26 will be a one-bedroom romantic cabin similar to 4, 5, and 6. The difference is that it will have two queen beds in it. We have had requests from couples who prefer two beds but like the romantic cabins. New #27 will be a three-bedroom cabin similar to #9. It is going to have an entertainment room with comfortable seating and a big TV for viewing movies. It will also have an outside hot tub like we put next to #9 this summer. Both cabins will have gas fireplaces (surprise!). We are also trying in-floor off-peak heating for both units. Our goal is to have both these units finished by June 1st , but we probably wouldn’t start taking reservations for occupancy before June 15th. That may change some as the construction moves along. They will start pouring cement next week so keep your fingers crossed.

The top picture is our wood-fired oven. It is almost done. Bruce has about two hours work to finish the outside rocks. Jason Merrill is almost finished with the roof, chimney coverings and door. The antler sticking out of the right side is from an elk antler that Bruce had in our garage. I think his mother had it and who knows where she got it from. It will be used to hang the tools on.
We made some pita bread the other day in the oven. Of course, the main issue now is learning how to manage the fire and get the oven hot enough at the proper time. We needed 500 degrees for the pita bread and the fire was slow. So when it came time to bake, we had too big a fire. The result was some ash on the bread but it tasted good, rose properly and got brown. Raspberry bushes produce huge berries when they are fertilized with ash but I suppose that has nothing to do with bread. As you might guess the fire was just about perfect when the cooking was done.

The deer hunting season opens around here on Saturday. We don’t get many outside hunters but some of the locals enjoy going out. Bruce plans on going out on Sunday. Between the two of us, we can eat close to one deer over two years.

The weather today is just about perfect for early October. This weekend is the first of two fall work weekends. We are just about full for both of them. It’s a good thing because there are lots of chores to be completed.