Reclaiming The Woodshed

Our latest trip to the house was spent reclaiming the woodshed. Not only was it full of garbage but it was leaning precariously. We knew that if we didn't take care of it we were going to lose it. Not to mention, in Northern Michigan winter is just around the corner.

We started our trip on Thursday evening, as usual, and got in around midnight. A nice little addition this trip was that Mike and Liz came with us. I don't think they really knew what they were in for!

Friday morning we got up and headed in to the hardware store. We needed lag bolts and a small gas can for the new chainsaw. Yep, Dave got another toy! When we got back to the house we dug into the woodshed. The sheer amount of garbage just boggled my mind. We did find some items that could be given to my aunt for the garage sale and some items that we kept. We piled all of the garbage into the trailer, and we ended up making two trips to the landfill. With the help of a very large chain wrapped around a tree and one of the upright posts we straighten the woodshed. Dave and Mike start putting up the new posts while Liz and I start dinner.

Dinner break was nice. We grilled under the "picnic pavilion" since the weather was a little wet. As we're all standing there talking Liz notices a pipe in the rafters and asks what it is. Of course we don't know so Mike starts to pull it down. I said that I picture it being full of dirt or water or mice. As I start to say mice one pokes its head out, focuses on Dave and starts to leap. As that happens I, of course, let out a girly scream and make everyone jump! It was hysterical. This tiny little mouse wasn't bothering anyone and we totally disrupted his home. After dinner Dave got the tractor going and knocked down the five weeks of grass, while the rest of us cleaned up and settled in for the night.

Saturday morning was a little cool outside but we got right to work on the shed so we can get it finished. We want to have time to show Liz the area. We discover that working on the back posts of the shed are a little harder than the front because it slopes down, making the clearance a lot shorter. The post hole digger kept hitting the roof making it really hard to dig. Liz asks how expensive the poles are, so maybe we can cut the poles down. Great idea! It just happens that there is another post hole digger in the large barn, so now we have one that is regular sized and one that is midget sized! Worked like a charm. Poor Dave though, his arms were killing him. We got all the posts in, the shed is sturdy and straight. Yeah! We re-stacked the wood that was already there and I raked the area free of debris. For now we put the garbage cans under there so they won't fill up with water. (remember the gagging incident?!)

BEFORE

AFTER

One other thing we took care of was the clothesline pole issue. For some reason the clothesline poles were in front of the woodshed and right along the driveway. Dave and Mike took one of the poles out, which was right in front of the entrance to the woodshed. We'll dig the other one out later but it isn't in the way like the one we took out. I do want a clothesline, but not there!

So while we're working on the woodshed my aunt and cousin are in the small barn pulling stuff out that can be put in their yard sale. They weren't only pulling the sellable stuff out but cleaning as they went. They worked their butts off! You gotta love family. Their hard work will make it easier for us when we get to the small barn.


We still had daylight left after finishing the woodshed, so we took Mike and Liz for a bit of sightseeing. We took them to Ocqueoc Falls, which was really flowing from all of the recent rain. Liz has never seen any of the Great Lakes so we took her to see Lake Huron. Then we drove over to Black Lake, drove by Dave's old family cottage, then headed to Onaway State Park where we walked the shore and hiked a trail. A very nice end to a busy weekend.



Note: Click on "August, 2009" under "Pictures" to view all of the pics from this trip.