Year in Review

Hello friends,
Its hard to believe it has been months since I posted last.  All has been fine in our little corner of the world.  Now with winter finally upon us,  things slow down a bit and I am excited to share some of the things we've been up to.  I love how a new year brings out that reflective spirit in me. So here is our little year in review- some old and some new.

First, Mr. Cabin built   the cottage exercise room - my bright, happy place amongst the basement chaos.

Next, was the cabin's wood shed. Yes, it is there in the background of the picture. Its not so pretty right now. It still needs paint and a front eve. Who am I kidding? I am not sure if it will ever be pretty- after all it is a tool shed. But its functional and the bottom line is - it got those tools out of the living room! Most importantly however, fingers crossed, with the tool shed built I am one step closer to getting the outdoor shower of my dreams!

My favorite project at the cabin was this impromptu one- a small dock out over the pond- built from left over wood from the shed. We spent a good many hours swimming and fishing off that little dock this year.

Gotta love unplanned strokes of genius.

Back at the cottage, I started a tea party garden for the girls this summer. The basic structure was about as far as I got, but I am looking forward to finishing it this coming spring.

Now unto all the projects I have yet to post about. Installing red cabinets in the cabin's kitchenette! I am thrilled with the way they came out.

And finally the project that is mostly responsible for keeping me away and preoccupied for the past few months- the girls' woodland fairy birthday party. There will be lots to post about that special event!

Hope all is well in your little corner of the world too. Hope your own reflective spirit finds you looking lovingly on this past year with pride in your accomplishments and into the future with anticipation and hope.
Happy New Year friends!

After Irene

I am so very grateful that we survived Hurricane Irene with practically no damage. All around us, neighbors, family and friends, lost power and had flooding. We were very fortunate. Some friends lost everything and will have to rebuild their houses completely.

As we celebrate the end of summer this weekend, there is so much more to be grateful for...

Hoping you will fully enjoy your Labor Day Weekend too,

Preparing for Irene in between

Our cottage is right in the middle of the path Irene is expected to take in the next two days. We started to prepare a few days ago. Apparently so is everyone else. Mr.Cabin tried to purchase a generator- sold out. Extra batteries- sold out. Flashlights- sold out. Even bottled water- sold out. Luckily, we have all of these supplies at the cabin four hours away. So after work today, Mr.Cabin began the four hour journey to the cabin to pick these things up and then he will travel the four hours back to us. Bless his heart. In the meantime, I have been preparing here as best I can- making ice in case we should lose power and use of the fridge.

We are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Praying eveyone stays safe,

The Summer Lists: Half-Way

At the beginning of every summer, I sit down to write my "Summer List".  It is a horrid list of things I have been putting off all year. Re-organize the pantry, clean the closets, recover the kitchen chairs again.
I am a procrastinating champ so this list is chock full of fun tasks like that.
This year however we started a second "Summer List" just for the girls. Inspired by all of the other lists out there in blogland, this list is fill up to the brim with things like catch fireflies, collect sea shells and make ice cream.
Today- August 1st, I consider to be the half-way point of our summer- only one month left until life returns to our normal school and work routine.  Looking at our lists the past few days had turned me into a giant grouchy puss. While we have checked off almost all of the girls' list- my list has been almost forgotten. Not one task checked off. The problem is- I have not forgotten about my list. I wish I could but it was still there nagging at me. And while I could say the girls are only little once and it is perfectly fine for me to spend all my time creating adventures and memories with them, the realistic, logical side of my brain knows that life with them would also run much smoother if the closets were more organized.
So at the start of our weeekend I was in a terrible mood, I desperately needed to cross some items off of my list but hubby had other ideas. He wanted to take the girls canoeing- one of the things on their list. Mommy guilt set in and I finally agreed. Our entire day Saturday was spent preparing for our trip. By Sunday morning, I was barely smiling.

Then somehow my spirits lifted. Spending the day out on the water somehow healed my soul and changed my perspective.

How could life be so terrible? Look at all I have to be grateful for. The warm wind on my face, the sun on my skin, the sparkle on the water helped me to realize my glass of lemonade is really half full.

I woke up this morning seeing all the ways I have been able to balance. The pallets are a perfect example. The first half of the summer was spent building a wood shed at the cabin out of these giant pallets- one major item on the "Cabin To- Do List".

 Although the girls had fun when they thought the floor was going to be a stage for their "performances", for the most part the time spent building the shed was not too much fun for them.

But when we were almost done, Mr.Cabin had the wonderful idea to build a little dock for them with the left-over pallets.

 Fishing and swimming off this little dock was the best part of their summer at the cabin yet.

 Somehow the work had turned into the play and we were all happy.
So this is where I am this morning, trying to remember the pallets, trying to turn the work into play and keep us all happy. Not everything may get checked off my list. Not everything may even be checked off theirs. But at the half-way point, we already have some terrific memories and I am looking forward to what the end of the summer brings.

Anyone have ideas how to make reorganizing the pantry fun for two four-year olds?

Still here...

It's been awhile...
Memorial Day till now has been a whirlwind for us. Today we are packing for week at the beach and I finally sat down to offload some photos onto the computer. Looking at all these pictures brought about a bad case of blogger guilt. I have not written in such a long time-  so many of these photos belong in posts.
Perhaps when we return from the beach and the summer slows down a bit, I will finally have the time to write about all that we have been up to.
Until then, here are a few of my favorites. Hope you are savoring the sweet days of summer too...

Spring at the Cabin

Our first hike at the cabin, felt like spring itself- breathing again after the long winter, renewed and full of possibilty.
On our way to the pond, we explored the meadow and found tiny little streams trickling their way through.

The beaver had been very busy while we were gone. From the bank where we normally fish, I could hear the water tumbling down the other side of the pond. We normally never venture past this side- too treacherous to cross with the little ones when the brush is thick and leaves and branches tangle you up. But in the spring, when there are only buds on the trees, life is different. You can cross to the other side.

In the spring, I could finally see the water tumbling over the edge.

Little baby waterfalls splashing down.

In the spring, fresh, crisp, green new life springs up on the forest floor.

In the spring, tiny hands can catch tiny tadpoles.

Only for a second,  they held them in their hands and giggled as they watched them wriggle.

Too soon, these will be the frogs whose croaks in the distance will lull them to sleep.

 In the distance we  marveled at the beaver's dam and watched the pine trees reflect in the water.

In the spring, Daddy picks us flowers...

...and Mommy takes too long taking pictures when all the girls want to do is keep on exploring.

In the spring, we can hike to the pine tree and follow the deer's hoof prints as we go.

We gaze up into the pine's soft green boughs.

New life and new beginnings all around us.

Outdoor Shower Dreaming

Mr.Cabin went up to the cabin this weekend- the first trip of the year.  I have been sitting home insanely jealous that he is there and we are not. The first time he usually goes by himself to make sure everything was ok over the winter. This time he was also delivering a trailer full of wood to build our new wood shed with.  I am not too upset about missing lifting all of that heavy timber. Then he called to say he arrived safely but that the truck and trailer are now stuck in the snow- really happy I am missing that entire catastrophe altogether too.

So while I wait for Mr.Cabin to un-stick himself and return home, I have been thinking about what the new wood shed will mean. Tools out of the living room- woo hoo! It also means that once the wood shed is built we can also build our outdoor shower. I will probably get in trouble here for thinking ten steps ahead- there is a good chance it won't even get built this year-but I can't help dreaming anyway.

Last summer when we had our whole extended family camping with us, we set up a little outdoor shower area using a pop-up canopy tent, shower curtians and a camp shower. Everyone loved it. There is nothing quite like taking a shower in the great outdoors. So I have been scheming ever since to build a more permanent structure. Of course while I was originally scheming, the shower was not going to include a bath tub....but look at how incredible all of these inspiration photos are. A girl can dream.