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Within the confines of this blog, you will find bits and pieces of the life and times of myself, my family and friend dear and near., far and wide, few and far between. You will find bits and pieces of my world, tho small to some, but huge to me. You will find everything from 'soup to nuts',; recipes, hobbies,crafts, gardenings,loves of my life, GrandLoves-a-Plenty, and even my pets... Sooo, if you can handle family life, enjoy the tour of my 'Stuffings'.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Our Cabin in the Wood

Those of you who have been faithful followers, (thank you, by the way), know that we have been having some problems with our little piece of heaven in our mid-40. Some kind of borers are having a picnic of our logs, even tho they have been treated repeatedly. Any suggestions? The little bugs look like hornets, the color of the ash borer, turquoise blue and black, with long stinger drills at their rears. I still have not identified them, and mistakenly gave the National Forestry my only culprit. After two years, we still have not heard back from them. Apparently, they do not know what it is either! Help! In the meantime
we need to re-think these nasty, killer stairs that have taken me out once already.
And tho, we love the evening glow of our ' little piece of heaven,' we are seriously thinking of making some changes. The west wall you see through the windows, we are thinking of bumping out and adding a bunk room. To the east, we want to bump out another wall for a master bedroom/bathroom/extended deck. What do you think?
Another traipse around the woods on the old-timer Bear Paws, and I will gladly start drafting some serious changes. Now, all I have to do, is to convince DearHeart that this is essential. The rest of the family agrees.
Even the grandloves. This draft was drawn by our grandson this past Nov. I see he has everyone working except Grandma. That works for me. I think he must be hoping for hot, home cooked meals throughout the process.
Now, the only things missing are, a mudroom, and the initiative. Anyone? Anyone? Any takers to convince Bill?

Thanks for stopping and
BlessYourAmbitiousHearts

16 comments:

Dianna said...

Surely am sorry to hear about these critters that are wanting to enjoy your beautiful log cabin, Dar. That's Strong Heart's cup of tea...I can identify flies, lady bugs, and bees. :0

I love your grandson's drawing! He's a smart boy to not put Grandma to work! ;)

deb said...

I'm not surprised you haven't heard back on what type of bug it is, I'm still waiting for an answer on what typr of tree the builders planted 14 yrs ago.

Love the blue print!

As far as initiative, i'm not familiar with that word ;)
*hugs*deb

TexWisGirl said...

Love the drawn-up plans!!! Complete with workers! :)

We have those blue/black wasps here (or at least something that sounds like them). Ours are blue mud dawbers though so I'm not sure they'd eat into wood.

Good luck with the expansions! And convincing the DearHeart it's needed!

Darla said...

Our home is cypress and we get all types of borers too. My husband puts brown putty stuff in all the holes he can find...it has cut down the boring activity some.

Louise said...

No help with the bugs. But if you can get a photo of another one, this site, Bug Guide, http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740 may be able to help you. It's not an easy site to navigate around, but they have helped me a couple of times.

Those stairs look kind of scary. You need something to hold on to as you go down them. But, it's a lovely home, and I think that the expansion will only make it better.

jack69 said...

I don't suggest the shotgun!!!!!
Also don't get rid of them, train them to follow a line and draw where you want the addition (s), don't tell Bill until they have the entrance about done!!!

Me thinks you need vertical black pipe every second step to hold on to. OH something else. Up ain't bad on the stairs, so for the down? A polished brass pole just off the balcony (OR maybe a slide? The grand loves will have a ball.

BTW the carpenter in me LOVES the roof line!!!
From Florida, LOVE!

Remington said...

Sorry to hear about the nasty critters....you have a cool place!

Arkansas Patti said...

Those stairs look more like a ladder than a stair. Just needs more of a slant.
I think your cabin is darling but I hate that it is being eaten. No idea what but identifying would be the first order.
Love the blue prints. Is that you in a hammock under a tree with a cold drink?

Cher' Shots said...

I do beleive I'd find the answer to the bug problem BEFORE expanding the cabin. Good luck with that!
'love & hugs from afar'

Fred Alton said...

I'm with Cher on resolving the bug problem before expansion. We had some crazy BIG black and yellow ground dwellers here last year. I was told they were brought in by the forest service people to help control the fire ant. They looked so much like the bumble bee - but they were not aggressive towards people at all. Then they disappeared. Don't know what happened. Wishing you and Bill good success in finding a solution.

Sunny said...

Dont know about the bugs, we have big bumblebee-like borers here They are a pain.

On getting DearHeart to agree, well the way to a man's heart is through his stomach (and other -oops!) and lots of prayer. If it can be done, this is the way I have found best, and no nagging :) Hop it all works out for you. You have a lovely place there!!

Lucy said...

Dar, I love the drawings of your grandloves. Your place looks like a place I would like to live. I agree with the commenter about the stairs. I fell down our basement ones many years ago and still have problems. Now the railing is my life line. GRANDSON IS GOING HOME!! More detail on my blog. Long row ahead but he is up for it. Those critters need to go away.

Suburban Girl said...

Good luck with the convincing. I know what that is like! Those borers are awful little things I can't believe they can't identify them.

Buttons Thoughts said...

Dar I love your cabin I hope you can stop the bugs. Those stairs are pretty steep.You should have a mudroom for mud. B

A Primitive Homestead said...

I hope you find out what kind of bug that is fast. That is such a shame the damage they have caused to your beautiful cabin. The adding on sounds fun. More room is always a plus. Your stairs are pretty but for your safety I think you are right about a rethink. I enjoyed your comment to my tabletop brooder. Wonderful your mom is still raising chickens. So sweet of her to have each grandloves a chick on Easter. Blessings!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Dar, Oh how I love your cabin... Sorry though to hear about the critters who are hurting it....

I agree about those steps.. I'd never get up and down those things... ha ha

Good luck convincing your Honey that the cabin needs some renovation... BUT-if the rest of the family agrees with you, you do have a head-start....

Have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Betsy