Got Noodles!

March 19, 2007 (8:36am)

Good morning,

I have been trying to post this since yesterday without success. Finally figured out the problem - I think. Sorry for the delay.
Chris ><>

March 17, 2007, 5:30 A.M.

Good morning,

So we needed noodles and headed in the direction of the Amish store in Shawano yesterday morning about 8:30 A.M. Due to poor navigation, we ended up here on the shores of Ice Lake in Iron River, Michigan, spending the night at the Lakeshore Motel. Seems the van had a mind of it’s own and headed here since it has made this trip before. Maybe it’s memory is better than mine! Once here, with little to do, we decided to buy a house. Actually we put a down payment on log house and 10 acres in the woods near Amasa, Michigan.

This really has not been a spur of the moment decision. It all started on one of our sojourns up in this part of the country, with a remark this past summer of, "wouldn’t it be nice to live here." Shortly after that, we heard the sale Margriet’s house was nearing completion and completed in a few weeks. Just for the heck of it, I searched the web for properties for sale in this area. Found several, but this one stood out from the rest. It has been a hunting camp for many years and now the owner/builder died a couple of years ago, so it really has not been used since and the children have decided to sell it. I can see from the building and the property, there has been a lot of good times and stories there.

We have been up to the property several times, and many conferences with the realtor. The first sight of the place caused us to fall in love with it. Especially Margriet. That part surprised me, thinking she would not like to live so far out in the woods. Guess I was wrong. The 10 acres are more of a hardwoods forest, then the softwood forest we have here. That is not good or bad I guess, just different.. It will mean a better supply of firewood, but fewer building materials. Still, on 10 acres, there should be enough for both to keep us out of mischief. There also is a pond on the property near the house.

The "cabin" is 20'x28' with a 14'x14' addition. The main building is an open room containing all of the living spaces, other than the bedroom, that is the 14'x14' addition. Since this has been built and used as a deer camp, it is totally off of the grid - no phone, no power, no well, no septic - but the outhouse is heated! There is a small gas-powered generator in it’s own little outbuilding. It provides power for electric lights mostly. There is a plethora gas lights and a gas stove and refrigerator. Also a number of kerosene lamps along with a couple of gasoline lamps. For some reason there are 3 vacuum cleaners in the house too. Heat is provided by a big old wood fired, cast iron, space heater and a gas space heater as backup heat. While it is not big, it is bigger than what we have at FISKLAND. All of the appliances and most of the furniture comes with.

There are several very small buildings, 10'x10' or less, on the property besides the generator shack and heated outhouse. All are worthless and eventually will be torn down. Will use them for a time as "storage," after we evict the resident critters. There is also a very large supply of firewood and a lot of "stuff" around. That will get salvaged and cleaned up for sure.

We are excited. Can you tell? It is a pretty big leap for us too. Who ever thunk a couple of old geezers would be "homesteading" at our age? Guess we really are tired of sidewalks!

March 18, 2007 (7:30am)
20º F, Bright clouds, NNE wind 3 mph.

Good morning,

We arrived home late afternoon yesterday. Very tired, but with minds racing with "what if’s" and "how do we" and so on. We really did stop at the Amish store and pick up supplies. More than we thought we needed as we walked in. That is a normal thing with us. This was the first time we stopped there on a Saturday and it was rather busy. Was profitable for us and now we have enough noodles for a while.

Our trip was very fast and on short notice, but a good one. We kind of threw things into the van and headed north. We forgot several things as a result (like the coffee maker), but we survived. The gal at the motel couldn’t figure out who was emailing them, until we got there.

The "Happy Italian" restaurant which we like very much, had a kitchen fire during the winter, December I think, and the owners decided to not repair remodel and have sold it to the gas station next-door, who are in the process of tearing it down to expand their business. Don’t like that at all! Very good food and very reasonable prices. As the realtor, Jeff, said, "Where else can you get more good food than you can eat for $5.00?" We did stop for an old fashioned fish fry at "Woodz" just down the road from our new home. It was very good and comparable to the price we expected. The place is literally an old, big, farm house converted into a neighborhood restaurant/bar in the country. The owners live upstairs. We might eat there again. Also on the return ride, we stopped a "Augie’s Café" in Shawano for lunch. It was like stepping back to the 1950's. Lots of pink and chrome decor, with black and white floor tile where the gray terrazzo flooring wasn’t. Other than being repainted occasionally, I don’t think anything has changed since the 50's either. Grill, dishwashing, service on one wall with counters down the middle and a very few tables. Really cool and reminded me of Dan’s Café I ate a lot of meals in while I was in college.

We have been spending several months wearing out pencils and adding machines trying to figure out if we could swing the deal up nort’ or not. There is much to do, much of it in unknown territory for us. The first project is to put up a garage/shed to work in and out of, while the well and septic are put in.. We checked with the power company (same as here but with a different name in a different state) and got an estimate to have power to be brought in - $15,000 to the driveway, plus an additional cost to have the line brought into the house. That is a bit expensive, but the nearest service is about 2 miles away. After a lot of digging, we found it probably will be cheaper to put in solar with back up generator, so that is what we plan to do. We have most of the necessary sizing and equipment picking completed. The solar panes will go onto the roof of the garage.

We will add an 8'x18' bathroom/entryway to the north side of the house. Under the addition will be a "deep" crawl-space to contain the battery bank and other electrical equipment, along with the gas-fired, on demand, water heater and the heating distribution system. Primary heating with be wood fired hot water radiant heat in the floor. I finally did enough research to find a way to do that without raising the level of the floor very much. The boiler will be in the garage also. Should not have to fill the firebox as often as the parlor stove and a filling should last 12-24 hours, depending on need and wood quality.

The communications will be handled by a T1 wireless system in the area. We will be only a couple miles for each of two of their towers and about 5 miles from a third. Our phone, I think, will also be handled by the system using the computer. It will considerably drop the cost of phone service. Overseas calls will be about 1% of the current cost through normal phone systems. The internet speed and service will also be greatly enhanced. Really am looking forward to that. They seem to be still using barbed-wire for phone lines here. A satellite system is extremely expensive to install and to operate monthly here, and there. Checked it out. Not too concerned about TV, as that is not a priority for us.

Inside of the house we also have much to do, getting it ready for permanent habitation. A real kitchen, replacing the wood heater with the parlor stove we now have, replacing the chimney with one of stainless steel, and a new gas backup heater. Lots of things to keep us out of mischief and maybe get us into some better physical shape again.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><