We went camping again this Saturday night. Mark's Dad has a small popup camper that he lets us borrow. We purchased some land last year and have the camper set up out there. We'll be staying in the camper until the cabin is finished. It's always been Mark's dream to have a weekend cabin to go stay at. So we purchased 73 acres about 25 minutes away. Not too far to go! Mark has been squirreling away odd windows and bits of log cabin siding for awhile now, until he had a nice pile of goodies to build with. He is the sort of guy who at 1 am will start a project. At 11pm- "Honey, I was thinking maybe we should remodel this bathroom..." then discuss things for a bit, talk about how it might look, etc. I am thinking, "Ok- new project on the horizon. Cool." and flip through a magazine for a bit of inspiration. I misguidedly believe I will have time for daydreaming about it a bit in wakeful hours: colors, fabrics, wallpaper and so forth... when suddenly I hear "CRASH!" and know I better get my butt to the store and choose a paint tomorrow!


Such was the case with the cabin. He said, "You know, I am going to just start the thing." And that was that. I hadn't been out to the land for a week, and it was a structure. Another week, and here we are. It's sort of creepy-cool just how much he can do. It's going to be such a nifty little cabin.



It's just one room, 16x20 with a loft upstairs. That's where the boys will sleep. Very "Little House on the Prairie"! A small porch on the front. I will have to junk shop for some furnishings.





Maybe do some favors for family members with superfluous dressers and the like. ( How to furnish a cabin on a shoestring! *grin* ) Perhaps every family member can bring one chair they don't like anymore, and we can at least have somewhere to sit. BYOC (chair).... sounds like a hit to me.




So, we camped and cooked out and had a wonderful time in between the generator running so Daddy could run some power tools! Yes, there will be no electricity or water at our rustic little cabin. We have an outhouse already. Mom is not leaning against a tree and scavenging leaves, she'll stay home first. We made some awesome burgers and sweet corn on the grill, sat around the fire and enjoyed being a family.

In the a.m. Mark and I heard Zip banging around in the back of his truck, and we lazily laid in our respective sleeping bags for a few minutes until I decided I didn't want Zip in trouble with Dad for eating a box of screws or some other odd thing. So I flipped back my sleeping bag and popped out of my end of the camper. Mark got up too, and I said "Gonna check on Zip." He agreed, so we went out to see. He was being good, just chasing his tail and other crazy amusements in there. I used the good ol' outhouse and then found it was only 6:45 am. GOOD GRIEF! Here I was, up and dressed and awake on a Sunday morning with sleeping kids and it was only 6:45! WOW-Weeee. That's when I decided to partake in the beauty of the surrounding countryside and get my big, fat butt moving. This translated to taking buddy Zip for a long walk.

I am trying to teach him to walk nicely on a leash. So far, I haven't taken him for a walk in town - I don't yet know how that would go with him meeting new dogs or pulling me along through the city. So I think out here in the boondocks is a great place to practice that skill. I put on a belt, and hook his leash to it around my waist. Then if he gets to the end and tugs a bit, I stop dead in my tracks. He gets the idea that he cannot pull me along and we do ok. It's nice, even.

I felt like NatureGirl as we walked on our dirt tire tracks and continued along out of our property and down the gravel county road. Past the stone farmhouse of the guy who lives on the homestead of the farm property. Past the cows. Past his horses and dogs. We did stop to visit the neighbor horses, because they always come running to the fence when I walk by. First I kind of stomp around in the gravel to warn any creatures that I am coming into the tall grass cover of the ditch, and I pick a spot that is closest to the fance and gate so there is not so much to go through. We venture in by the 3 mares and their new babies. I always pet the girls and tell them how pretty their babies are. The babies frolic around and come THISCLOSE, then back away and run off again. I have yet to pet one of the babies! Zip always sits like a very good boy and smiles at them all and stays so well. The horses have so many flies, and they buzz around like crazy on this morning. I am shooing them away and petting horse noses, while Zip is chomping big bites at the flies as they come at him. NatureGirl is happy and content petting the horses and watching the babies and shooing the flies on this glorious morning. We turn to go, to continue our amble along the gravel. I make my way back through the tall grass - YIPES! I found a hidden hole. Tripped, flew through the air like some circus act and landed on my one knee in the gravel. Of course I first look around to see if anyone noticed, and the horses don't seem to be laughing. But I bet those flies are. Rotten sniggering flies. I dusted myself off, and we meandered along.

What a lovely morning, a lovely little slice of time. The sunlight was dappling through groves of trees. Small morning breezes. Wafts of heady aroma would blow by and make me stop a moment and sniff. We walked past the old stone schoolhouse, the sheep in the field, the puppy in the front yard of the little farmhouse who barked and barked at us and probably woke up his family. There were rabbits that ran out across the gravel road in front of us and I had to stop dead while Zip yanked against me for a moment. There were interesting things to sniff along the way. (BTW, NatureGirl didn't so much love the mouse that ran out across the road. NatureGirl had a hopping, jumping freak out for more flies to snigger at.) We were chided by all the redwinged blackbirds who poise on a seemingly unfit weed which bends from their slight weight. "This is my territory!" they peep at us loudly from this side, and that side. It is definitely a redwinged blackbird morning hoopla all around us. NatureGirl with her hands on her hips like some sort of superhero in ratty tennis shoes, glasses and clipped up hair. Yeah right.

We had a great walk. By the time we got back, I thought "That HAD to be 5 miles AT LEAST." The last time we walked, I was certain I went 5 miles- only to drive it later and find out it was 3. How disappointing. So I pushed this time, gauging, hoping. I am trying to get more fit and all that, plus trying to get Zip into a pattern of...well I don't know. Being a good dog, I think! (Laugh) So later when I took the boys to head for home, we drove my course and I was smack-dab, spot on for 5 miles. Give or take a tenth of a mile. Whoooo-Hoooo!