We just had the inspector come and approve our electrical wiring for
the remodel. This is a big step. Now we will be able to begin enclosing
the walls and doing the finish work.

Speaking of the electrical work - we want to thank Rod Kampa,
Terry Nash, and Donnie Fitzpatrick for donating all their labor for
this aspect of the remodel. They spent many, MANY hours running
line, putting up boxes, and a new sub-panel. We appreciate so much
the work these men put in. I felt bad that I forgot to get pictures
of all three of the men - but I do have a picture of Rod working on
one of the light boxes below.

Rod is an electrician that works for a company out of the Twin Cities area.

Now, one of those moments that you can’t really prepare for when it
comes to living up North.

Last week I started putting in some simple wooden steps leading down
to the beach area. I was simply using logs that came from our land here
for the steps since our budget is running right on the edge, and this is a
cheap way to put in some steps.

At any rate, I spent an afternoon putting in 10 steps. First I cut the
logs to length, then ripped them lengthwise with our chainsaw so they
made two steps. Once ripped, I began placing them into the hill leading
down to the beach-front. Needless to say, this is kind of back-breaking
work. But it was SO rewarding to see the steps falling into place.

Last Saturday, after Rod Kampa and I finished the electrical work, I
suggested we go down to the lake and do a little fishing. I was excited
to show Rod the steps. But as we got there, one of the steps was
missing! Now remember, these are just rough cut logs, and they are
pretty heavy.

As I scratched my head trying to figure out what had happened to the
step, Rod began to chuckle and said, “A beaver took your step.” I said,
“What?”  “A beaver took your step,” he said again. “You can see where
he drug the step into the water.” Sure enough, leading to the water
was the tell-tale trail that the beaver had left.

Both Rod and I had to laugh over that one. You see, we have three
beaver houses on our lake. And I’m pretty sure one of those houses
now has one fine, rough-cut, half log either laying on top of their house,
or inside someplace. Ahhhh, life in the north woods. Below are a couple
pictures showing the missing step and the marks left by the beaver
as he or she dragged away our log.

All that was left of the step was the dirt the beaver had left behind.

It’s a little hard to see, but if you look closely you’ll see the mark in the
sand of our log being taken away, along with our footprints as we examined
the mysterious case of the missing step!

Construction will be on hold for a week now. We have the SAM Board of
Directors coming in for our Annual meeting on Wed. and Thursday, so
I’ve asked the contractor to wait until next week to begin the finish
work.

Speaking of the finish work. If you would like to help in putting in hard wood
floors, or putting up wooden paneling and ceilings, give us a call. Like I said,
we’ll begin this aspect of the remodel on Monday, June 22. If you could come
for a day, or two, or more - we’d love to have you come. We’ll provide all your
meals, and we have two separate sleeping areas set up now. So if you can help
out, let us know by calling 320-310-8877.

Thanks for reading our blog today. Remember, we love you guys. Pat & Judy
Monday,