Getting Back Into Action

It's not that we've been lazy; we just haven't tackled any big projects to show off. Photos of insulating the utility room just aren't that exciting. And while we enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal on the front porch while soaking up 72-degree sunshine, the chillier nights and earlier sunsets have slowed our momentum just a bit.

Then came that heavy rainfall you see above; rain seems to come down by the bucketsful here. The downpour finally inspired me to tackle improving some of our rainwater runoff issues. See these new driveway ditches?

This is how I spent Thanksgiving (and the day before and the day after and the next few days to come). Hmm, now that I look at it, it doesn't look like as much work as it was. Mason? He's been busy working on insulating and drywalling the utility room, fixing the generator, fixing the roof leak, cutting firewood, brewing beer (and the list goes on and on).

The return of rain has also brought our nearby brook back to life:

Beautiful, eh? It sounds great, too.

A 75-Foot Whim

It was a glorious 70-degree day on Flat Top, and our chore list was slim. So, on a whim, we decided to take down the near-dead pine tree that loomed over our house, rising up just inches from the upper deck. See?

First, Mason got the extension ladder on the upper deck and fastened a 100-foot-long steel cable to the tree at about the 25-foot level. The other end of the cable was hooked to the bumper of the truck, which we then drove into the timberland south of us, after Mason chopped down a few small trees that were in the way. What could possibly go wrong, right? So while Mason put the chainsaw to the tree, I pulled with the truck, and wouldn't you know it, after a few good tugs, down came the 75-foot (yes, we measured it) beast.

Just another glorious, adventurous day on Flat Top. Too bad it's a pine and we can't burn it in the new wood stove. But that's a LOT of fire pit material.

It's a Chick Day

We've lived in the Chattanooga area now for about 10 months, but we haven't spent any time exploring the city itself. Getting running water in the cabin always seemed more important. And heat. And electricity ...

Mom to the rescue.

City exploration isn't really Mason's thing. I mean, he likes a bit of it, if a beer joint is thrown into the mix, but ...

Today Mom and I DID Chattanooga. We started with the Hunter Museum of American Art, where Mom was able to rattle off all of the big (and not-so-big) artists' names and their reps. Then we did a quick tour of the Arts Bluff District (galleries, cafes and coffee shops) and lunched at the 212 Market, which is a local food/organic eatery. Dogs welcome. Big supporter of our local NPR station. You know, Nan's kinda eatery.

The city's free electric bus took us down to Warehouse Row, a high-priced shopping district that's half empty but features the super cool Revival home decor store, where we got some good ideas for the cabin that we're sure to steal!

Then it was up to the North Shore shopping area, so I could walk up and down every aisle of the new Whole Foods store.

And when we got home, we collected beautiful fall leaves while we took Nick the Dog on his nightly walk.

A girls' day out or what?

And as a bonus, Mason and Nick got to go to the landfill AND the Home Depot!! Everybody was a winner today on Flat Top.

Momma's in the House

Well look who's on Flat Top? Momma Gerri Williams! She arrived Monday, on her birthday, and will be here a week! Brave woman, willing to take on the rigors of off-the-grid living.

Today's goal was to let Mom completely unwind and breathe in the mountain air. We walked Nick, twice. Stacked firewood that Mason cut. Discussed the kitchen remodel. Then there was lunch. She sketched a drawing of the tractor...

... then took a nap. We even found time for a hand of Rummy. Is that not a good day, people? Flat Top delivers.

Did you check out those hip sneaks this hip grandma Mom's got?

Tomorrow we hit Chatt-town. The art museum and a few shops. Needless to say, Mason will be staying on the mountain. Wise choice.

Visitors! Visitors!

Look at this radiant couple! We would never have guessed that Jamie and Leslie Plesser would be our first visitors from Minneapolis to brave the wilds of Tennessee, but we couldn’t have been more pleased! Perhaps they look radiant because they spent their 12^th wedding anniversary on glorious Flat Top Mountain, which is awash in full, lavish fall colors. They’re on a road trip, hitting all of the great sights from Nashville to Asheville. Lucky for us, Flat Top falls right in between.

For those who don’t know, Leslie is a photographer (check out her fabulous work at shuttersmack.com) and designer, and is the brilliance behind Vita.mn, the Star Tribune’s weekly entertainment mag, and Jamie is all about social media at Best Buy and the dude simply oozes cool.  The two are what I call hipsters. They dress hip. They go to concerts five days a week. They live in a fabulous Linden Hills home. And, best yet (for Nick), they’re dog people!

We did our best to give them the full Flat Top experience. The 75-degree blue skies didn’t hurt. Nor did the cinnamon, lime and auburn glow of the fall canopy.

In return, they brought us all sorts of treats (from Trader Joe's nuts to a big fat Vogue magazine).

Thank you, Jamie and Leslie, for braving our little life experiment in the woods.  You delighted us. Happy Trails, and pass the word on: It wasn’t that bad, right?

Winter? Bring It!

Remember our old wood stove? Lemme remind you of the rickety rust bucket that broke every safety rule in the book:

When we moved here, every night that we fired her up, I was convinced we would burn down our new little wood-frame love nest. Seriously, I couldn't sleep. So we bought a new stove in June ... and of course, waited until two nights of 35-degree temps to install it.

Now, I was all fired up to pay for the install, because it involved: 1) climbing our steep metal roof, and 2) somehow getting to the smokestack up to where it enters the house, which was 18 feet above the living room floor. But Mason -- "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" -- Cook wouldn't even consider hiring out the $500-plus job.

First we built a raised hearth and tiled it and the wall behind the stove:

Then Mason built scaffolding that extended out from the loft bedroom, so he could perch a ladder atop it and reach the ceiling:

Then came the fun part. (Warning: Professional thrill seeker. Do not attempt):

Now it's hard to see, but we had two lines (ropes, you landlubbers) tied around the little wood ladder laid flat on the roof and thrown over the back side of the house and tied to two trees. The ladder gave Mason something to kinda lean on and sit on while perched on the steep roof. Needless to say, the man slept real hard after those two days topside.

And the finished product?

And the beautiful warm flames now licking at our feet?

The Bathroom: Before and After

Before, there was no running water, the toilet was cracked and leaked on the industrial-grade blue carpet, which was disturbingly moist. The door was a piece of particle board. The cupboard (hidden in the left corner next to the toilet), also built of particle board, was the home to unidentified rodents. The clawfoot tub was cute, but needed refinishing and posed acrobatic challenges to even the most nimble while climbing in and out :

After? Well it's still a tiny little bathroom, but we're happy: