Although most of the summer has been consumed by fishing, working on the big boat and family visiting, we were able to get some small projects done here and there. Bob and Kathy sent us their old fireplace, so we built a new hearth, inspired by Ed and Sharon (good friends of Jennifer's parents). It provides for some firewood storage and makes it so you don't have to bend over to check on the fire. Plus, it provides a nice place to sit on a cold winter day.
We were going to wait until Casey and Amber arrived to put the fireplace on the hearth, but we were impatient, so we found a way to do it ourselves. No, we're not really that strong.
We used the tractor to get it onto the deck, and then lifted it into the cabin. The hand-truck came in handy to get it from the door to the hearth, and then we used blocks to raise it up to the hearth level. Greg would lift one side while Jennifer put a block under that side. Once we got it to the right height, we used some boards to slide it onto the hearth. Greg likes to say he lifted it all by himself, which is kind of true I suppose.
We also cut some firewood and started working on the bulkhead.
Then one day, Greg decided to make some oars. We need some new ones, and I think he was kind of bored, so he just grabbed a re-saw board from the sawmill and made some oars out of it. No big deal.
