Country Music Reflection

After listening to the nominations for CMA song of the year, I can relate to almost every song they nominated.  They are all my favorites from the past year, but after hearing the acceptance speech, I knew exactly why.  Blake Shelton had some amazing music this year, including these two songs... 

Over You, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert

God Gave Me You, Blake Shelton

Every time I hear one of these two songs, I think of Joel for so many reasons.  I can't describe it, but I am sure many of you know exactly what I mean.  (Everything, minus the whole marriage shout out from the second video... haha.  Listen to the lyrics.)  Man, just another solid reason to love country music.  Thinking of you all over the Holidays!

Uncle Buck Work Weekend

The first weekend in October was a productive one up at Camp Fence.  It was this weekend, that we had the pleasure of hosting all of Joel's closest friends at the camp to help with the siding and giving the cabin a major push forward.

My weekend started with a high stress dash to the airport.  I left school, at what I thought was a decent time, however, when the buses are late and the traffic doesn't cooperate - it is a recipe for disaster.  My flight was boarding at 6:20PM... and I made it to the PIT airport at 6:30.  Yikes.

I had already spent most of the bus ride calling Paul frantically and calling United Airlines to try to book a different flight into Wisconsin somewhere, but this was the last possible departure.  Dang.  My only hope was to run as fast as possible and pray that security wasn't backed up out the door, like it usually is on Friday afternoons.

What happened next, I call a "Buck Intervention"...  I ran out of the bus, up the stairs with my luggage and spotted the security - and... there wasn't a soul in line.  I walked right up and through the Xray.  It took 30 seconds to get through security.  I didn't even put on my shoes, but ran to catch the next train to the terminals.  I then sprinted up the escalators and to my gate.  I was the last to board the plane... before they shut the doors after me.  A Buck Intervention.  I was going to Wisconsin!  The adrenaline was rushing through my veins and I was laughing hysterically at what Buck was probably thinking watching the whole spectacle.

After a layover in Cleveland, I ran off the plane in Green Bay to be greeted by Lyssa in her Packer stocking cap, and the tan Marsh Van waiting patiently in the parking lot.  We didn't blink or stop to breath before hitting the road to Camp Fence.  We were bound to get up there before Midnight.

We arrived at Joel's camp full of his buddies from Seymour, Tech and beyond.  It was a blast to see everyone and have them all in one place - at Joel's Camp.  It was only right to let Joel's friends be the first to spend the night in his cabin.  He once told Mom and Dad that we weren't going to move into the cabin early, like we did with our house and Lake Eva - he wanted to make sure it was close to done before that happened.  Joel's friends had the honor of sleeping there first.  As Buck would say, "Perrrrrfect."

The VanGompel's already had a chance to get a jump start on the stone wall in the front, and the next morning, the crew started with the siding - a big job to say the least!  There are definitely some big walls and peaks that needed to be sided - and thanks the the hard work of many, it went up pretty fast!  The boys were determined, and we ran out of siding before they could finish!  Matt was leading a crew on one side of the house while the Birdseed Brother's were tackling the front peaks and all of the wicked angles that came with it, especially after Curty added another hexagon window in the peaks.

The ladies were in charge of feeding the masses, and served three feasts a day to try to keep up with the construction crew - it was quite an impressive feat!  Uncle John and KJ were kind enough to let us shift the party to their place between shifts - and we had a couple grand camp shots and toast to Buck!  The boys even worked through the snow which hit Camp Fence early Saturday morning!  Brrrrr, another Buck Intervention if you ask me!

We really cannot thank everyone enough for all of the help during the Buck's Camp Fence work weekend, and all of the support that you continue to provide our family.  There were almost 20 people that came up to the cabin to help!  We are absolutely in awe of the lasting friendships that Joel had and will continue to have, and we're so inspired by all that you do.   

You all have been a blessing in our life, and in Joel's.

I hope you enjoy the photos from the weekend and are able to take some of the memories with you.  Feel free to download the photos from the album - and let me know if you need help doing so!

Buck's Camp Fence Work Weekend

Take care - and hopefully see you all soon!

Alyce

Grandpa VB's visit to Camp Fence

Grandpa VanBoxtel and Curt.  Joel inherited his wood working patience from Grandpa we believe!

Recently, Grandpa VB had a chance to go up north to visit the Camp and to see the progress of the place.  I cannot remember the last time he was able to get up north to see it!  Many of the elements of the design of Joel's camp were also featured in the VanBoxtel family pond.  I'm sure there were a few things that he expected and recognized, including the ceilings, the loft and other wood working touches.

Westerhoff varnishing the ceilings - the height helps!

The same day, Matt and Chris were also up north to help install the trim for the siding.  With the trim on, the siding will be able to go up much faster.  The cabin is really going to transform after the siding is up.  Definitely qualifies as a cabin facelift!

Thank goodness for Matt's experience with exterior design - he has excellent ideas!

These will be some of the last pictures where the outside of the house appears to be in full construction mode.  After Joel's friends get done with it, I have a feeling they are going to transform the cabin into a beautiful home...

Grandpa: John VanBoxtel, Sr

Preparing for the Manly Work Weekend...

There were a few necessary things that my we need to make sure were in place before the work weekend was upon us...

1) The Toilet/Outhouse.  Dad has informed me that a Binford 5000 toilet was installed.  This comes equip with an indestructible toilet seat and a sound muffler, for the Houghton boys. 

The Tim the Tool Man Binford 5000

Ohh a sink to wash your hands - fancy!

2) Refrigerator.  Thanks to Dan Morris, we are fully equip with amble beverage storage capacity to fuel some good times and good eats.

Already stocked.  Or used to be... you can never tell.

It looks like we're moving in!

Other than that - what more can you ask for?!?  Ohh wait,

3) The Beds.  I have no idea where all of these mattresses and box springs came from, but they somehow made their way up to Buck's Camp.  One bed is familiar which is Buck's Bed.  Lyssa and I always ended up sleeping in it after "hustling" home from a local hot spot to the Duplex.  The frame is so high off the ground that it feels like we're on the scene of the child's story: Princess and the Pea! We're excited to have that bed upstairs along with many of our other favorite Diamond Willow accents from the Archers!

Uncle Carl comes along for another wild Marsh adventure!

Looks like there should be plenty of room to sleep! 

Should be a good weekend boys!  We cannot wait for all of Joel's close friends to see the place!  Also, a big thank you to Uncle Carl who went along with Mom and Dad to help prepare the cabin for the weekends and winter ahead!  He's always such a sport when it comes to our rushed weekend activities!

Uncle Carl, watching the "Marshing It" unfold!

Marsh Men: Uncle Carl, John, Curt

From Ceramics to Ceramic Tile...

Are they "plumbing" or putting down tile!  Say no to crack... haha!

Another Buck story for ya.  Many of you don't know that back in our younger years Joel and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and started slowly taking on some of their hobbies.  For me, I tried to learn how to bake Grandma Marsh's famous pies - they really are the best.  Joel took on a few more artistic hobbies and started going to ceramic class with Grandma Marsh down the road on Country Rd VV.

There he was able to pick out ceramics, paint them up, fire them and use many of them to decorate his room, our house, and my room.  For a while there he was making really detailed designs and deer that appeared to be life-like.  He also made gallon jugs for Slab City which we displayed on our fire place for years.  I still have quite a few of his designs in my room, and I know that there's plenty more in storage.  The best part of doing ceramics with Grandma Marsh is that you could always save the eyes for her to finish.  The eyes were the hardest part, and most often the finishing touches.  The eyes brought the ceramic pieces to life - Grandma Marsh was perfect for the job.

When I thought of making a post to show you the ceramic floors - all of the memories of Joel painting ceramics came to me.  What an excellent hobby to add to his many skills at a young age.  Maybe that's why he wanted so much tile in his camp??  Who am I kidding - I think it's because you can clean it with a pressure washer in under 2.0 seconds...

The perk of putting tile down by the Camp Buck Shot Fridge!

Construction Fuel - Uncle Whitey's Food!

Moving on the floors, the whole great room is covered in tile.  You can only imagine how one's knees would feel after kneeling on the concrete all day to put the tile in place and then grout it all!  Thank goodness we had ample help from friends and neighbors, otherwise Curty would not be walking at the moment.  Ouch.

Ziggy Zaggy... Shnnufka!  Job well done!

One of the best features of having tile throughout the house, is the ability to heat it with boiling hot water.  Slab heat was a must when Joel was designing the house.  Who needs a basement, when you can head the slab and live right on top of its warmth!  It's also very energy efficient for the north woods - another thing Joel wanted to achieve in his place.

Speaking of energy efficiency, I'm reminded of another Buck story...  I remember when Joel was first learning about solar panels and solar energy in high school.  In order to take his knowledge to the next level, he decided to buy individual solar units on Ebay, and wire them up on a homemade solar panel mount which was made out of plywood and plexiglass.  He even painted it white for ample reflection.  As if building the panel wasn't enough, he wired it up to charge a large set of car batteries - one for energy use and one for energy storage.  Sounds cool right?!  Well, Buck wasn't satisfied, so he decided that it would be even more impressive to run our basement's energy (his domain of the house) completely off of solar power.  So about a week later, he and dad trip the breakers and the basement was running off of solar.  Hahah!  Yep, Buck was running his high school bachelor pad off of solar.   This was about the time when me, Joel, Dad, and the Winsand clan were into "getting off the grid"... so there was ample celebration of Joel's ability to remove himself from the power grid and sustain his needs through solar electricity!  Excellent.  Sooner or later, one of the panels tweaked out and the whole thing needed to be rewired... not necessarily worth it.  The basement went back on the grid - dahhh!  It was more the fact that he could do it that mattered to everyone - he definitely proved his point.

Debbie would be so proud... as Curty always says "He's so well trained..."

Well, now that you've heard some Buck Stories, I'll finally reveal how the tile looks!  Isn't is wonderful!?  I can't wait for when the boys see the tile!

The hallway by the bedrooms

The Great Room!  I absolutely loved how it turned out!

Camp Fence Rainbow

Weather, rain, and the things that are our of our control always hit home and send a message to slow down to enjoy many of the gifts that we take for granted...

Spotted on the way up to Camp Fence

Mom and Dad saw a double rainbow on their way up to Joel's cabin - one of the many things that reminds me that someone is watching out for us...

Washington, DC - Summer of 2009

Buck's Camp Fence Progress: Part II

Chris, Curty, and Camper!

I wanted to update you on another productive work weekend up at Camp Buck!  When there's wood floors, there's no one better to call than Camper/Koeppy!  (I'm not exactly sure how you spell that, but if you know our family, you know exactly who I'm talking about!)

Uncle Buck wanted some of Camper's finest floors in the two bedrooms on the first floor.  For the master bedroom, he chose Hickory and for the spare/front room, a beautiful walnut I believe.  Dad will have to correct me if I'm wrong.  Buck bought the wood awhile ago, so everything was set and ready to go into the cabin.

The 'ole wedding Kirby is still kickin!

After a few coats of varnish or polyurethane... something shiny that's for sure!

- Pause -

This reminds me of a Buck story.  I recall one time that Mom, Uncle Buck, I, and a few others were joking around and shooting the breeze.  Someone challenged mother to a question about the type of wood that was in our cabin (I believe, but I can't remember specifically).  Mom unfortunately chose the wrong type...   Joel quickly responded with "Ahhhhhh com'on MAHhhh, I thought you were a VanBoxtel!"  It was a classic - we couldn't really argue with that.  Buck was right.  Hahah!

- End Pause -

Nice choice Buck, and great work men!

Buck's Master Bedroom, the floor is down and sealed!

Camper came up and right away was busy with the impressive wood floor project.  The rest of the Armstrong Crew were also a big help because a massive amount of tile was put down during that same weekend.  It's crazy how different the cabin starts to look after the floors are in.  The floors give the cabin so much character, and it sure beats the cold cement!

Mom was also able to finish up all of the overhead varnishing before the floors went down, which is another thing to check of the to-do list!  Deb is always good at making sure things are done in order in the best effort to avoid any unnecessary spills (or dust)!

Back to business with Little Oscar!  Sawmill extraordinaire!

Now you have an idea of how the wood floors are looking... I can't wait to show you some updates on how the tile looks after it's been grouted throughout the great room!  More photos to come...

Thank you for taking the journey with us as we celebrate the progress and finishing touches of Buck's Cabin that he so carefully planned out!

Buck's Camp Fence Progress: Part I

I wanted to put out a few pictures from some of the more recent progress at Buck's Camp Fence.  First, I want to direct you to a post from my blog where Kate and I painted the bathroom and got some staining done!  Mother has been doing a lot of varnishing in the place.  The ceilings all needed to be covered in varnish, and so do all of the beams in the rooms - it's looking really sharp!

Standing next to the masterpiece! Thanks Craig!

At the same time, Poppa was working hard to get the shower grouted - man the grout really changes the look of the whole shower!  It seems to look better every day!  I think there are just a few more details we need to add before the glass block goes up and it's fully functional.

After the grout - delightful!  Nice grout job Poppa!

In addition to the tile in the bathroom, the majority of the first floor is going to be covered in tile.  Let's just say that there's quite a bit of ceramic to be put down.  These are just the first few rows of tile, but there is more tile and photos to come!

Captain Curty in the kitchen!

Chris was there to master the design - the fine finishing touches.

Thank you for stopping in to check out the progress of the place!  More photos to come!

Buck's Camp Fence: The Shower

I just ordered this in a canvas to show off at Joel's cabin - I love this photo!

Marc, Haus, Joel, and Marty after a chilly bike ride.

Slowly but surely Joel's camp is coming together just how it was planned to.  We are excited to continue to build on the camp and execute Joel's wishes for the many crafty details he wanted to incorporate in the finished cabin!

The first thing we did to take the cabin to the next level was to pick out some ceramic tile.  Mom, Dad and I went to a store that was recommended to Buck by Ben I think - and we found some excellent tile there called "patchwork".  It comes in tan and a darker brown which just struck us as the perfect fit for the common area and the bathroom!  We knew there was going to be a lot of tile in the place, so we needed something with some flair, and this tile consists of different shades of brown/tan all within the same color pallet!  Luckily we found the carpet the same day - the pieces just seem to come together!  Did  I tell you that they all match the counter tops too?  It's like someone is helping us pick this stuff out...

Joel and Haus eating pizza next to the plaster...

The first thing to be done to get the shower ready for tiling was some cement board to lay the foundations for the tile.  Curty and Billy and the other Fence Marsh's tackled the job with a little friend we like to call Ice Hole.

The sheet rock crew, getting the shower ready for tiling!

We all know how much my dad loves to work on details and the jobs that require patience and perfection... Curty is a self proclaimed chainsaw construction man.  Translation: Curty prefers the roar of the chainsaw over the pop of a finishing nailer.   So, when it comes to the shower tile, we had to call in the professionals...  Luckily we had some help from Craig Hellberg for all of the help and design with the shower tile - it looks awesome!  You can see that the walls have tiles at an angle and the shower head is accented by straight tile and a thin trim.  The shower roof is also tile and is straight to break up the design.  They also included a soap holder for the deer urine body wash during hunting season!  Ziggy-Zaggy, Ziggy-Zaggy, Ow, Ow, OW!

The shower before grouting - thank you Craig!

The future kitchen with the first pass of tile...

That weekend Curty and I think Haus and of course many of the other Marsh and Winsand locals started the beginning of the tile in the great room.  We were so excited to see the first couple pieces of this put down.  Dad saw the alternating pattern at Twin Lakes up near Lake Eva, and we thought it would be a great way to break apart the design - I think it's coming together nicely and I cannot wait to see it all grouted!

Relaxing after a long day of work down at Tuffy's camp!

Thank you for all of the help from family and friends - we sure appreciate it, and just look at how far the place has come in such a short time!

-The Marsh's