We Launch our Barge and Try Sailing to our Island Base Camp

Today marks a significant milestone for us as we finally launch our barge into the beautiful lake surrounding our island base camp. After months of planning and logistics,…

We are Starting to Clear Land – by Hand! Where Do We Begin?

We are now starting to clear some of this raw land by hand. It is a daunting task, where do we begin? We need to clear land to make room for a metal building that we are picking up this…

Clearing Land for Lakeside Cabin – Storing Equipment

In this episode we start clearing the forest for our homestead! Since the island is literally an uninhabited forest, we need begin clearing land to make room for outbuildings, storage sheds and…

Unbelievable! We’re Sleeping in the Outhouse?

So why are we sleeping in the outhouse? To get away from the flies. We have been busy collecting materials and tools and getting to know the island. So far, we have been living in a tent and cooking…

Big Trouble Ahead – Will We Sink or Swim?

This has easily been the biggest challenge of our lives. After re-prioritizing, we realized we had to leave the island for a month to gather more supplies. Upon returning, we found big trouble at the…

Excavator + Deep Water Crossing = Wild Ride!

What do you get when you add a heavy excavator on a small barge doing deep water crossing? You get a wild ride! Melodi is unable to contain her fear and apprehension during this crossing, and…

Dream Come True! We Build a Tiny Cabin Off Grid

Today we actually start to build our off grid tiny cabin! The day has finally arrived. We have barged over materials and equipment to help us clear the build site and start our off grid tiny cabin…

Amazing Shed Move – by Excavator and Barge?

Hold your breath and watch this amazing shed move! To move any shed is no small feat, but to do it with an excavator and barge is on a whole another level! We have company coming to the island! It’s…

We are Clearing Land and Road Building

We are now clearing a little more land for our work shop and building a short road to connect the shop to our cabin area. Now this is progress! It turns out that our trusty little doggie, Opal, really…

Girl Power on the Island Homestead

Our island homestead gets a big boost from some serious Girl Power! Laugh along with the ladies as they help out in their own unique way. The girls demonstrate some enterprising initiative and have quite the…

Building a Tiny Cabin on our Off Grid Island

The tiny cabin build on our off grid island is progressing nicely. One of the biggest challenges is getting supplies to the island. Then there’s the wholeoff gri thing. Not only must we pack EVERYTHING…

Can This Woman Operate Heavy Equipment?

We are a retired couple attempting to transform a forested island into a livable homestead. Sometimes so-doing involves the unconventional. So… do you think that a retired woman can or even should operate…