Long awaited blog update for Cabin

Since it was May since I did the last blog update I figured I would start from early June the goings on.  Since NC is pretty much the epicenter of reported tick-borne illnesses in the US it would stand to reason that my chance of contracting this is pretty high given that we are in the woods just above very weekend.  Around June 5 I started experiencing the classic symptoms (headache, low grade fever, sluggishness) and went to the doc to be checked.  Upon my indicating I had been bitten several times by ticks in the past weeks she took a blood sample and prescribed doxycyline.  Five days after the doctor's visit I got the spots (which was actually my capillaries leaking under the skin - very bad news...).  However the good news is that I was already on the treatment and starting to get better so the damage was not worsening.  The spots disappeared another 3-4 days later and I felt much better.

This is what RMSF looks like after about day 5 of when I suspected I had a tick-borne illness. I was on doxycyline at this point for 4 full days.

 The cabin worked continued in earnest in July, August and September with us finishing the last bit of the deck (to be used as scaffolding for siding the dormer).

Taking a break to enjoy the quietness.

Completed siding and partial painting done

Beech log in front of the cabin has taken on some beautiful fungal arrangements

October 16

We added this awning after Hurricane Matthew dumped a whole lot of rain on us.  We decided we needed to redirect water from the main roof above the door off to the ground as water splashed on the walkway deck onto the door sill and leaked into the cabin.

Oct. 16

Exterior cabin finishes nearly done to make it ready for winter.  Needs deck railing and then we move inside to build the loft.