We purchased our two acres in Southern Mississippi in 2006. The entire two acres are covered in Pine trees, which we will be harvesting to build our log house, a few large oaks, gum and fir trees, and a very dense underbrush.

Besides providing us with timbers to build with, the trees on the property provide us an almost endless supply of firewood.

The first project was to fence off the two acres which the boys and I did using 5' dog fencing. As you can see, the underbrush is pretty thick and a path had to first be cleared before constructing the fence line.

Next we clear cut the trees and brush for the driveway. We will be using the trees on the property, some of which you can see in this photo, for the construction of the shop and house.

The foundation and sills (bottom logs) are complete and I am notching one of the logs for the first course. Do you remember playing with "Lincoln Logs" as a kid? Me too, I guess I'm just reliving my childhood, just on a bigger scale.

The walls are slowly going up. The back half of the building will be the chicken house and the front half will be the shop.

One of our reasons for moving to Mississippi is because it's warm here, so I have no idea what all this white stuff is.

The shop is complete except for adding the metal on the roof and the chinking between the logs.

My wife Denise's vegetable garden. This year she is trying something new, raised bed gardens, and so far they seem to working very well. This is her sanctuary.

Our chickens keep us in eggs, lots of eggs, enough to share with friends and neighbors. One of the boys chores is to do the feeding, cleaning and gathering of the eggs.

The area for the house has been cleared of trees (stacked in the background) and underbrush. The large oak in the left of the picture will eventually be in the backyard. You can also see the shop at the right, still haven't put the metal on the roof or chinked the walls, but soon.

This is one of several stacks of logs that will be used to build the house. After the logs have dried for a few months the bark peels off very easily. On top of the logs is one our dogs Missy (short for Mississippi).

The piers for the raised foundation are complete. The soil was dug down to hard clay (about 10"). Concrete footings were poored first, then the cinderblock piers are built on the footings. The cinderblocks were then filled with concrete. Anchor bolts, for bolting the sill logs, and flashing, for insect protection, are on top of the piers. In the center is the hoist (called a "tip-up jammer") I built for lifting the logs.

The sill logs, sleeper logs are complete and the floor joists are now going in. Once the joists are complete a subfloor of plywood will be added and a tongue and groove wood floor will be added on top of the subfloor once the cabin is complete.

All ninety floor joists are done, but still need to put the plywood subloor on the joists.

The second course of logs are complete.

Five courses now complete.

Window and door frames going in.

Tenth course almost complete. We're getting there, almost ready to move in LOL.