We did it! Bought 40 acres in the UP

Reminds me so very much of home..yep a good choice Id say.

Welcome new Yooper! I just got here full time last summer.....there is an adjustment period but it was worth the wait.

I'm curious at to how and why you went from looking for land in Kentucky to the UP of MI! The fish and game of the UP interests me very much. The short, cool summers and long winters not so much...

We chose da UP instead of Kentucky for several reasons.
We found KY to be just too hot and humid in the summer.
While the UP has bugs, KY has way more ticks and chiggers, and I HATE chiggers-they absolutely love me and I have an extreme reaction to chiger bites.
We couldn't find what we wanted in KY that we could afford-what we could afford was too hilly to be of much use, and not secluded enough.
Besides, da UP has always been my husband's dream. He will have big water very close by-even though we will not have waterfront property-we can go to the Lake Superior shore any day we want.
There is so much diversity in da UP.."mountains", swamps, forests, lots of public land - all will be virtually in our backyard.

Thanks to all for sharing my excitement!
Martha

congrats- I love the UP!
I would think twice about using your (white) cedar for shingles though. People do it, but it rots out really fast compared to the western red. They look nice for a while, but laying cedar shingles is a lot of work to have to do it again in ten years. It's probably better for siding under an eave or as fencing material (posts or split rail).

congrats on your purchase.

the munising area is very picturesque. they get about as much snow as calumet where we still have a 40 acre farm. we spent 10 yrs up there, and like the area. its a different world up there with it own pace of life. muldoons has some really good pasties. i don't miss those late april blizzards, and pesky black flies. really liked picking wild blueberries on the property, and making fresh apple cider with our neighbors apple press. our last year there, we made 63 quarts of apple sauce from trees on the farm.
the town of trenary has outhouse races in february once you are up there. yoopers find lots of ways to have fun during the winter.

keith

It looks like you have a large piece of public land nearby. That is definitely a plus to me.

We used to live in Christmas among other UP towns about 40 years ago. I remember lots and lots of blueberries around Little Lake. Lots of non-poisonous snakes too. It was a dream place to a young boy.

I may just have to make a road trip back there soon.

__________________
"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

thanks for the heads up about the cedar. I will bring that to DH's attention. We had thought shingle siding with a metal roof (to let all that snow slide off), but you are right, we don't want to have to do it twice! Good to know.
Martha

we had the farm house cedar shingled. used the western red shingles. it is labor intensive, and expensive to have done if you have someone else do it. it does look nice though. your options once the shingles are up are to paint or a natural stain of some type. if you do that you will have to reapply every few years or so. sunny side more often than other sides. or you can leave the shingles as they are, and they will change to a grayish color. they will last a long time either way.


keith

Martha I'm so thrilled for another like minded person moving into my lovely state of Michigan..please if you drive through would you contact me and stop and say HI..I'm between Traverse city and Cadillac..Brenda

lived in the up most of my life except for college (green bay) and the military. You will not be sorry about your choice it is Gods Country. We might have snow but we don't get hurricanes, earthquakes, or tidal waves. One or two tornados. with the snow its good for catching up with books and snuggling to the wife.

yeah you know hubby Ron and I talk about that everytime there is a disaster somewhere..we always say..Glad we live in Michigan

The white cedar shingles on my house were put on in 1933. They have had one coat of paint. The ones on the north are good, the ones on the sunny south side need paint.

The neighbor's house is sided with #2 white cedar shungles (solid knot in each one) and they were never painted. After 80 years they are getting tattered.

Get some local advice.

The shingles I was talking about were untreated and catching a fair amount of rain. They were totally rotted out after 15 years. Maybe painting them or just keeping them more or less dry does the trick. But the western red do hold up better under less than ideal conditions. Don't know if it's the pitch in them or a tighter grain, or what. They are pricey though.

Congratulations on your find in the UP. I lived in lower Michigan years ago and visited UP. I always wanted to move there. It is beautiful country. One reason I like Nova Scotia is because many parts of it reminds me of Michigan. Had I not met my DH I would have been in the UP. However I have no regrets as we have been happily married 32 years come July.

Love the UP. congrats!!! Munising and Marquette are both great towns. Lots of waterfalls up there too. 32 if I'm not mistaken. Post pics when you get a chance.

__________________
"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow the fields of those who don't."-Thomas Jefferson

Good work. Have fun.

Welcome to da u.p. we're about 3 and a half hours west of you,in gogebic county.

__________________
I Live Back In The Woods You See,The Woman,The Kids,The Dogs an Me.

So youre a trooper now! Congrats! I'd love to live in the U.P.

__________________
Abby
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Unless life also hands you sugar and water, your lemonade is going to suck.

I like that, a Trooper! Since I was very firmly told I will never be a yooper, no matter how long I might live there, I've been trying to think of what I will be.

Trooper sounds good-a combination of Troll and Yooper?

Assuming the closing goes as expected in a few days, we plan to head to our new place over Memorial Day. We'll camp on our very own land, explore our piles of junk and rocks, get a feel for the place, and hopefully plan where to put a little tiny cabin that we will use as a shelter while we work out the details of the little house and barn that we will build. Then too, we have to leave room for the chicken coop, and DH's sugar shack, and a building to house his wood mill, and..., and ....

The first thing I want to do to "mark" my territory, is to transplant some of my rhubarb from here to there. My rhubarb is what I call my "ancestral" rhubarb--it's from root stock that dates at least back to the depression years from my grandfather's truck farm. It's gone with me to every place I've ever lived. And it is the BEST rhubarb-not TOO tart, not to bland.

Beyond that, we have to keep telling ourselves to take it slow, and plan things out carefully. Don't want to find out we put the house in the wrong place, or the barn is right where the garden should be.
We were told our place was once and old homestead. I think it would be wonderful if we can figure out where the old house and other buildings might have been and see if that will work for us.

One step at a time, Martha, one step at a time!
Thanks to all for the good wishes, and especially to those of you in Michigan who are so welcoming and encouraging.
Martha