The retreat is taking on a new look! Cedar siding has been going up and I love it. 

 Very "Up North" looking don’t you think?

Here is another angle.

You can see the last two windows are in also. We had been waiting for some nailing flanges for those.

This is how the Greatroom currently looks. Drywall will start going up later this week. That whole process takes about 3 weeks from start to finish. Then we can look forward to the finish carpentry work. (the fun stuff!!)

This last picture is of the craft room. Still lots of work to be done, but it’s nice to see how everything is laid out now.

Behind the scenes we have been ordering many of the furnishings and tools for the craft room. A little more exciting than working on the electrical stuff!

If you have any questions about us please feel free to send me an email! info@talloaksretreat.com

So have you  noticed the additions to the site?

We now have an Availability Calendar to help you in making your reservations!

Yes!! I did say reservations!!  Whoo Hoo!  I’m so glad to be able to say that already!

There is also a more detailed description of what the retreat will have in our Accomodations page and the Rates/Policies information has been expanded.

To begin making a reservation, you just need to fill out a quick online form found in our Reservations tab. The information will be emailed to us and we will contact you to get everything set up! It’s that simple!

We are still scheduled to finish the retreat in May, but just to be sure everything we want is complete and ready for you, we will take reservations starting with June and any time after that.

I have begun buying the tools and supplies for the craft room and as soon as they are here I will add that information to the Accomodations page as well.

The work has been continuing, and I’ll have more pictures for you after Easter. All the interior rough in is done and the insulation work will be finished this week, with drywall starting next week. Also, the siding is going up, I can’t wait to see what it looks like!

Last week while Dale was there working on the electrical stuff, he saw 6 deer walk right by the Frech doors on the lower level! How cool!!

Finally, did you know that you can leave me comment here on the blog? Yep!! You just have to register, it’s fast and painless. We have that extra step to keep spam out. I hope to hear from you soon!!

Boy, I sure am tired of winter! The temps can start rising and the snow can melt at any time now. I don’t really mind winter so much, but this year we were blessed with so much more snow than in past years. I’m ready to see green grass and spring flowers!

I don’t have any new pictures to show you today, so instead I though I would tell you a bit more about deciding to build the retreat. Just in case you were wondering!

It all started last fall. A couple of friends and I went for a weekend stay at a retreat. There were a total of 18 of us! Some of them I had known before going, others I met for the first time once I was there. This was the first time I had ever gone to a crop anywhere. I had no idea what to pack, so I brought it all!! LOL Well, almost all of it.

It’s hard to describe how much fun I had! There was always someone laughing and sharing stories. Someone showing their latest creation. Others were learning new techniques or trying out a tool they hadn’t seen before. Even though I didn’t know everyone before I went, it was easy to connect because we all shared the same passion for crafting.

When I got home that Sunday I was so excited about scrapbooking again. I felt re-energized, excited and couldn’t wait to do it again. Unfortunately, the same day I returned home, my DH had to leave on a business trip for a few days. I didn’t really have time to tell him all about it and how excited I was about it before he had to leave.

While he was gone I kept thinking about the retreat I had just been to. I really thought it would be fun to have a retreat of our own! I started looking and thought “Up North” would be a great place for a retreat. It’s a beautiful area and many people already go there for vacations. By the time DH came home from his trip I had a pretty good plan laid out. We looked at a few properties and didn’t find anything that was quite right for what we had in mind. Then we started searching for a wooded lot that would work. We knew right away that the lot on Walck Road was perfect!

Then we had to go through the process of writing a business plan and figuring out how we could make it all work. Thankfully we managed to put it all together and got the business rolling. Then came the offer on the lot, many quotes, choosing a builder, breaking ground, and now dealing with the sub-contractors. There are so many things that had to fall into place to get started and now to be able to finish this spring!

It is my hope, to have groups of crafters come and stay at our retreat and go home feeling as excited as I first did. It will be a place to focus on your projects, a time to re-connect with friends, an event that your group looks forward to every year.

Please keep checking back as our site will continue to change and more details will be available. I will keep posting pictures of the progress as we go. We still plan on opening sometime in May, but it’s hard to give you a definite date right now. If you are interested in more information please send me an email to info@talloaks.com, I’ll do whatever I can to help you. We can take reservations now for dates after Memorial Day!

I hope spring is on it’s way to us all very soon!

We have a well now!! LOL They have also put in the septic system and the electrical work is almost done!! You can see that we also got those shingles up! The siding will be delivered soon. It is cedar and has been at the stainers . Two coats of stain went on all four sides of it, I’m very happy to say we didn’t decide to do that ourselves! Here is the back, all enclosed now. I love that green French door! It will be so nice to sit out there this summer on the patio. Lots of interior rough in work going on right now. The HVAC and plumbers will be there next week.

Then after the inspection the insulation can go in. This is when it seems like everything slows way down. There are so many different contractors to coordinate and then the timing of inspections to plan for. I just want to be on to the finish work so I can show you the beautiful hickory cabinets and granite counters we have picked out! All in good time I guess!