11/20/2025
I haven’t been updating the Woodpecker Lodge page but instead updating my own personal page. So here’s a Woodpecker Lodge update:
A very busy year finishing projects and maintenance and getting a couple of new ones started.
Last fall the mile long driveway was repaired. It had a lot of ruts and water running down the drive, making it worse. We rented a dozer and got a couple other property owners to pitch in to share the expense. Huge improvement to the driveway.
The old cabin was dismantled and taken to three different Amish families to be repurposed. We had a spring that popped up under the structure and was filling the foundation with water over the years. Nothing I tried fixed the situation and the solution was, remove the building. We salvaged the covered deck on the front as a pavilion.
The new pond is full and holding water very well. Bait fish will be added in the spring followed by some bluegill and bass.
I was inspired a couple of years ago at the Buffalo Botanical Gardens exhibit that had a Japanese Teahouse, so I decided to have one too at Woodpecker Lodge. It’s a multipurpose building for yoga, mediation and deer hunting. The location is simply perfect. A small stream out the front door, a heavy hemlock stand with a great deer location. One of my Amish friends built the structure from my design and with my brother in law, Dick, we finished the interior. Being completely off-grid, we run all our buildings on solar, including this one.
We added a covered patio off the back of the first building for gatherings, storage and a good place to park the tractor or atvs in bad weather.
An apiary was added last year with a couple of hives to start. We have hives at our house in Warren, PA so we were interested to see what produced best. Scio way out produces! The bees are productive and protective. A wide variety of honey results from all of the plant variation and different terrain. We also added a small garden this year. Pumpkins, peppers, tomatos and a great crop of carrots.
Our latest project is a woodfired sauna. This should be finished over the winter and before maple syrup season. More to come on this one.
So, we have been busy as bees at Woodpecker Lodge but the best time has been time spent working on projects and finding tranquility in the woods. What a blessing it’s been to have such a place to break a sweat and find some peace.
