Original subtitles

[upbeat music playing]

Feels like a storm is coming in.

[thunder roaring]

[Emilie] The more we go into spring,

the weather out here is not very predictable.

You can tell the wind's coming.

We're going to have to hurry up. Not waste time.

[grunts]

[Billy] I'm working so hard, physically and mentally.

[sighs]

- [Margot] Because you're not... - No. Your hands are on it.

I don't have much time left on the trap line.

I have to get everything ready to close camp.

I really need to be done with this roof.

[Matty] What's this thing made of? [sighs]

My God, that's some tough stuff.

[Emilie] We got to get this tarp on now because it's raining.

I really don't want to have any issues with mould.

Judas.

The biggest worry I have of living all this

is I just don't want to be the old guy alone.

Oh!

Ish!

[Billy] It never stops.

Being here, there is always another project.

You finish one, there is another one.

I would have loved to finish this before the black flies.

The beginning of hell.

[yips] [Matty] That water feels good.

[theme music playing]

[soft music playing]

[Margot] I love being alone.

It's a big part of my lifestyle.

There's nothing around you to distract you.

Here, there is just trees and mountains.

[birds chirping]

But some things are too hard to do by yourself,

so, for sure, I'm very happy Alex is here to help me.

Tucked it all under here somehow.

It's all wired up. Wait.

- Is it? - Yeah.

[Margot] The plan for today is to remove this temporary roof

and start to put the new boards up.

I'm happy to be back and it's pretty exciting

to really finish the project now.

[rhythmic music playing]

[Margot] Let's put the shitty-looking side outside.

No, if we can...

[Alex] Outside?

Well, mostly when we are inside, you know,

so we have the nice looking from inside.

Yeah, I mean, there's no insulation with the tarp,

so I lost a lot of heat from the roof.

So, having an actual roof on it,

it's going to help to, to keep the heat down.

Yeah, they're pretty thick boards.

Those are about two inches thick,

just in case some trees fall on the roof

or, I don't know, hopefully, it's strong enough.

We milled them with an Alaskan sawmill,

so, we just use a chainsaw to cut along the tree and get the thickness we want.

I'll just go up top and you pass them, or how do you do? What do you want to do?

[Alex] Yeah, I'll go on the lower beams and try to pull them up and...

Or I'll try to push them up, yeah.

Okay, wait for a second and I'll look if I can see if it's square.

How come there's such a gap?

Because nothing is straight.

Move.

- [Alex] Well, I have nowhere to move. - [Margot] Just your hand. Thank you.

Ouch, Alex, wait.

Just hold it, Alex.

- [Alex] Yes. - [Margot] I'm leaning on it.

[Alex] Yeah. So?

[Margot] We're both pretty perfectionist when it comes to work.

Sometimes, Alex likes to talk more before doing,

and I like to do and less talk.

[Alex] We work together and, of course, we not always agree on things,

but we love each other and that's what matters.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.

[Margot] So, sometimes, it's kind of a, a compromise

for both of us to find our groove.

- Were you trying to be in the middle or? - [Alex] What do you mean the middle?

You'll cut where you're trying to be in the middle.

- Because you're not... - No. Your hands are on it.

Let go. Left hand.

[Margot] Alex, I'm just saying, you're not in the middle of your mark.

So, if that was the purpose, it's not.

[Alex] I'm not trying to.

The problem is, if we cut right in the middle,

it'll be harder to butt the other boards up. No?

I don't know.

[sighs]

There's a lot of pressure time-wise.

I'm leaving in couple weeks to go back guiding.

I really want to get this roof done before I leave.

I don't want to have to deal with that when I come back in the fall,

and it could get wet inside and it will be easier for animals to get in there.

I worked too hard to let it get wrecked.

[soft music playing]

[Matty] I'm not the classic old woodsman hermit you may think of out in the woods,

splitting wood all day long and not wanting to see anyone.

I love people.

But this is my happy place.

If I had to pick one place to be stuck, it would be in the woods.

Nice sunny day, we're gonna start building the wharf.

It's a floating patio.

Newfoundland is known to have the rough shorelines

and a designated area to launch the boat and to go swimming,

like a wharf, just makes it that much easier to access the water.

I've already started putting like a bit of a little rock landing way out here.

Right now, it's spring here, the water's really high.

But come the middle of summer when it's hot, dry, and hasn't rained?

This water level is going to drop quite a bit.

So, that's the whole idea of building this little rock runway,

is to get further offshore, in hopes that it doesn't run dry,

end up sitting on the rocks.

That's a good one.

More like that.

A lot of the projects I've been doing over the winter and in the fall

have been projects out of necessity

or projects to really improve life up here, in an off-grid sense.

The wharf is not that, it's purely luxury.

Couple nice chairs, some coffee, just floating on the, on the wharf.

Oh, it's going to be magic.

[rhythmic music playing]

It's a high-end load of lumber right there.

It's all a pressure treated.

This is some stuff that no matter how hard I try,

I can't pull this out of the trees myself with a chainsaw.

But it'll be a lifelong wharf.

Please, please, Jesus.

A little hot wire job here.

Lost the keys to this thing a while back.

- Ooh, works every time. - [engine starts]

Don't leave your quad around me.

Beauty.

Ooh, that's some fancy wood, boy.

You can feel the breeze coming in.

Getting stronger, which it's wonderful to keep the flies off.

But we could get a little bit of rain this afternoon, so...

nice to get a head start as much as we can.

Store-bought lumber like this, this is a privilege.

It's all nice and perfect. Straight.

It doesn't get much easier than this.

Be drinking cold beers in no time.

Well, that's our frame.

[soft music playing]

Looks good.

I just want to get this close to the water.

Ooh.

Eesh.

Ooh.

Once it's all built up and decked over,

it's gonna be way too heavy for one person to lift.

All right.

[sighs] It's decent.

Okay, now, it's the fun part, put the barrels in.

[rhythmic music playing]

Hopefully, these actually fit.

I had access to a bunch of cheap barrels, and that's all we need to float it.

She fits.

Just got a bunch of old ratchet straps.

It's insane to do, but I'm gonna cut them off.

Oh my lord.

No one ever said I was the best nailer.

This is the one strap out of all of them that's really going to hurt me to cut.

Sorry, girl.

Oh, God.

Three-thousand-pound strap.

Gone, sacrificed for a barrel.

[sighs] God, just breaking hearts.

Oh, baby.

That's it.

It's ready to float.

[upbeat music playing]

Well, there it is. Look at that.

We got a floating wharf.

So many projects come to mind seeing this.

I just want to build a floating cabin now, real bad, but it works.

Oh, yeah, baby.

Just be out here, just feeling the motion of the ocean.

It's beautiful. It really is beautiful.

[soft music playing]

[Emilie] When we came here, I definitely felt

there was something different about this area.

I remember seeing the sun shining and the way that it hits the trees.

I knew I was going to love it.

[Gilbert] When we came here, there was nothing.

And we didn't know what size to make it, what style.

We had no idea, we just, "Okay, let's start digging."

It's amazing to see how far we've come.

[Gilbert] The final push to finish the cabin right now,

because the snow is going to melt,

it's going to be really hard to get to the cabin.

It's a lot of muskeg to get there

and that gets very swampy, so we have to wait for it to melt.

It could take about three to four weeks.

So, this one's going to go on this wall, right?

The smaller one? Yeah, that would be good.

- Yeah. - It looks good.

We have to make sure that our window's in the right spot.

We're going to have a loft right here for the kids to go sleep on.

We have to have the loft end before the window,

or else the loft is going to go over the window,

and that's just gonna be weird.

Yeah, we really miss our kids and I know they can't wait to see us,

they can't wait to come here, because we want to teach our kids

how to go hunting, trapping, harvesting,

and really be in tune with the land and be in tune with yourself.

That feels so much better.

This is a really good idea for a window spot.

And I can see Nikik sleeping.

Yeah, this is a really good window.

Okay, so, we got to hurry up to finish up the other window frames.

We want to have windows in for tonight.

I don't want to sleep with a wind draft.

The more we go into spring, the weather out here is not very predictable.

[suspenseful music playing]

I think there's definitely some weather coming.

The wind is shifting from the east,

and usually, we know that there's a storm coming.

I think we're going to have some rain, and we do not want to get a wet cabin.

You can tell the wind's coming.

We're gonna have to hurry up with that wrap too.

Not waste time.

[rhythmic music playing]

[Billy] Living in the north keeps me young.

I'm working so hard physically and mentally.

And there is always another project.

You finish one, there is another one.

Well, summer is coming.

It's a very tradition here in Quebec just to cook outside.

Because it gets too warm inside a cabin.

So, what I'm planning now is to build an outdoor kitchen.

It's like a barbecue kind of.

That's good.

It rained a lot last night, it was crazy how rainy it was last night.

So, today, it's supposed to rain again,

so I just want to make sure this thing is done

before it gets much rain, you know?

So, this will hold the cement.

I can work under the rain. No big deal.

But the thing is, the cement needs to dry out.

If it rains too much, that's no good.

I would have loved to finish this before the black flies and mosquitoes are out.

And now, it's just the beginning of hell.

But I've got to go for it.

If I'm always scared here, I won't do anything.

[upbeat music playing]

Almost. [laughs]

This will help to reinforce the cement.

Here we go. And I want them to be a little bit lift up.

I'm going to use maybe some small rocks that I'm going to put underneath.

All right.

It's going to work.

Next up, la forge, the blacksmithing.

I want it to be like hell, so hot.

I need to put two steel rods,

okay, in order to support the grill.

[soft music playing]

Whoo! [laughs]

Whoo, this is great.

Good angle. Very happy with it.

[water hissing]

[rhythmic music playing]

So now, I'm ready to put this concrete.

Too much water is no good.

Not enough water is not good enough also.

So, I just need to find a right mix.

You've got only one chance.

If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

This is, this is kind of a big job.

Just want to make sure I've got concrete everywhere.

In the corner.

[whistles]

That's a lot.

Here we go.

Eh, should be fine.

No worry at all.

I'm just worried about mosquitoes.

I got bit, man, like crazy.

Here we go, in the concrete.

The last few days, it's been so hot, I wouldn't be surprised

there is thunderstorms very soon.

Uh, hopefully, that won't be tonight.

[suspenseful music playing]

And tomorrow, it will be all dried out.

I'll just cross my fingers.

[Margot] For me, cities are just so many things that don't really matter.

Like superficial lifestyle.

I don't need this kind of stuff in my life.

[Emilie] It's okay if you don't fit into society,

just find who you are and go towards that.

It feels so peaceful to just be true to yourself.

[Matty] For anyone that wants to live like this,

leave your fear behind and just do it,

because, you know, life just simply is too short.

[soft music playing]

[birds chirping]

[Margot] What I love most about the cabin is that I built everything from nothing.

And I started that project alone.

[groans]

But Alex spent some time with me here, and he helped a lot.

Wait.

I'm probably going to slide all the way down.

I'm blocking you.

Are you? [chuckles]

So, it's definitely our home.

Thank you.

For both of us.

It feels like a storm is coming in.

Yeah, it's getting more windy and it's kind of cooling down already.

When you're in the mountains, the weather changes quick.

You know, it can be sunny and a couple hours later, it's pouring rain.

It's extreme.

[intriguing music playing]

We had to put the tarp on last night because it started to rain.

We couldn't finish that part.

The pitch is pretty steep,

so it's already slippery enough without water on it.

So, if it rains, it's pretty shitty.

And I don't want too much water to come in there because then, it's a mess.

And this plywood is already pretty old,

so I don't want it to start rotting if it gets too wet and stuff.

So, just want to keep it dry.

We just gotta finish to close those couple of boards here.

[hammer banging]

[rhythmic music playing]

This gap is, I mean, it's not straight.

That's why we got to trim the last board.

It's pretty classic that nothing is straight and you just got to adjust.

I gave up on my OCD. [chuckles]

[Alex] Just slide it up a little bit, and I'll give you the better axe.

Oh.

Wait, wait, wait.

Grazie.

It's a good feeling to know that whatever the bush throws at you,

you can figure it out.

I mean, it might take a lot of sweat, tears or whatever,

but you'll figure it out.

Well, that's it.

Except that shitty custom board.

The rest looks pretty good.

Just gotta put the tarp paper, make the barrier, moss, and that's it.

We're done.

[rhythmic music playing]

We better get this done with the rain coming.

[Margot] One more layer and it's waterproof for the night.

The rain has been pretty intense the last couple of days.

I'm happy we got that done before another storm was coming in.

We can start putting stuff back inside and tomorrow we'll finish it.

[soft music playing]

Last board, baby.

That's it. She's down.

Look at that. Proper little floating dance floor.

Whoo hoo!

Passed the test, Ronnie loves it.

We got the seal of approval from Ronnie.

All right, Ronnie. Let's go build our gangway.

[smacks lips] Come on.

Life's just better in the woods with a dog and he's my ride or die.

But the biggest worry I have of living all this

is I just don't want to be the old guy alone.

I want to have, you know, a family. I do.

So, it's a very sweet and sour thing

because I absolutely love being in nature, I love being out here.

And that's why I am alone and don't have a wife,

because I haven't found the person that won't make me trade that.

Nice to just stand back and look at it.

Now, once this thing starts floating,

push it out, it's going to be, it's going to be really, really nice.

See, this is exactly why you don't throw any of your old junk.

Looks like a heap of garbage, but it's all a bunch of usable scrap steel.

Good rubber. This is going to be a perfect bumper.

Where the main platform and the floating gangway come together.

Something so that it's not wood on wood.

I think I can just jerry rig it off there.

What's this thing made out of?

My God, that's some tough stuff.

Get this knife in through there.

Oh, that's doing it.

I don't think a cabin in the woods is for everyone.

This is my happy place.

Some people's happy place is sitting in a coffee shop reading a book,

and that's fine.

Oh, so close.

I'll just re-snip that once more.

Just for a little bit.

It's not for everyone, but the ones that it is for, they get it.

Whoo!

There it is.

And I'm very, very grateful and thankful to have this place.

And I hope to have this cabin and this land for the rest of my life.

Okay.

Recycling and reusing always comes with a little bit of sweat equity.

Yeah, that's it right there.

That'll go flat on the wood, just like that.

That'll be our bumper.

Oh.

Dead person.

Oh, the black flies.

Getting me killed.

All right, let's go put it on.

[soft music playing]

[Emilie] Yesterday, when I looked at the sun,

there was a ring around the sun.

So, when you have the ring around the sun,

or sometimes you have it around the moon as well,

there's a lot of moisture in the air

and that means that it's going to snow or rain.

I learned that here when I came to Peawanuck,

I learned that from elders in the community.

We need to hurry up.

Put this on. Put the windows and doors,

and then put the tarp back on before it rains inside our cabin.

- Like that? - All right.

You think the kids are gonna want to draw on this?

Yeah.

- You know what it says on this thing? - No.

It says that it's made for Canadian weather.

- [Gilbert] Oh yeah? - At minus ten.

I don't know what kind of Canadian...

Kind of Canadian that is.

[Emilie] City that is.

So, we got to get this tarp on now because it's raining.

I really don't want to have any issues with mould.

So, we got to get this covered now until we're able to do our roof.

Okay, I'm just gonna use the trees

because I don't want to put more nails in the, in the wall.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Gilbert] Ooh, that's heavy.

Oh, no.

I can't believe I'm, like, I don't think

I've ever been excited about having a window.

- Oh, yeah? - [laughs]

Oh, wow.

Looks good.

- [Emilie] Is it in? - [Gilbert] It's in, I think.

[mumbles]

Ooh! Ooh, almost dropped it.

There we go, it's in.

[Emilie] Awesome. Okay.

Is the door itself rotten?

Man, this is like falling apart.

The person that gave it to us, they told us it was temporary.

I could see why. [chuckles]

A little bit higher. Yeah.

- [Emilie] Careful, your hands. - Careful your fingers.

[Emilie] I can't believe we, we made it work with this door.

- This rotten door, yeah. - [laughs]

Okay, let's see if it closes well.

Yeah.

- Nice. - Nice.

[Emilie] So, the next step is to put in the loft.

It's going to be for the kids to go up there, have fun,

put their stuff up there, sleep, and then our bed's going to be down here.

Gilbert's going to cut one of his logs.

[Gilbert] Uh, this piece of wood, I got it in the river, 15 years ago.

So, we're going to use this as a beam for the loft in here.

Went, years ago, I'm going to try making a cabin.

So, I went over and chopped some of these white spruce down,

but never got time to make it.

And then, it sat there for 15 years, and then...

and then, finally, Emily was like, "Hey, grab one of those for a post."

Okay.

I really think it's important to put it in here because it just shows,

you know, something that Gilbert worked really hard at.

[rhythmic music playing]

[Gilbert] It's heavy.

Oh my goodness.

- Do you want me to help you, Gilbert? - [groans]

I'm good.

Looks like a tree grew through our cabin, I love it.

[chuckles] That looks nice.

Do you think maybe the loft will start right here?

Yeah.

Is it too low? Should we put it just a tiny bit...

Wait, let me sit.

I'll go grab the other one.

Next step is we just slap the plywood on top...

and then make the steps.

I think it'd be good if we take a break.

Take a little break and dream on it and do it tomorrow?

[Matty] One of the great advantages of building out in a bush,

you got all the time in the world,

is you can build things as good or as rough as you want.

[Billy] Nothing needs to be perfect.

I just follow my intuition and my experience

and I just build it and fix it.

[Margot] Bush building, you have to come with an open mind

and know that shit are going to go sideways at some point.

And it's never perfect perfect.

[rhythmic music playing]

[Billy] Well, it rained a bit last night.

I'm kind of worried about it.

But, well, we'll see.

Oh, man, that looks good.

Oh, it dried.

It's a race against Mother Nature here.

But she's been good to me, Mother Nature, she's been good.

This kind of project, I'm going to use it every day.

It makes my life easier and happier.

The fire will burn and there will be embers here.

So, I'll be able to do some cooking right over the embers.

Next step. Put some bricks here.

[upbeat music playing]

To make sure the embers won't fall over and the wind, stop the wind.

I could ask a bricklayer, you know, to come here and just do it.

But the price to be on this homestead,

it's mostly to do your stuff by yourself and learning through the process.

I really want to make sure the small logos are towards where I'm going to cook,

because I like the Made in Canada here. I love it.

Whoops.

Ah! It doesn't fit. I'm surprised.

So, I need to cut it off a bit here.

[tense music playing]

Oh.

Too much. Yeah.

This is one of the keys of living off grid.

[grunts]

You try, you fail.

You just, you know, do it again until you succeed.

There is always a solution, you know? Just got to find it.

Here we go.

It's so important never giving up here.

Just want to make it nice, to look nice.

And when I'm going to cook, I'm going to look at it,

I'm going to say to myself, "Billy, that was a good job."

[chuckles]

[soft music playing]

This project I really enjoy because there is a good reward at the end.

Huge steak. [laughs]

I can't wait to have them.

There we go.

Got a lot, a big bunch here.

There we go.

[meat sizzling]

Wow.

Whoo! It's so great, you know, to have a place outside to cook.

It's perfect. It's just perfect.

What is the future?

There is so many other projects that I've got in mind.

You know, it's like the more you put time into this land,

the more you have projects.

I can spend the next 40 years here, you know.

But what I would like the most, I would say, is just to share more this place.

[chuckles] This is great.

It's heaven.

Because it's a great way, you know, to feel that there is a meaning.

Your life is worth living here.

Look at that. I love it when it's blue.

You know, you work so hard and at the end, the reward is just,

"Oh, wow, I love life."

[sighs]

This is paradise.

I've been working so hard the last few months on this homestead.

I'm so proud, you know.

Whoo!

Oh! [laughs]

I've done so much.

It's perfect. C'est parfait.

It's just, you know, simple life.

It's easy to be satisfied.

This is the best place on Earth.

What else do you want?

[soft music playing]

[Margot] I don't think I could have a partner that is not...

as much into this lifestyle that I am.

In this case, with Alex, we're just starting to build a life together,

so there's many more adventures to come.

I'm a bit exhausted right now,

but it's almost done.

Moss is the last layer, putting on a roof, it's going to keep the roof waterproof

and it's going to be good insulation.

Yeah, I mean, it's everywhere around here.

There's tons for the roof.

I'm cutting big, big pieces.

Like big squares like this.

So, it's one piece, one big piece at a time.

It's easier to put on.

And it's pretty heavy, though.

It's another example that you can gather a lot of things around

and nature gives you everything you need here.

I'm just reusing some of those poles

that we had for our temporary roof,

because our pitch of our roof is a little bit too steep to hold the moss.

Nice to be able to just use the forest around you and build your own home.

And when you're sitting inside the cabin, you know how it felt

to fall all those trees,

and the cabin is that way a lot more alive around you, too.

It's full of our sweat and our work.

Yeah, I'm very proud of Margot.

There's not many people that can do this.

I'm careful, because I don't want to slide it around here

because I have a nail in here already. Okay?

Okay, so you hold and I'm going to walk on it.

[Alex] Sure.

[Alex] Honey, what did you have for breakfast?

[Margot] Fuck you.

Well, this one's probably already going on the side.

Yep.

[Alex] Just wanted to see if it's holding.

- [Margot] It is holding. - It's holding good?

Yeah.

[grunts] Get a hold of it.

Yeah.

[Margot] Every year I spend in the bush,

I can see me kind of sliding away from the rest of the world.

It's harder and harder to connect

with people that are not part of this lifestyle.

So, the fact that we can share everything and, it's just perfect.

- Good job. - Good job.

[Alex chuckles]

It's done.

Yeah, it looks great. I didn't think it would look that great, so it's amazing.

It's a huge relief that it's done before I have to leave.

Now, I can go back guiding and be confident

that the cabin is going to stand.

And I know I'm going to miss it so much this summer, but I'll be back.

This was just a piece of forest a couple months ago.

It took a lot of work just from finding the spot,

cutting the logs down and build all the walls

and, you know, cut the door, windows, kitchen.

It was very special to be able to share that with Alex.

The first time we do something that big.

It's awesome, I mean, we will remember that forever and it's good memories.

I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time here together, so it's pretty special.

[upbeat music playing]

It's a house.

It does feel like a home now, with all the, the energy putting in,

all the sweat and all the adventures around it.

And it's not just a house I bought somewhere.

It's, you know, I built it from nothing.

It's definitely a home now.

I'm gonna come back in the fall and start trapping pretty much right away,

probably do some improvements on the cabin.

There's always tons of projects to do anyway,

so I know I'm going to miss it this summer

and I'm already looking forward to come back and spend another winter here.

[soft music playing]

[Matty] It's such a blessing just to be out here,

wake up every morning and just open a door

into a world full of freedom and full of opportunities

to just do whatever you want, have whatever kind of day

that you want to have.

I almost think I measured this thing because it fits.

It fits damn near perfectly.

[drill whirring]

That's it. That's our bumper.

Next thing now is anchors.

[rhythmic music playing]

[sighs]

I don't know how heavy it is, but I want to say a good 200 pounds.

Oh, no, no, no! She's going.

That's my anchor.

Out here, challenges are a good thing.

Come back, baby.

Back to daddy.

Get 'er done with no plan, just straight from the hip

and just see what happens, hope for the best.

Still better than spending money on store-bought anchors.

It may not look like fun, I'm having a great time.

Judas.

I mean, that's all part of it, that's what makes me get up in the morning,

to get out there and start figuring out the next project.

Okay.

[sighs] That's one of the smaller ones.

A rock anchor is pretty much as simple as it sounds.

It's just the heaviest rock you can get.

Kind of just weave a bunch of rope around it.

They've been doing it since beginning of time, as far as I know.

Before steel anchors, it would have been rocks.

I'm sure they had a lot better rope technique than me,

but it wouldn't have been that far, that much different.

[sighs]

A decent rope job.

That should last a while.

There you go. [sighs]

Four anchor rocks are on there, I mean, they look good.

Look how, you can really tell how heavy those anchors are

by how low we're sitting in the water now.

I'd say it's probably 800, maybe 1000 pounds on there right now.

Once we kick these in the water, that thing's not moving anywhere.

Now, it's just a matter of connecting it all together and put it in place.

This is a juggling act, trying to get this thing out here in the wind

and trying to deal with all the different ropes,

but just to knock it out and going through and punch it

all the way to 100% in first shot, feels amazing.

Whoo! Here it is.

I mean, that's what a floating wharf looks like.

And damn, I gotta say, it looks pretty, pretty good.

Living in the woods full time like this, it's very important

not to always just be the blinders on and just working so hard,

always chasing the nut.

It's good just to kick back and enjoy life.

[upbeat music playing]

Whoo-ooh!

Not everyone gets an opportunity just to dream up projects

and go out and build it, so I'm just very thankful for the whole thing.

And just to be blessed with living in the woods, having a good dog,

a nice cabin, a chainsaw that starts up every time,

just the simple things out here, but God, it's good.

[yips] That water feels good.

[soft music playing]

[Emilie] Once we have the loft, the beds, everything made,

we'll be able to bring the kids and we're good to start staying in there.

Okay, so now, we're cutting the log?

Like, what are you deciding, Gilbert?

I thought we were cutting the log a little bit...

You told me the log is going to go into one of these beams.

Yeah, yeah.

Is it going into the beam or are you cutting it?

I feel like you need to visually see it, to know what I'm talking about.

[Gilbert] All right.

[Emilie] There's been a lot of stress and tough, you know,

tough things we had to figure out together,

but he's been very patient with me.

Do you see how it doesn't work?

Uh, explain again.

Okay. Option number one, is it goes on the outside of the log,

but it's not going to look very nice.

It's going to look...

It's going to look like a...

[Emilie] Like it doesn't belong there, yeah.

Or if you want to go inside of the log, then we would have to make our own posts.

So, we'll do that one.

And we have to measure the line here, so where I can cut.

Yeah. This is a challenging cut.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Emilie] This is a one-shot deal.

If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

Okay. Just twist it.

Oh, yeah, you're really good at that.

- Yeah, that's really good, Gilbert. - Yeah.

I'm really impressed.

The kids are going to run all up and down, hang off this, swing and...

Swinging and jumping.

Climb up the pole, yeah. It's good.

- Okay. - A monkey playground.

Let's finish this.

[rhythmic music playing]

[Emilie] Oh, I'm so excited.

It's starting to look really good. Like a loft.

Let's see. Oh, yeah.

Tough enough for kids.

The kids are going to be really excited.

I don't think they realize that it's completed in there.

[Gilbert] I'm looking forward to that reaction

because we worked so hard, now this is going to be like their gift.

All right. You guys excited?

[together] Yeah!

You like how it looks?

[together] Yeah!

[Gilbert] Wow, eh? Took a long time, but we did it.

Woah!

All right, go in.

A bed!

[Emilie] What do you guys think?

Thank you!

- I'm going up there. - [Gilbert] You're going to go up there?

[Annie] Whose are these? Okay. Got it.

I love this place, it's so cool.

- [Emilie] Do you like our house? - Yeah.

It's like the coolest thing I have ever seen.

- [Annie] I want to go in this spot. - [Gilbert] All right.

[Emilie] I knew they were going to do that.

- [both chuckling] - [Gilbert] Ah, monkeys.

- I think they like it. - It's to hold up the loft.

Hey, do you guys love it here?

[together] Yeah!

Do you think you're gonna enjoy sleeping here?

[together] Yeah.

[Emilie] It makes me really happy to see how much they love it.

Why don't we do Annie first?

[Gilbert] Annie, yeah.

Okay. Feet...

[giggles]

[Emilie] Every year we're gonna mark how tall they're getting,

and for the years to come, I'm going to be able to see the progress.

We can see next year how tall you are and how much you've grown.

Then, we're gonna look back one day and say,

"Remember when you were this little

and you came to check this place out for the first time?"

It'll be good memories.

Hey, Brooke, you want more marshmallows?

I got more.

[Gilbert] Definition of good life is just sitting around

and having a feast with your family and then chatting it up and having a laugh.

- I think we're going to have wine tonight. - Yep, wine tonight for us.

[Emilie] We've built this together and it's ours.

It's ours to stay.

We've really turned this place into a family home.

[Gilbert] Yeah, my confidence is like, boom, up there.

I'm a house builder now.

I look forward to living here and having memories here for the kids,

and eventually building more, because it's not going to end here.

It's a place to grow.

[theme music playing]

Subtitling: difuze