We Bought an Abandoned House on a Remote Island – The Remodel Begins - Skote Outdoors Newfoundland

Aug 10, 2025

This week marks the true beginning of our house remodel here on the island. We finally tackled the old foundation, jacking up and leveling the house, replacing rotten beams, and wondering more than once how this place was still standing. Using gravel from the beach and big stones dug right from the yard, we built solid block bases to hold the new supports in place. After some initial progress, we switched gears and made an early morning run to the mainland to pick up a load of lumber for Kelly’s dream kitchen. That meant waking up our trusty longliner, Cape Millie, bringing her around to load up, and then hauling every board across the island by trike to the house. With the supplies finally here, we got to work on the new kitchen floor addition — only to find the land was too high. That called for a little help from Gord’s digger to pull some massive rocks and level the ground. By the end of the week, the new supports and floor joists were in place, marking the start of something big. Thanks for following along as we keep breathing life back into this old island home — one beam, one board, and one big project at a time.

Off-Grid Island Life – Running Water & Harvesting Our Own Food - Skote Outdoors Newfoundland

Aug 3, 2025

This week was a big one out here on the island — full of progress, good food, and hard work. We start by installing a proper off-grid gravity-fed water system to the house. With Gord and his digger helping out, we put in a new well and ran close to a thousand feet of line so we can finally have running water without relying on buckets or a generator. Once the water project was set, it was time to harvest our nine meat birds. We hand-plucked, cleaned, and processed each one, and Kelly packed them up for delivery to neighbours and friends — nothing goes to waste out here. We also sorted through a big load of produce a friend passed along from the store, pulling out what we could use and turning some of it into a big batch of homemade strawberry jam, with plenty left over for the pigs to enjoy. To finish off the week, Adam and I got to work on digging up the old house foundation, exposing years of erosion and getting it ready for the next stage of repairs. We end things, as always, with a sit-down Q&A and a cup of tea at the kitchen table. Thanks for following along — every week out here brings us a little closer to the life we’re building here in Newfoundland.