Like two bright-eyed lambs trotting happily off to slaughter, Paul and Maureen Fattig had no idea what was in store when they bought the woebegone old cabin along Sterling Creek in the upper reaches of the beautiful Applegate Valley in southwest Oregon.

After being ravaged by fire and vandals, the cabin was occupied by bats and rats, all itching for a fight. But the two childhood sweethearts jumped at the challenge of restoring the old place and discovering its rich history. They were soon wrestling with charred timbers, wielding drawknives to peel logs, shooing away feisty rattlesnakes, keeping an eye on an advancing wildfire and preparing for a presidential visit.

In the midst of it all they rediscovered the love, the laughter and the joy of life that originally brought them together.