Here's to progress... where ever you can find it!

 I am starting off this issue with a shoutout to my friend Lynn....  Besides my sweet husband, Jim, Lynn is not only my friend, but my confidant, and a shoulder to cry on.  About a week ago, I received a package from Ontario, where she lives, with this beautiful table runner that will be perfect on my 12' long table. I am always excited to get a package from home.  I have received several packages with Tim Horton swag from my brother, Duane, (love me some Tim Horton's cups!) and also several packages over the years from Lynn.   I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE sunflowers and this was such a treat!  I love it, and my cabin will love it... So, this is a HUGE shoutout to Lynn.  We have been friends starting when we were just teenagers and she's put up with me since that time! This past week, Lynn and Duane have both had my tears on their shoulders and listening ears. Thank you, thank you, thank you... you're both amazing!

And, I was looking for matching bowls for my moose antlers.  I had one bowl that was a leaf pattern, but couldn't find a 2nd that remotely complimented.  So, finally.... I looked on Amazon and found this pattern... I love it.  It it actually a bowl even though my photography skills don't show it and in this picture it looks like a plate...... I work with numbers not cameras!  So, I bought two and they are just perfect!

This picture make it look like a bowl a little more, and it is just perfect on my moose antlers.  This will be perfect on that amazing sunflower table runner.

And, I found this piece on Marketplace.  I know it's not old, old, old, but it reminded me of going to Paris and the amazing time we had...  This is going into my kitchen - just to remind me of love and romance and Parisienne cafes... 

For Mother's Day this year, Jim found these drinking glasses.  I absolutely love this pattern.  Years ago, I found a few of them, I don't remember where - but, I have about a half a dozen of them.. and, now I have a dozen more.  I love the gold rims and the little maple leafs... You can take the girl out of Canada, but you can't take the Canadian out of the girl...  Thanks to my Jim for putting up with all my nonsense.

I was looking for a night light for either the loft bathroom or the downstairs bathroom, and I came across this sweetie.  It's super different, but I think that's where my inner nature leans...  I always remember a line from Steel Magnolias...  "I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."  And, that's how I want the cabin and my life represented.... This piece is wonderful....

I was visiting with my cousin Debbie who lives with her pup Buddy in London, Ontario in the winter, and Thunder Bay, Ontario in the summer. (We all wish for this!  Jealous!!)  She mentioned that I am a really good shopper.  It made me laugh.  I visited with Jim about this comment, and he laughed and agreed.  I sometimes think he that wishes I wasn't such an enthusiastic shopper, but he gives me a wide birth to explore the art of shopping.  Giggle. Debbie is a tiny bit older than I am, and I really didn't know her well when I was growing up.  She was in Thunder Bay and I was in Toronto, so we really didn't have an opportunity to connect.  But, through this blog site, we are really getting to know each other. She's wonderful... Her father, was my father's older brother.

Jim was coming through Panguitch this past week, and found that the major gas station in the heart of the thriving metropolis of Panguitch has been torn down.  Apparently, the EPA found that their gas tanks had problems and it was decided to tear everything down and rebuild.  When Jim sent me the picture, I couldn't figure out why and where... then, he explained!  

And, this is what is happening in the main level bedroom.  The vertical oak slats are getting installed thanks to Jim.  I loved this look and even thought it is taking waaaay too much time, Jim is working on this project.  This is one of those "Jim:  you know what would be really cool in the bedroom?" kinda moments.  

And, hey!!!  It's completed!  I love it!  I think it's going to give the room an amazing look...

While Jim was working on the bedroom wall, he had to take down our bed and remove the nightstands - which left him with no place to sleep...  I told him he could sleep in the recliner, but he kind of tosses and turns all night, and the recliner was not the best option.  So, he brought one of the lounges off the deck inside and slept on it.  Not my choice, but he said it was reasonably comfortable and he got a decent night's sleep.  

And, here's the bed put back in its place.  The big assed bass still isn't back on the wall, but I am sure within the next couple of days, that "delightful" piece of art will appear...  Giggle.

And, voila, the bass is back!  I bought this piece because I thought it was absolutely terrible... as a gift to Jim.  I figured he would tell me to take it back.. BUT, he loves it.  So, I guess it has a place on my bedroom wall now.  I don't really mind it, I just never imagined a fish on my wall....

And, Jim filled my dried squash bird feeders with bird seed and invited all the local blue jays and crows and sparrows and everything else around there to an open house.  I love how these turned out.

And, we are trying these out on the deck.  I think they are interesting looking... I just hope I don't get bird poops all over the deck.  Jim said that if we do, they are going to be transferred to the trees.... where I am sure the squirrels will find them and partake...  groan.

And, the next project is the floors in the hall and the kitchen.  The chipboard on the floors has been a little brutal on my feet so I am absolutely thrilled with actual flooring going down... Jim, again, is doing beautiful work.  Here's day to day updates.... Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Jim has been working at the cabin for a couple of weeks straight now and he's done amazing work.  I am always so impressed with his skill. 

The ceiling tongue and groove was up and going again this past week... with amazing progress. I couldn't be more thrilled. It's amazing.

I'm showing different views so you can see the progress...

This is my favourite shot...

Ok... so maybe, this is my favourite shot... I can't decide..

I like this one too.  Jim told me that he is putting different coloured pieces here and there, but knew I would appreciate the variations in colour.  I definitely do!

And, I found this lamp for "somewhere" in the cabin... haven't figured that one out yet.  I absolutely hated the lamp shade, so I pitched that one.  But, I really liked the branch look.  I'm on the hunt for a lamp shade that will show off the rest of the lamp and when I figure out where it's going to go, I'll let you know!

And, as a true Canadian, I am growing maple trees to go at the cabin.  I have a sugar maple, and a red maple.  I've been growing these babies since last fall.. and, amazingly enough, they are growing!  I have absolutely no idea where they are going to go!

Here's the 2nd maple tree! Planting trees are a gift to the next generation.

 I have been cleaning out our spare room in the house in Provo, and I came across some things that I thought Ben and Kelly's grandkids would enjoy... books and stuff.  We don't have grandkids that age any longer, so I packed them up and took them over to their house.  One of the things was this pair of butterfly wings...  I think Ben is going to enjoy them more than their grandkids!  I didn't expect this, or should I say, Yes, I should have expected this!  Giggle.  (Kelly said she thought she should wear them to church... if so, I want pictures.

And, we had a friend come visit our cabin... we weren't there, but he apparently came a knockin'.  This is Ben's cat, Big Foot.  I guess he was looking to wear those butterfly wings... Giggle.

And, here's our beautiful sunset...  I love the colours.... so peaceful and calm.

It's been an extremely stressful couple of weeks...  I've had my share of tears and anxiety like no other...  But, we're getting through the nightmare and on to better times and smiles.  I have learned that if you say things like, "It can't get worse"... it actually can. My boss told me it's a good thing we don't have a dog because, if things got any worse, the dog would be next and die... Giggle.  And, I have relied on my Jim heavily.  It hasn't been easy, and the situations effected both of us, but Jim always was amazing.  The best thing he told me was, "go to work"... just to get out of the situation for a while.  You know, when work is less stressful than everything else going on, you know it's not great.  And, work was a great diversion.  Gotta love Jim.  He sooths my heart.

With that, we're making amazing progress...  Good job, Jim.

The adventure and madness continues... Love, Jim and Cheri

"Most Everyone's Mad Here" - Cheshire Cat

It was a quick visit.....

We thought we would make a quick trip to the cabin... maybe get a little bit of the ceiling completed, and then this happened.... snow... ugh.... snow and wet snow and cold.  Thank goodness we have the furnace running because 27 degrees at night is not for this cowgirl!
 

As you can see, snow covered the deck and there was super high winds.  Jim usually sets up the saw on the deck and works from there - so that sawdust doesn't go all over the cabin... BUT, with the snow and the cold, it was impossible.  Sad face.  I know that Jim  and Ben both are anxious to keep working on the ceiling, but there was just no way.

I found this picture and I thought it was really cool.. I love the Canadian maple leaf - I think I have tiny maple leafs as part of my blood volume...  I looked at this picture and it took me a couple of minutes to realize it wasn't a pickle at the top... it's a shiny green ribbon...  Made me laugh.

And, I saw these books on amazon and I loved them.  I tried to get them personalized, but no go.  

They look really cool, but actually, they are cutting boards for the kitchen.  I thought they were most cool.  I've sent several friends pictures of these, and I just have told them to go to Amazon.  I love Amazon....  Giggle... (With the Canadian maple island, I really don't want the surface messed up, so I have cutting boards everywhere.... )

Remember the beautiful mirror I had on my blog last week?  Well, Lori, my Canadian friend, gave me a little table also.  I love the wrought iron work on the bottom.  Not quite sure where I'm going to put it yet - right now it's in the great room at the cabin. As we get more and more out of construction zone, it will find a permanent home.  Thanks to Lori for the wonderful "cabin warming" gifts.

With the inability to work on the tongue and groove on the ceiling,  Jim and Ben undertook other tasks. First, was sanding down the moose antlers Jim bought me. I think this kind of a project doesn't further the cabin building much, but it sure does something amazing to this girl's heart.  He did an amazing job and I so much appreciate it.

Here's one of the antler's after it was all sanded down.

I didn't quite like the grey colour of the antlers, and Ben gave me an idea of staining them... with coffee grounds.  I wasn't sure about this method, but gave it a try.  I didn't want them super dark brown and I knew I didn't want the grey... and, this method seems to have worked well... a little on the messy side of life, but a great outcome.

And, here's what they looked like... the one on the right hand side is after the coffee staining, and the one on the left is just sanded down.  I'm liking the colour.

And, here they are - both stained and coated with verathane to give them a nice finish.  I love the colour and the finish.  (I don't know if I have these antlers upside down or right side up.... I had to look at several pictures of "mooses" and couldn't really see a decent picture... So, if they are upside down, my apologies to all the moose aficionados out there... I tried my best!)

And, it wasn't the ceiling in the loft and great room that got worked on, it was the bedroom ceiling and walls...  It's so exciting to see this get completed.  This is the ceiling in the main level bedroom.

Jim and Ben had to get more gyprock put up in the bedroom, so they could work on the "walling" in the same bedroom.

Let's just say, there was a whole lot of gyprock put up, a lot of mudding and taping done, and sanding and because of that, a whole lot of dust created!  Jim sat down to take a breath, and probably clear some of the dust out of his nose and mouth, and this is what he looked like.  I really tried not to laugh, but I think it's cuter 'n cute!

Here's the wall that was attacked...  after it was mudded and taped - just waiting for it to dry before moving forward.

Here's the first little bit of paint that was put on... Now, don't freak out with the colour - you'll see in just a couple of pictures that it was the perfect choice.

Here's the chocolate brown we chose...  It looked really dark, but it's perfect.

And, this is the application.  I absolutely love it!  I grew up with wood paneling all through the house... and I knew I didn't want that - super dated... BUT, I love this.  It's time consuming, but I love the effect.  Jim and Ben did an amazing job.  

And, while they were working on the walls, I was putting the final finish on my birdfeeder gourds.  We figured that we made a booboo with the gourds... It is suggested that you put this oily wax finish on the gourds before putting them outside - a water proofing kind of finish.  Well, we didn't read all the instructions.... you put the finished on, and then wiped them down, and put the final finish on...  uhuh... we forgot to wipe the water proofing down... It didn't hurt the gourds.. just made them really sticky, and a quick wipe down made them perfect.  Next time I make it to the cabin, I'll be taking bird seed with me.

And, I saw online there was a Titanic exhibition in Salt Lake City, so we decided to go...  I think it was more showing the White Star line artifacts than actual Titanic pieces, but it was fun to get away and do something different for the evening.  

And, the "deer catcher" on the front of Jim's truck wasn't quite finished - still a work in progress.  Ben told us that there was a plethora of dead deer on the side of the roads at this point, and we needed to be careful.  But, we got to the cabin on Friday night, and didn't leave until Monday afternoon... saw lots of deceased deer, but nothing ran into us... or rather, we didn't run into them.  Thank goodness... Jim always tells me there is always more work to do and not enough time.  I think he's realizing that retirement is always busy, busy, busy!  

With that, this edition is completed and the adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri

"Our life is what our thoughts make it."

Wow... a whole lot has been accomplished....

 Annnnnd... the work on the ceiling continues and it looks amazing.  This blog edition notes changes taking place over six days....  Here goes....

First, the plastic has to go up and the insulation has to be topped off before more tongue and groove is put into place - county rules...

And, then the planks go up... This picture shows the different colours in the individual planks... some look yellow and others have the blue or red streaks and others just have knots.... re:  Notty pine! - or maybe it's "Naughty pine".  You never know what those planks are doing when we're not there...

Here's another shot from a different angle.

The guys got the planks almost to the ridge beam and framed in the wood burning stove pipes.  It looks fabulous!

Here's another picture from down below.

This shot is in the loft.  Jim had wanted to finish off the one side of the ceiling in the loft this trip, but, had too much to do.  Next time he'll get there.

This is a close up of putting up the pine in the loft.  How do I know this is the loft.... from the light fixture.  Giggle.

...more ceiling pictures.

Here's a close up of the work done around the stove pipe... Jim does amazing, meticulous work... 

This is the main level bathroom.  This is the experiment we had going on with a roller.  I like the effect.  I had asked Jim to paint it a light brown colour and when he sent me a picture, I hated it.  It just didn't work.  So, he repainted it in off white and I like it a lot more.  

I had purchased a couple of these Mexican sun/moon yard art pieces a few weeks back, and one of them broke when I got home... It was unfixable, so we pitched it.  I contacted the seller to purchase one more, and ended up with three... She had a friend's husband load them into the back of my car, and I was blabbing to the friend while they were being loaded...  We said our goodbyes and I walked to the side of the house to leave, and realized they had loaded a large chiminea into my car also.  So, I called the lady I bought the sun pieces from and told her... and, she said that she told her friend to take one of her chimineas and put it in my car because I was so nice and so polite and friendly, she wanted me to have a chiminea at my cabin... Um...Ok... We already have one chiminea at the cabin, but I'll figure it out.  The biggest problem was telling Jim what happened...And, it's not like I would hide it for a while - the thing is huge and there is no way I could pick it up by myself... So, I decided to just come clean and tell Jim... he actually wasn't upset - he kind of likes the one at the cabin - so, now, it has a friend... So, I was feeling better about the situation.  It was a Saturday evening and I get a call from Ben, who helps Jim building.  He said he was sending his son and his son in law over to our house to help take the chiminea out of the back of my car... I was like... WHAT?  They live in Eagle Mountain and Cedar Hills respectively. We pretty much are on our own here in Provo, and I had already taken a couple of quilts out of the house and packed them around the base of the chiminea because it was moving all over the place in the back of the car.  About 30 minutes later, these two amazing guys showed up, and they got the two pieces out of my car and put them next to the house... How amazing is that? I couldn't appreciate it more - such kindness starting with Ben and ending with his son and his son in law.  

Something about these I really like... I don't know why.. I just do.  Jim told me that between the two chimineas and the sun/moon art, we should start calling the cabin... Casa Manzanita.  I kinda like it... Giggle.

My friend from Toronto, Lori, gave us a "cabin warming" gift.  She thought this mirror would go perfectly in our cabin and I agree.  It's rustic and charming, and I love it.  Such a thoughtful friend, and a perfect gift.  Not quite sure where it's going to go right now - when you have a home full of scaffolding, placement of a mirror is not one of the immediate choices.  But, I'm seriously thinking about it.  I'll let you know.  Thank you to Lori!

... very rustic... very beautiful.

We bought a window well covers for the back of the cabin.  I am so afraid that some day we are going to have a deer, or a snake or some creature fall into the window well and die because they can't get out.  So, here ya go.... protection from baby deers!  When I lived on the south bench of Provo, we had snakes get into the window wells... so, I know it can happen!

And, we've been having anonymous people making themselves known around our cabin when we aren't there.  We have seen a few things go missing, but it's not the "stuff" that disappears, it's the people peeking through the windows that bothers me.  So, along with the film that I put on the front door last visit, Jim put this film on the kitchen window this visit.  I think this will stop the peeking in the windows.... at least a little bit.

And, we have been having problems with our security system at the front of the house - the lights wouldn't go on.  Jim, at first, thought it was light bulbs that were burned out.  He went over to replace the bulbs and found they are just fine but, some "nice" person, smashed the sensor between the two lights.  I guess they didn't like the fact that we wanted the property protected...  nuff said.

And, Jim found me a pair of moose antlers...  LOVE LOVE LOVE!

I didn't want the antlers put over the mantle - Jim did, but that's a discussion for the future...... I wanted these antlers as a centerpiece for the large table in the dining room.  This is kind of what I was thinking about...  I put the glass bowl over top the antlers and I love the look.  Different, but nice.  The table seats 12 people, so I needed something large to take up some space and I think these antlers fit the bill.,  We are going to sand them down and put a finish on them to make them look pretty... but, that's in the future.

I have two maple trees that I have been growing since last fall... they lost all their leaves by December, but this small tree is feeling the spring love and has decided to sprout leaves.  Gives me hope for the future.  The other tree, is tall and lanky... and, he's just thinking about leaves at this point.  (We had to bring the plants in the house because we had a cold snap with below freezing temperatures...  sigh... no snow, but below freezing...)

And, Jim bought a what we farm kids used to call a "cow catcher" for the front of his Silverado.  We've been going to the cabin for 10+ years now, and not once have we hit a deer... Lots of other people have hit deer, but we have luckily been exempt.. I am afraid the window of deer encroachment is closing.  There are always dead deer on the road, or deer jumping across the road just waiting to be hit.  So, he bought a "deer catcher" to protect us.  He's already built the mounts for this installation and it will be totally ready this week.

And, all work and no play makes the two of us very melancholy.. so... I took Jim to a candlelight concert featuring the music of the Beatles.  We went to see a performance of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole a couple of months ago, so this one sounded interesting... I think I was more impressed with the building than the four musicians, but it was a nice night out.  The building, however, is impressive.  It was built in 1903 for the Salt Lake Ladies Literacy Club.  This was a club that would write poetry and read books of all sorts - and not just fiction.  It was their way of educating themselves in a time when women we were not allowed in universities.  It's in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City and is such an impressive building.  There are stained glass windows all through this place and we were told that the gentleman who designed the windows apprenticed with Frank Lloyd Wright.  The club was the oldest women's club west of the Mississippi and it was know to be for the literary elite and also for women who were "learners"...  

Here's a couple of the windows in the building... I love them... you know how I feel about stained glass.....  uhuh...

With that, this edition is complete - the adventure continues....

Love, Jim and Cheri

Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning. Bruce Lee