..... Hot, Hot, Hot!

More work was completed on the ceiling and it's looking amazing!  The tongue and groove spans from one side of the great room to the french doors in the loft.  It is totally impressive to see...These pictures do not do it justice.

We are about to start laying the wood on the floor in the great room. We want a patchwork quilt look with all kinds of different colours of wood.  After doing an inventory, we found we were seriously lacking in light colours, so I bought a couple more boxes, and I think we're now in really good shape.

The loft in the upstairs gets seriously hot in the summer... you know - heat rises... So, we decided to put a mini split up there, just to make it tolerable in the summer.  It is absolutely stifling with no cross wind to cool it down.  These mini splits work fabulously. Jim is in the process of installing it.

And, here is the outside unit.  I didn't know there was an inside unit AND and outside unit...  I'm a little clueless in some aspects of the building process.... In writing this blog, Jim always edits my writing and makes me look good...

... here is the inside unit above the french doors in the loft.  I think this will make working in the loft a whole lot more comfortable.  I am always afraid that someone is going to pass out when working up there.

I found this metal sign and I thought it was the cutest!  It's going to find it's forever home in the laundry room... in between the "girls" and "boy's" bathrooms on the main level...

Jim was outside with a little treat for the deer... he didn't see any deer so he rattled the bucket a little bit, and out from the brush across the street, a little head popped up, and came down to visit.  I guess they were just waiting for their buddy to show up with treats!

More work was being done in the loft... I really love how this is looking... It is so much work, but so pretty.  Jim had to buy another set of scaffolding to complete this job - and I don't know what we are going to do with all the scaffolding when we are done... but, I am just excited to have a scaffolding free zone in my home!

Here's another look at the loft ceiling.

I saw a new way of placing tile and I thought it was really cute.  The first picture is the the ceramic tiles that are going to go in the spaces in the 2nd picture here... So, there is a dark brown ceramic framework, and then these cute tiles fill in the spaces... Understand?

I think it's going to look super cute in the loft bathroom.  We already had the brown ceramics, but I wanted something a little softer in there, and I think this pattern will be cute.  We ordered the 9 x 9 squares and they were supposed to be delivered 2 days ago, but, I got notice there was a delay, so I'm still waiting. I tracked the package and it's coming from Wyoming.. Sure wish it was local... Grrrr.

Here's a shot of the great room... We're almost at the peak...

There's a lot of work that has to be done before the ceiling is installed.... Here's part of the process... Jim and Ben plane the planks, then Jim cuts them to length. 

And then puts on a coat of varathane.... 

.... letting it dry...

And then, installing...  

We bought a meat smoker... just because we wanted to.  We thought it would be a great addition to the barbecue.... and I thought the meat would be tasty.  

In the meantime, we are cooking meals on the small BBQ here at the cabin.  It does a great job.

The floor in the kitchen is almost completed.  There is one small strip left, but the part that was completed this week, is the pieces that butt up to the ceramic work in front of the door.  There is still a curved trim piece to go in between the floor and the ceramic entryway. But, we're almost there!

Remember the gourds that I dried and preserved earlier in the year.  Well, they got placed in the scrub oak trees over by the jacuzzi.  And, as soon as they were placed, little chickadees made sure they were up to their standards.  It's a little difficult to see, but there is a little bird poking his head into the gourd.  There actually was 3 - 4 birds that were fighting for control.  It actually was a fun to watch.  While we were watching, one little bird came and sat about a foot away from us on the deck railing.  He didn't seem to mind we were there...

And, this is at the end of the day and you can see the progress.  I am thrilled.

In this shot, you can see the different colours of the wood.  It really makes it look interesting and beautiful, if I say so myself.

And, I'm still re-cooperating - sleeping a lot, but feeling better.  Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.  The quilt was made by my sister in law in Arizona.  She makes the best quilts!  They are the kind of quilts that say, "snuggle up... you'll feel better!"

And, we had a little Pika get into the hole where the water main is..... We apparently left the lid for the water main off for too long. But, it was long enough, in the extreme heat, to do some serious biological damage to the two critters. Let's just say, he wasn't there to take a bath - smelled really, really bad... But, a chipmunk was down the hole with him, and Mr. Chipmunk wasn't in really good shape either... needed a serious bath.  Thank goodness Ben was at the cabin, and scooped the two out with a cup.  

And, a neighbour had their trail cam go off in the middle of the night... it was a bear roaming around their property... Didn't do any damage... was just scrounging for something yummy to snack on...

With that, this edition has closed, the adventure continues -

 Love, Jim and Cheri

"The greatest skill you can learn is to stay in a good mood when there are hundreds of reasons not to"

Deer and Squirrel

Whenever we make a trip to the cabin, we are met by Jim's entourage - he is definitely the deer whisperer - they love him!  They share treats - actually, he gives them treats, and they enthusiastically eat!  This time, one of the deer kissed his hand - I guess he really is the emperor! There is a mum and a dad and baby that come by regularly... they're usually waiting for Jim first thing in the morning, and they are the last ones we see when we leave the mountain.  I'm still pretty ticked off that the deer ate all my flower bulbs... I'm still waiting for an apology - I know, don't hold your breath!

And, along with the deer, we are regularly visited by squirrels and chipmunks.  (Fun Fact - a group of chipmunks is called a scurry...)  We have one really big, fat squirrel who is constantly running up and down our deck...He usually stops by the open door, peeks in, and then high tails it off the deck... I'm sure one of his chipmunk friends told him that I accidentally pulled the tail off a chipmunk once... not a great memory!

And, the last post I had, I put the pictures of three of the four grandchildren in their Canada Day shirts... One was missing because she couldn't find the picture.  Well, here it is!  And, our Brea is so pretty.  I am thrilled I got the picture... Better late than never!

The work on the kitchen floor continues and it's almost completed.  As age takes it's toll, it's getting harder and harder for my Jim to get down on the floor and work - but, he's enduring and, as usual, is doing beautiful work.  

See... just a little bit to go!




I saw this shirt and just had to get it for Jim...  He keeps telling me he wants to catch a fish, have it stuffed and mount it on our bedroom wall.. This is about as close to having a fish in the cabin as I want to get!

If you look closely, you can see a faint red line... Well, the boards to the floor aren't quite straight, so Jim had to run a laser line so the wood can be cut and the next piece fitted properly.  The way it was, as you can see, the next piece would not fit tightly.  Jim ran the laser line, and then trimmed off the excess... so smart.  That's why I married him.

And, here's a couple of updated pictures off the deck.  The trees are so green against the beautiful blue backdrop of the sky.  I was totally impressed.

Here's the other side of the deck....

My neighbour (actually, down the road and around the bend) took this picture...  The sky really is beautiful!

And, I didn't take this one either.  Thank goodness for facebook and I can steal the pictures from the neighbours...

This is what the side of the cabin looks like with half of the septic system dug out.  We got shut down last fall because the county said we were taking too long building, so we had to reapply for the permit, and of course pay another fee.  I wasn't particularly happy about it, but we are just finishing up the paperwork and will be sending it in tomorrow.  Hopefully, the county will get on the program, approve the application and we can move forward.  But, for now, there's just a whole lot of trenching dug out!

I was unpacking boxes and I found this little doorknocker in one of the boxes.  I showed it to Jim and he gave me... "the look".  I asked him to put it by the door at the front of the cabin.  Reluctantly, he obliged and when I checked it, this is what I saw.  He indeed put it by the front of the door... wasn't attached TO the door, but it was by the front door.  It wasn't quite what I asked for, but I guess, close enough for now.  Made me laugh.  All I can say is that my Jim has a different sense of humour.... 

Ben has been having a little issue with one of his elbows, so working on the ceiling in the great room was not really possible, so the guys were planeing more wood for when his elbow feels better.  (Is PLANEING the correct spelling even?)  Everything is set up on the deck and brought into the cabin, so they are ready whenever.

As you can see in the background, everything is beautiful and green!

And, we have been collecting wood flooring for the great room.  I want a kind of a patchwork quilt look to the floor and that requires different colours and types of wood.  It's all real wood, but different types. This past weekend, Jim took the measurements for the room, and we had to start sorting out the different types, first of all so we knew what we had of each type, and 2nd to see if we had enough wood to complete the floor..  Well, we do have enough wood - actually, we have more than is needed, but now we need to make a grid to plan out each piece and colour.  It's a little complicated - but Jim put it all in excel so we have everything ready to go.  We need to purchase a little more of the light coloured flooring - we have lots of medium and dark, but we are a little lacking in the light department.  I don't envy Jim in planning the grid -  But, this is how we started figuring out what we had.... this first picture is Hickory...

...these next four boxes are Kahlua Maple....

...and this one is Light Natural Maple...  I think it's going to look amazing....

The temperature in the cabin has been extreme.  The first night we stayed, it was so hot we could barely sleep. We have the furnace in, but not the air conditioning unit... that's next on the list... But, at midnight, it was 84 degrees and I thought I was going to die...

The next day, Jim rigged up the portable air conditioning unit in the bedroom, so we could get some sleep and be a little more comfortable.  Jim always says that I like the house temperature subzero and it freezes him out... this wasn't quite that cool, but we slept much easier.  We have decided to put an air conditioning mini split system in the loft... We think that because the loft really gets incredibly hot in the summer, and because we have an open air layout/open space design throughout the cabin, a regular air conditioning unit won't cool the loft down enough to be comfortable.  So, that is going to be purchased and installed this week.  It will make working on the ceiling a whole lot cooler... the temperature was set to 62, but it probably was around 70 inside the bedroom.. At about 6 - 7 in the morning, it got cold, and I moved from the bedroom to the livingroom...  

In the last issue, a picture of the antique looking stove was in the picture of the kitchen flooring.  After several comments about the stove, I mentioned that there was an oven on the other side of the room that matched it.  Well, here it is!  It really is a cool set...

So, now you can see the stove AND the oven set.  It really looks pretty in the kitchen.  We have black granite for the counter tops so I think the combination will look amazing.

And, here's another little project we have been working on.  It was years and years ago, we saw that a 100 year old school in south Provo was being torn down and some of the pieces and parts were being salvaged.  We picked up three old fashioned doors and thought they might look interesting in the cabin.  This past week, the 2nd of the three doors was installed... After a little refinishing, this turned into our main level bedroom door.  I think it's beautiful.

All three doors are heavy oak, but the fun part is they were originally bathroom doors.  Our bedroom door was originally the boy's bathroom.  The brass lettering was already removed when we bought the doors, but....

... I had a brass plate made and Jim installed it...  I love it... giggle... makes me laugh.

The first door installed just across the hall, actually is a bathroom, and it used to be the girls restroom!  So, it actually made it back to a bathroom!

Here's the finished installation - We still have the finish work to complete, but, we have a bedroom door!!  The 3rd door will be between the bedroom and the bathroom, and it will be the laundry room door.  I think I got a nameplate that says, "STAFF" on it.  I think my sense of humour is starting to imitate Jim's...  Should I be concerned?

Well, that's it for this week...  We are moving forward- slowly, but surely... Life is somewhat getting back to normal from a month of disaster... We are surviving...  Life is definitely an adventure.  Until next time..... Love, Jim and Cheri.

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm."  Winston Churchill