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 gibe 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 pain 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 your 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

New edition

 A new week has started along with new adventures... Let's start out small...  I found this bookend in my travels, and even though it is a little on the old side of life, I love the simplicity and beauty.... and, I still love mooses!! 

We're still downsizing at the house in Provo, and I keep coming across my moose dinnerware... I've packed what I've found so far, and sent it to the cabin with Jim.  He unpacked it and we discovered, we now have 30 sets of dinner plates/bowls and cups...  Giggle... I told Jim that I thought he should maybe secure the cupboard a little bit more before the weight of all the dishes make is come crashing down...

And, Jim christened the dishes by having a bowl of clam chowder - one of his favourites!  This clam chowder came from Market Street Grill in Salt Lake... I don't even attempt to rival this one... it's wonderful.

And, the work on the ceiling continues and you can really start to see all the different colours of the pine.  Jim found out that the blue pine comes only from Idaho and Montana.  He tells me that there are pine boards with the blue streaks, but also red streaks and green streaks.. I did not know this.

Brea's birthday is coming up and she wanted to go to a concert in Seattle - bbno$... uhuh.. I don't even know how to pronounce this one and didn't have a clue who the performer was... I had to google this one... This is a Canadian rapper apparently... But, they jumped on a plane in Anchorage and flew for one day to Seattle!  Apparently, they had a blast!  Happy Birthday sweet Brea! 

After working last week on the ceiling, they were running out of finished wood. So, one evening, Jim got more wood ready to start all over again... Here's the different colours of pine wood that he is using.  I love it.

I love the different colours and all the knots!

These pieces don't have much colour, but are just as beautiful.

Some of those knots are really big....  

The pieces in the middle with the darker colours are considered the blue.

And, you can see a streak of red in the plank to the left.

And, up it goes.  I use these pictures as a reference point.  In this picture, they are putting up the plastic near the stovepipe.

Here's we're showing off a little more colour.

And, we found out that Home Depot will deliver to the cabin.  We don't have USPS mail service here - we have a PO box in Hatch, and Fed Ex will only deliver to certain parts of the subdivision... BUT, Home Depot will deliver to the front door.  Jim saw a UPS truck up on the mountain, so we decided to try Home Depot and they delivered no problem!  They charge a delivery fee, but, the closest Home Depot is Cedar City which is about 1.5 hours away. So, we gave them a little test, and they passed!

When Jim goes to the cabin, he usually buys supplies in Panguitch, but I find the store is super expensive and at times, the freshness of the produce is questionable. So, this time, I got up early in the morning, and went shopping and packed everything in a cooler.  He cooked his own breakfast and I was absolutely thrilled with his choices!  Good Job, Jim!  (Ham and egg omelette, bacon, strawberries and wheat bread and marmalade.)

And, when I was at the cabin last, I painted my gourds with a finish that was supposed to protect them... Well, apparently, I didn't read the can and it said to paint the stuff on... leave it overnight, and then wipe it down and put a varnish finish on it... They sat for a couple of weeks, and when Jim went back to the cabin, he said the finish was still wet... Well, it's an oil finish....  uhuh... my bad.  So, he wiped them down and put the varithane on them...  just a little booboo...

And, we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary this past week... It's been quite the trip and the adventure of a lifetime... the adventure still continues...  I was reading a little blurb this past week, and is said to marry a man that has tools...  Well, I married an amazing man with tools and skills and imagination plus! And, he's a dreamer... sometimes he's caused nightmares for me, but I really don't think I would change anything...ok, let's leave it at.. not much.. (I love people who dream, and Jim is definitely one of my favourites....) ... Here's to the next 19... 

(ps - I was thinking about things that were my absolute favourites at our wedding....  the first that came to mind was the morning of the wedding - my brother Eldon and I were making a side dish for the reception.  We made country style ribs with peach and strawberry preserves and garlic - they were amazing.  Everybody wanted the recipe. The dish was snapped up quickly, and the only person that didn't get a taste was... Jim.  Poor thing.  Next, I was thrilled that 3 of my brothers and their families came.  It was amazing.  I made little gift bags for all the kids filled with treats to eat and crayons and a few little toys... just to keep them occupied... the favourite part of the bag was the little rubber duckies.  Giggle. Also, my bestest friend, Lynn and her husband came - an amazing treat for me... one memorable moment... The Bishop who performed the ceremony was reasonably long winded... actually, his comments went on and on and on to the point, I kicked off my shoes.  He asked me if he was taking too long. and I was honest and said "yes".  He then went through 3 - 4 pages and cut to the chase and pronounced us husband and wife.  Saying "yes" was the best choice in my life.  Jim is amazing.)

Destiny is when you meet someone you weren't looking for, only to realize you've never wanted anything more.

With that, this edition is officially closed.  The adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri