Closing, closing, closing.....

As the end of the year is coming upon us, we are thrilled that we have had a couple of extra weeks to work on the cabin - that window of opportunity, without drifts of snow, is slowly closing... It has been as low as 12F at night, but no snow.  This morning it was 18F at 10:00 AM but sunny!

I haven't made it down to the cabin for a couple of weeks now - the cold and I do not get along, but my dear husband has made the trip for the past two weekends, by himself, and did a little extra work that needed to be finished.

The biggest project right now is the Tyvek, the shake shingle siding, and the redwood deck...  We have been getting help from two gentlemen from Panguitch, who have been invaluable..  Greg and Jason Excell, they know their stuff, and get down to business... we can't be more thankful for their dedication and expertise... Jim says they out work him.

We have been working to get the Tyvek and the siding on before the snow.  We found out last week after talking to the county, that we needed to have a Tyvek inspection BEFORE getting the siding on...  woops..  So, this weekend, the siding project halted and the Tyvek went up on the east side of the house.  It was a three man job.

Jim is going to call the county on Monday and ask for an inspection this week so that the siding can continue.  We are so fighting against time and weather here - it makes me nervous.  And the deck keeps growing!  It now goes all the way to the back of the cabin past the bay window.

I checked the weather forecast before Jim went down and it was supposed to be 17F degrees at night, but the days were going to be in the high 50's... which made it really nice for working.  Today it was 30's in the shade but really nice in the sunshine.

Jim loaded up the trailer on Saturday afternoon, and took another load of cabinets, doors, a beautiful bathtub/shower door and miscellaneous furniture items down.

We are unclogging the storage building little by little, and it is so encouraging.  One of the items that he took down was a coffee table that we found a couple of years ago - it's made of manzanita wood - very unusual, but very beautiful.  Jim said that he cleaned off the top of it when he got it into the cabin - after sitting in a storage building for a couple of years, the dust factor was high... But, he got it all cleaned off and it is looking beautiful.

Jim continued putting the foam around the windows and doors and made a revelation today - the foam actually washes off your hands with lacquer thinners!  He said that the old formula didn't wash off, and if you got it on your hands, it took weeks to wear off...  (I supposed this is from a past personal experience... giggle).

It's been a difficult week for us here in Provo, and I am pleased that Jim had the energy to make the drive.  I don't know if many more trips are in the plans between Christmas and weather...Seems a little strange that this chapter is closing for this year. 

Jim bought me a beautiful vintage wood holder to sit next to the wood burning stove on the hearth for my birthday this week. I love it, and was totally surprised!  It will look beautiful in our livingroom.


We have such plans for projects for the winter - including building the stairs, and putting the rock hearth in... We have one of those construction propane heaters that looks like a cannon!  It makes 150,000 BTUs, Jim says, so, if we make it to the cabin, in the snow, it should help keep the main area somewhat warm.

This journey, this year, has been one of the most exciting things I have done in my life.  We have been blessed, and as still, the adventure is amazing.

Jim and Cheri

What Exactly is... Normal?

The question that Jim and I have been trying to answer, over the last couple of days is: What is Normal?

This was sparked by an interesting set of events...  Several years ago, I was visiting with Jim's aunt, and she had asked me what I was doing at that particular time, and I told her that I was putting Jim's car parts into the dishwasher.. because, they were all oily and dirty, and this was the quickest and more efficient way to get them clean.. she just about had a stroke and told me that if her husband had done this, she would divorce him...  It really didn't phaze me in the least...

This past week, we were trying to get ready to go to the cabin and we were taking the rocks I had purchased several years ago for the hearth and behind the cast iron stove in the living room.  I bought these rocks for Jim several years ago for Christmas... (this is where the "normal" is starting to come into question).  He loved the gift, but, with such a volume of rock, and knowing that we wouldn't need it for a couple of years, we stored it beside our driveway in a flower garden... and, it looks really pretty... it's smokey yellow quartz and absolutely beautiful...

Well, with the rock being there for several years, it's covered in dirt and leaves and everything else.  So, we decided to run each of the stones through the dishwasher.  I didn't blink twice at this suggestion, and actually, it was my idea...  After the rocks ran out of a full cycle, they are beautiful and clean and ready to be installed... Jim estimates that we cleaned and took about 2000 lbs of rock to the cabin this weekend.

So, again, the question comes up.. is this normal?

Again, in talking to Jim, he thought that us building a cabin in the middle of nowhere when we are in our late 50's and 60's is normal..  But, is it normal for everyone else? - because it seems that we are the only nutcases doing this...  In talking to my brother Duane, we both agreed that we always thought we were normal, until we married and moved out, and then we realized that, maybe we weren't quite as normal as we thought...  (Our father painted our upright piano orange, and we didn't think twice about it... maybe, not so normal).. giggle.  So, I guess, what is NORMAL for us, may not be normal for anyone else...

We are trying to get the cabin to the point that we don't have to stay in the RV next year.  We bought a submersible water pump in Gunnison, Utah on Saturday... We won't have water for a while, but we have to figure out a way to have clean water... so, we bought a big 275 gallon cube, and this water with the aid of an on-demand propane water heater and the pump will push the water, so we can at least shower...  I know.. not normal.. But, I am excited..

Anyways, in our not so normal state, we delivered a load of really clean, pretty quartz for the hearth, along with other miscellaneous things this week.  We are getting closer to having the whole cabin ready for winter... We were trying to get it all done this weekend, but, that just didn't happen...(On a side note, while Jim was digging the rock out of the flower bed, "something" (he thinks it was a tarantula) got into his pant leg, and stung him 7 times on the leg and lower butt cheek...  Ok, I'm trying not to laugh, but, he's spent the last day... scratching... I am not sure WHAT bit him, but they look like mosquito bites, and I don't think it was a big hairy spider....) Jim thinks it was a black widow looking for a mate!

One of the most amazing things was that, Jim handed me the keys to the front door, and I got to open the lock and walk inside...  It was almost like being carried over the threshold...  Amazing feeling.  (I just looked at the picture below, and... what is going on with my hair??? I'm blaming it on the wind... yep... high winds...)

The deck is well on it's way to being completed, and the siding has been started. That piece of chipboard to the right front of the cabin is where my sunflower stained glass pieces are going to go...  still working on the 2nd piece, so that's a project for springtime.

But this weekend's project was to get the rock into the cabin, and to urethane foam around all the windows and doors.

It was my job to bring the rock from the trailer to the living room...  Years ago, when I bought the rock, I carried each one of those stupid pieces from the store into my truck.. Today, I can barely pick up the smaller pieces  - they are so freakin' heavy... What happened?  When did they get heavier?  Giggle.

Jim built me a "bridge" to walk from the ground to the deck... um...  ok?  I really hate heights, so this was not my favourite part of the day...  There's a 10 foot drop, and I was walking on two 2 x 12's over what I called "Galt's Gulch"... (This will make all you Ann Rand/Atlas Shrugged fans have a quick laugh...)  It was pretty bad when I had to carry rocks over the gulch, but when I had to help Jim carry a couch over it, walking backwards, it really wasn't my favourite...

While I was carrying rock, Jim was doing the winterizing... He did all the windows and most of the doors, and we're almost ready, in that department, for winter.  I think he still has the french doors in the prow to complete, and that job is completely done.

As we were starting to pack up to leave, we watched the most beautiful sunset.. beautiful reds and yellows..  I am going to love watching these sunsets...

Yep... another not normal, amazing adventure.

Jim and Cheri

Where To Begin; Where To Begin

It's been such a busy couple of weeks, I am really unsure where to start this blog...I think I'll start at the end and move forward, sort of...

This past week, Jim spent the whole week at the cabin. We had a new sub-contractor start on Monday, and Jim wanted to make sure everything was going to be cool.. So, the day before, he headed southward. I didn't go with him - during the wintertime, I really struggle with the cold.  I had pneumonia a couple of years ago, and I still have issue with it.  So, we figured that it was best, that he go solo on this one...  I had excitement of my own back in Provo... but, I digress..

We had ordered all the siding and it was delivered a couple of days before, and we loaded it on the trailer, with tons of other stuff, so that bright and early Monday morning, the siding project would be started.  Poor Jim was taking such a load down with him - the front seat of his truck was filled, the back seat of the truck was filled, the bed of the truck was filled and the trailer was stacked to the brim...  I was so scared with him driving down because the load was immense.  I am always afraid that the tires on the trailer are going to blow because of the weight...

It took Jim a little longer to drive down because of the load, but he got there safe and sound Sunday night.

The temperatures at the cabin have been fluctuating between, cold, really cold, butt cold and absolutely freakin freezing...  This last Sunday night was coldest night coming in at a record 12 degrees for this time of year, and the highest temperature it got during the week was 59 - so, days were reasonable, but the nights were freezing.

It got so cold in the RV on one of the nights, that the half gallon of milk Jim bought on the way in, froze.. inside the RV on the step.  I told Jim to buy an electric blanket, just to stay somewhat warm, and he did and said it was a life saver.

Monday morning, the boys showed up with the instructions to lay siding.  But, what we didn't realize, being that we are not builders, is that we needed to build the deck before putting on the siding, because putting the siding on three stories up isn't a great idea on a hill.  And there's galvanized flashing under the siding that ties into the deck... uhuh... so, there was a little change in plans there..

While Jim went into town to get supplies to build a deck, the boys started the siding.... During the week Jim made the trip to Cedar City three times and into Panguitch another three times.

When he got back, they set and poured the footings and foundations and started to build the structural part of the deck.

The deck surface is made of California Redwood... and I think it looks fantastic...

Everyone keeps telling us that we should have made it out of cedar or composite decking or some other wood, but we really like the colouring of the redwood and it looks beautiful with the siding..

In this whirlwind of activity, Jim put in two of the stained glass windows in the loft bathroom, and the french doors in the loft also. They look freakin' amazing.

We will be going back this coming weekend (after Thanksgiving) to foam insulate in around the windows and doors.

I got my stained glass window completely finished - that means, I finally got it back from the glass shop, and the white vinyl frame was put on with the mounting flanges.  We are going to wait until spring to install it.  Meanwhile, while Jim was at the cabin, I started the sister piece to the one sunflower panel that is finished.  I'll be working on that piece all winter long.

While Jim was in Alton, I was fighting my own battles in Provo...  it seems our cat, Mokey, loves to visit the neighbours... they don't want his visits, and he was caught, repeatedly, in their trap in the backyard...  uhuh...Let's just say, I now know how to open one of those stupid cat traps....



The adventure continues...

Jim and Cheri

Sawdust is Man Glitter

I was at Upper Case Printing in Orem on Friday, and there sitting on the counter, was this great little book marker that just seemed to be written for my Jim.  It read, "Sawdust is Man Glitter".  I brought it home for Jim and we both had a giggle over it on Friday afternoon.... flash forward to Sunday night after we've spent the weekend at the cabin, and here's the picture that Jim sent me...  made me giggle.  Love that man.  Big thank you to Lynda at Upper Case for designing this gem.

I wanted to show you the beauty of our mountain this weekend in our blog.  There's along drive into the area where the cabin in, and it's usually filled with deer and elk, and rabbits and turkeys and coyotes and everything else.  We have a family of blue jays that regularly visits the cabin and squirrels and chipmunks galore.. BUT, my favourite thing is what Jim calls, "Cheri's Heart"..  When you are driving up the mountain, at one specific angle, there is an area of rock that is that beautiful Bryce Canyon red rock... everything else around it is white, except for this one little spot, and it's red.. and it's the shape of a heart...  I love it.. I tried to get a really good picture of it.. but, the red colour just didn't come through.. but, I think it's lovely.

We got to the cabin at about 9:30 on Saturday night - and it was...  24 degrees.. What a shock!  Freezing cold.  Jim had me wait in the truck while he plugged in the motor home and turned on the heater... We sat and visited in the truck for about 30 minutes before we decided to venture out.. Was so cold even with the heater on.  Jim went into the cabin and found a little space heater, and we turned it on also.  I was sure we were going to catch fire - space heaters really make me nervous... but, it was sooo cold, we really had to have something to warm us up, and keep the motorhome warm all night... We got into bed, wearing our hoodies and two quilts on top.. and it was sort of warm.. Jim sleeps by the window, and he always says that it's colder by the window.. I did my best to keep him warm, but... cold is cold...

Got up in the morning, and we both had projects that we needed to get done...  Jim's job was to build a door frame for the basement and install the door, and my job was to unpack the trailer and get all the stuff I could into the basement of the cabin.

We have three storage buildings that I am determined to get at least one cleaned out and closed before winter comes... So, every time we go to the cabin, we pack a trailer and take it down... We only had one casualty this time which was a light globe, but it's replaceable, and it wasn't a major piece, so it was good.

Our contractor got two more windows installed this week...  And some of the Canadian equivalent of Tyvek.  Travis said they were working in a heavy wind, can you tell?

When we looked at the windows this morning, we thought he had installed them sideways.. We came to realize, that it was us who were wrong, and Travis installed them correctly... He told us that there's this little vent opening at the bottom, in case water has to drain from the vinyl around the windows... yep, we're spazzy.......what do we know..?  We didn't notice.

I got as much of the trailer unloaded as I could... there were things this time that were just a little too heavy for me, but I did my best... Jim finished unloading the heavy stuff....like the propane deck heater, and more vinyl siding.  This stuff just keeps showing up at our house.  Giggle....

Jim got the door frame done, and almost has the door installed.. Needs a little more work, but it was getting late and I didn't want to do that getting home at 1:00 in the morning again... So, we left, and drove back home and actually got home at a decent hour.

Was a productive weekend... happy, cold campers here.. but, the adventure continues.

Jim and Cheri

Busy, Busy, Busy, Busy

To say this past weekend was busy, is truly an understatement.

We started the weekend off by traveling down to the cabin on Friday night.  Jim's son, James was running the St. George Marathon on Saturday morning, and we figured it would be a smart move to drive down as far as the cabin on Friday night, and then it would be an easier drive to St. George on Saturday morning.

We got to the cabin a 0 dark hundred, and it was freezing.... 29 degrees worth of freezing.  We turned on the heater in the RV, and slept with two big, thick blankets and hoodies on... got up on Saturday morning, and it was still freezing cold.

We drove down to St. George, and waited with the thousands of other people waiting for our runner to cross the finish line.  James has been such an inspiration to everyone.  Several years ago, he decided to change his life, and got on a diet and exercise program and dropped around 250 lbs. in two years. no kidding...  And, on Saturday, ran the marathon and shaved a cool 45 minutes off his marathon time.  5 hrs. 35 minutes for his second marathon.  I must admit, I was truly teary eyed watching him cross the line..  so proud.

After visiting with James a little bit after the race, we headed back to the cabin.  With so much to do, it's a little hard at time to decided exactly WHAT to do.  We were missing the kitchen window, so we had bought one during the week.  That was the first to go in...Was so exciting... I now have a kitchen window to view my domain from!

Jim put up strings of lights on the main level, because before long, we are going to be working after the sun goes down - no more of this working outside until 9 at night.  We went into town for dinner, and left the lights on while we were gone.  That way, we could see exactly where our house was from the base of the mountain.. and sure enough, driving up, we could see all these little lights shining.. Really was exciting.

The RV wasn't quite so cold the 2nd night...  We didn't have to wear hoodies and the RV was quite warm.

Sunday morning I unloaded the trailer while Jim worked.  We were able to get all the duct work for the furnace system in the cabin.  We scored on this one.  The 70 year old next door neighbor had it in his garage and traded one home cooked dinner and two haircuts!

The next big project Jim had was to install the front door.  It didn't come with a door frame, so he had to build one.

I thought it looked like a coffin, but, no, it actually was a door frame.

He got it installed and the two of us got the door in the hinges and nailed into place.  I think it looks beautiful.

We are trying so hard to get the whole cabin all closed up for wintertime.  We are missing an exterior door for the back side of the garage, so that is our purchase for this week.  I'm still waiting for my stained glass piece to be done - would be nice if it was ready for this weekend.

Usually, when it gets to be about 4 in the afternoon, I start telling Jim that we need to start packing up to go home.  At 4 in the afternoon on Sunday, he was still in the middle of installing the front door, so we were a little late getting out....  If we leave at 4 or so, we get home about 8...  Well, we ended up leaving around 7:30, got into Panguitch, and realized Jim had forgot his wallet at the cabin, and had to go back...  so, we were back on the road at 8:30 pm and didn't make it home until 12:30... totally exhausted.

We didn't see a single deer this time - I don't know where they are hiding.. we saw lots of rabbits, smelled lots of skunks, and this time, we saw a family of three, fat raccoons on the road.  I think they were trying to cross the road, but when they saw our big truck coming, they ran back into the brush... I've never seen raccoons there before... I imagine there's all kinds of interesting creatures lurking in those woods.

Today was Canadian Thanksgiving, and as we crawled into bed last night, I told Jim what I was thankful for... and that is... him...  He's an amazing husband, supportive of me and my crazy ideas, and has such a warm and loving heart.  Although I am thankful that we have the opportunity to build this cabin, and complete a dream of ours, Jim keeps my spirits up, and makes me smile.

I am blessed.  And, the amazing adventure continues.

Jim and Cheri

..Still Movin' Forward - One Step at a Time!

This week ended with projects that were started some time ago and now completed.

The first one to get done with my glass project.  I got the actual leading of the glass done last week, but, it still needed to be soldered and the remaining part of the frame built.

With Jim's help, it got done, and the frame built and tomorrow morning at 7:30 am, it will be taken to the glass shop for thermal insulating and the vinyl window flanges put on...

Jim made me a little carrying case for it, and I'm thrilled. We got it scrubbed down on Friday night, and hopefully, all the writing and numbers and marker has been washed away...I am totally pleased with how it turned out.

I also pulled out the pattern for the 2nd piece of glass to be made, and picked out the colour scheme.  That's usually the hardest part for me - trying to pick out colours that will blend with the 1st piece.  But, I think I got it right.  On a side note:  I did something this time that I have never done before.  When we filled the glass piece over, and pulled the paper out so we could solder the bottom side, I set the soldering iron to the top of the piece... and put the paper on top of it...  kinda started a fire...  In all the years I've been doing glass, I've never started a fire... got it put into the sink really quickly with no damage done.. was a little exciting for a minute there...  I think I'll be a little more careful next time.

Here's the raw pattern for the 2nd piece.

We were at the cabin all day, and when I came home, I looked at the colours of glass, and I like it.  Tomorrow evening, I'll starting cutting and piecing it together.

We drove down to the cabin early this morning with a load of "stuff" from storage.  Slowly, but surely, we are getting storage buildings emptied out, and taken to their new home.  I didn't sleep particularly well last night, and my dear husband, just let me sleep in the truck for the 3.5 hour drive.. I think I've got too much on my mind, and my sleep pattern is suffering for it..

The cabin looks lovely as always.  Jim and I got the 2nd window in the garage installed today - well, I held the window in place, while Jim got it secured in place with screws.

We took the top windows for the prow as well as several pieces of glass that we picked up for the loft bathroom.  Hopefully, they'll be installed this week.  The top windows for the prow are 29 feet in the air, and no, we don't have a ladder that tall.. Even if we did, I don't think Jim would venture that task, and I know for sure I wouldn't.

We were going to install the 3'0" X 3'0" kitchen window  in the upstairs kitchen, but somehow, it went missing.  I mean, really... where does a window disappear to.  We looked in the conex and in the storage, and it's just... gone...  so, we'll have to get a new one this week.

Jim also got the door handles on the french doors in the living room..

Thank goodness he knows how to do this stuff - I sure don't.

The fall colours are starting to appear on our mountain... and, it looks beautiful.  When we  were coming home this afternoon, we just had to stop and admire.

Our adventure continues - we are blessed.

Jim and Cheri

...um.. whoops?

Well, the weekend didn't go quite as planned, but it was memorable and monumental, none the less.

If you follow us on facebook, you'll know that we walked the Suicide Awareness Walk in Ogden on Saturday morning - longest mile of my life, I swear...  But, we made it, we didn't bail out, and we actually feel pretty good about the whole thing.  We were going to go to Mahayla's hockey game at 4 that afternoon, but we didn't get everything packed into the U-Haul trailer, so we felt it best that we go home, and load the trailer and get on the road.

Look close, that's a 12 X 12 X 10 foot long piece of rough hewn log in there.  It will be the mantel over the wood burning stove.

Well, loading up the trailer didn't work quite as planned either. We got home, absolutely exhausted...  I slept most of the drive from Ogden to Provo, and when we got home, it was raining.  I have been battling a little congestion issue - actually I've been battling it every fall and winter for the past 10 years - it gets to be a little on the cold side, and I get this horrible rattle in my chest that is just about unbearable. So, we had a change of plans... Jim went to storage to load the trailer, and I stayed home, out of the weather.

Jim goes to storage, loads the trailer and comes home... and both of us decide that we are absolutely exhausted and we need a nap... So, we took a nap.  I set the alarm  for an hour, and after an hour, Jim said that I need to set it for another hour.  After the 2nd hour, we have a change of plans, and decide to leave early Sunday morning.

So, I set the alarm for 7 am, and we get up and are on the road by 8. We get as far as Beaver, Utah, and we're in the middle of a snowstorm... snow?  Really?  It's only September.  The temperature outside was 34 degrees... and snowing...  I couldn't believe it.

We get to the cabin, and see that the windows have been installed.. How freakin' exciting!!!  I love these kind of surprises!

If you remember from last week, we had this HUGE refrigerator that we took down to the cabin.  It ended up spending the week on the back of our trailer covered with a blue tarp... we couldn't get it off the trailer.  It took 3 men and a forklift to get it into the trailer, and we had this stupid idea we could get it off with one person and an appliance dolly... So, we back the trailer up to the cabin, and put a board across the back of the trailer, and we decided to tilt the refrigerator backwards, and then pull the refrigerator into the cabin... Well, we tilted the refrigerator back, it hit the wood, and slid all the way down the trailer and onto the ground...  Woops...

We had the couple from down the street come driving by on their side by side, and we flagged them down, and they came by... we explained the problem, and agreed that we needed more help.. They called friends, and they came over and with the help of 3 men, and 1 woman, and our backhoe, we got the 1,000 lbs. refrigerator upright and into the cabin...  a little bit of damage, but nothing that can't be repaired...  Thank goodness.

Before we left, we got the kitchen window in the basement installed, and the sliding glass door in the basement.  We were going to install the last garage window, but it got way too late, so we are putting that one off until next week.

All in all, it was a pretty successful and busy weekend...  The adventure continues.

Jim and Cheri