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