...AND 2018 ENDS.. BEAUTIFULLY....

Well, this year has come and gone, and this will be my last blog for this year...  Our cabin is still under construction and hopefully, one more Christmas and it will be done.  We were talking to the kids a couple of days ago, and it is our dream that one Christmas, we will have the family together, here at the cabin, enjoying each other's company, and the beauty of Bryce Canyon... That's our dream... But, in the meantime.... the work goes on.  We found a young man and his wife who do handyman work in the Duck Creek area.. Actually, our neighbour had hired him to do some repairs on their cabin, and we snagged him... under the conditions that we could have him AFTER he did the repairs on the neighbour's cabin.. We agreed, and a couple of weeks after the fact, Jeremy called us, and he started working.  See all that wood on the front side of the deck... well, that's what he's been working on!!!  And, we are thrilled...as you can tell, he brings his dog with him... I think I need a job where I can bring a dog with me... or maybe a cat...

Here's a little more of his work..

And, a different view...

Just before Christmas, I found this sink that I think is going to look fabulous in the upstairs bathroom..  It's got a tiny touch of green in it, and with the marble countertop that has green in it, I think the two will look fabulous..

It has a pattern in the glass, that I absolutely love..

One of the things that I bought Jim for Christmas was an antique erector set...  I am not sure how old it is, but I am thinking that it's somewhere in the 50's.. it's not quite my cup of tea, but for my engineer, he thinks it's amazing... I'm glad I scored on this one!

Several years ago, at Christmas time, I was in Deseret Industries and Jim and I stumbled across a 1961 Lyle guitar... As many of you may know, Jim collects vintage guitars and he fell in love with this one... It came in the original case and everything.

We knew one of the managers in the store (Pat), and Jim asked if she could hold on to it until the next afternoon when he could get to the bank and get cash...  (we're cash kinda people)...  anyways, I went into the store early in the morning, and bought the guitar and asked Pat if she could just tell Jim that it was sold to another customer.... I loved the guitar, and I thought it might be a nice surprise on Christmas morning.  Well, I got the guitar home, and hid it under the bed and waited the couple of months until Christmas.

The next afternoon, Jim went to the bank, got the cash, which was about $300.00 and went to the store to get the guitar.. Well, when Pat told him that it was sold to another customer, Jim was... well... ticked to say the least.. Pat, bless her heart, took the blunt of his wrath, but was determined not to lie to him, and just kept telling him that she was sorry, but it was sold to another customer...  It took a bit, but he finally calmed down and accepted that he had lost his guitar.  I did give it to him on Christmas morning, and talk about shocked... was priceless..

Fast forward to Christmas 2018, I received a text from Brian, our friend at Habitat... they had received  a donation of a cuckoo clock from a patron and it was for sale.. he texted me and Jim and said it needed some repairs, but it was for sale..and it would  be perfect in the cabin... I didn't get back to Brian for for several hours, ( had a major dental surgery the day before, and I wasn't at the top of my game, to say the least) and when I did text Brian back and tell him that I definitely wanted the clock. it was at that point that I was told it was sold..  Kinda made me sad because, even though it needed a little bit of work, it would have been perfect.  I don't know how old this clock was, but there are repair dates on the back, and one of them is 1952... like I said, I don't know the history, except it is German and it's been repaired a couple of times.  Well, Christmas morning, this is what Jim gave me...

The little cheeker, snagged my clock! And, Brian was complicit!!!  He says that we are now even for me stealing his guitar!!  Giggle... I found a clock repair guy in West Jordan who is excited about making the repairs to the clock works.. don't know if he can yet, but we will find out this week.  Jim is going to take it in for repairs when he goes back to work on Wednesday... On a side note, I don't know if we are going to be able to stand that little bird chirping every 30 minutes, or chimes... but, I am hoping we can turn the chirping off if it turns us too loco... But, it will be absolutely perfect in the cabin and I can't thank Brian enough for thinking of us... (Seriously, people.. you gotta check out Habitat...)

Well, the family has got into the spirit of the cabin, and gave us some pretty wonderful things to help decorate.... I love it... and I especially love the Red Buffalo Plaid!  And, you know how much I love MOOSES!!!

In looking for something interesting for Jim for Christmas, I stumbled on this foose ball table... I have never seen something like this, and I thought it was incredibly cool..

As you can see, there is a separate part that covers up the foose ball table to make it a game table, and there are these two little triangular chairs that fit underneath...Very interesting piece and I think it will be amazing to use when family comes to the cabin.

In my quest for interesting, memorable gifts, I had this made for Jim... Shawn is a guy that I work with... actually, he works in production and I work in accounting, but he is so amazingly creative working with wood... I gave him the antler pieces with the instructions to make it amazing...  This is what he came up with..... I was absolutely thrilled.  The lettering was put originally put on all reclaimed pallet wood, but, Shawn changed his mind when putting it all together and changed the background to cedar.. and then edged it with the reclaimed wood and barbed wire.. I don't think Jim has decided quite where to put it - he's made a couple of suggestions like, hanging from the porch outside, or under the balcony on the loft, or above the door inside the cabin...  We've got a little bit of time to figure out out, but, I think this was a winner.

 I know this going to sound really weird, but, I have always wanted an outside shower - it started years ago when we were first married... we rented a little cabin in Idaho, and they had an outside shower.. Jim and I were really hesitant to begin with, but after we tried it, it was absolutely amazing... the warm water, and the trees and the sunshine... was absolutely the most relaxing and amazing feeling ever.. Since that time, I have told Jim that I really want an outside shower...  And, I found this item to aid in that decision... Jim likes it..(Ok, all you prudes out there, you gotta try it before you knock it!!)

We also found a industrial sized ice maker... I don't know if we are going to put this in the main level kitchen, or in the little kitchen downstairs, but either way, when we have get together, or parties, we won't be running out of ice!

As I said at the beginning of this blog, this is the last entry for 2018, and it has been an amazing year...  One of the things I had made for Jim this Christmas, is having this blog put into books... The company that I work for, has a department that can bring the blog to print... and I had the books from 2012 to 2017 put into hardbound books... I think Jim was more than surprised...  The lady in prepress, Jammie, worked long and hard to get these books ready for Christmas, and I couldn't be more thrilled.  To have a permanent record of the ins and outs of our cabin is amazing.

When 2018 has actually ended, I'll be sending the files to Jammie and have the 2018 book printed and bound.  She does amazing work.

Well, as I've said so many times before, love is real, and the adventure continues..

Jim and Cheri

Snow, and Ice and More Snow, and More Ice... grrrr

As many of you know, I hate snow... I mean, I really hate it.. But, with all the snow and ice and cold and there were some really warming and wonderful things happening..

A couple of weeks ago, I found this clock... and, I pictured it in the upstairs loft...I showed it to Jim, and he so agreed with me...  It has pendulum that makes this HUGE ticking sound...  but, I love it... and I think it's an amazing addition.

Back to that disgusting snow and ice...  Jim went to the cabin by himself this weekend...  after a couple of bouts of pneumonia, I can't handle the cold any longer... So, he braved the trip by himself..  When he got to the cabin, this is what he found.. including 3 feet of snow piled on the deck!!!

The views are spectacular...

I love this picture with the rays of sunshine coming through... This shot is of our backyard.

..and the front yard...

..and a couple more shots.

This last shot is of the road in front of the cabin... it's kind of steep and I thought that the little bit of sunshine would melt everything down...  but, nope..

On Friday, Jim asked me to call the glass shop and see if we could get an eta on the completion of the glass... I called, and they said it was completed... So, Jim drove over to Glass Images and picked up the completed pieces... brought them home...I had to check them out for a little bit...

Jim took them down to the cabin, and I didn't expect them to be installed this weekend... there's a whole lot of siding to get on..   But, about halfway through the afternoon, he sent this picture... Jim had cut the hole in the outside wall of the main level bathroom...  Here's inside - looking out...

..and, here's outside, looking in!!

..and then, this one...

And, about an hour later, he sent this picture... I was so stoked I was crying.. It's like a couple of years of work is finally being realized.  Jim says the windows look absolutely breath taking... and, I am truly pleased.

Even thought my sunflower windows are beautiful, Jack Frost was making beautiful artwork on the other windows in the cabin... I think, saying it's cold is an understatement.  At night it was 12 degrees F.  In the day it warmed up to the 40's.

I am amazed at the beauty that surrounds our dream.  Notice the fog in the valley off in the distance.

Jim and I are truly blessed... we have had ups and downs and laughter and tears, but, I appreciate all the effort and work that Jim has put in...He's the real hero here... love that man something stupid...

The adventure continues... Jim and Cheri

I SERIOUSLY THINK I'M LOSING IT....

It finally happened... I did something I have NEVER done in my life... and did it twice in one week.

On Thanksgiving morning, I realized that I had forgot a few things at the store, so when I got up, I got dressed, and drove off to the grocery store... no makeup, no shower, my hair was not done... looked a sight to say the least... When Brianne got up, she noticed that I wasn't in the house and didn't know where I was.. She asked Jim - he didn't know either.. But, the two of them decided that I had to be somewhere in the house... why?  ...because I NEVER go out in public without makeup and my hair done...

Then, we went down to the cabin over the weekend, on Sunday morning, I am unpacking our suitcase, and realized at that point, I had forgotten my curling iron at home... ya... my hair is so straight, it's pathetic... So, I did my best to become presentable.. and yep, went out in public again.  wasn't pretty...  sigh... Seriously, I'm losing it... giggle.

While my hair wasn't pretty, the area around the cabin sure was.. was a beautiful day... And, we don't know why, but the airplanes were leaving con-trails for all to see..

Super interesting..

Saturday night was our pizza night at the C-Stop in Panguitch.. But, it was so freakin' cold, I never took my coat off!  I have this behemoth coat, that is exceptionally warm... not much on style, but, it sure cuts down the cold! And, at this point in my life, I don't care what it looks like... or, apparently, what my hair looks like.. giggle.

We are continuing to place pieces of furniture into the different rooms... This week, it was a cabinet and sink in the upstairs bathroom.  It came with these wooden legs, but, I think I am going to powder coat in chrome, a spare set of the feet we collected for the bathtub, and put them on this cabinet..  The legs for the bathtub are chrome also, so I think the pairing will look cool.  Jim can figure out how to attach them.

Jim continues to work on the siding..and, he finished the sides around the bay window.  It seems that each time he starts a new area on the cabin, there's a new skill he needs... Like bending siding around an arched window.  But, he's doing an amazing job.  It just takes a lot of time and it frustrates him.

When we go to the cabin, there's always a pattern that we follow... one of the things that we do is, on the way home, we stop at either the Subway in Panguitch and get a sandwich, or the Burger King in Fillmore...  The Subway is actually nice, clean and the people know us as locals.  The Burger King in Fillmore - well, they're an interesting breed.  They have the slowest drive through on the face of the earth, and they are ALWAYS out of something... and, it's a matter of guessing what they are going to be out of.  We have been told that either the drive through is closed, or the grill is broken, they are understaffed, or, have a new cook... trust me, we're heard it all.  This past week, we pull up to the intercom and immediately, a little voice comes over and says, "We are out of nuggets"... no, "Welcome to Burger King", or, " I'm ready to take your order".. just, "We're out of nuggets".. So, Jim says, "We don't want chicken nuggets.."..Giggle...We place our order, pull up to the window, pay our money, and wait, and wait, and wait...  we turn the truck off, and wait... A lady comes to the window with a "We have a new cook"...  giggle... I guess he was having a problem understanding, 'Whopper with no onion"... it totally cracks us up..

Anyways, here's what the side of the cabin looks like now.  I am still waiting for the stained glass windows to be insulated and completed.. when that is done, the west side of the cabin can be completed... I am thrilled.

The adventure with my sweetheart continues.

Jim and Cheri

.. A CROSS BETWEEN THE POWER WASH AT THE CAR WASH AND A BACKSCRATCH...

What an interesting weekend....

Everything started even BEFORE we got to the cabin this week...  I swear, we have nerves of steel.

Several years ago, as a birthday present, I bought Jim a cement mixer.. I know, it's a little untraditional  present, but, I know what Jim likes and wants, and I really try to get him things he likes..  remember, I am the one who bought him a box of rocks as a Christmas present... and he loves them... Anyways, this cement mixer has sat in the carport of our house for a while now, and being that we are about to need it, I told Jim earlier in the week that we should put it on the trailer and take it to the cabin..  great idea...  So, Friday night, I am expecting to see Jim loading up the trailer with the cement mixer as I pull into the driveway.. Before I even get home, I get a call from Jim, all in a fluster, telling me that he's running waaaay late... he tried to get the cement mixer into the trailer, but it had two flats, and with only one spare, he had to go to the tire place and buy a tire, and it was $75.00 that he didn't want to spend just to get the thing into the trailer ... and now, he and Lowell  (Brianne's significant other) were getting it into the trailer... I feel bad, because, Jim always tries to get on the road on a Friday by about 5 or 6, and we get into Panguitch between 8 - 9...  we were going to be late...  way late, grrrr.

Well, Jim and Lowell got the cement mixer into the trailer finally, I got some stuff packed into the back seat as well as some furniture in the trailer too that I wanted to take down... I'm sitting in the truck ready to go, and Jim asks if I had seen his work keys and ID badge for work.. I had not.. he said he set them on the tailgate of the truck, and they weren't there, and he's looking in the bed of the truck and on the ground... poor thing, couldn't find them..   So, he decides to just leave.

We get about halfway down our street and I tell Jim to just go back and look in the house.. because, if he doesn't, he is going to worry about it all weekend... He finally agrees and we go back... goes into the house, and sure enough, they are on the island in the kitchen... worry over.. travel time still an issue...

Fast forward, we are now two hours down the highway, just past Beaver, Utah, and the hotel manager calls.. wants to know if we are still checking in, it's 9:30 PM and we're just a little under an hour away...  He tells us that he's going to turn off the lights, and we should ring the bell when we get in...  giggle... (Still cracks me up that he would just turn off the lights.. we've had it before where the hotel stuck the key on the door in an envelope for us....  uhuh"... Panguitch!

The next morning, we get to the cabin and unloading was a challenge.. The cement mixer was put into the trailer with 2 people, and was coming out of the trailer with 1....  But, Jim had a plan.... The first picture is the cement mixer in the trailer.

It is laying on it's back in the trailer...

The second picture it has been tipped out of the trailer and now rests on the ground.  Big bang!  .. on the ground...'nuff said... it's out of the trailer...  Poor Jim...

The major job is that we have got to finish before snowfall -  is getting the rest of the siding on... and it's proving to be a daunting job.. Every time Jim goes, he tackles a little bit more.  This week, he was working on the bay window.  A lot of small detail takes a long freaking time.

I was inside the cabin and this is what I walked out to see... Jim, with a corner piece of siding... on his head... and he's bending it up and down the length... I was like... what?  Well, I guess we've all just learned that his head is good for something... giggle.. It had to fit on the edge of the bay window but it wasn't a full 90 degrees bend.

And, this is what he finished this weekend... We'll be back again this coming weekend, trying to complete more of the same project.

My job, this past weekend, was to clean out the RV.  We've had it for several years, and we've outgrown it... so, it needed to be cleared in order to sell it.  In one of the drawers, I found these three little knobs... I don't have a clue what they came from, or what they were going to go on, but, they're kinda pretty.  I brought them home to clean them up and see what they really look like...

Jim has been looking for his pith helmet for several years... I found it!!!  giggle.

I don't know why I had some things in the RV... but, they are ending up in the cabin...included is a toaster oven, a set of moose dishes, a donut maker, a wing maker, a crock pot, a mini pie maker, a mini cupcake maker and a set of spring form pans... I don't have a clue what I had in mind when I put these in the RV...  I'm going to be finishing the job next weekend, and then give it a good cleaning.

One of my furniture finds this past week was this corner cupboard.  Something about it just looked like it belonged in my upstairs bathroom.  Jim put it in place, and I think it's going to be perfect for towels.

Do you remember the other week, I wrote about seeing a steer down on the side of the road.  Well, on Saturday night, we had dinner with our neighbours, Ron and Mary. I mentioned to them the whole story of the steer and how freaked out I was, and they had heard about it too, and filled in the blanks... apparently, some guy was driving a little too fast down the road (it's dirt) and didn't see the steer (black and probably 1000 pounds), and he hit it while driving his car.  It totaled the car, and spun the steer totally around breaking it's back legs.  The poor cow dragged itself into the ditch.. The driver of the car knew the owner of the steer, and called him... that's when I showed up...  I don't know how you couldn't see this animal in the road...  beyond me.  They just don't move that fast!

While we were at dinner, (it's kind of a cowboy steakhouse) a lady walks up to this music area, and turns on the mike, plugs in her phone and runs a karaoke app, and starts to sing... and she is phenomenal...  absolutely gorgeous voice.  She sang mainly country songs recorded by women, and it was the sound that was amazing.  She started with "Crazy" by Patsy Cline, and it was the most impressive rendition I have ever heard...  Dolly Parton, Shania, Whitney Houston, it was amazing.  We at our dinner, then had dessert, and just listened... it was like an amazing concert.  She sang for 3 straight hours.. We were talking to her and the restaurant owner afterwards, and he said, she comes in every once in a while and just sings... he doesn't pay her.. she just wants to sing...She said she was tiling a bathroom all day, and just needed a break, so she came down to the restaurant to sing...She says she has the greatest job in the world - shows up when she wants to, is always welcome, sings and leaves. Her name is Becky Henry, and she said she had a vocal scholarship to SUU years ago.. Never graduated, got married and had 5 kids...  Such a gift.. Such an amazing talent.

Sunday, while Jim was doing siding, I hear a thump and then Jim is yelling for me... Well, you see these new boards on the deck...

..and this other new board on the deck... well, those boards weren't there.. until Jim stepped in the hole and fell through.  He was kind of stuck on the deck with his leg down a hole and I had to help him out....he scraped up his knee.  When he was back moving around again, he put some boards in...  poor thing..

One our way back to Provo, we take Hwy 20 over to Exit 95.  It goes from Panguitch to I-15... and, that road takes you through mountains.  It always scares me driving that road at night, because there are lots of deer.. Jim always says that he likes a car in front of us, just in case.  Well, we were driving on Sunday about 7, and it's pitch black out.. There's a car from California in front of us and they are driving sooooo slow and Jim wants to pass.. Personally, I would just put up with the slow speed.. I hate passing - I am really a nervous driver..  All of a sudden, the car in front slams on the brakes to the point that Jim slams on our brakes and we go into the opposite lane to stop...  There, crossing the road, is a little herd of deer, just moseying across.. no hurry... One doe stood in the middle of the road and just stared... and then, wandered off the road as if to say, "I will take my time, and you can freakin' wait"..  They must be so used to cars at this point..no fear..

Now, to get back to the heading of this blog... We were supposed to spend the night at the HooDoo Motel in Hatch, but the owner called earlier and asked if we could change our reservation to somewhere else.  He has a very small motel, and some guy who was staying in our room the night before, wanted to stay in it for a whole week...  So, we switched hotels..  We got to the new hotel late, rang the doorbell, and the owner comes out and we check in.. It was reasonably comfortable, except my husband has this idea the heat has to be set at 74 degrees to warm up the room and it feels like a sauna to me all night long... but, I digress ... in the morning, Jim gets into the shower first..  There are just a couple of things I judge a hotel by... first is the bed.  I really love my bed at home, so, the bed is going to be a tough sell.  The second, is the shower and water pressure in the shower.  I am so sick of staying in a hotel where the water pressure is questionable.. Jim gets out of the shower and I ask him how it is, and his answer was, "Well, let me put it this way.. it's a cross between the power washer at the car wash, and a back scratch"...  Interesting wording... and when I get in the shower and got in, I understood.  The pressure was so great, I thought it was tearing my skin off... well maybe..... amazing... I was thrilled I actually had eyebrows left...The shower felt like I was scrubbing with a wire brush, or having dermabrasion... The pressure was so intense, my skin was stinging...  quite like something was ripping flesh off...  No problem with water pressure.. nope...and not a speck of dirt would have survived... giggle.

We are desperate for help these last few weeks.. if anybody knows anybody who'd like to spend a weekend with us, let us know... we'll even feed and pay 'ya...

As always, the adventure continues...

Jim and Cheri