...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