Have you ever had one of those weeks, where all you can really do is just sigh at the end of it... Well, both Jim and I just had one... At both of our places of employment, all hell broke loose, and, it was emotionally draining... THEN, on Thursday, Jim is talking to Garkane Energy, and Kane County about switching our temporary power pole to the fixed meter base, on the side of the house and, we found out all kind of exciting things. But, that story is later on in this blog....So, running away to the cabin seemed to be the right escape.
A week ago, I got a call from our weird neighbor, and he said that he had something that we might like for the cabin... I couldn't imagine what - this guy is totally out there somewhere on another planet.. Well, he said he wasn't sure what it was, but, he thought it might be a bird feeder... So, I walked next door and there was this gnarly copper and plastic looking thing, and sure enough, it was an old bird feeder.. and, it needed a whole lot of work. The first thing I did was run it through the dishwasher. You know, our dishwasher really is a multi purpose machine - it's washed everything from rocks, motorcycle and car parts to bird feeders... The first pass got all the dirt and muck off of it, and then Jim dismantled it, and I scrubbed it down in the sink some more.
... and it turned out quite pretty. The neighbor said that he believes it belonged to his parents, so we are estimating that it probably is about 60 years old. We can't find replacement parts, but, Jim did his best to reconstruct it, and it's now hanging in the garage. I think it's crazy interesting, and will look amazing at the cabin.
Jim's BIG project this past week is building the bridge that crosses from dry land across "Galt's Gulch" to the deck. This whole balancing act that we have to go through (walking across three 2x10's) just had to go. I am always so afraid that the boards are going to break and I am going to fall head first into the gulch! The project starts out looking really simple, and then gets a little more complicated really quickly.
Here's a shot of the upper and lower boards to be glued together to form a curved beam,
They don't look like much yet.
As Jim is working cutting wood and measuring and doing all these guy things that he's so good at, I had the task of holding the string or measuring tape... yep, that's my contribution. But, about half way through the project, I notice that Jim has red on his fingers and I am so sure he'd cut himself and is bleeding all over the place... I am all in a twist over it, and he keeps wiping his fingers on his pants, but no blood is wiping off.. so, I figure it's bleeding like really crazy.. and he keeps wiping... well Jim soon figures out, that he was using a red marker to draw the lines on the board, and he got some of the marker on his fingers... Thus, we made a trip to Home Depot, and I bought him some construction markers... and they are.. BLACK.
OK, three curved beams and a few things to hold them together and I'm getting the idea.
Jim didn't get all the bridge completed at the house - just enough to transport in the trailer.
And there's those pesky three 2X10's I've had to walk over. Grrr . . .
.. and, he put more of the treads on the top when he got on site..
I told Jim that I wanted an arbor at the place where the bridge meets the deck, just above the gulch.. I think eventually, we'll get it done, but, for now, I'm just thrilled for the bridge and the two 2x10's that we've been balancing on, are gone... (those two 2x10's scared the heebeejeebees out of me whenever I had to walk over them...but I kept it inside and looked tough crossing them every time. I swear, the gulch wanted to swallow me, I am sure...)... I am wanting flowers growing up and over the arbor.. not sure what kind of flowers, but something warm and inviting... which I am SOOO sure is Jim's main objective... giggle... And deer proof!
I think it looks amazing.. What 'cha think?
When Jim was working on the bridge, he had to secure it from underneath... he told me that when he was in "The Gulch" he was singing the song, 'Under the Boardwalk'. At the same time, I sent him the song by Marvin Gaye...'It Takes Two'. Maybe he needed my help, maybe he didn't... BUT, I would have loved to be under the boardwalk with him, because it does.. take two!
We are slowly transitioning the cabin to a place where we can do cooking. We have a microwave and a hot pot, and a little refrigerator, but, still it's not enough to cook a real meal. When Jim got into Panguitch on Friday night, he bought some waffles and sugar-free syrup, and this was his breakfast.. ON MY MOOSE PLATES! He said it was great with a cold drink of milk!
Jim's been working on the backhoe on and off over the last couple of weeks replacing the rotted out gas tank, and this past weekend, he tried it out for reals... AND, it starts, and works! So, he started digging the hole for the septic tank.. I never thought a septic tank would be so exciting, but you have no idea!!!
It was about 2 weeks ago, I had this bright idea... We have had such a problem finding contractors to help us with different projects. One of them was finding a plumber who was going to be available in our timetable. I was at work, and I thought of an old friend of mine who has done work for us previously, but, I didn't have his phone number. I did a search, and I found an address for him in West Jordan. So, I wrote him a letter, and asked him to call me. And, guess what - he did! I told him what we needed and he asked to see a set of plans. Because Jim works in West Jordan, Jim went by after work last Friday afternoon, and they checked out the plans, and discussed the project back and forth. My friend, Rick, said that he would like to see the cabin before we moved forward. He came down on Saturday, and walked the cabin with Jim, and made a plan... I said, THEY MADE A PLAN... They made a plan for.. PLUMBING... like toilets, and sinks, and running water.. that kind of plan.. So freakin' exciting. He is going to do the work in September when his schedule calms down a little bit... We couldn't be more excited.
Jim stayed at the cabin from Friday night to Monday evening, mainly because he needed to meet with Rick the plumber on Saturday, but, also because he was meeting with Garkane Energy on Monday. We found out that the temporary power pole that they put in... well, it was set up for an RV, not a house, and they weren't sure if they needed to dig up the road and put bigger wire in, or what they were going to do. We were a little stressed all weekend thinking that along with the several thousand dollars we paid to have the power put in, would need to be all redone and re billed because they didn't do what we asked... Well, Jim met with them, and we found out that they did put the 200 amp wire in, not just the 60, and they don't think they are going to have to dig up the road... just move the wiring over to the house... dodged a bullet on that one...!
And, we had another woodpecker in the cabin. We aren't quite sure where they are getting in, but, once Jim saw him, he opened all the doors and invited the little beast to exit. He did.. because, when they don't, they end up dead on my living room floor. They are not the brightest, but, they can figure out how to get into the cabin, but not remember how to get out..
And, last but not least, please tell me this is a dog's paw print, and not something in the feline genre... please... You see the toe nails are retracted and don't imprint in the mud. That's a dog, right?
Our goal this summer was to have the four way inspection completed (furnace, plumbing, electrical and structural) and that is proving to be a challenge... So much work, not enough time and energy. The adventure continues for us... gonna be working hard and long for as long as we can, and before the snow flies..
Jim and Cheri
