I must admit... plumbing is super sexy.... just sayin'...

To start out with, I want to say that "The Count" did not leave... he's taken up residence.... must be because Halloween is coming up, or something like that... don't know.. But, on Saturday night, Jim and our plumber friend were sitting in the living room chatting, and guess who flew by wanting to join in the conversation... The Count.. Giggle... Then he disappeared for the rest of the weekend. There must be a teeny tiny little coffin somewhere...

Apparently, a squirrel came into the cabin for a quick visit with the bat.  Jim said he saw his fluffy little tail go by and then chased him out of the cabin, and down the deck and he climbed up a tree to escape...  I'm surprised Jim didn't climb the tree to get him, but, alas, Jim didn't.. giggle..

OK, so, onto the cabin... this is a picture of dual shower faucets.  We will have dual rain shower heads coming out of the ceiling in the main level bathroom.  I think I've died and gone to heaven.  One stained glass window is in the shower and one is outside to the right of the shower in the bathroom.

And this is the internals and externals of a hose bib out on my deck so I can water flowers that will be in my ceramic pot collection.  When Jim told me I could water flowers, my first thought was to those stupid deer that ate 100's of "deer resistant" bulbs that I planted several years ago... Uhuh... water flowers - that's if the deer give my flowers a chance to actually grow..

  

Up in the ceiling of the main kitchen is all the piping for the loft bathroom.  I can't wait to see the water turned on.  Jim has this plumbing design idea that if someone's in the loft showering and if water is turned on elsewhere they will not feel the water change temperature... have you ever been in the shower and someone flushes the toilet... and the water either goes scalding hot, or ice cold????  This will stop that from happening...

Jim and the plumber got up and went into town for breakfast, and this smattering of blick was found in the bottom of Jim's cup...  $4.00 for this even!  Um... I sure hope this isn't a forever kind of thing.. makes it a little unappetizing... maybe they were trying to put a little fiber in Jim's diet...  I'd rather eat cauliflower...

Jim said that you aren't really working unless you have wood splinters in your fingers... lots and lots of wood splinters... poor thing always comes up with a couple of Band-aids on his fingers..

The adventure will continue next week when they test the whole plumbing system for leaks.  Then the county building department inspection..... getting close to running water and flush toilets!!!

Jim has been gone the past three weekends, and has a couple more weekends to go before the plumbing and the electrical is finished... I miss him...I miss our weekends together...

The adventure continues.

Jim & Cheri

Feelin' a little... batty!!!

...building a cabin on the top of a mountain has us surrounded with all kinds of wildlife and we have really enjoyed some of them... Seeing herds of deer first thing in the morning, and cougars, and prairie dogs has really been interesting and fun... But, this weekend, we were introduced to a little creature we weren't expecting...  He doesn't say much, but has truly made an impression!!!

I've decided to call him "The Count" and he's sleeping in the ceiling joist of the main floor bathroom... He doesn't say much during the day - actually, he thinks he's hiding, BUT, at night he takes up living in the family room...Jim says that he might have come in when the cabin was opened up on Friday night, but they don't know for sure... Apparently, The Count likes the place, but doesn't know how to get out, or doesn't want to...  So, I guess, you could say, we're feeling a little... batty...

Whenever we are driving back from the cabin, we always stop in Fillmore, to fill the truck up with gas and get a bite to eat.  There are a couple of restaurants there... a Burger King, a Costa Vida, and a Chinese restaurant... The Burger King is the worst Burger King restaurant on the face of the earth... If you go through the drive thru... that is, if it's actually open, and they actually have the grill working, if you order a single burger, it will take at least 15 minutes to get, and there is always something wrong... If you ask for no onions, you will always get onion... if you ask for extra pickles, you get no pickles.  Jim and our plumber went through the drive thru last week, and this is what Jim got... a cooked beef patty, and the bun was burned black...  Seriously....Talk about flame kissed!

This has been the 2nd weekend that Jim and our plumber have spent the weekend at the cabin working, working, working...  I was talking to him this evening, and told him that he's in our blog, and he said that as long as I describe him as studly, incredibly handsome and muscular like Arnold Schwarzenegger, then it's OK... He's an amazing journeyman plumber and his expertise is more than appreciated.  Jim says he's never worked so hard in all his life trying to stay ahead of him, but the job is getting done amazingly well, and it's wonderful..

Jim and our plumber have been drilling holes in the floor and the ceiling so that plumbing pipes can fit through. Jim is totally covered in saw dust, and the pipes are covered.. At one point, while they were pulling the pipes through, Jim asked out plumber how you keep the saw dust out of the pipes... and, the reply was, "put a glove over the end"...  so, hey.. Jim followed orders..  

... and, here's my sweetie taking a selfie... covered in sawdust..  love this man!

You know, everybody has different opinions, whether they are political, or religious, or educational or horticultural... really doesn't matter... But, in this little Canadian girl's opinion... plumbing is about the sexiest thing on the face of the earth, at this point in my life...This first picture is how things started out at the beginning of the weekend.....

..and this is how they looked at the end of the weekend... it's brilliant and so amazing!!!

 I sent this picture to Bradley, and he told me that it's a really "crappy" job... giggle...  (Plumbers jokes...)

Apart from my husband, this is the sexiest thing I've seen in a really LONG time!!!

This next picture is the main floor bathroom and the wall has gone in to show where the shower is going to go...I am thrilled to think - shower...

Here's another shot of it!! The shower is on the left.

All I can say is... plumbers rock!  (Although, I really love our electrician... giggle)

And, there is another fire blazing in Cedar Breaks.  It's about 45 minutes away, but it seems that every summer, there is some kind of wild fire. Concerns me.

And, last, but not least, the welcoming committee was out in full force.  Jim says that they must have seen about 20 deer on the way out of the property Saturday morning at 7:30.  They are beautiful creatures...except when they eat my spring bulbs..  then, I'm thinking.. venison, jerky, etc.

I'm glad my Jim is home tonight, safe and sound.  I am glad the plumbing is going in, although I miss him terribly when he's gone.  And, this weekend, I haven't been feeling especially well, and I get a little weepy... So, I'm glad he's back.  But I won't take pain pills!

The adventure continues.

Jim and Cheri

CAN WE SAY.. PLUMBING?!!!!!

After a "vacation" in California (and I use that word "vacation" extremely loosely.).. we got back home on Friday, and bright and early Saturday morning, (6:30 am) Jim and our plumber were heading down to the cabin to attack the plumbing! (Actually, my kids call this the "butt crack of dawn"... and, I agree).  I am still not quite at the idea of spending the weekend at the cabin, when in fact, the majority of this weekend, I sat in my recliner and slept.

The first picture I received from Jim was where the loft bathtub was put into place.  I think it's wonderfully exciting and so beautiful...You can see so much of the valley from this window and putting the tub right by the window is perfect.  Hopefully a lot of the valley doesn't see me!  Curtains please.

You can see a little more of the marble look on the side of the tub in this shot below.. I love it.

And, you see that little metal circle thing on the floor.... that's for the toilet in the main floor bathroom..  There's black pipe connected to it!

These pipes are growing out the floor.  This one is for the kitchen sink on the main level.

Do you remember several years ago, we found a toilet from 1908?  Well, here it is again.  There is a polished brass pipe that goes from the toilet up to the tank, which is at the ceiling.  They were testing to make sure the brass pipe fittings all went together... and. they do!!!  This toilet is going to go up in the loft.

Jim put the chrome feet on the bathroom sink cabinet, and prepared it for the piping to come up from the basement. This is in the loft bathroom.

So, pretty.

We might be having to break the cement floor in the basement.... our plumber found that the black pipe under the concrete was put in incorrectly, and the way it is now, when my washing machine drains, it's going to overflow soap foam up through the laundry room and the bathroom floor drains... No Buenos...

It seems that in the Bryce Canyon area, every summer there are wild fires burning.  This is not Bryce Canyon, but a 70 miles north in Fillmore.  I haven't heard anything on the news that there is a fire, but, sure looks like there is...

And, last, but not least, several weeks ago, I was shopping and I saw this mug.  What interested me is that it's supposed to be all forestry with trees and animals and stuff... the only questions I have is:  exactly what kind of animal is this?  It has the head of some kind of cat, the body of a sheep or maybe a cow, and legs of a corgi...  I've asked several people, and we are all totally stumped...  Any suggestions?

So, if you can figure out what this "cat/cow/sheep/dog" is.. let us know.

Life is good, and the adventure continues.

Jim and  Cheri

..just a minor setback

I am writing this post not because I want to particularly remember this experience, but because I never want to forget.

Jim and I decided to take a little vacation to California at the end of August.  We packed the van, and drove, the first night as far as Vegas, spent the night, and then finished the drive by getting to California on the Wednesday afternoon... For two days, we had a most amazing visit.. just doing relatively nothing, and loving each other's company.  (Getting to California wasn't smooth sailing by any means... at one point, we couldn't get the van to slow down... the engine revving to 80 mph at one point.  Jim had to turn the van off as we were moving to get it to slow down.  We got into Barstow and found that the cruise control had failed and stuck... causing the engine to rev, and in the 103 weather, the whole engine to overheat... wasn't pleasant.  Jim disconnected the cruise control, let the engine cool down, added more fluid and we were back on the road).

We wanted to replace the canopy on the 5th wheel, and it was supposed to be an easy fix... Jim disconnected the canopy from the trailer, and it popped out, and fell on the windshield of the van... yep, breaking the window...

On Friday afternoon, at about 3:00 pm, I started having a slight pain in my lower back on the left side.  I decided to go back and take a nap and hopefully, the pain would go away.  I tried to nap for a little bit, but within 45 minutes I was in such excruciating pain, Jim decided to drive me to the hospital emergency room..  The hospital was about 15 minutes away, and by the time I got there, I was screaming in pain.

When the attendings were checking me out, my blood pressure was 218/97, my temperature was 103 degrees and all I could do was scream and pant...  The doctor gave me something for pain, and they gave me a CT scan to see what the problem was... At this point I was bringing up... In the scan, they saw a small kidney stone.  It had just left the kidney, and the doctors felt I needed a stent so that the stone would not block the ureter... On Friday night, I went to have the stent put in, but because I had been bringing up, I couldn't have general anesthesia.  So, they did a spinal block... worked great...Just before they started the surgery, because my blood pressure was so high, they gave me an injection to lower it.... It apparently worked really well, because within a few seconds, my bloodpressure plummeted to 55/35 and I was having convulsions...  I think I passed out because I don't remember anything until I woke up in recovery...

The surgery was supposed to take about 10 - 15 minutes, but instead, it took over an hour.  As the surgeon got into the procedure, the blood test results came back, and it showed that I had a UTI and was septic.  In visiting with him aftewards, he said that I had so much infection in the kidney, the surgery took more time because of the infection cleanup that had to be done..... and that was before the stent was put in.  The staff questioned me forever about symptoms.. did I have pain, did I have a fever before this, did I have urgency to pee...  I had nothing...  In recovery, I heard one of the doctors say that I was "Tacky"... and in my drugged state, I told him I was NOT tacky.. and he said I was.. and again, I told him that I was not tacky, and I have never been tacky... and it was the nurse who explained to the doctor that I was not tacky, but he should have said tachychardia.  So, no, I was not tacky, but I was tachychardic...  Giggle...  Words matter.

The main thing that the doctor said to me was that if I had not come into the emergency room with the kidney stone, I had a very small window where the bacteria in my bloodstream would have taken over, and my heart would have stopped.  So, within a couple of hours, I would have died..  that is sobering.

I was admitted that night, and for the next 5 days was pumped full of antibiotics, and fluids, I swear, gave gallons of blood.  I was put on three different antibiotics that went through my IV, the 2nd of which I was allergic to, and broke out in blisters up my nose, on my mouth and on my arms..My arms, at this point, look like a battlezone...

There were many times in the hospital, were I was so tired, and hurt so bad during this recovery period, that all I could do was cry... hospitals aren't really the place to go for rest.

I had an amazing support staff.  One doctor, in particular was from Ukraine, and every time he came into my room, he would call me "Luba" which is Ukrainian for my first name, "Love".  ... made me smile.  His first name is Ilya, and I immediately thought of that tv show from the 60's... The Man From U.N.C.L.E..... and the David McCallum character was Ilya Nickovitch Kuriyakin who was supposed to be a Russian spy...
I always wondered why this particular Russian Spy had a British accent...Well, this Russian was not particularly tall, very slender built, and blonde and had those cold, steel blue eyes just like my mother...  I had asked him why he left Ukraine and he said that he was born in Ukraine, but he was educated in Moscow.  He and his wife had a daughter who had cerebral palsy, and there were no fund available to look after her in Russia - so, they immigrated.

One phlebotomist should be a dominatrix - that woman was out to inflict pain - all at 5 in the morning.  Her theory is that she will find a vein on the first try - it might hurt, but she'll get it... Not my favourite.

I received texts and emails and messages and visits from some of the most amazing friends....  Michelle and Stephanie and Jim from California made visits, and in fact, Stephanie and Jim came to check on Jim and I both while I was still in the emergency room... Michelle, herself, was having medical issues and came to visit.  Beautiful flowers showed up from Ontario - such a beautiful, cheerful surprise from my bestie, Lynn... who always has my back... Thank you to all.

And, I got calls and skype messages from several people from my work, including my supervisor, Joy, the customer service manager, Tara, one of the sales guys, Barry, and the president of the company... these types of calls, buoy you up when you really don't know if you are going to die, or if you just want to die.  Much appreciated.

Every day, I got little messages from my children, Brianne and Brad with special messages from the grands...didn't have to, but sure was nice.

And, last, but definitely not least... my Jim...  this man is the epitome of patience, and understanding, and staying cool and calm during a really, really stressful time.  He spent the first night in the hospital with me, and that's when we realized that they cot they gave him to sleep in really was the pits, and he decided to sleep in the 5th wheel... He endured my demands, put up with my complaining... and, even laughed with me when we couldn't figure out what the hospital food was.  He showed up one night, after a particularly questionable hospital meal showed up, with mac and cheese, and a couple of pieces of grilled shrimp... it was celestial... I wasn't allowed to take a shower, so he so gently washed my face and hair in the sink, and made me feel a little fresher than just laying in bed...  Couldn't love that man more.

Jim understands when I need to sleep, makes sure I am staying hydrated, and is vigilant in making sure I take this plethora of meds on time.

I have a follow up with a urologist in the next week, when they are supposed to take out the stent and remove the stone....

In the last couple of years of my mother's life, she was plagued with kidney problems - that's why we are now looking into further testing to see if this kidney problem I have is genetic... But, a little frail lady, in her 90's having these problems... I do not know how she made it through.. Sepsis is extremely brutal on the body, and, with her battling it, several times, along with age and Parkinson's Disease, proves what a strong lady she actually was.

So, thank you to those who saved my life.. physically and emotionally...  I couldn't have done it on my own.

So, I am thankful for small miracles and small kidney stones... without them, I wouldn't not have been able to go on....

Today, Jim is at the cabin - we had planned for the plumber to spend the weekend working with Jim on getting the toilets and sinks up and running...  As I hear there are some problems and mistakes that someone else made, they are working to fixing those issues, and moving forward....  But, that is for the blog that will come next.

Before I forget, when we were pulling into Vegas on the return trip, we got rear ended...  sigh...You know, there are times when you just start waiting for things to happen...

Thank you for your love and support.  Cheri


Follow up:  9/23/2019 - I had one more surgery to do a little repair work to the kidney, remove the stone, and thank goodness, remove that beastly stent...  I feel 100% better... I'm still a little tired, but appreciative for all the help I received, and the support... especially Jim - he is a little on the crusty side of life, but I feel that man's love and support every single day.  I could not have made it through without him by my side...  Love him something stupid.

Cheri