TOTAL EXCITEMENT - FIRST WORKING WEEKEND OF THE YEAR!!

After what seems to have been a long, long, long winter, Jim with Lowell's help finally made it up the mountain to do some work!  I am so absolutely stoked.  While Lowell started working on the deck, Jim had to get the backhoe running and started working!  Here he's moving the concrete retaining wall blocks off the previously mud stuck trailer.  Jim said the weight was everything the backhoe could pick up.  Once set down the backhoe could no longer pick them up.  This is going to be an interesting project to get them all set into place.

And here's a roll of brand new carpet being unloaded!  This will be for the floor of the loft bedroom.  Gonna be nice.  (When I first saw this picture, I thought they were carrying a missile or something like that... and, I was like... what?  then Jim told me what it was...)  Giggle..

As we mentioned before, we purchased a boom/bucket truck to work on the higher parts of the cabin.  One of the projects that Jim wanted to finish before it was taken down was to make stabilizing outriggers to curtail the swaying when the boom is extended.  He got the project done on Thursday evening, and it was good to go....(seriously people.. do you actually think I wrote this paragraph about stabilizing and outriggers and curtailing...?  Just think about it....)  

Because Jim had Lowell going with him, Jim drove the boom truck down, and Lowell drove the pick-up truck and trailer loaded down to the cabin!  Totally stoked.

Jim had the need to clean out the back of the boom truck when they got to Panguitch so they stopped at the car wash to spray it all down.  The bottom of the yellow column and the floor were completely black from spilled oil and dirt build up over the years.  He knew that once the truck got to the cabin it would not change, so now was the time to do something about it.  Must be some kind of man thing to clean his tools.... I think that all this heavy equipment stuff is man kinda things.. Never in my life have I thought about buying a backhoe, or a bucket truck... nope.. not once...

Picked up a nice cast iron and wood bench this past week...... I think it will look beautiful next to the bucket truck and the backhoe...  (sarcastic smile placed right about here....).. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a kid's bench, also made of cast iron and wood, but the back panel has zoo animals on it...

Here's the trailer loaded up one more time.  This was carpet, glass storage drawers, boxes of "stuff" and a kiln for future ceramic projects.   The boxes of STUFF are my items for the cabin...  Jim usually has a different name for my STUFF...    ya.. trust me on this one..  

The kiln is under the green covered tarp...

Lowell got the job of leveling the bridge and finishing off the front part of the deck.  Well done Lowell!  The bridge was so steep at each end, that one of us kept sliding off the bridge when walking on it and off it... no bueno...  

After one day in the sun and a resulting mild sunburn Lowell took for some cover under a hoodie on the second day.

I love what he did with the blocks in front of the bridge to get it all level.  Very creative.  Jim says we'll take the dirt out and fill with a concrete pad under the front edge.  This will make it super permanent and the fan shaped retaining wall blocks will be locked into place.  I'm planning on writing my name in the wet concrete!  I think it'll turn out great when it's finished and Galt's Gulch will be retained.

There was one more picture here, and Jim removed it.. said it was not appropriate.. It was of Lowell, standing on the deck, talking on his cell phone.. I thought it was cute...

I was talking to Lowell yesterday, and he was telling me that he saw a bluejay that was such an incredible colour of blue - very intense colour...  We have seen the bluejays before, and they are indeed amazing.  We have the bluejays and woodpeckers in the area.  It's nice to be able to share the beauty of this area with someone else...

OK, this got interesting.  The first real work with the boom truck.  Measuring up the building to have corbels built.  There'll be three.  One on each corner and one under the main ridge beam.  The first picture is Jim testing the sway and seeing how sensitive the controls are.  They're sensitive apparently!

Jim doesn't like ladders or heights and I don't blame him one bit so here's the "man in the can".  Once the house is done we'll sell off the boom truck.

Lowell had to try it out also.  Why do guys do this kind of stuff?

Found a really cute shelf.  Now just where am I going to use this?  Who cares, I like it!

I found these Outdoor LED candles this past week also... We're going to use them for the patio around the Jacuzzi on the lower level. I bought these and wasn't sure exactly where I was going to put them.. When I got home, and showed them to Jim, he knew exactly where... and I agree... They stand about 3 feet tall..

And one more week of the adventure is "in the can" as they say in Hollywood.

It continues. . .


Jim & Cheri

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back.

Well, this week can be described as "two steps forward, one step back".  Jim and Lowell (Brianne's partner) picked up four of the retaining wall blocks from Salt Lake this past Thursday.  Everything with picking up the block went fine... and, driving it to Panguitch went fine... stopping at the C-Stop pizzeria went fine... and, Jim said the food was great...  

However, driving up the mountain to the cabin, proved to be a little more challenging than expected.  I had checked the weather report earlier and it said that it was going to be overcast, but dry on Friday, and weather would come in late afternoon on Saturday.  We felt we had a good window to take the block down.

Unfortunately, what we didn't know is that it rained earlier in the day and it made the road super muddy...Jim and Lowell got as far as the first switch back on the road, and weight of the trailer proved to be too much to pass.  After several attempts, and almost sliding off the mountain, they chose to unhook the trailer from the truck, and just leave the trailer there at the side of the road.  Jim met with one of the neighbors on the mountain, and they felt it should just stay there for the next week until it dries out a little bit (lot) more...

This is what it looked like when it was sliding backwards and off the road before it stopped.  Very scary.

I am personally glad they left the trailer... that one area of the mountain scares me when it's dry, let alone muddy....

Jim took Lowell for a tour of the cabin, and the snow was melting on the deck... but, not completely gone.. But, it was a nice opportunity for Jim to show off a little bit...  I think Lowell was impressed....

On the way home, it really started to rain - just as the forecast predicted.  Glad they decided to come home.

..and it just kept raining.

Jim took this trip as a complete failure, but I don't...  I think that if you get there, and get home safely, it's a total success.

We'll look forward to going to the cabin another day, and completing the project this summer...

Another page in the amazing adventure.

Jim and Cheri

SICK TO DEATH OF CORONA VIRUS.....

Can I just say, I am really sick of this Corona pandemic virus quarantine crap... just getting old, and it's cramping my style...

Jim is working from home, so I bought him something kinda cool to entertain himself while he's at home..It's a stained glass kaleidoscope.  It's a little different, but still throws the patterned colours just like cheap, plastic kaleidoscopes!  I kinda liked it.

Here's one of the patterns it throws..  The top part is soldered in place, so  you have to turn the whole thing to get the pattern to change, but, it's still pretty cool.

As we mentioned last week, in our VERY VERY short politically correct uninformed blog,  Jim went to drop off the furnace and pick up the trailer at the cabin... What we didn't mention, but took pictures of, is how muddy it is at this time of the year...  This is the mud that was left on the truck AFTER driving 3.5 hours on the interstate.. a lot of it flung off in the drive, but a substantial amount stuck around.  It's like glue.

Yes, mud does track into the house...  um yep... and no, I don't say anything... hardly ever.  I don't want Jim to think I'm picking on him all the time... hardly ever.  But, slowly but surely, I am getting used to Jim being at home in the mornings when I'm getting ready for work... But he does cramp my style.  I have a set routine.

I found these shelf frames and thought they would be an interesting look...  Jim had never heard of them, and didn't really understand the whole concept... there is no picture that goes into the frame, but the items, that would normally go on a shelf, go above the frame and inside the frame and on the little ledge..  I think they're cool.. Jim is still rolling his eyes....  Before long, his eyes are going to fall out for all the exercise they are getting... He has muscles around his eyes like Arnold.  His lips aren't pursed so I know he's not ticked, but, he's got a really blank expression, so a whole lot is going on behind those eyes and those lips...  (I still think they're kissable...).   Anyways, so much for shelf frames...  next!

Today was a big day in the cabin building experience.  Jim and Lowell drove to Salt Lake and picked up the first load of block for the retaining wall.  If we don't put in a retaining wall, the mountain will shift and one cabin will roll down the mountain.  We purchased 94 blocks at half price of brand new.  There are three different types of block, one kind for the bottom of the wall, one for the middle, and of course, one for the top.  These four that they transported are bottoms.  Apparently each weighs about 1800 pounds, and our trailer will carry about 4 or 5 at a time.

These are huge, huge, heavy blocks - I think they look like really big legos!  Jim and Lowell are going to take this load to the cabin on Saturday.. weather permitting!  And all those blocks in the background . . . are ours!  We are considering hiring an 18 wheeler with a flat bed trailer.

Jim had an appointment with his endocrinologist this afternoon, so it was imperative that he make it to Salt Lake, pick up the block, and get back to Provo by 4.... At about ten to four he was on time, and about to go to the doctor's office... He forgot that the trailer with all these block on it was still attached to the truck... It is kind of a safety measure but you always unhook the ball before you unhook the safety chains in case the trailer wants to roll away.  When he unhooked the truck ball from the trailer, it was too heavy on the back end and it flipped upwards off the trailer ball...  giggle... with limited time to go, he left the trailer tilted back hung on by the safety chains to the pick up, and had to drive the bucket truck to his appointment... cracked me up..

Jim took this picture of this horned lizard, the last time he was at the cabin.. just forgot to send it to me.  Not sure what they call it.

About a year ago, when we were driving home extremely tired, we were just past Panguitch when we remembered that we forgot to pick up eggs... So, we did a three point turn, in the middle of the road, and the edge of the trailer that we were pulling, jack-knifed into the side of the pick up.. It's been this way for a year now.  At Christmas time, I felt it was necessary to decorate this little booboo..  Jim agreed.  Just seems right..

Even though we are stuck in this quarantine, the adventure continues...
(Actually, Jim is working from home, and I am considered essential, so I go into the office every day... )

Jim and Cheri

2nd Verse.. same as the first!

My brother Duane informed me this morning that our cabin blog follows the same format all the time... and it goes as follows:

1.  This is the cool stuff we bought for the cabin
2.  We are having a blast!

So, that pretty well sums it up... we are buying stuff and we are having a blast...  BUT,
I'm going to try and mix it up a little bit, if I can..  Giggle..

Up first, this is Glenn Stucki - a local artist... I first met Glenn through his art work - the company I work for prints copies of Glenn's art and he sells them through his little company, "Change 4 Love".  I had seen Glenn's work, but, never met Glenn..  Then, Brianne and Coy were in Walmart in American Fork, and Coy started talking to this complete stranger and they shared something unique - Coy and Glenn both have a feeding-tube in their tummies...  This made them "Partners in Crime!"  They get along really well with each other.  Glenn painted Coy a picture of "Super Cat" which to this day, is Coy's absolute favourite!  At Christmas time, I met Glenn and it was such a pleasure.  Glenn contacted me about a month ago, and asked me what I liked, and I told him I was Canadian and I like Mounties and moose!  He called me earlier this week and told me that he had painted me a picture - Jim and I picked it up on Friday night!  It is absolutely amazing and will look fabulous in the cabin.  But, before it makes it to the cabin, I'm going to hang it in my office at work - just to show off a little bit... I have a Glenn Stucki original!  Thank  you Glenn - you do fantastic work!

Jim made a one day trip to the cabin this Sunday -  he had to pick up the trailer that we usually tote the backhoe around on.. We have this huge retaining wall block that we need to get from Salt Lake to the cabin and the little trailer that we usually tote with us, is just too light weight.  Actually, we know the trailer will haul the block, but not sure if our four wheel drive will.  We have about 100 block that need to transport down - don't know if the truck is going to do the trick, or if we have to hire a big 18 wheeler to haul them.  According to Jim we can haul about 5 at a time.  We'll find out soon enough if we can save the cost of the 18 wheeler.

We were hoping that the roads would be clear enough to get up to the cabin, and this is what it looked like when Jim got there.  We are at the top of the hill on the right (with the green roof)...  Jim couldn't get up this side of the hill, so he went around to the other side... It was much better, no snow on the road and drying, so he was able to get the trailer out.

One of the other reasons for the trip on Sunday was to take the furnace.. We had tried before, and it was waaaay too snowy... Jim, at least, got up to the property, and dropped off the furnace.

Just to let you know... we bought fun stuff for the cabin this week, and we're still having too much fun...

The adventure continues..  Love, Jim and Cheri