...still wading through the weeds of cabin building.....

Well, this week, we made another trip to Coalville, Utah and picked up another load of 100+ year old bricks.  We realized while we are out there working, that it's a job that we're just not up to the challenge any longer - my knee still needs surgery and Jim's had the knee surgery last October, but it's still painful.  We got to the point of talking to the lady that we got the bricks from, Sherlyn, for a little help, and she called some family members who showed up within a couple of minutes.  Within about 30 minutes, the trailer was loaded and we were on our way.  We still need to get several more loads.  Sherlyn told us that if we bring the trailer up there and drop it off, she'll have her family members load it for us, and then call us and we can come back and pick the trailer up... Such a blessing..  I am so excited for this brick, and think it will make the whole jacuzzi patio area, complete with pizza oven,  look amazing.

I saw this plant stand online and I just had to have it.  I think it's going to look amazing outside our front door, and just bring a little pretty to that area.

When Jim arrived at the cabin he found that since he had evicted the birds from under the eaves last week, there were no birds living or dead in the house.  Who would have known they would have taken the eviction so seriously?  

Being that Utah has been hit with a crazy heat wave (Salt Lake City hit a record 107 degrees and Provo wasn't far behind), I thought I would buy Jim a very practical gift for this Father's Day... I bought him a Toshiba portable air conditioning unit.  It cools a rather small space, but I figured that if he set it up next to himself in the room he was working in, it should keep him reasonably cool... Last week was crazy hot even in Bryce  Canyon, so I am hoping this helps!  He looked reasonably happy when he pulled it out of my car - even thought he doesn't usually like pulling stuff out of my car - I am sure...  Jim is not the smily-est person on the face of the earth, so I sometimes have to guess if he likes something or not.. But, he is taking to the cabin, so that's a good sign.

This portable air conditioning unit looks really small in this picture, but it's actually about 3' tall and and 1.5' across... So, it's not tiny.  Says it cools a 350 square foot room.

Jim is still working fervently on getting the bathroom put together.  He continued levelling the floor and got half of the tiles Thinset mortared to the floor on Saturday, and then got the toilet installed today.  I had Jim check out the toilet to make sure there was plenty of room between the toilet and the tub, and he assures me that there is.  I am tired of the days of the RV where it was a truly tight fit in that bathroom... not my favorite . . .  this will be truly workable...

After moving on from the downstairs bathroom, Jim decided to work a little more on the electrics on the main level - particularly putting a light in the pantry.  I have a light in my pantry!  I have a little issue with being "night blind" and walking into dark areas is really a problem for me... So, with a light in that area, I'll be able to cook up Jim snacks late into the night, while he's watching tv...  Giggle.  I love it.  I love the ceramic light fixture, it reminds me of my parents house when I was a little girl.  Not sure this is permanent, buy it brings back great memories.

We've been calling numerous plumbers trying to find someone who can do a "hot tap" to get the water from the street to the cabin.. because it's the summertime, and the construction business is in full bloom, the one and only assurance we got is a contractor who said that he can get the water hooked up in October...  it's a little bit of a set back, but if that is the best we can do, than I guess it's the best we can do.  When Jim got home he told me the water company told him they "might" be able to hook it up in three weeks.  Here's hoping. . . .

As always, the adventure continues,

Love, Jim and Cheri

I Am Losing Faith in Humanity AND The Cabin is For The Birds!

I have decided that I am totally losing faith in humanity.  I have been so stoked all this past week thinking that the water was going to be brought to the cabin this weekend, and I would be able to have a flush toilet and be able wash with something beyond a wet wipe... only to have my hopes and faith dashed... Didn't happen this weekend, and I am totally unsure when it actually will... I'm beginning to feel like I'm going to be washing in a puddle before long... Enough of the ranting, I suppose.

But, even in my total despair, Jim has kept working on the floor in the downstairs bathroom.  This is the marble that I bought for a different project - 20 years ago.  I didn't know it still existed until Jim found it in one of our storage buildings that we were closing out... And, there was just enough of the tiles to complete this bathroom... there actually was only one tile left and a couple of scrap pieces.  It looks beautiful..

And, I have decided that Jim is turning into the bird whisperer... When he got to the cabin on Friday evening, this little guy was inside being the welcoming party.  Jim opened all the doors, hoping the little guy would get a clue and leave... But, come Saturday morning, he was still sitting - and observing.  Jim said that he started talking softly to him, and moving closer and closer, until he picked the little bird up, and took him outside.. and he flew off.  Maybe this is what should have happened in Hitchcock's "The Birds"...  would have solved a whole lot of problems.. and mess.

Several months ago, I was given the assignment of picking out the toilets and the tubs... Jim gave me specific measurements to follow along with it being a steel tub with ceramic...  This is one of the tubs I bought.  On Friday night, while Jim was working in the bathroom, he dropped a hammer in the tub and some of that beautiful ceramic was chipped...  Booboos happen... But, Jim says he can fix it, so, I'm hopeful.

Jim sent me this picture  - said that he was going to leave it in the bathroom for me, for a little reading material...  Jim knows... I read cookbooks in the bathroom..  Who needs an owner's manual for a toilet?

We didn't know there were birds at the cabin that liked to nest under our eaves until this showed up.  There was no nest, they just like to hang out there at night.  Jim broke the foam insulation off and they left the next day.  But they were not happy.  Jim said two of them sat out in a tree for about an hour just watching.

  

On Sunday morning, Jim opened the front door as usual - we seem to be having 100 plus degree California weather here in Utah, and we don't have air conditioning in the cabin yet so a little breeze is nice.  With the doors open, this little friend decided to say good morning.  Apparently, Jim wasn't up for visitors and showed him the door... Scared Jim when he just walked by while he was sitting on the couch eating breakfast.

And, on Sunday morning, this little girl bird decided to check out the cabin again... and, was enamored with my husband also.... she came inside, and didn't want to leave... and Jim did him Bird Whisperer number on her again... I was on the phone with Jim before he snagged her, and all I could hear in the background was her screaming for attention (chirping).  Jim said that she didn't try to bite him or peck him when he picked her up... She really was calm..  I think she's making a move on my husband, dirty finger nails and all...

And we'll end this with the usual, "the adventure continues". . . .

Jim & Cheri

..the time is right...

Several years ago, my brother Duane sent me pictures of a mosaic that my father had created that was on the wall of our family home since I was about 5 years old.  I used these pictures to make a stained glass window pattern... This pattern has sat on my kitchen table on the glass lay-up board for at least a year now.  I guess, I just wasn't quite ready to start such a personal project.  Well,  the time was right today - I pulled the pattern off the board and took it to the cabin with me, and started to cut the glass.  It has been a long, personal journey getting to this point, but the project has started.  And, it was a lovely experience, digging up memories of my dad, and smiling to myself...

...here's the first pieces that I cut... I sent this picture to a friend of mine, who knew my parents really well, and would recognize this work.... she asked if I had taken up colouring...  kinda... but, with really, really sharp crayons...

Here's the first step... picking out the colours and textures...

..and then, matching the glass piece colours to the original picture...

So, this is what the pattern looks like that I work off of... Not sure how I'm going to do the faces.

Jim, bless his heart, is working like crazy to make the cabin a little more livable for humans.  The main project that he's been working on, is getting the water to the cabin, and having a commode and bathtub installed.  I am so excited... The water is supposed to be brought from the street to the cabin this week, but Jim spent this past weekend getting the bathtub hooked up, just waiting for that glorious water to run through the pipes.  I don't know what I'm more excited for.. a working toilet or a shower... He got the drain pipes underneath the tub hooked up (after a few set backs, but I think he learned a whole lot with the experience) and then had to build some 2X4 framework so that the tub didn't rock and roll when someone gets into it.  So, it's hooked up and it's stable now!  What more can a girl ask for... without sounding unappreciative, that little bit of water would be fantastic!  Here's Jim gluing pipe fittings together to hook up the "P" trap.... (And, I thought the "P" trap was a "pee" trap and was a little insulted that Jim thought I would pee in the shower....)...

And . . . . The "P" trap wouldn't stretch down to the sewer drain in the square hole in the concrete so he had to get a bit creative.

Eventually with a few extras, he made it reach.  All this and no one will ever know it's down there.

..I think Jim forgot to put latex gloves on... I don't know what it is, but it came off pretty easily.. Jim said it was just PVC glue and would dry and rub off.  He picked at it for an hour. . . .

..and, here's the tub, all secure with stud walls all around it ready for green board and then tile...  The floor tiles are next!

I found a guy, online with a dump truck, that delivered gravel and sand and stuff like that.  We were needing some road base to be part of the foundations for the deck.  We set up a time for him to show up, and even though we were a little bit late, he worked with our crazy schedule and delivered the material to the cabin... So, now, we are the proud owners of a big pile of "stuff"... now, to find someone who can actually build the deck... lots of people say they can build it, but when it comes to actually showing up, they haven't got that mindset yet...  We were at the hardware store in Duck Creek today and got a couple of referrals from them, so I hope to be making some inquiries this week.... Jim can build the deck, however, we are in a time crunch and felt it was better to have someone else build it, just to make things go a little faster getting the building inspections completed, etc.... But, it's getting to the point that he might be building it himself... sigh...

 

Saturday afternoon, Jim was working downstairs on the little bathroom, and I came from upstairs to go outside through the sliding glass doors... Before I could get outside, I saw a mama deer standing right outside, eating grass, or something out there, about 15 feet away from me... she was kinda scruffy looking, but so calm just eating and relaxing...(I had this idea that all deer look like Bambi or Santa's reindeer... I guess this is the off season, and the deer are cruising... giggle)  Apparently deer in the deseret areas are kinda scruffy.  I waved Jim over, and the two of us just watched her for a couple of minutes... she then saw us, and we had a stare down for a couple of minutes and then she just walked off... didn't run.. just walked away... It was absolutely amazing.

OK, Jim sent me a photo of his truck.  He says he likes this "look" for his truck.  Brown tires from the dirt road and the four wheeler in the back.  What is it that makes men think like this?

Now apparently we are about to have a heatwave here in Utah for a complete week... I'm not really looking forward to that and, I suggested to Jim that we may want to purchase a little window air conditioner for the cabin for this next weekend... We bought a box fan today because the main level, where I was working got a little toasty... But, this next week is supposed to be deadly hot.  We'll see.

As always, the adventure continues.  Love, Jim and Cheri

..Moving Forward... baby steps...(This is from 2 weeks ago...)

Our weekend started our just a little bit different than usual... It's usually a Saturday morning that we start the drive down to the cabin, but this week, we took off after work on Friday - hoping to get an early start on the weekend.  I had checked the weather report, and it said it was supposed to be in the upper 60's, so we were encouraged.

When we got there, it was about 20 degrees cooler, and windy.  Got to the cabin, and it was freezing cold and because we don't have a furnace in yet, I spent most of Saturday under an electric blanket.  Was freezing cold.  A guy at the store said that it had got down to 17 degrees at night - and although it didn't feel quite like 17 degrees, it was frosty...

We made another trip to Coalville to pick up a load of bricks.  This time, we stacked the bricks on their edge, differently than before, which doubled the number of bricks we put in the trailer... made it really heavy to tow.  Jim figures that we are going to need probably about five loads to have enough to complete the hot tub area... oh my... it's tough work.

And, here's evidence of the tough work... I usually pull the bricks and throw them over the fence and Jim loads them on the trailer.  But, because of the deteriorating condition of my knee, I found that I couldn't bend down to pick up the brick, so we switched jobs.  I felt so bad for Jim - it's hard work.

But, here it is all stacked all pretty...

And, here they are, all stacked up and ready to be installed!

The pattern of the brick in this picture is what I want to design... I told Jim that it was easy, and but, especially easy to fix a mistake.  I kinda like it.

This is Jim adding a paragraph after Cheri wrote this Blog page.  I understand how passionate Cheri is to build this patio out of these 100+ year old bricks.  She is willing to endure spiders in order to collect these bricks out of the ground, in a pasture in Coalville, Utah.  She is determined!

Jim still had quite a few of the big blocks to move so that we could have the water line trench dug.... Again, hard work...  He moved another 6 blocks to make room for the trenching.

 

One thing that Jim showed me, was he has put a light in every closet.  It really drives me crazy when I can't see my clothes in the closets, so, that problem has been remedied...  What a sweetie.

And, Jim showed me the progress in the upstairs bathroom.  There's lights above the sink!  I love it.

And, here they are turned on.  I am totally loving how the loft bathroom is turning out.  It's absolutely, 100% what I want.

When we were in Hawaii, I bought this light fixture because it would always remind me of our trip.  I love the sunny colour.  Jim installed it in my glass work area upstairs.  The perfect place.

And, here it is all lit up.

Jim was in Panguitch for Mother's Day, but he sent me this picture of a little present he bought for me.  Somehow, it just makes sense... at least, it's going to make a whole lot more sense when that water line goes in, and there's a working shower and a working toilet!! Maybe at that point, it should say, "The bathroom is calling, and I must go!"

And, here's our weird story of the week... There was a dead bird on the floor in the great room.  I don't know how these birds get into the cabin, but, there's no water or food in there, and they eventually bite the dust.  I feel bad for them, but if we leave food and water, we would be inviting mouses and a plethora of other creatures in.  I don't know what kind of bird this is... But, we've had wood peckers and blue birds before.  

And, here's a little purchase I made for the loft bathroom.  You can't see the mirror in the middle, but, that's what it is.   The iron work holding the mirror in is a chippy turquoise, and I think it's going to be perfect.

We will not be going to the cabin this weekend...  My daughter, Brianne is getting married, and I think her wedding trumps the cabin building.  Her fiancé, soon to be husband, Lowell, is really a great guy, and we wish them the very best. (Update - because this is late in posting.. the wedding was absolutely beautiful and amazing and fun... and exhausting... The venue was perfect, the food was amazing, the guests were absolutely fun, Lowell's family are so lovely - I could not imagine a more perfect family for my Brianne to call "in laws"... we're tired, but happy...

As always, the adventure continues.. Love, Jim and Cheri.