..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