After a week of "va-cay" Jim made a quick trip down to the cabin to meet with some deck builder contractors. And, we've actually found a couple of good ones - just waiting for the quotes to come in.. hopefully. Actually, these two sound pretty promising.
Because he had to make a quick midweek trip, I sent him with some boxes and "stuff" to take down... Jim has another name for my "stuff", but we'll just keep that one a little secret for now. I wanted a small table and chairs for the balcony... I picture Jim and I sitting there, in the early mornings, eating a croissant and reading the newspaper... I know Jim and everybody who knows me is laughing right now because they know I wear a sign that says, "NOT A MORNING PERSON DOESN'T EVEN BEGIN TO COVER IT.." I don't do mornings very well... But, I love the look of the table and chairs... It kind of reminds me of the little bistros in Paris.. (hint, hint, Jim... I'd like to go back to Paris....). But, I do appreciate Jim taking the time to temporarily put the little set on the balcony so I could see how it looks... thank you.
A big surprise was getting this picture... Jim put a couple of cupboards up, so I have some place to put the few dishes that we have stored in boxes and drawers.. This is going to be so much nicer. I was surprised and thrilled all at the same time... the insulation and sheet rock isn't in yet, but, I have cupboards... I realize these are going to have to be taken down when we get the four way completed, but for now, I love it.
We got to the cabin late Friday night. As we were driving closer and closer to Panguitch, we can see the temperature dropping, and dropping and dropping. By the time we hit the turn off, it was in the low 40's. I checked the weather report and it said that the low for the night was going to be 31 degrees, and let me tell you, it was pretty darn frosty in the cabin.... Getting into pj's was a fast and furious event! Jim said this was the time he really would have liked a pair of Dr. Denton's - you know the long underwear looking pajamas with the feet... uhuh... (I would have taken pictures and shared them... giggle) I thought we were going to have to sleep with hoodies and jeans on... You have to remember, the heating and A/C is not yet installed, and with only studs for walls etc, there is no way to really warm one specific room. But, we do have an electric blanket on the bed, and that saved our bacon... It was really cold getting into bed and under the covers, but I kind of cuddled up to Jim all night long, and it actually was nice and toasty...
And, here's some truly exciting news!!! We found a guy who is going to build our deck!! I swear, I'm not joking.. With all the problems we have had in trying to find subcontractors, this guy is legit! AND, here's a big plus, he actually knows what he's doing, as opposed to a whole lot of other people who THOUGHT they knew what they were doing, or tried to con their way into a job... We are so absolutely thrilled.
Our first concern is the deck.. and, this is what they were working on this past Saturday. I usually don't do a whole lot with the construction phase of the cabin, just because I seriously don't know what half the stuff is, or how to do it. But I'm really good at going to the hardware store and picking something up... And, this past Saturday, I was sent to Orderville to do just that - pick up stuff. It started with picking up a pallet load of 80 lbs, bags of cement, and ended up with a pallet load of cement, two Sonotubes, some 2" x 10's x 10 feet long, and rebar... Made me a little nervous... I have NEVER driven the truck WITH the trailer and have never picked up such a heavy load... I am usually a really slow grandma kind of driver, but this trip back was even slower. The guys met me at the bottom of the hill, and, both had a good laugh when they saw me, with about 5 cars behind me that couldn't pass... But, I got the stuff, and made it back in one piece... with just a few heart palpitations.
This is the first 21 bags of cement being loaded..
And, here's the trailer with all the goodies on it!!
And, what is a Sonotube you ask? Trust me, I didn't know what it was... I had my list of things all written down in my trusty Toronto Maple Leaf's planner, and just read off the list to the people at the hardware store, and they actually knew what I was talking about...(The girl that was helping load the trailer, was so nice... I was talking to her because I thought it was pretty cool that she was working in a hardware store, not just as a cashier (I know that sounds really sexist, but it's not meant to be... most women don't carry around 80 pound bags of cement....) She said that she had a degree in... accounting, but she found it was incredibly boring... sigh... said she couldn't see herself at 60 and still being an accountant... Talk about deflating my ego to nearly nothing!
So this is a Sonotube. You apparently fill it with cement and rebar and the post to support the deck... I'm sure Jim can explain this better than I can!
..and, Howard, our deck lifesaver, dug the hole... he's very particular and wants to do it perfectly!
..Then the form got put into the hole, and after a whole lot of measuring, the cement work starts.. This was supposed to start on Sunday morning. Supposed to...
So, Sunday morning comes, and guess what... it is pouring rain...and we had 21 bags of cement still sitting on the trailer, potentially getting wet. Jim and Howard got it all covered up, but the work outside could not continue... It was so cold outside, and so wet and muddy, this project had to be suspended... The Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day to work... But, not Sunday...
..cold and rainy... with a little bit of hail thrown in. The inside of the cabin was freezing cold. I didn't get all that brick stacked from last week, and it was my intent to get it stacked this weekend, but with the rain, it was a no go... AND, as we are all sitting around inside waiting for the rain to stop, which never did... the lights start to flicker, and then power went out completely. I waited for about 30 minutes and then decided to call the power company. I flat couldn't remember the name of the power company... had to look up the last payment on my phone (I have it automatically paid so I never look at the bill....) and I call the company. This lady answers the phone and I ask her if there is a power outage in Kane County. She says that the only place there is an outage is in Bryce Woodlands. I tell her I'm in Bryce Woodlands. She then asks, "Well, if your power out?"... Um.. I answer her with a slow and hesitant..."yes..." and, she says, "Well, there ya go." My question is.. why would I be calling the power company, if it wasn't because of a power outage...I don't usually call just to chat.. She then told me there was a lightning strike and she didn't know when power would be restored... That kind of ended the work for the day.. inside and outside... (It took about another 30 minutes to come back on...)
And, remember the moose that I got last week. Well, he found a home this week - up on the mantle! I think he looks handsome.
Well, we are thankful for small blessings and miracles this week... We found some help and we are anticipating amazing things. Howard knows construction and building code, and is going to help us navigate the finishing of this project... Many thanks.
As always, the adventure continues. Love, Jim and Cheri.
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