Two weeks of work, poured into ONE blog...

 Ok, Ok, Ok... I have a really good excuse for not posting last week's blog, and putting two weeks into one... Jim was in Seattle for the week on business, and couldn't log into the edit mode on the blog on his work computer.  Here's how the blog works... I take most of the pictures and post them in a working copy of the blog.. Then, I write my part of the blog (most of it), with the little bit of understanding that I have, and I don't write anything on the more technical aspects of the building process...  Jim then looks at the blog and adds his (small) part, and then I post it... He wasn't here to edit, so I didn't post...  That's the best I got.

Jim and I have had our cabin project going for a little over 10 years, and the saying is very true.... we make little strides every week, but, are still "traveling" together, and life is pretty fine.

In my travels (web searches) this week, I found these two little end tables...  It was the iron "knuckles"  on the sides that caught my eye.  Jim thinks they would be perfect on the deck because we are planning the same iron knuckle design on the balusters (railings) that will go on the deck... I agree... There is glass that is placed on the tops... so I like them.

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I saw this picture and couldn't decide if I wanted it in our Provo home or at the cabin... The cabin walls won...

Howard our handyman/helper told us his specialty is finish carpentry work.  He pointed out that the door frame in the loft was a little misaligned.  Jim told him it was thrown in at the end of the season and just put up to seal the house for winter.  So Howard offered to pull it out and reinstall it - a little more square.

And, he brought up a corner trim piece -  Plastic clad wood that looked so good and will weather well.  See the upper left corner of the doors above.  Well done, Howard.

The doors works so much better now.  And, it looks so pretty now.. and closes amazingly well!!! (And, the extra siding looks pretty amazing also!)

Jim installed the power outlets in the island this weekend.  Woot, woot, technology.  Two HDMI outlets and two plug outlets.

We had to do a little measuring this past weekend.. trying to figure out what size of a cooktop to purchase that will fit in-between these two pop-up outlets... I got the measurements 30X19 is the magic size, and I've been looking at the hundreds of cooktop stoves that are available... The question is:  Do we go with 5 burners, or 4 burners, or 3 burners... a black top, or a white top... tons of options, in all price ranges... Gonna be an interesting decision.. Any suggestions?

And, I found a cookie jar with two moose (Mooses? Moosi?) sledding down a hill.  How fantastic is that?  (Ok, when I sent Jim a picture, he thought it looked weird...But, when he saw the cookie jar in person, he admitted that it was really kind of cute.  But I only need one (two) cookie jars at the cabin.

And, the massive hole and the huge pile of dirt is completely gone!  Somewhere down there is our septic tank.  Jim has a couple of the markers still there so we know where the tank it when we get to the point of putting in the septic field in..  I'll explain that one when we get to that point.

As I mentioned in earlier blog entries, we have been salvaging bricks from different places to have them put into the patio area.  It's been a project that has been going on for several years..  The house that was being torn down (.. you know, the one where I had the squatters sign the photo release for me... uhuh....) it's totally torn down now and I got permission from the construction man in the skid steer to salvage some of the brick.  I thought it would make a good addition...  Well, Jim and I went over with the trailer on Thanksgiving morning, to load some of the brick... It's really a difficult job, especially when you have a couple of people working on the project that have major knee issues.  I am half way through having gel injected into my left knee (I have no cartilage left and it's just bone on bone... kinda painful) to ease the pain.. I've had my second set of injections... and you have one shot in the knee for three consecutive weeks... I've got one shot left... I'm not particularly steady, and so in reaching down to pick up bricks, I stepped in a hole and totally biffed it... Fell down and damaged my knee more - I don't know what I'm going to tell the doctor on Tuesday, but, I don't think he'll be particularly happy with me...  But, the almost as bad part was, I fell into a bunch of goat head weed - stickers... they poked through my gloves and stuck into my hand...  Took almost an act of God to dig them out, and, are they ever painful...  These little beggars are evil...

I had to wait a day for them to fester and swell to start getting them out of my hand... they had broken off at skin level... After all this happened,  Jim made the executive decision to just call it quits and go home with a partial load.  I agreed.

But, here's what our brick accumulation looks like...  These are the bricks that we got from Coalville, but just dropped them on the ground because it was too freakin' cold when we got them, to stack them.. Now, they are nicely stacked..

These are the new bricks from the house that was just torn down...

Except for this lot... we were too tired and said, "Bag it... we'll stack these next time"...

And, this is the whole pile that we have collected...  And we still have a pallet load in the backyard at the house in Provo..

I told Jim that I am glad that I was not one of the slaves that was carrying bricks for the pyramids... because, I would be one of the workers that was "sacrificed" for being too slow... 

And, I've been looking for years and years for a set of windchimes like these... I wanted the longer and thicker tubes that have the deeper sound, and couldn't find a windchime exactly like I wanted... The top of these look like an acorn, and they really appealed to me... I hope I don't eventually hate them,

I think these are called saddles, but I am not sure...  Jim is the expert in this field... He's welding up columns to hold the glulam beam that will support the deck... did that make sense?  These will be on the top of steel tubes and bolted onto hold the big glulam beam up that supports the deck above.  Because we are on a mountain the outer edge of the deck will be held up with 7 foot high concrete columns on footings that have 8 foot high steel columns on top of them under the glulam.  Eventually the concrete columns will be filled in with dirt to level out a walkway under the deck but the view is going to be fantastic.

And, rounding out our blog for the past couple of weeks, our helper, Howard, had an encounter with the local neighbour....  He was driving away from the cabin on Tuesday on the dirt road, and I can only imagine, but, one of the locals (a deer) wanted to have a chat.. I think they wanted to snag him from our project, and when Howard objected, they rammed his truck...  From the picture, I think the neighbour won this round... So, thank you, Howard for keeping us first in line...  Those deer should have known better than to step out in front of your truck to get your attention!  Giggle...

As always, the adventure continues...

Love, Jim and Cheri

...the weather is changing and it's getting colder and colder.... sigh...

 Well, it was a big week in the cabin building department, starting with the cement truck coming on Monday and pouring the cement that builds the foundation for the deck.   But, it came with controversy.  Jim calculated all the concrete and we needed 81 cubic feet exactly.  So when the delivery truck came up empty and all the forms weren't filled Jim started recalculating and he came to the conclusion the truck didn't deliver what he asked for.  Apparently, when someone orders a small load, you get your delivery last, after everyone else with larger loads gets their orders... and, everybody else got more than ordered...Seems they were about 17 cubic feet or 2/3rds of a yard short on our order.  The concrete company refused to admit they were short but the round Sonotubes had no (zero) concrete in them.  Jim was not happy.  Cheri was not happy... With the weather getting colder, we can't pour the sonotubes and have them set properly in the cold... irritating.

Along with the cement work for the deck, the pad for the propane tank was poured also... Looks amazing.. Now, this isn't a propane tank about the size for your barbecue grill.. This baby is 16' long and holds 1,000 gallons of propane...  She's a big girl...

She will be nestled behind some trees - so she can have a little privacy... uhuh...  It's supposed to be delivered this week but with Thanksgiving on Thursday it most likely will be next week.

Jim put a 2nd layer of  (whatever the stuff is called) Teak oil on the kitchen island.  It was really cold at the cabin on Saturday night, and it was still a little sticky on Sunday morning, but, by evening, it was dry and looked amazing!

It looks a little darker now, but is still beautiful!

I can't wait to see the power outlets, cook top and sink installed. 

Next was to put insulation around the septic tank to help avoid it from freezing during the winters.  Once these sheets of foam insulation were in place Jim filled in the hole.  

The pipe is a clean out, just in case the pipes ever get plugged.  Preparedness! 

 It will be cut down when we pour a concrete pad in front of the door next year.

And, I got a call from the hot tub people on Saturday.. Apparently, the big boss doesn't think it's fair that they use our hot tub as a demo in their shop... so, their suggestion was to release the hold on the tub until the spring, and they'll bring another one in when we can get it up the hill to the cabin.  The new one is supposed to be completed on February 24, 2022, and will be shipped from California at that time, and will be delivered some time within March.  Actually, this works out really well because it will be the end of March to the beginning of April that we'll be able to get back up the hill and the tub can be installed..  So, we'll have a summer of using the hot tub.. Although it was a little weird releasing our hot tub after waiting so long, I'm excited to have it for a whole spring/summer and fall.

And, I started picking out the flooring for the main level bedroom.  I have probably looked at 10 different stores and 50 different types of flooring, and I think I found one I really like.  I bought one box and Jim took it to the cabin to see what it actually would look like on the floor in that room...

I stopped by the old house that is being demolished.. the one where I'm salvaging a little brick... There was still piles of brick so I decided to pick up a load in my car... you know, the car that has a chipmunk under the hood...?  (I really love my Kia, Soul and I'm willing to take all the ragging about it!!  Giggle) Well, I picked up about 20 brick, and, she doesn't handle too well on the road with the extra weight, so I didn't take any more... But, there was this young guy there that was very willing to help gather bricks... was very nice... said helping was part of his rehab... Um... I'm glad he was in rehab and was getting his life together, but I don't mean to be ugly about this, but, I was a little nervous...  I asked him how long he was sober, and he said on and off for about 20 years... and, wasn't sober at this point, but was still trying...  

And, rounding out this week... We have two refrigerators in the cabin.. a little one upstairs that we usually just keep drinks in... and, a full sized refrigerator that is still downstairs in the basement..  The full sized refrigerator is eventually going to find a home on the main level kitchen...  Well, Jim found this jug of milk in the downstairs refrigerator and wanted to know if I thought it was still good.... Um... Jim.... I told him that maybe he should try a couple of sips and make a decision...  Giggle.. It expired in September and now it's November.  Don't open that with me in the room!

Well, that's it for this week... The weather is changing and getting colder and colder, and because of this, and because we don't have the furnace in yet, the building is going to be limited.  I had hoped that the furnace would go in and we could work all winter, but apparently, that is not to be.

Anyways, we're still moving forward....

As always,  the adventure continues...

Love, Jim and Cheri

...and, a new week begins....

Well, another week has started and this past weekend, it was warm enough (or so I thought) for me to make the trek to the cabin... Saturday was warm, Sunday was a little cold, and Jim and I decided that it was too cold to visit until it warms up... But, this weekend, as short as it was, had lots of fun things happening....

After a lot of calls to and from Home Depot, the 2nd piece of maple counter top finally showed up.  We went to pick it up last week, and we found that it was the wrong size.  So, Jim left it at the store and they reordered another.  On Thursday, I looked up the progress on the order and it didn't even show on my purchases listings... So, I called Home Depot and told them I don't even see where it's been reordered... After a few minutes, the woman comes back on the line and says that she found it, and it was reordered, and amazingly it was already in the store.  So, I call Jim and tell him that he can go to the store and pick it up.  After work, he swings by the store and is told that they can't find it... But, they'll keep in touch... seriously?  The next day, I get a call from the store, and they tell me that the countertop is in, the manager has checked it, it's the right size and we can pick it up.. At this point, I am seriously hesitant and don't believe them, but, tell Jim to go by the store anyways... He goes by, and sure enough, it's there... amazing!  He loads the piece and we take it to the cabin...  He sent me a picture from the store...

 We had a little bit of prep work to do to get the countertop ready... including gluing the pieces together...

After the glue dried over night, Jim sanded the pieces until they were so smooth...

Jim wiped the whole top down with Tung oil and it changed the colour a little bit, but I really love it.

The corners were square and kinda sharp, so we used this exclusive "corner making template tool" to mark them round.   giggle.

And, we had to cut a little bit off the one end...

And, here's the finished project.... there is going to be three pop-up outlets on the top, a little bar sink with a disposal and a glass cooktop.  I want it to be the ultimate work surface.  As I told Jim, I've had some hairbrained ideas in my life, but this butcher block counter top is one of my better ones.  Check out those precision rounded corners!

Jim and I decided that we want the one end of the island to drop down folding on hinges.  This is the piece that is going to go under that piece to hold it on place.  It has a mahogany stain on it right now, but that stain is about to disappear and it will match the maple.

We are still collecting brick for the patio, and, I came across an old house being demolished that we already have history with... This house is on my way to work, so last week, in the morning, I stopped and asked if I could buy some of the brick... the guy who was doing the demolition said I could just take whatever I wanted, so on Saturday morning, Jim and I went by and picked up some of the brick and took it to the cabin...

Here's one of the piles of brick that we had to choose from. A couple of years ago, I was scouting for an interesting place to have family pictures taken at, and this old house came to mind.  It was really in bad shape, but the house itself, and the porch and all the outbuildings were really interesting.  The house was really in bad shape, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked it... I had talked to our photographer, and Heidi said that I probably should get a photographers release from the owner and we would be good to go...  So, the next morning, I stopped and knocked on the door.. no answer.. I did this repeatedly morning and afternoon for several weeks.  I figured maybe the owner was already at work or something.  So, I decided to change my tact, and start leaving a note.  So, I wrote a note just saying who I was and what I needed and could they give me a call... and left my number... still nothing.  About a week before the shoot, I was going by in the morning, and I saw a lady in the back of the house, so I stopped, with my paper in hand, and asked her to sign it and asked her if we could use her property as our back drop.. she was really nice and signed the paper...

On the day of the shoot, we all show up and there's nobody home, but it's not a big deal because I have the release in hand... we have the session photographed and Heidi did a fantastic job.... A couple of weeks later, as I'm driving to work, I see a truck beside the house so I thought I would stop and thank the owner for letting us use the property, and this old guy looks at me like I'm crazy.  He tells me that nobody lives in the house that it's scheduled for demolition.  I'm just standing there like a nutcase and I told him I left notes etc. and I got a photographers release... and, all he says is, "Damned squatters... I wish I could keep them out of the house... one of them is gonna get killed!"  So, in short, I was stalking squatters to get a photographers release on a house they were living in illegally...They were in the house all the time I was knocking on the door...  small wonder they weren't there when we came by for photos...  so embarrassing..

Here's what our pictures at that "abandoned" house looked like!

The cement truck is supposed to show up on Tuesday to pour the pad for the propane tank, and the forms for the deck foundation.  And, we're all prepared.. We had to do a little adjusting to the Sonotubes as it seems they weren't tall enough, but that's been remedied and we're ready to roll.

I think they look like little graves...

I am always super nervous about each new stage in the process... with all the ups and downs we've had, I don't want to get my expectations too high, and then be let down when the whole thing falls apart.  So, here's hoping for good things in the next couple of weeks...

The adventure continues,

Love, Jim and Cheri

Uhuh.... don't know what to call this edition....

 Well, let's get this out of the way up front... I did not go to the cabin this weekend because I really wasn't feeling well...  I was planning on it, but just didn't happen... And, where ever Jim went, people asked, "Where's Cheri?"  So, I was at home, in my recliner, drinking copious cups of tea, and feeling yucky...  nuf said..sniff. . . .

The work on the deck is continuing, and as I see the pictures, I am so encouraged..

Rebar construction.

Sonotube in place, waiting for rebar inside and then concrete.

The deck foundation forms in place.

And, when Jim left on Sunday afternoon, this is how it looked...  I believe there are three new holes that were dug and are prepared, and one that needed to be repaired and reset.  Jim tells me that we should be able to have the cement truck show up in the next little bit to fill in the holes and the tubes and then move on to the next phase.. So exciting!

The quest to empty out the storage building in Panguitch continues.. My theory is that is you take a little bit out a little at a time, it eventually gets cleared out.  Jim stopped by on Saturday and picked up the sheets of insulation we have had stored.... He's going to insulate around the septic tank to make sure it never freezes.

...and, here are the sheets of insulation going around the septic tank. When that winterization process is completed, Jim will cover the tank with the dirt that has been built up around the hole... Every time I see pictures of this septic tank, I think of the weeks and weeks and weeks it took to dig out the big freakin' boulders that were hiding... groan...

Jim couldn't get the backhoe into this area, this weekend, so he had to do shoveling of the dirt by hand... and it was hard, hard work...

While emptying out the storage in Panguitch, Jim got a better picture of the granite that is going in the basement bathroom... It's got a pink and grey to it, and I think it's going to match with the floor perfectly.

And, the backhoe got fixed... and, she's running again!  So excited!

And this is how the crow foot wrench actually works...So you can reach into places where a wrench won't go.

I found these lamps this past week.. I am not sure what interested me in them, but they did!  And, I'm not sure where I am going to put them...  I am not even sure they go with everything else in the cabin... but, I just know something about them appealed to me... So, Jim kinda just went with it, and humoured me!  I just know I like them.  And, it looks like he put them in the loft bedroom!  How 70's are these?

And, last but not least, we found a guy to fix the main level shower and stop it from leaking.  He's supposed to show up this next Saturday...  Sure would be nice to have that fixed and inspected.. When it passes inspection, we can sheet tile it... and (drum roll here....) we will have a working shower!

AND, our original furnace guy has boobed out on us, but we found a guy in Duck Creek who is going to schedule us in... Might be in December, but, I feel, that late is so much better than never.  

So, we are moving forward... and, the adventure continues..

Jim and Cheri