ONE STEP FORWARD... NO STEPS BACK.... (This is actually last week's blog..got busy...)

 ...There is so much to pack into this edition of Me and Manzanita, I am not quite sure where to start!  So, I am going to start with the first pictures I took!!!  First up, Chance!

As you may remember from last summer, we had a contractor make a huge mistake on the main floor bathroom, and we just couldn't seem to get him to fix the problem... before he ghosted us.  We found in the shower enclosure, that due to the leaking we needed to break the cement out that was poured over the rubber shower membrane, and start again from scratch.  However, this is a job that would be horrific for the average human... Jim and I both felt that would be a huge, intense job... and, I didn't feel that either Jim or I had the physical strength to complete the task without doing bodily harm... enter.. Chance...Brianne and her tribe came to the cabin for the weekend, and, we put Chance up to the task.  When I first explained to him what I needed him to do, he kind of just looked at me in disbelief.  But, he definitely rose to the task...

I was most impressed.. This kid got down to business and it seem that within no time, he was done, and had cleaned up the mess...  You have to understand - this job means taking a chisel and a hammer, and hitting the cement until it cracks into tiny pieces and then through the cement fog, you take each little piece and put it into a bucket to be thrown into the dumpster.  It is intense, hard work...  Chance is 15 years old and worked like most grown men.  He didn't complain - just did the job.

Chance moved to Utah in September - we didn't really know him, but he has proven to be such a good kid....and I mean, a REALLY good kid.   Brianne is as lucky to have him in her family, as he is to be a part of hers.  

This is how the shower began - this kid broke through 3 inches of hard cement, and didn't complain once... he is a blessing in disguise, and so welcome to come back to the cabin and help us anytime.

One of the big problems I have while spending weekends at the cabin was the floors.  The floor is just chip board and whenever someone walks around on it in bare feet, if you are lucky, you didn't get little slivers of wood in the bottom of your feet.  When one of us gets up in the middle of the night to make it to the restroom, it's not a fun feeling.  So, Lowell and  Chance got the job of putting down the flooring in the main level bedroom.  They started by putting down the gold underlayment....

... and then, starting laying the oak flooring.  The flooring I chose is called Gunstock...

It seemed to go down quickly....

Lowell and Chance started on Saturday evening, and completed it Sunday morning.  It looks spectacular!

After taking a ton of pictures, I got the bed made, and the guys got the end tables in place, and again, tons of pictures...

I can't believe how incredible it looks... Lowell and Chance did an amazing job, and were saving my feet a lot of further pain.  I so appreciate their efforts and care.  

When I found the Space Saver pop up outlets, I thought of them in terms of plugging so many different kitchen appliances into them on the island, and not having to move from here to there, trying to get everything plugged in.  On Sunday morning, I saw this, and giggled to myself.  It's not how I pictured this, but it works...

One laptop, two speakers, one amplifier, four cell phones...

... a couple more cellphones, and Coy's ipad!  Giggle. Just the night before, there was the electric skillet, a crock pot, and various serving dishes... The island is big enough to hold it all!  Lowell told us that the pictures on the blog do not give justice to the size of the island...  It's huge.

I am glad when people comes to the cabin, that they feel comfortable enough to rest, relax, and restore.  This is exactly what Brianne and Coy were doing on Sunday... 

This must be my motto:  Calories don't count on the weekend... giggle... I finally took this item to the cabin on the weekend, and put it to good use!

We are in the final stages of getting the pad ready for the jacuzzi to be delivered and installed... As it is going to happen this coming Friday, we really had to put the last finishing touches on the area.  It seems that Jim, Lowell and Ben all had a hand in this one... But, it finally got level, and the brick put in place...

And, here's the final product!  Many weeks to preparation and the area is ready!  It looks spectacular.

And, the work continues on the back deck.  Howard is spearheading this project.  We are at the backfilling portion of the job, and then the upper structure will start...

This was the first time that I got to see the finished hearth in person!  Actually, this was the first time I have been at the cabin this year, and this was a real treat.  I think it looks absolutely perfect.  The colour of the grout is exactly what I wanted. We turned on the hearth lights for this picture and there are several of these lights on the side and top of the hearth... Coy figured out a way to light them up... he used patio cafe lights and strung them behind the stone.. It looked great!

We have a wood burning stove that is going to be placed behind the screen on the hearth... But, it hasn't made it to the property yet!  That's in the future!

And, we brought the antique bathtub from Provo to the cabin.. I have this idea that I want this tub to be beside the jacuzzi to hold towels.  Jim didn't quite understand what I wanted, but I think he has caught my vision.  Sometimes I have to explain my ideas to Jim by talking it through, and then using hand gestures, and finally drawing pictures...  Some of my projects take Jim a couple of days to figure out how to complete the project, but he usually does.  It's great having an engineer as a husband...Sometimes he just stares at me as I am wildly flailing my hands around trying to explain myself... But, he's great in bringing my ideas to life.  I am going to have the feet of the tub chrome plated, but decided instead of having the tub refinished, to leave it just as is.  Brianne and I had this conversation, and that's what we both felt was the right thing to do!  Years ago, when Bradley graduated from his Masters program, we had a party on the front lawn in Provo, complete with the cafe lights, and tables and lots of bbq..... But, I used this bathtub, filled with ice, to put canned drinks in.  It was perfect.  It really hasn't moved since that time... But, now, it's new home is in Bryce - as a towel boy!  

If you remember, a couple of weeks ago, I ordered some green onyx to accent the Alaskan Grey in the loft bathroom.. it came in broken, so I ordered another piece.  Well, it came this past week, and when I took it out of the box, it broke in half.  Apparently, it's beautiful, but very brittle.  But, I think I can use the two pieces for what I want... It's just for accent, but, I was a little disappointed that it's so brittle.  

And, last fall, Jim and I transplanted a scrub oak tree from the driveway where the jacuzzi is going, up to the front of the property to try and give us a little more privacy... A couple of weeks after we moved it, all the leaves died and it looked like it was a goner...  This past weekend, the little tree has bright green leaves growing, and it looks like it survived!  I am stoked!

I got a kick out of this picture of Jim driving down to Bryce...  he's in the zone... driving with his favourite person (me), listening to music on the radio, and eating Cheetos...  It's a good life.

As always, the adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri