ME AND MANZANITA: Three Day Weekends are... the BEST!

A new week has started and there were two items that were going to be the emphasis for this weekend - the railings on the deck, and the Tyvek.. So, here we go! Jim and I both took Friday off work, so we had extra time to get to work!

The guys started with the railings. I don't think Jim really cared to get this project started, but he knew how much I wanted to see how the balusters would look, so, he and Ben put up one side of the deck... And, they look amazing.

It took a little redesigning on how I wanted them to look, but eventually, it was just perfect - at least in my guess-estimation After the first section got put on, we realized, we had put the squiggly piece in the center on upside down, and it had to be taken down and flipped around. That was done on Sunday morning, and now it's beautiful...

Another project came up, the wood burning stove that was to go on the hearth in the great room. This stove weighs about 1000 pounds I swear, and two guys just could not lift it. So, they employed the boom truck to lift it up to the deck.

Jim started by cleaning the window and touching up the outside to make sure it was evenly black... This stove has been in storage for a couple of years, so it really needed a good cleaning.

Then, they hoisted it up with the boom. I wasn't really sure the boom would hold it, but, we found the boom is tougher than we knew. The boom lifted it off the trailer and up onto the deck.

And, here she is.. suspended in mid air.

...and safely on the deck. The guys put her on a furniture dolly, and wheeled her in the great room and the plan was to put her onto the hearth..

And, this is where it starts to get interesting. In the picture below, you can see the little furniture mover under the stove. The guys wheeled the stove up to the hearth and were going to tip it sideways and slide her onto the hearth. Well the stove didn't like that so much, and she fell forward - taking a piece of rock from the hearth with it... It isn't a huge piece of the hearth, but enough to make us all take notice seeing the piece on the floor.. But, that wasn't the exciting part....

When the stove landed back on the furniture mover thingie, one of the wheels went through the floor... leaving this behind...

Oh crap! . . . But, all is well... Jim says it can easily be fixed... The stove is going to be put into place on Tuesday, and hopefully, a couple of big, strong, guys can help Ben get her into place.

The next big project of the weekend was getting the last of the Tyvek put on the front of the cabin so that we can get the siding put on before winter comes. We had to get the deck built before the Tyvek could be put on... and you can see why... The peak of the cabin on this side is 3.5 stories in the air, and it couldn't be reached from the ground, even with the boom truck. So, the deck had to go in, and then the 16' ladder could access it. Thank goodness, Ben likes all this rock climbing stuff, because Jim wasn't about to climb up there...

Jim spotted the ladder, Ben climbed the ladder and stapled the Tyvek on, and Cheri stayed in the house with her stomach going flip flop..

Ben says that the key to all this, is just to not look down.. My theory is, don't climb up.

..... not this cowgirl...There is absolutely no way I would be climbing that ladder...

The job got completed and the inspector is supposed to come by on Tuesday to tell us yes or no to move forward.

And, here's the welcoming committee! We usually don't see the cows wandering around, but this last weekend, there were so many blocking the roads... And, they just don't get a clue... they take their time and just mosey off the road whenever they feel like it.. It's like it's a stare down between me and the cows...

And, here's the continuing saga of my squirrel/chipmunk pumpkin carving experiment. Here's the pumpkin when I put it out on the deck last week...

Here's the pumpkin on Friday morning when we got up and out of bed... I knew it was a little chewed on when we arrived on Thursday night, but it was too dark to get a picture.

This is what it looked like when we left on Sunday evening. This pumpkin is apparently tasty! Every time we went out the front door, there was either a fat squirrel, or several little chipmunks having a feast. Jim was sitting on a chair on the deck in the early morning, and he watched several squirrels and chipmunks go back and forth, devouring this pumpkin. It's been an interesting experiment.

I was talking with Brea last week and she was telling me how scared she was because Alaska was going to have tornadoes. They had similar problems with weather at the beginning of the year, and it shut their power down for 4 - 5 days. So, she is afraid... And, I told her I had something even scarier - something to get her mind off the subject and calm her down..... I told her that I had three crickets in my bathtub at the cabin.. She screamed and said that was definitely more scary! It's all in perspective, I guess. Giggle.

And, a little more work was done on the deck... the most important was sealing it so there is no damage done over the winter.. I love these pictures...