It's always ups and downs...

 I swear, it's always something...  Jim made it to the cabin on  Thursday night, and on Friday, he noticed this little issue..... Since being evacuated a couple of years ago because of fire, we are a little sensitive when we see smoke now... It was super windy on  Thursday, so I called the fire department and the sheriff's department for information.  They said, not to worry, it was a controlled burn by the Color Country Fire Department... uhuh... I think that's how the last fire started...  sigh...

Back in Provo, Jim has been noticing that things in the backyard were being knocked over, and he couldn't figure out why...  On Wednesday afternoon, he found the "kids" that were doing the damage... they really didn't care they were being destructive... Can I just say, I really don't like deer... either at the house, or at the cabin...

Jim and Ben started working on the balcony off the loft bedroom on Friday... On Saturday afternoon, Jim sent me pictures of the "surprise".  I am absolutely thrilled... The balcony turned out beautiful.  I bought a little table and a couple of chairs to fit on it, so that we could sit down and have breakfast or watch the stars in this area.  Jim and Ben have done meticulous, beautiful work...  

Jim had good intentions of continuing to build the deck.  Jim bought the lumber and took it to the cabin... and then....rain delay.  So, the lumber is sitting on the deck, getting wet... sad face.

Jim got the 2nd light fixture put up on the back deck and I think it looks fantastic.  We picked the fixtures out a couple of years ago, and they have been patiently waiting to make an appearance.  Here they are in all their glory!!

Upon coming back to our cabin this year, we have noticed that someone has taken the liberty of removing our retaining wall blocks from our property. 12 blocks have been stolen and each block cost $200.00. It also cost us $450 to have them brought from Salt Lake. Our neighbour noticed that the blocks have been disappearing over the winter, but they thought it was us moving them. At one point, he said one block was at the side of the road, and he was afraid his snowmobile was going to hit it when he came out of his driveway.... Eventually it disappeared. We have contacted the Sheriff's department and with the number of blocks that were stolen, this constitutes a felony.

My advice is to secure everything around your property, put up cameras, and if you see anything out of the ordinary, call someone and report it.

This next part of the post is actually the 2nd weekend Jim was at the cabin. I've been crazy busy and haven't had/made the time to update the blog... so, this is the 2nd part.

Jim and Ben have been working to complete the railings on the deck and this is the next part of the process. This is to the back deck about to go around the corner to the front deck!

This picture gives you a little bitt idea of what they were doing... The different colour in the wood is from the aging of the deck... The part on the left was put in several years ago, and the wood on the right is just from this year.  I believe that Jim is going to sand it down and retreat the whole deck so it all looks uniform.

I absolutely love the colour and markings that redwood has. 

Just before Jim sent me this picture, I called him, and he kept coughing and choking... was having trouble breathing...  He told me he had just swallowed/inhaled a bug... and, couldn't seem to get his breathing under control... then he send me a picture of redwood with a bug on it... giggle.. I don't think it was the same bug... Poor wee soul.

And, if you remember, a year ago or so, we had a fire up on the mountain and extremely high winds which just fueled the fire.  We had the loft door open and it blew a lot of things inside the cabin down... One of the things was my moose that was on the hearth... Jim had a little time during the weekend to start a little plastic surgery and get the moose's antler and ear back on...

And, the 2nd thing that was demolished was this little towel cabinet for the loft bathroom.  It was totally demolished and was laying down the steps going from the loft to the great room...  It was amazing, but the glass doors did not break, and Jim was able to put the cabinet back together.. I am so grateful that Jim knows how to fix this stuff... I sure don't know how....  Usually when I have an idea that I would like Jim to complete for me, he looks at me with this totally glazed look on his face, and then asks me to draw a picture... Takes him a couple of days to figure it out, but he always does, and we move forward.  This was one project that he knew how to complete without all the hand gestures and wrong words that I spill out...  I totally loved this piece, and I must admit, I was really heartbroken when I saw it laying in pieces on the stairs... Looks beautiful now.

Jim is going back to the cabin this weekend to continue the fight... It's not warm enough for me to go yet, but slowly but surely, it's getting there..

In the meantime, another amazing adventure..

Love, Jim and Cheri

"Beauty is only plywood deep"