The Work Goes Forward...

 This week started out a little differently than we expected...  Jim went to the cabin on Thursday after work.  Ben, his helper, had a friend come from out of town, who was knowledgeable in metal roofing, things like putting in plumbing vents on the roof, and also knows how to and where to cut through the roof to put the stove pipe for the wood burning stove... We were thrilled.  

We noticed some leaks in our roof over the past year, and he found out the issue and repaired it.  The guy who did our original roofing, didn't caulk the over laps on the ridge of the roof... We weren't particularly happy with him, for reasons like this one... Go figure.

Jim started working on the ceramic flooring in front of the wood burning stove.  I want a semi circle in ceramics instead of a square, so Jim started by drawing the circle... and then remeasuring to make it look a little more even.  It's a little difficult because on the left we have a hard stop in stone, and on the right, it's a little more free flowing...

He then stapled the expanded metal to the floor and cut out the semi circle.

See?  Expanded metal.

And, then he measured the thickness of the ceramic flooring on top of the expanded metal, to see how it lined up with the thickness of the wood flooring.  And, it's a great fit.

Now, we're trying to figure out how to cut the ceramics in a curve and not totally hammering the ceramics.  The first try didn't turn out so well.. So, I bought a couple of different diamond blades and the next time we are at the cabin, we'll try them out.

On Saturday evening, Jim was working inside the cabin with the doors open, and in sauntered this dog.  He was a really friendly Australian Shepherd Sheep Dog, and was just happy to see Jim.  Jim left the front door open and invited the dog to leave, but apparently, the dog just wanted to hang out, watch tv and eat potato chips.  We have no dog food.

When it was time to go to bed, we were a little uncomfortable just closing the door and leaving the dog outside... I know there are cougars etc. that could really injure this guy, so Jim kept him inside and the dog slept peacefully, all night long beside the bed... I was worried that he would piddle somewhere inside the cabin, but he behaved himself.  Jim took him outside at 5:30 and then again at 8:00, and when Ben came in the morning to work, he brought our visitor some dog food... and the dog apparently really appreciated the snack... He must have been really hungry.

The next morning the owner was located.. they camp in a trailer down the hill from us... Can you tell how social we are?  The guy just drove by looking for his dog.

Next, here's the rock that I was talking about last week... You can see the red a little more in this picture than the crappy one I took last week.

Jim is finishing up the electrics, and part of that job is getting the wiring in for the refrigerator... So, he started building the space where it's going to go, and next week, he'll put in the electrical outlets and the water for the fridge.. Right now, the refrigerator is in the basement, and those couple of sets of stairs are killer when you've worked all day and you're tired.

This was my surprise for the week.  The bridge connecting the driveway to the cabin was so incredibly steep, I had a hard time taking that first step.  So, Ben fixed it, by putting another step, making that first step not so brutal. I love it...In the winter, the bridge is so freakin' slick, I always feel like I am about to slide off.

And, the blades on the ceiling fan went on.  We haven't quite got the fan balanced yet, but at least, we found blades that fit.

And, the work on the deck continues...  As you can see, the work on the back deck is finished, and the work on the side deck is well on it's way.  They left a space half way down the deck for the refrigerator to slide in... I think the refrigerator is going to be hoisted with the backhoe!  I swear, that backhoe is probably one of the best investments we've ever made.

And while Jim was away, I found some hammered copper sheeting at a decent price for the planned cupola on the roof.  This is hand hammered copper and I found 5 - 6 full sheets which is exactly what we need.  This will going on the roof part of the cupola.  I was excited to find it.  Jim says it's going to be a challenge, but, hasn't this whole project been a challenge?

So much change happened this past weekend, poor Jim came home absolutely exhausted.  Morning came waaaay to early, and the alarm clock was not a welcome friend when she started to sing.

Here's to not so much work, and more rest.

The adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri

"You can't buy happiness by the square foot"