Work, Work, Work!

Our big exciting news for this week is the pipe that goes through the roof from the wood burning stove is now in place and ready to use.... winter came early last fall, so we missed getting it installed, so, it's turned into a summer project instead of a fall project.

I think Ben is a fan of the boom truck as is evidenced with this picture...  Giggle.

We were so excited with this new project being completed, we didn't realize until the next morning, that during a windstorm the evening before, the cap on the top of the pipe, blew off... 

...and, it was found under our truck.  I believe it attaches with a couple of cotter pins, or something like that.  Jim says it's not too difficult to fix... It's a Ben job...

I really wanted a large umbrella for the deck because of how hot it gets there...  I found this umbrella on the facebook marketplace for a smokin' deal, and, Ben put it together over the weekend. I purchased the umbrella from a lady who bought it from IKEA several years ago.  She stored in in the garage said she waited and waited for her husband to put it together and it never happened.  So, she finally got rid of it...Her loss was my gain.. It's a GREAT umbrella, just perfect for this part of the deck.  Jim tried it out and confirms, it's amazing!  

The work on the deck, as usual, is continuing... Here we are attaching the Simpson Strong Ties to the overhang of the cabin so we can attach roof joists for the covered deck.

 

We attached a laminated beam on the top of the posts used for the railing on the side of the deck to support the roof joists.  You can see the roof joists at the far end of the beam!  Keeping everything straight is a challenge.  Wood is not perfect in this regard.

OK, now we have more Simpson Strong Ties on top of the beam ready to receive the other end of the roof joists.

 

Here's the master carpenter trying to figure out how this is all going to go together.  The weather was beautiful.  Hot, but beautiful.  I can't wait to try out the shade under the covered deck. . .

Moving on, . . . I found another ceramic chicken to add to my chicken collection...  This one is kind of weird, but something about the bright colours appealed to me...  It has red and green chilies on it.

The plumbing and the electrics to install the refrigerator in the kitchen was completed.  We have to wait until we have sufficient manpower to move the giant refrigerator upstairs before we move it in place.  This is not a job for one or two people...  Jim thinks we'll have to have help getting it out of the basement, and then hoist it up to the main level with the backhoe, or the bucket truck.. that's what we had to do with the wood burning stove, so, we'll probably follow suit with the refrigerator.

My little squirrel friend was back on Saturday morning and Sunday morning.. just hanging out on the bricks...  I don't know if he's sunning himself of just checking out the scenery, but... it's his place... for now.

He's definitely king of the castle.. I was on the deck when I took these pictures - about 20 or 30 yards away.  I upgraded my cell phone several months back, so the pictures are a little bit better.  I had sent a picture to my brother Eldon, before I upgraded, and he asked if I had taken the picture with a brick... With that, I knew it was time...

The remaining few electrical outlets are going in... We have some in the bathrooms and loft that still need to be installed and a couple outside on the deck... This is a code issue that we need completed before the next inspection for our four-way.  You'll notice the black mark on the 2X4 stud.  Jim's a little OCD in that he's marking every plug and switch height so that all of them are the same heights throughout the whole cabin - and he complains I'm a little OCD....   uhuh.  Outlet plugs are at 14 inches and switches are at 37 inches above the floor. 

It's been so hot during the day that we don't have the appetite to eat anything... the heat just saps our appetite and energy.  But, late Saturday night, about 11 or so, we both were a little on the  "hangry" side, so while Jim went to shower at the end of the day, I made a little snack.  He was thrilled for the ultimate comfort food of tomato soup and grilled cheese.  I think it tasted extra good.

We had a very, very productive work filled long weekend.  Monday was Pioneer Day here in Utah, and a lot of businesses were closed... including the company I work for.. So, we took advantage of the time off... Poor Jim finds it difficult to do this kind of hard, manual labour for so many days straight, and I found getting back to work on Tuesday was a bit painful...    I have too much going on at work to go this next weekend, so I'll hear about all the changes when Jim calls me in the evening. Between going to the cabin and the traveling that he does, I kinda miss him.  

With that, the adventure continues....

Love, Jim and Cheri

"The quandary in life is you're halfway through before you realize it's a do it yourself project".