It Was A Roofing Kinda Weekend.....

Well, this is surely an early Christmas present.  If you know my Jim, he does a lot of smiling on the inside, but keeps his smiles closely guarded...  The cabin is his happy place, and I was so excited to get a picture, with a "sort of" smile on his face... I'll take it, happily!  Love this man...

This week, Jim and I both made it to the cabin for a couple of days...  I don't go that often because, at this time of the year, it's just too cold for my lungs to enjoy the visit, so I stay home. But, I checked the weather channel, and it said it was supposed to be in the high 60's during the day... the nights were still supposed to get down to the 30's... so.... we stayed in a motel in Panguitch for the nights, and worked during the day... It really was nice.

We didn't find our little chipmunk visitor yet...But, he didn't make an appearance this past week. We put out live traps and they weren't tripped in the last 7 days. Nothing was moved around, so, it's either he relocated, or went to "a friend's farm" out in the country... I did find little footprints on one of our chairs, so, at some point, he was there, but I'm not sure it was this past week.  His invitation is rescinded. 

I checked my three aspens in the front of the cabin, and they've decided that it's fall and their bright green leaves are turning colours...  I'm just thrilled they are still alive.

The major work this weekend was completing the roofing on the overhang above the deck.  It's a little bit of a tricky job because it requires getting on the "roof of death" and working without anything to hold on to...

This was day one... Ben wasn't feeling well and stayed home on Saturday, and Jim was working solo...  It scares me to death when he says, "could you hold the ladder so it doesn't slip off the deck...."  Um... ok?

The second day (Sunday) Ben was feeling better and Jim and he worked together...  I took this picture of Ben and sent it to his wife.  She sent me a little message back saying "Hey, that guy on the roof is really hot!"  

I wrote her back and said that I really didn't feel comfortable commenting on her husband's picture, but I thought "this" guy on the roof the 2nd day was pretty hot... and, he could put his slippers under my bed any time...  I don't think she wanted to comment...  Giggle... After all these years, Jim still makes my little heart pitter patter.

Getting the roofing material ready to nail down takes a little bit of math, and construction skills...  I wouldn't want the job, but Jim seems to like it.

...getting the steel sheets up on the roof is a little tricky... It was a little bit windy, and the wind would catch the sheets... It definitely was a two man job... or should I say, two men and a bucket truck!

I think Ben really likes the bucket truck... Giggle...Or, maybe, Jim does NOT like the bucket truck so Ben got the job...  

I am absolutely thrilled this part of the job was completed.  I was asking Jim how he was going to get the siding on the dormer... He isn't quite sure at this point... those windows don't open, so it would require getting up on the roof...  All I know, is it's not going to be this cowgirl.

And, there ya have it.... the roof is completed!  Soooo pretty.  Jim put a couple more lines of siding on the far side of the cabin, but I didn't get a picture of the work he did...  It was right at dusk when he was working on it.. and I forgot the next day!

And, I saw this message in the grocery store last week...  I kinda liked it... Jim always tells me, "It's just you and me, babe..."  I agree.

With that, the adventure continues.. Love, Jim and Cheri

"If you can't find a perfect piece of land, buy an imperfect piece and make it perfect"

... Still Moving Forward

Fall has arrived in Bryce and it is ablaze with beautiful colours... It's already dropping the temperatures, but the colours are spectacular!  I snagged these first couple of pictures from our neighbour, but it all about looks the same..  Just amazing...I love the colours of the season... not the temperatures...

So, pretty... from inside the car - with the heat on...

Jim got to the cabin on Thursday about noon, all raring to get to work, and when he arrived, the power was out... He called me to find out from Garkane Power what the issue was, and when I talked to them, the lady on the phone said there was a tree that fell down on the power lines in the canyon... Ergo - no power.  It took a couple of hours to restore power, and then it was full speed ahead.

Friday morning, Will, our ceramics guy, showed up with his son, and they got to work laying the floor.  This guy is amazing.  He's very quiet, but his work is exacting.  I am sure glad he knows what he's doing because there is no way I would know what to do here...

The orange stuff on the floor is called Kerdi-Schluter.  We had never heard of it before.  When we were having so much problem water proofing the shower, a guy at work suggested this system... and, it is amazing.  So, when Will showed up and started laying this stuff, it made sense.  He said he has used this system on three other bathrooms, and thinks he is going to stick with it.  It is kinda on the expensive side, but it works amazingly well.

I have laid ceramics once in my life and that was enough for me.  I wasn't all fancy using all these spacers.. and probably my work reflected it.  I've decided this is MY bathroom.. I don't know where Jim is going to shower, but I know where I am going to be...  (Ok, maybe I'll let him use this one occasionally... maybe... ).

I love watching the progression...  Jim says I use too may pictures, but I really want to remember the excitement I felt just seeing these pictures...  

Below is day end of day one!  Will had to stop because he had to have a place to stand to complete the floor, and everything was still wet!  He said it should dry overnight, so he'll continue tomorrow.

We were burning through wood in the stove something fierce so, we figured we had to find some hardwood to slow down the process.  Jim was on his way home and on the next street over from us, an older lady had a tree cut down that had died.  It's called a honey locust.  I had never heard of this tree before, but, Jim talked to the lady and we snagged a few pieces.

This wood is SUPER heavy... just about killed us getting it in the back of the pick up!  There were pieces from the base of the tree that we about 10 times bigger that these...  Somebody else could figure out how to pick those up... There was no way.

So, they made it down to the cabin and Jim neatly stacked them beside the door. He burned it during the weekend, and does it ever burn slow... and puts off some major heat and lasts about 7 or 8 hours.  He was loving it... The little wood burning stove is the only heat source we have right now, so we have to maximize burning potential in the wood.

Ben was back up on the Roof of Death on Sunday.  I saw this first picture and felt a little better that he was sitting down and working, rather than.....

STANDING UP!!! Jim and Ben are trying to get all the roofing and siding done before winter hits. Some of the overhangs sustained a little damage with the snow last year, so the push will be on in the next couple of weeks to get both completed.  I still feel Ben needs to bring rappelling ropes to secure himself to the roof...

Jim sent me this picture and he was all excited about it...  I looked at it, and really didn't see what he saw..  I think he was a little disappointed at my reaction, and then he pointed out that this was the top rail on the west deck, and it is INCREDIBLY STRAIGHT and 27 feet long...  It was at that point I understood.  I guess I just wasn't looking at it through engineering eyes...  But, now I see it really is beautiful.

And, then he asked me about the next picture and asked what I thought... again, I was apparently not knowing what I was looking at... He then explained that he made this mitered corner with a super tight and accurate connection... I still don't know how he mitered the corner, but the corner is actually really amazing... I approve... (...just googled "miter box"... I now know what it looks like). I swear, I would be lost without Google.

I think there are times that Jim rolls his eyes to the back of his head and wishes he had married an engineer...  Sorry, dude..

And, again.. I have a toilet in my kitchen... sigh...Jim had to take the toilet and the sink and cabinet out of the bathroom to get the ceramics laid...I swear, I think I am going to spend the rest of my life having odd appliances or pieces of building materials in my kitchen!  

I really love these accent pieces, but Jim has to have a little prep work done before installation and this was Jim's job.  He had to cut the little protruding pieces off on two sides...  The end pieces all fit into one another, but the top and bottom had to have the regular large ceramics touch up to them, so the little pieces had to be cut off!  Jim was using his dad's saw.. Will kept telling him that Jim could use his big industrial ceramic saw, but, I think Jim enjoyed working on his dad's ceramics saw...   When Jim's dad passed years ago, the saw was one of the things we brought back to Provo with us... in the now famous RV... trust me, it was a trip I will always remember... $1200.00 in gas, 3 days driving... crossing the border... driving across country... oh my...

I absolutely love this picture - I love the ceramics but I love the reflection of the stained glass on the wall.   This is exactly what I had in mind when I was designing the patterns.  I wanted the sun to shine through and just light up the bathroom with colour.. Mission accomplished.

Here's another one where you can see the windows and the colours on the wall...

Will put the window sills in as one of the last thing he did...

Well, Ben finally got off the Roof of Death and moved over to scaffolding on the other side of the cabin.  I am sure he prefers the Roof of Death, but sorry, Ben... maybe next week!

Ben got a couple more rows of siding in... If you look to the right, that's as far as both sides of siding were, so he got another 7 rows in.  It's comin' together!

This is Will, our amazing craftsman... Whenever I think of Will, I think of that story/poem "The Touch of the Master's Hand".  He has worked magic with the hearth in the livingroom, and here, again, in this bathroom.  I asked him where he learned this craft, and he said that he just kind of picked it up himself... Totally amazes me.  He is in such high demand - But, I'm willing to wait just to have him back back and do more work on our cabin.  We have the loft bathroom and the outside shower grotto downstairs (outside) for him to work his magic on... He said he is super busy until the snow flies, and we told him we are in no rush... And, he appreciates us working within his schedule.  Amazing man..  He has 13 kids, and two of them were his helpers this weekend...  If I had 13 kids I would probably be unable to drool and walk at the same time...!

And, this is where day three ended.  I am not sure exactly when Will is going to come back.  We are supposed to let him know when we are there on the weekends, so I am sure we'll keep in touch with him.  

This is the road we take to go home..  Looks a little solemn at this time of the year, but it is lovely...

Jim has either travelled so much this summer on business, or on the weekends at the cabin, I'm starting to feel a weird depression crawling up on me... I was talking to Jim about this last night, and he expressed, he was feeling the same way... This traveling so much just has to stop, so I will be somewhat glad when it really snows, and the cabin will be shut down for the winter.... I'll have more time than just a couple of days a week for just me and my sweetheart....Call me selfish... I don't care.

As always, the adventure continues.... until next time,

Love, Cheri and Jim

 

So much is going on at such a fast pace, I find it really exciting!  The project this past weekend was to work on the roof... Actually, work on the roof that was above the deck!  It was the last part of the roof to be installed - only a small part of it was completed last year.  

It's kind of tricky to work on this part because it has a slope and nothing to hold on to, as you can see.

Ben calls this part of the cabin, "The Roof of Death"....Maybe he should pull out his rappelling equipment.  The guys ran out of time and roofing nails, so this part of the job will be completed this next weekend.

The work in the bathroom is continuing.  I didn't realize there was so much work that went on under the ceramics.. But, there sure is.  There's not just sheetrock, but mudding and taping.  

It looks kind of scroungy, but this is all part of the process.

Jim wanted to get the ceiling completed and painted before the ceramics guy shows up on Friday, but he flat ran out of time AND energy.  

He wanted to get the texture sprayed on, then knocked down, and he had gone to Panguitch the day before to buy the spray, but when he went to use it, all the aerosol had died and it wouldn't spray.  Apparently, the can had sat on the shelf just a little too long and it died. We're going to go buy more before he goes back..

Jim says that this pink colour is supposed to turn white when it's all dried...It wasn't quite there when he left.

And, here's the bathroom when he left.  Poor Jim didn't get out of the area until 7:00 pm on Sunday which means he didn't get home until a little after 10:00pm, and 6:00 am comes too early on Monday morning.  I am so totally excited for Will to show up on Friday.  It's supposed to take three days to completed the job.  I am not going to be at the cabin for this job, even though I'd sure like to.  It's just a little too cold at night, at this point, with temperatures in the cabin below 50 degrees.

The last time I was at the cabin, at about 1 in the morning, Jim and I were woke up with a thump in the kitchen.  I got up and looked around and didn't see anything.  When Jim went back this past weekend, he found things knocked off the top of the stove onto the burners and on the floor...  This is what he found..  

I was figuring it was a mouse or something... Didn't know for sure, so I told Jim to put a couple of cheerios on the top of the stove and see if it's gone in the morning.  Well, at about 1 in the morning, he hears a crashing sound and the same thing has been repeated... AND, the cheerios were gone.

So, we are figuring it wasn't a mouse, but it is another chipmunk who has taken up residence.  Jim put out a trap and we'll have to see if we've captured something. There is absolutely nothing for the chipmunk to eat, so I don't know what he's trying to find.  But, Jim says, he makes LOTS of noise.  GRRRRR.

Because the wood burning stove is in operation, we are having to haul wood in and it's a little awkward sometimes.  I found this carrier to make the job a little easier.  There's a liner inside the metal that comes out and you haul the wood into the cabin with it... Makes it super easy.

Jim tried it out, and it works great! We're not quite sure what it's made of, so for the meantime, we are going to keep it away from the heat.  The first week we lit the fire, Jim thought that I had some ornaments stored beside the stove... they WERE candles...Uhuh... Giggle.

As I said, I am excited for Will, the ceramics guy to show on Friday.  I am sure Jim will be sending me pictures updating me on how the job is progressing...  It's amazing when we hit goals!  We have waited for two years for this guy to complete the ceramics...He's in really high demand.  He's the same guy who put in our hearth - he does beautiful work. So, this is monumental!

As always, the adventure continues, and we are stoked beyond belief.

Love, Jim and Cheri

"Destiny can throw down a pretty sparse trail of popcorn for you to follow"