And, the window is slowly closing...

 And, this edition starts out with our granddaughter, Mahayla - lives in Alaska and has started taking guitar lessons again!! This is the 2nd guitar Papa has found for her, and I think she likes it.  The first was a Martin Backpacker that looks completely different to this one.  I think she outgrew the Martin... But, they are both amazing instruments and we are thrilled she is interested in guitar!  This one is a 53 year old Japanese made (1971) Yamaha!

Here's what the Martin backpacker looks like... sounds like a regular guitar.. I don't even know how to describe what it looks like...  It has always been quite a conversation piece.  A great first learning guitar.

And, the next row of fiberglass mesh went up in the loft on Saturday... the ceilings are so freakin' tall, it's difficult to get up there and get the job done.

I've taken pictures from different angles, so you can see what the guys  are dealing with... These first two are pictures taken from the loft.

This one is taken from the great room...  Kinda gives you a different perspective.

While working in the loft, Ben rewired the security cameras for WIFI surrounding the house.  I guess it's a good idea to get things corrected, BEFORE you put in the insulation and ceiling...  

And, we picked up a double oven for the basement kitchen this past week.  It's always a challenge to transport larger items.... in a smaller car... But, it took a little bit of doing, but this sucker fit into the back of the Kia and away we went...

And, here it is in the basement... Nothing is really completed in the basement... except the bathtub,/shower/sink and commode in the bathroom...  And, you can see the wall to the shower behind the stove... it's black plastic!  Only the best!  It's starting to get a little frosty down there, but hopefully, the glass shower doors will be replaced before next spring... Not high on the priority list right now.

Sunday was spent working in the basement so we can transfer the building materials from the Conex to the cabin.  We have had the Conex for years and years, and all of a sudden we got a letter from the so called HOA (which doesn't exist) telling us we have to get rid of the Conex.  We have until October 31st.  So, the guys were moving stuff around in the basement to make room for the Conex stuff.  We got a letter, and so did one other family... They were told that after having chickens for years and year, they needed to get rid of them - the CC&R's says that they can have chickens, but somebody complained about the rooster crowing in the morning, and it was decided that they need to get of the rooster and the chickens...  But, the side by sides running in front of the cabins in the morning, is ok...  I'm a little annoyed with this change to the rules... The guy who owned the chickens is a disabled vet and in my opinion, he's earned the right to have a couple of chickens... isn't this exactly why men fought and died, so we can have the right to live as we want... and I don't think a couple of chickens and a rooster are that annoying.  The rooster and the chickens are gone, and now it's time for us to get rid of the Conex...  Sounds like a bunch of Karens to me... (To give you some perspective... this is not your regular subdivision... it's random cabins on a mountain... and, I have only heard the rooster a couple of times in 10 years...)  uhuh... Karens.

And, remember from last week, we bought a new couch... well, I think Jim likes it.  Actually, he loves it...  Sat down and promptly fell asleep... Poor exhausted baby...

We figured that for the majority of the spring/summer/fall year, we have worked every weekend at the cabin.. We took of the long weekends, but apart from that, it's trekking down to Bryce and working... So, poor Jim, works all week long at his job, and then the weekends at the cabin... And, it's really starting to wear on him and me... It's a long drive, and it's hard work, and I'm glad he gets little bits of rest... The season is drawing to a close, so we'll reclaim our weekends again... maybe... there's always something to do.

With that, the adventure continues...

Love, Jim and Cheri

• “Brick by brick, stone by stone, every great thing was built by those who believed they could.” 

Winter is coming.

Remember last week when I said that the Farmer's Almanac said we'd probably have until the middle of October until the first frost... Well.... I had heard that there was snow on the top of Mount Timpanogos here in Provo, so I asked Jim to check the cameras at the cabin for snow... And, yep... we got about an inch of  frost/snow during the night... It melted really quickly, but, we're not very happy here...  I hate snow...

And, the colours are starting to change here in Bryce... and, even though I know these beautiful colours are a precursor to snow, I do like the scenery... Bryce really is beautiful in the fall... not so beautiful covered in that evil snow, but beautiful in the fall...  I'll take it for a couple more weeks...

These pictures were taken by our neighbour, Kelly..

This past week, I decided that the couch we have in the living room is not particularly comfortable, so I bought a new one...  This one is pretty spiffy...  We asked Ben and Kelly to go to St. George and pick it up...  

...and then, Jim and Ben carried it into the living room... We haven't quite decided if we want to get rid of the couch or the loveseat that is already in the living room...  Jim likes the couch AND the loveseat... so, for now, there's a whole lot of furniture in the living room.

And, this is what this baby looks like... I think it's great.

Apart from the 100 other jobs that need to be done, we're waiting for bids to build the steps down from the deck to the jacuzzi... This is something that I know Jim can do, but time is of the essence here, so it's out for bid...

But, before the stairs go in, the footings for the stairs have to be completed, so, this was Jim and Ben's last job on Sunday.  Here, Jim is cutting rebar to go into the cement form.

..here's the form  with said rebar... a couple more pieces and we'll be ready.

And, here's a shot looking down from the deck...  I am totally excited about this...

The ceiling insulation project continues...  Last week the foam insulation was going in, and this week, it continued...

This installation is quite a two man job... and Jim and Ben have got it down to a science...Little by little, it makes it across the room...

It's kind of a juggling act for Ben... supporting an 8 foot piece of insulation, while balancing on scaffolding, and stapling it into place.

...until it's all the way across.

But, Jim and Ben work well together on this project...

After the rows of foam insulation go in, the roof joists gets covered with the mesh to hold in the blown-in insulation... that was the next project...

And before you cover it all up, spray foam in any little gaps that might leak.

Ben does rappelling and stuff like that, so the heights don't particularly bother him... Jim, on the other hand, is really uncomfortable with heights, so this is waaaaay out of his comfort zone... 

The rolls of mesh are super heavy, so again, it's a two man job.  I am sooo glad we have Ben to help.  He's been a life saver.

Jim works to get the mesh up really accurately.  Maybe too accurately. . .

Ben loves the air tools, like the 2 inch stapler. . . You know the one Jim shot through his finger earlier this year.... uhuh...

And, at the end of the day, Ben climbs down the scaffolding, and I'm just glad everybody survived...

Jim and I were looking up at the ceiling on Sunday afternoon, and we saw this... we both commented how it looks more like snotties, instead of foam...  made us both laugh.

And, as we were leaving, our farewell party was made up of.... cows... the little one to the left stood his ground right in front of our car and didn't want to move...  These New Generation Alphas have attitude...

With that, this edition has ended... and, I think I need a nap...

The adventure continues....

Love, Jim and Cheri

Whatever good things we build, end up building us.

Two Weekends

This edition takes in two weekends... It seems my weeks are getting busier and busier and by the time I get home from work, I am so totally exhausted, I just want to take a nap.... After a weekend at the cabin, I always download all the pictures, but don't get the dialogue written out, preferring to nap instead of write. So, the blog suffers... Please forgive my tardiness.

Well, last week started with a pile of foam insulation being stacked on the dining room table in preparation to be installed on the ceiling.  When the guys were finished cutting, the stack was probably about 10 feet tall...

They set up a work station on the deck that would cut the foam to size....

...and Ben found a very efficient way to move the sheets around...

I sent this picture to Kelly, and she wrote me back saying, "Wow, what a stud!"  

Jim and Ben have a great system going on...  I guess if it works, that's all that matters.

..the foam insulation goes up first, then the mesh, and then we have to fill up the space with blown in insulation.  The mesh is to keep the blown in insulation in place before the (knotty) naughty pine gets stapled up on the ceiling.  The tongue and groove naughty pine will go over that to finish the ceiling...

They kinda made a mess, but I didn't complain... at least not vocally..  

We had a bag of loose insulation, so the guys filled a couple of the meshed in sections with it, so we all could get an idea of what was going on...

Here you can see kind of how it is going to be...

If you look to the right of this picture, you can see little pieces of wood nailed into place.   This is to support the transition from the sheetrock walls to the ceiling.  Jim had to cut and nail into place all these little pieces...

...from one end of the room to the other....

..Just to give you a little perspective... He is working at the ceiling on a 10' ladder.... And, he doesn't like heights... The ridge/peak is 25 feet up from the floor.

And, with all the work with foam insulation, and mesh and blown in loose insulation... Jim put a few pieces of the tongue and groove knotty (naughty) pine into place.  As he told the guy at the store, he needed a few pieces of the pine to put up so that the home owner gives her approval.. giggle.  This wood will be covering the whole ceiling.  I wasn't sure I would like it, but after it went up, I really think I approve.  So, this boss (and I didn't realize I was the boss) says yes! (These pieces of wood were brought to the cabin in my Kia Soul.... front to back...with the front up on the dash....)

This is the ceiling in the downstairs basement bathroom.  Jim got the heating duct that run above the shower installed to heat the main floor bathroom.  One step closer to have a working furnace!

Sunday, Jim worked on getting the running water in the downstairs bathroom installed with both hot and cold water.  I was totally stoked.  He installed the sink several months ago, and the faucet that came with the sink, was not working properly.  So, I picked out new faucets, and Jim installed them.. And.. we now have cold AND hot water...  Amazing how small things just excite me!

We didn't have the help of Ben for the 2nd week... He and his wife Kelly decided to brave the elements and go camping...  I just don't understand the whole concept of camping... I just seems cold and damp and inconvenient... I don't find campfires romantic, and I definitely don't want to cook over an open flame... and bugs flying around drive me crazy.... I always tell Jim that my idea of roughing it is staying the night in the Hilton with the window open... But, I'm glad Ben and Kelly enjoy this kinda thing...

On our way home on Sunday night, we stopped in Fillmore, Utah to fill up with gas. Here is something we have always heard about, but never witnessed... So, apparently, this type of thing happens... even here in Utah.  Someone filled up with gas, didn't take the hose out of the gas tank, and drove off... then realized it was still in the tank, came back and put the handle back in the pump... Apparently, it disconnects!

We calculated that we have approximately 20 working days left before it starts to snow.... maybe.  The Farmer's Almanac says that we are going to have our first frost on October 20...At that point, I can no longer go on the weekends with Jim because of the cold... my pneumonia kicks up about that time, so, it's a stay at home moment for me.  I am hoping the duct work gets finished and we have a little heat so I can extend my time a little bit...  Last year, we had the wood burning stove in the living room working, but, with those high cathedral ceilings, and no insulation,  it didn't warm the place up super well. So, here's to hoping for a late, mild winter and the insulation works. . .

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