One More Time....

Let's start with a beautiful sunset.  My friend Kelly was at our cabin last week at sunset, and snapped this beautiful picture.  It looks so calm, and serene...  sigh..

Meanwhile, inside the cabin, there is always a whirlwind of activity.  There have been a couple of milestones this past week... and, here's the first one.  

The first full wall of sheetrock went up!!!  This is the longest wall, and I think that's why Jim wanted to get it completed before we got snowed out for the year... And, here it is...

I am so incredibly stoked!  And, it looks amazing.  Jim is such a freakin' perfectionist, I can guarantee that it's an all but perfect job.  And, it looks pretty.

The saga of the birds continues.  Jim got up to the cabin on Thursday morning this week, and as soon as he opened the French doors, this is what attempted to fly out... Unfortunately, this little bird didn't realize you can't fly through glass windows, and knocked himself/herself out... permanently.  We don't know where the birds are getting in.  With so much of the insulation completed, there has to be very few spots that are open for entry.  I told Jim that at sundown, he needs to turn off all the inside lights, and turn on all the outside lights and then start looking around.  But, it's so cold when the sun goes down, he's just ready to get out of the cold.

And, the saga of the bird in the stove pipe is coming to an end.  Ben went up on the roof trying to clear what they thought was a bird and the nest out of the pipe... and, it didn't work very well.  So, the two of them decided they needed to dismantle the pipe and attack the problem from below rather than above.  And, the first thing that they realized, was there was a bird in the pipe, and unfortunately, he was cremated...

But, the problem was not the bird, (and there was no nest) but the pipe.  Here is the first stage in fixing the problem...

Here's another picture of the dismantled pipe...

And, here's the problem.  This is a double walled pipe that goes from the wood burning stove to the roof.  Apparently, the aluminum inside wall collapsed and blocked everything, like smoke, from going outside - filling up the inside of the cabin.

And, here's another look at it...  big booboo.  Jim needs to purchase another piece, and make a modification (of course he has to modify... really.. it's Jim...) before he takes it back and installs it, thus solving the stove pipe problem... 

And, Ben was working on insulation in the loft.  There's still so much insulation work that still needs to be done, but there was amazing progress in this department over the last year.  

And, that ends it for this edition. We are coming up to Thanksgiving Day, and Black Friday... so, enjoy your turkey and cranberries, be thankful for those around you, and things you hold dear, forgive and learn from the experience and don't spend too much money on Friday!

With that, the adventure continues...

Love, Jim and Cheri

"Be Grateful for every sunset and thankful for every sunrise, because every day is a blessing."

...Winding Down....

 Well, as you can probably tell, this edition is going to go over several weeks...  It starts with Trunk or Treat at my work, which doesn't really have anything to do with the cabin, except for the fact that Jim was at the cabin the night this was happening... My theme was "Hockey Night in Canada" complete with a little hockey net that kids did their best to get the "puck" into the goal... Seems to be a hit with the kids - there was a lineup of kids just waiting to take a shot...  This was the first time that I've ever participated in something like this, and it actually was pretty fun!

Our Mahayla received an award at her school for getting honours... So proud of her.  What happened to that little bundle that used to climb up on my lap and fall asleep on my tummy?

And, Brea, in the same month, received an award for Student of the Month.  Again, we are so proud... and I miss these kids something terrible.

Election Night 2024 - Jim and I can't vote because we are still Canadian citizens, but we did our civic duty and volunteered to be poll watchers.  We had to make sure all the ballots were collected at the end of the evening and taken to the county court house.  We were at the Provo Library... and, it was freezing cold that night.  I had two fingers that lost feeling and I think Jim had three... We both thought we had frost bite setting in.  Fortunately, we didn't, but it was a fun experience.

Here's Jim looking stylin' in his official election vest!

And, here's all the bags that the ballots go into for transport.

And, here's Jim putting all the bags into my car to go to the polling station! Really was kinda fun.

Jim bought tickets to see the Rivalry game between Team USA and Team Canada at the Maverick Center.  What a fun time! 

Jim and I did our best to adequately represent Canada as best we could.

Jim had his Olympic mitts with him, but it was warm enough in the arena that you really didn't need them. Canada won 5 - 4 in a shootout.

And, the work on the stove pipe continues.  Ben was showing off his best rock climbing skills trying to get the cap back on the pipe... The first try it was getting dark, but the 2nd try was successful.  We haven't got the bird out of the pipe yet, and hopefully that job is in the near future.

We had the county inspector come out and he ok'd us to start installing sheetrock.  I find this so incredibly exciting - it's another step forward.  And, here's the first sheet that went up.

And, the 2nd.....

... and the third....

...and the little piece is where my piece of stained glass is going to go.. That's my project for this winter... It has been bitter cold in Alton with temperatures around 40 during the day, but falling to the teens at night.  It makes it really difficult to work in the cold.

As I said a couple of paragraphs up... the cap on the stove pipe was put back on... Jim thinks he is going to have to drill a hole in a part of it, because the cotter pin that comes with it, has nothing to attach to.  But, that's for a later date.

And, here's the trusty bucket truck doing it's job.  I swear, we have used this bucket truck for so many things in this building project.... everything from roofing, to moving wood, to bringing a refrigerator into the cabin.  It was a good investment.

On one of our travels to the cabin, when we stopped in Fillmore to fill up with gas, Jim noticed that one of my tires was a little low.  So, he went over to an air station to add a little air.. It was at that time that he realized that the air valve was deteriorated and fell off in his hands.  We had to make a quick trip to a tire center to have the donut put on. We were going to get it fixed when we got to Panguitch the next day, but all the tire stores were closed.  Jim finally called a towing service and they said this type of thing happens all the time, and they could fix it... We were thrilled we didn't have to drive 4 hours back to Provo on that stupid little donut.

With that, this edition is complete and the adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri

I Think We're About Done For the Season...... maybe.

And..... here's Woody Woodpecker... When Jim got to the cabin this past weekend, this is who greeted him  -  Woody!  We think that Woody got into the cabin, and also invited his girlfriend (because Jim saw her also) but because there is not water or food inside for him and his date to have, Woody was in pretty bad shape when Jim got there.  

Jim captured Woody and gave him some water, but unfortunately his condition didn't allow him to flourish, and he flew to another dimension soon afterwards...  His mate escaped unscathed. RIP Woody...

And, this is where we think he got in... It used to be just an open, round hole in the roof.... when the guys were working on the insulation, the pipes came down, inviting the woodpeckers to come in.

This is the second stage of the repair.... And, now the flying creatures can't make an appearance.

The work on emptying the Conex continued...This is getting down to the last of it... 11 - 80 lb. bags of cement had to be moved.  

.....and a slab of granite.  I had totally forgotten about this piece and now, I'm not sure what we're going to do with it.  I have some ideas, but nothing set in stone, so to say.  I love this look and pattern..

And, now, the Conex is empty..... It's been a worrisome spot inside of me for several months..

And, it's not only empty, it's gone!  Through all the water and snow and mud and mucky roads, it's gone.  I am relieved beyond measure.  Jim was going to come do trunk or treat with me at my company's party, but ended up staying all weekend to empty the Conex.  Sad, because it was really fun.  The theme of my car was, "Hockey Night in Canada".  I had a net holding all the candy bags, and a bigger net set up so the kids could take a slap shot with a hockey stick, and a red light and buzzer would go off... There were lineups of kids... It got to the point where I had to get help setting up a new player because my knees just couldn't take bending over any more.  Everyone had a lot of fun.  

(Something funny to mention... I said before, the net had a flashing light and a buzzer whenever a child got the puck into the net...  The light would start flashing when the light was jostled around... So, we're laying in bed the other night, two days after trunk or treat... I turn from my side to my back, and, all of a sudden, a red light starts flashing and and alarm goes off.  Sneaky Jim mounted the red light with the siren on our headboard...  and at about 5 in the morning....  uhuh... nuff said... score!)

And, it's getting a little frosty at the cabin, so I think we're about done for the year... We have a little bit of winter prep to complete still this year, but it will be a quick trip... the daytime temperatures are in the 40's and the nights are in the high teens...  too cold.

And, here's our Ben on Hallowe'en day going to school.  I saw this shirt on Amazon, and just had to get it for him.  Apparently, he likes it!  He is still playing goalie for his hockey team, and seems to really like it.  Not a position I would like to play.   But, the "Stick or Treat" shirt was a hit.

And, our Mahayla, aka Chickaphant, just looks so cute... And, I know she hates having her picture taken, but she humors me on a regular basis...

This sassy cat is our Brea....

And, this handsome boy is my baby... but, really... is a hockey jersey really considered a... costume???  I always thought it was considered formal wear.

Back in the day, this was Jim's Halloween costume a few years ago!  He made an amazing Papa Smurf!! I still can't believe he actually dressed up for Halloween.... giggle.

Continuing on, Jim and I are going to do our civic duty on Election Night.  We are both Canadian citizens so we can't, or rather shouldn't vote.... But, we signed up to be Election poll/drop box watchers... I remember, in Canada, on election day, everybody got a half a day off work, just to make sure everybody had time to get home and go to a polling station.  We don't get a half a day off work here, but I think getting involved, in some small way, with the election, will be a fun experience.  I'm actually looking forward to it... So, next week... Get Out and Vote...

Week Two - still crazy busy....

This past weekend was just a one day trip to the cabin - We drove down on Friday night and left to go back home on Saturday night.  And thank goodness, because it was freezing cold and snowing when we left.  Our main goal was to get the 10 foot long pile of "naughty" pine wood into the loft, and of course, it always starts with the boom truck!

Jim secures the wood to the boom/crane and lifts it up onto the balcony of the loft and we then unload it into the loft...  It's heavy and hard work and after an afternoon of this nonsense, I feel like I've been hit by a truck... and I'm sure Jim feels the same way.  After a couple of loads, this is what the pile looked like.

And, after a billion more loads, this was the last load...

When we pulled up to the cabin and got out of the car, the first thing we noticed was the smell of propane in the air. We couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from, so we called Garkane Gas and they sent a guy out to find the leak and after an hour or so of pressurizing the lines and checking the water heater and all the connections, this guy couldn't find the problem, so he called the big boss.

The big boss showed up, and went through the same procedure that the first guy went through and he couldn't find the leak either.  He checked the tank, and we were down about 30% which is odd because we had the tank filled about a month ago, and we don't have anything hooked up except the water heater... And, we are only there on weekends, so it's odd we're consuming so much propane.  the boss man said that he was going to come back in a couple of days and check it out again until he finds the leak... The other thing that was odd was when I told the boss man that I know the tank was recently filled because I got the bill, but the first guy said that he doesn't remember ever filling our tank... but, we got charged? … so, we're trying to figure out who's tank was filled and why ours was not filled, and if our tank was not filled, why were we charged?

It's been a long and difficult year for us... especially for Jim.  We really tried to get the majority of insulation and furnace and ductwork done this summer, and a lot of extras came up that took us away from that job... like having to empty out the Conex - that took weeks and weeks of time where it could have been spent on cabin building.  For the majority of the summer, we were making the trek down to the cabin to work weekly, which eliminated doing anything especially different and fun... so, it was 5 days working at jobs, and then 2 days working at the cabin... it got old and kind of on the depressing side.  So, we really need the break and even though we have had successes at the cabin this year, we need a little change and some fun and romance, and non stress in our lives.

So, Jim and I have decided to make some serious changes in our lives and our marriage and are going to spend more time just on us...

As always, the adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri