...and, the craziness continues...

Here's our beautiful fall sunsets at the cabin...  sigh.

 Jim sent me this picture about midnight one evening... and, I just about had a stroke.  He was sitting in my beautiful recliner... covered in this sawdust.   He assured me that he would vacuum it all up and change his clothes OUTSIDE before going to bed... but, I was suspicious... did he actually do it?  The next picture I saw, there was not sawdust on the recliner, BUT, what about the clothes.... hmmm...  He sent me a picture of the legs of his pants also.... sawdust covered...  (Jim gets a little sneaky sometimes, but I always forgive him because he has such a boyish grin... and, I melt...)

And, the deer whisperer put out the grain with the molasses in a bucket, and the neighborhood is having a blast chowing down.  The mama deer are really thin, but the babies are fat and happy, so I hope this little bit of treat with energize them a little bit.  

You can see the ribs of some of the mama deer.... Must have been a lean summer OR they are making sure the babies are looked after.  I don't know much about deer...

This picture is a little difficult to see between the position of the picture and the shadow... But, it's a mama deer and a squirrel eating out of the same bucket at the same time...  I guess after watching Rocky and Bullwinkle, I should have learned that squirrels will be friends with anyone...  But, after watching some of the squirrels around this bucket, they don't want to share with other squirrels... they chase each other away on a regular basis.

This really made me laugh... Jim called me on Saturday morning, saying that he had run out of sugar... and he had searched all over the house looking for a little bit of sugar somewhere... even a little packet of sugar and couldn't find any... He said he felt like a drug user looking for a fix - looking everywhere...  He asked what was around the place that had a little bit of sweetness to it, and I told him there was some peach jam in the cupboard.  The next morning, he tried the peach jam, with half and half in his coffee...  Let's just say, he was not impressed... He said it didn't taste like coffee... didn't taste like peach jam, and didn't taste like creamer...  He finally made it to the store and his habit was satisfied... Made me laugh.

I was working outside cleaning up the front of the house and I felt a stab in my arm... I looked to see if there was a stinger stuck in me but there wasn't... I could see a little tiny bite mark on the underside of my arm and put a little bit of anti itch on it... Within a couple of hours, I could see there were not one little puncture mark, but two and it spread like crazy. I marked the irritation line with a marker just so I could tell if it was spreading to the point of extreme out of control. The itch and the pain was out of this world.  I finally made it to the doctor and he said that it was a black widow bite.... But, my own system was adequately fighting the venom...  I have extreme body aches but no fever, and a slight headache, but the doctor said that is normal.. I see the doctor again tomorrow morning for a check up... I hope they can do something for the aches...  stupid spider....

I found this little table and I just had to have it.  The guy selling it said it was a bird bath, but I don't think so.  It doesn't hold water very well, so I think it's actually a side table for a deck.  I loved the leaf pattern - and, Jim, who usually complains about "Where are you going to put it" said it was amazing, but followed up questioning where it was going to go... and I honestly told him, like I usually do... "I don't know".  

The guys made a trip to St. George to pick up some scaffolding and 20 pieces of sheetrock on Monday.  I asked Jim to take a picture for me, and as you can tell, only 2 pieces are left in the trailer and no scaffolding left in the trailer when he remembered to take the picture for me... hmmmm...

He sent me the pictures, and when I questioned him about only a couple of pieces left, he said, "I was hoping you wouldn't notice..."  Seriously?  Does he think I'm blind?  Giggle.

And, the insulation work continues on the ceiling...  We are hoping to have it finished by the end of the week in order to have an inspection on the 22nd... Here's hoping... I think Ben was a primate in another life - he doesn't mind "swinging from the trees" - me on the other hand - not so much.. just seeing picture makes my stomach churn.... 

In the evenings, Jim has been busy completing sheet rock in different parts of the cabin.  This picture shows the beading that goes on corners to protect them from bumps and bruises.  I remember as a kid, having the telephone (wall mounted) in the kitchen and taking the phone onto the stairs going to the basement just to have a little privacy.  Dad would always have a fit when the paint would be all mucked up after repeated telephone calls... I don't know if Dad put the beading on, but he sure didn't appreciate my habits of messing up the corners....  

And, here's the finished product... Well, without the paint.  

And, here's Jim's harem again.  He fed them some chocolate chip cookies, then bought them a bag of feed with molasses - they really, really liked that... and then Cheetos... and finally peanut butter cookies... I personally think they are in love with him...

The deer congregate by the bridge going to the front door.... and, beside the jacuzzi down below... and just about anywhere they can get a treat.  The babies are still a little nervous, but the mamas and daddies don't have a problem and will eat out of Jim's hand...

I bought drawer pulls for the kitchen... and Jim put a couple on so I could see what they looked like.  The counter tops are going to be black granite, so I think these are going to look great.

We had to purchase a few more sheets of the foam insulation, but the problem was getting it up the scaffolding so Ben could install... So, here's 4 years of Engineering undergrad work, and 2 years of an Engineering masters program come to fruition...  They put together a little pully system, and hoisted the sheets up in a garbage bag... Money well worth spent..

And, here's Ben's Army training at work... retrieval!  Giggle...  (This probably had nothing to do with engineering or retrieval, but I just had to put that little jab in there.... Ok, guys... I'll send more cookies next time.....)

With all the insulation flying in the air, I am glad the guys had really decent masks to wear.  

 

But, I don't know how they deal with insulation without long sleeved shirts on... The itching from the insulation would drive me crazy.

And, the sheetrock process is moving down the hall and around the corner.  I find this so freakin' exciting.  Since Jim retired, he has spent a lot of time working at the cabin and the work has been moving forward in leaps and bounds.  I miss Jim something terrible while he's gone, but I find the pictures he sends me so exciting.

And, Jim does really beautiful work... He's got this perfectionist thing about what he works on... I love it.

The sheets of insulation went in, and this is the final stages of the blown in insulation... 

And, it makes a horrible mess...  Jim told me on Saturday night that he is really glad that I'm not there to see all the mess because I would be having a stroke... I'm having a stroke just looking at the pictures.  

..like this picture... Seeing one picture is bad, but seeing the overall mess really freaks me out...  It looks like a warzone...

Jim gave me an assignment this week - to pick out paint for the walls... I wasn't sure what colour I wanted, but went to the store knowing I wanted something warm that would blend nicely with all the different types of wood in different rooms...  We have oak cabinets, and knotty pine on the ceiling, and who knows what on the hearth, so, it has to be something really specific for the walls... And, I didn't want "oatmeal". After picking out 8 - 10 different shades, I settled on these three for Jim's approval.  They are all slightly different - one being very light, one medium and one a little darker... I kinda like all three.

As the guys were coming to the last day of insulating, they realized they were short about 10 bales of the insulation... so, it was back to Home Depot for more...  When finished, we have bought 96 bales of cellulose insulation for an R rating of 49 in the ceiling.  The closest Home Depot is Cedar City which is a little over an hour away..

And, here's last of the insulation going in...

And, a thumbs up for a job well done!  

Jim called to get an inspection on the 22nd, and was told that our inspector has 30 properties to check out, so he would not be able to make it to our cabin until the 30th.  Sad.  We were so looking forward to passing the insulation inspection.  Well, I guess we'll wait... I guess we don't have a choice.

With that, this edition comes to an end... My Jim made it home this afternoon and I am absolutely thrilled.  He warms my heart.

Love, Jim and Cheri

• "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." —C.S. Lewis

Burton Cummings.....sigh...

I have waited several years for this concert... and, Jim and I finally got to go!  Several years ago, we purchased tickets to see Burton Cumming (The Guess Who) in Las Vegas... and, he was sick and cancelled the even the day before... sigh... Then, we bought another set of tickets, and he was again, sick... Finally, we bought tickets to see him in California, and amazingly, he wasn't sick and performed, and it was absolutely amazing!  Great concert, great music, the crowd looked like everyone was attending an AARP rally, but it was fabulous...
 

Getting back to Utah, the big project for this next week was putting in the lines for the septic system.  The tank was put in several years ago, but the lines were not... So, this is the new project.  It started by purchasing piping to go from the tank to the field...

I'm just showing that our security cameras actually work!!!  Here's some guy trying to steal our septic pipes... Go figure!  Giggle.

Jim was telling me that the morning he went out to unload the pipes, he turned around and bumped into a couple of deer that came up to help him.... They weren't spooked by him or afraid.. they were just looking for treats.  He didn't have any cookies in his truck, but he had a bag of Cheetos and he shared them with the family.... He said there were a couple of females and a buck and at least one baby.  The mamas and the papa were excited for Cheetos, but the babies stayed far away not quite sure of the situation.  Jim has sat on the bridge and fed the deer cookies before, so I guess the Cheetos were something different... and they liked them!  He said they ate the snacks right out of his hand..

The next step in the process is bringing in all the heavy equipment to do the digging....

...and, this requires lots of digging...

...and more digging...  These guys must just love playing in the dirt... I don't think it's quite my thing... I hate the feel of dirt on my hands... I can't imagine making a career out of dirt...

And, while digging, they had to build a retaining wall so the dirt doesn't cave in...

This picture reminds me of that old saying... "The difference between the men and the boys, is the size of their toys..."  These guy definitely have big toys...

Here... the worker is making sure the retaining walls are level... Could pose a serious problem in the future if they are not...

And, this pipe lets us know where the septic system is...

Before the piping can be put down, code requires gravel put under the lines, so three loads of gravel were dumped in our driveway...

...some little boy somewhere, I am sure, would love to play in this mess...

.... still digging...  At one point, they hit a big rock and had to stop until the rock was busted up.... had to call a sub contractor to break up the rock... and, we found out there was a 2nd rock to be broken up.  This place has rocks hiding everywhere.  This subcontractor charges $165.00 an hour just to break up rocks... sigh... 

Well, the rock was busted up and the work continued.  Ben and Jim are going to complete the job next week - they will put in the little rocks, level it, and then put the pipe on top of the rocks.  THEN, we call the county out to inspect.  Sigh.  It's been a long process.  

On to working inside the cabin...  Jim took this picture for me to show me the comparison in our upgrade.... I really have this issue with the dark, and I always sleep with a nightlight on... The previous light was just kind of regular... nothing impressive.... complete with a toilet paper roll covering up the actual little light bulb because it was too bright...  This is the upgrade... You can't see it very clearly, but it's got trees and a moose and a bird in front of the moon... but, no toilet paper roll to decorate it... Giggle.

And, the sheetrocking continues.  This is where my stackable washer and dryer is going to live.  

And, here it is all mudded and taped... ready for paint!  No, I haven't picked out the paint colour I want yet...  I kinda of have an idea, but, not sure... But, I am sure it is not going to be... oatmeal.

And, here's the faucets for the washing machine...

Jim caught himself on camera the other morning.  I guess he was going out to his truck, but the camera on the balcony caught him!

In this picture, you can see the laundry area to the right, and this sheetrocking is in the hallway going into the kitchen..

And, this is the other side of the same hallway.

The area around the front door is now insulated.... We had sheetrock stacked by the front door and it made it a little difficult to do the insulating without moving the sheet rock... So, little by little, the sheetrock was moved... just by installing it.  And, voila... the front door insulation was completed.

This kinda made me giggle.  Jim sent me a picture of this grid and I didn't have a clue what it was.  When we were talking, he mentioned he figured out how much ceiling tile we needed and how it was going to be installed.  Now I know...!  I don't think even in my life I have mapped out anything with so much freakin' detail.  

We were all excited last week to find a Kane County truck grading the road beside our cabin... They are not going to pave it.. they are just going to smooth out the gouges in the road, and put some road base down.  Anything is better than what we have.  The county does not plow the roads in the winter time, so unless we skidoo in, we are totally snowed out.  It's a big issue for everyone.  It cuts down working for 5 months out of the year.  With Jim retired now, the work has progressed by leaps and bounds.

Here, the sheetrock around the front door has started....

And, continues...

And, the insulation work on the ceiling continues...

The boys had to take down the stovepipe in order to put up the scaffolding so they could insulate the ceiling above the stove and the stairs... There is no way ever that I would get up on scaffolding.... no way.

Jim bought a treat for his deer friends.  At first he bought some fresh corn for them, and they apparently liked that.  He went into Panguitch and bought some grain with molasses mixed in it, and they REALLY liked that.  Unfortunately, so do the squirrels and the chipmunks...

This week at Utah Valley University, Charlie Kirk was assassinated.  It doesn't matter what your political or religious views are, I am saddened that Charlie Kirk's wife is now a widow and his children are without a father.  His children will never have their dad at their college graduations and Charlie will never walk his daughter down the aisle.  It perhaps should give us all the understanding that life is short and we really must make the most of the time with our loved ones.  I can't imagine living without my Jim... even though he sometimes drives me crazy, I don't want to live without him...  He's my heart.

With that... this chapter is over, and the adventure continues.  Love, Jim and Cheri