Sigh.....

 OMH... first snow of the season...I have absolutely nothing positive to say...

I hate snow... It is pretty, but it's cold and wet and me and my arthritis are not fans...

And, with all that, our pipes froze...  here's the scoop...  It snowed, so it got down below freezing, and before Jim left the cabin a couple of weeks ago, our furnace failed.  We were in desperate need of a little vacation, so we were not going to be there for a week or so.  Jim was expecting the furnace to run, but a relay failed and we again, had no heat.  He didn't get the toilets and sinks etc winterized (that means draining the water out of the lines) and they froze... Sigh...

Well, the furnace got fixed this morning..... there was a relay that failed... We thought it might be the transformer and Jim purchased a new one, but it didn't get installed.  Thank goodness, because it wasn't the transformer, it was the relay. The HVAC people showed up this morning and after the $175.00 fee for just driving to the cabin, it was running.  Another sigh... Home ownership is great...

We are continuing purchasing items needed to complete the cabin, and this week's purchase was epoxy.  (Jim:  What is this for?)

And, we got a little more flooring for the great room.  I want a patchwork kind of look in that room, but, finding natural wood flooring instead of laminate has been a little difficult.  But, we found this box of bamboo, and snatched it up!

I think it's really pretty.  I love this colour.

We took a little va-cay from Utah and spent a week in California.  This picture is from Cambria... We have friends that would take a few days every once in a while in Cambria and we were enthralled.  This place is so beautiful and I highly recommend going.

And, Jim wanted to visit Hearst Castle.  I had never heard of it, but it is absolutely magnificent.  

I told Jim that I think I want this pool in my backyard.... he didn't answer.

This is more of Hearst Castle.

This is the kitchen... Talk about an amazing kitchen - this one rivals my dreams.  The guide that we had gave us all kind of history about the kitchen and it was fascinating.  The thing that impressed me, was the cupboards.  They were all made with used shipping containers - so that no wood was sacrificed.  Really amazing.

After that little break from building - and I must add, a must needed break I truly think Jim was kind of burned out from the building process, and the little time away was much needed.  And on to the ceiling in the kitchen.  We finally got the last box of tiles in, and Jim completed the ceiling and the can lights.  As he was nearing completion, he realized we were just a couple of panels short of completing the job so I had to order another box in... and of course, it takes weeks...

And, it looks so pretty.

The guys turned their focus on doing some repair and winterizing on the outside of the cabin.  So, Ben got the job of going up the boom and repairing some of the tyvek.  I am glad it's him and not me... I don't do very well with heights.. and neither does Jim.

I don't know how good a no trespassing sign is going to do.  We have installed cameras all around the building and put a sign up... it seems that during the winter, we have uninvited visitors who are scrounging for..."stuff".  Hopefully, between the cameras and the sign, we'll stop this problem.

Jim installed the under cabinet lights and I love them. They are motion sensitive and automatically turn on whenever they detect movement.  I think it's great.

And, the first piece of sheetrock on the ceiling went up - it's so exciting!  We bought the sheetrock lift about a year ago, so this was it's maiden voyage.

And, here's the finished product of the first piece!

And, the kitchen lights went back up!  I love these lights, but then, I love the stained glass look on just about anything.

Now, isn't that pretty?

The winterizing work has continued with Ben at the peak of the cabin, on the boom.

It seems he likes this stuff...  It's beyond me.

With all the work going on, Jim found another box of my moose dishes and ran them through the dishwasher.  I love these dishes, mainly because I love mooses...  Or, is it meeses...?  I prefer, moosesis..  giggle. I've probably got enough dishes for a party of 40 right now.. so, come on over, we'll have a party... no paper dishes needed here!

And, we got the estimate to repair the front end of my car after some guy backed into it... About 3k... sigh... very sad.  We took the car in to have the estimate for repair done, and they couldn't get the hood open, so, the repair estimate is still up in the air.  I really like my Kia.  It's been a great car.  Me and the chipmunks under the hood have been friends for a while now.

With that, this issue ends... The building process is going to slow down considerably with the winter and the snow, but I'll post any time something amazing happens..... or doesn't happen.. Giggle.

The adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri

If an engineer is all alone out in the woods and nothing is broken, will he still find something to fix?