I Am Losing Faith in Humanity AND The Cabin is For The Birds!

I have decided that I am totally losing faith in humanity.  I have been so stoked all this past week thinking that the water was going to be brought to the cabin this weekend, and I would be able to have a flush toilet and be able wash with something beyond a wet wipe... only to have my hopes and faith dashed... Didn't happen this weekend, and I am totally unsure when it actually will... I'm beginning to feel like I'm going to be washing in a puddle before long... Enough of the ranting, I suppose.

But, even in my total despair, Jim has kept working on the floor in the downstairs bathroom.  This is the marble that I bought for a different project - 20 years ago.  I didn't know it still existed until Jim found it in one of our storage buildings that we were closing out... And, there was just enough of the tiles to complete this bathroom... there actually was only one tile left and a couple of scrap pieces.  It looks beautiful..

And, I have decided that Jim is turning into the bird whisperer... When he got to the cabin on Friday evening, this little guy was inside being the welcoming party.  Jim opened all the doors, hoping the little guy would get a clue and leave... But, come Saturday morning, he was still sitting - and observing.  Jim said that he started talking softly to him, and moving closer and closer, until he picked the little bird up, and took him outside.. and he flew off.  Maybe this is what should have happened in Hitchcock's "The Birds"...  would have solved a whole lot of problems.. and mess.

Several months ago, I was given the assignment of picking out the toilets and the tubs... Jim gave me specific measurements to follow along with it being a steel tub with ceramic...  This is one of the tubs I bought.  On Friday night, while Jim was working in the bathroom, he dropped a hammer in the tub and some of that beautiful ceramic was chipped...  Booboos happen... But, Jim says he can fix it, so, I'm hopeful.

Jim sent me this picture  - said that he was going to leave it in the bathroom for me, for a little reading material...  Jim knows... I read cookbooks in the bathroom..  Who needs an owner's manual for a toilet?

We didn't know there were birds at the cabin that liked to nest under our eaves until this showed up.  There was no nest, they just like to hang out there at night.  Jim broke the foam insulation off and they left the next day.  But they were not happy.  Jim said two of them sat out in a tree for about an hour just watching.

  

On Sunday morning, Jim opened the front door as usual - we seem to be having 100 plus degree California weather here in Utah, and we don't have air conditioning in the cabin yet so a little breeze is nice.  With the doors open, this little friend decided to say good morning.  Apparently, Jim wasn't up for visitors and showed him the door... Scared Jim when he just walked by while he was sitting on the couch eating breakfast.

And, on Sunday morning, this little girl bird decided to check out the cabin again... and, was enamored with my husband also.... she came inside, and didn't want to leave... and Jim did him Bird Whisperer number on her again... I was on the phone with Jim before he snagged her, and all I could hear in the background was her screaming for attention (chirping).  Jim said that she didn't try to bite him or peck him when he picked her up... She really was calm..  I think she's making a move on my husband, dirty finger nails and all...

And we'll end this with the usual, "the adventure continues". . . .

Jim & Cheri

..the time is right...

Several years ago, my brother Duane sent me pictures of a mosaic that my father had created that was on the wall of our family home since I was about 5 years old.  I used these pictures to make a stained glass window pattern... This pattern has sat on my kitchen table on the glass lay-up board for at least a year now.  I guess, I just wasn't quite ready to start such a personal project.  Well,  the time was right today - I pulled the pattern off the board and took it to the cabin with me, and started to cut the glass.  It has been a long, personal journey getting to this point, but the project has started.  And, it was a lovely experience, digging up memories of my dad, and smiling to myself...

...here's the first pieces that I cut... I sent this picture to a friend of mine, who knew my parents really well, and would recognize this work.... she asked if I had taken up colouring...  kinda... but, with really, really sharp crayons...

Here's the first step... picking out the colours and textures...

..and then, matching the glass piece colours to the original picture...

So, this is what the pattern looks like that I work off of... Not sure how I'm going to do the faces.

Jim, bless his heart, is working like crazy to make the cabin a little more livable for humans.  The main project that he's been working on, is getting the water to the cabin, and having a commode and bathtub installed.  I am so excited... The water is supposed to be brought from the street to the cabin this week, but Jim spent this past weekend getting the bathtub hooked up, just waiting for that glorious water to run through the pipes.  I don't know what I'm more excited for.. a working toilet or a shower... He got the drain pipes underneath the tub hooked up (after a few set backs, but I think he learned a whole lot with the experience) and then had to build some 2X4 framework so that the tub didn't rock and roll when someone gets into it.  So, it's hooked up and it's stable now!  What more can a girl ask for... without sounding unappreciative, that little bit of water would be fantastic!  Here's Jim gluing pipe fittings together to hook up the "P" trap.... (And, I thought the "P" trap was a "pee" trap and was a little insulted that Jim thought I would pee in the shower....)...

And . . . . The "P" trap wouldn't stretch down to the sewer drain in the square hole in the concrete so he had to get a bit creative.

Eventually with a few extras, he made it reach.  All this and no one will ever know it's down there.

..I think Jim forgot to put latex gloves on... I don't know what it is, but it came off pretty easily.. Jim said it was just PVC glue and would dry and rub off.  He picked at it for an hour. . . .

..and, here's the tub, all secure with stud walls all around it ready for green board and then tile...  The floor tiles are next!

I found a guy, online with a dump truck, that delivered gravel and sand and stuff like that.  We were needing some road base to be part of the foundations for the deck.  We set up a time for him to show up, and even though we were a little bit late, he worked with our crazy schedule and delivered the material to the cabin... So, now, we are the proud owners of a big pile of "stuff"... now, to find someone who can actually build the deck... lots of people say they can build it, but when it comes to actually showing up, they haven't got that mindset yet...  We were at the hardware store in Duck Creek today and got a couple of referrals from them, so I hope to be making some inquiries this week.... Jim can build the deck, however, we are in a time crunch and felt it was better to have someone else build it, just to make things go a little faster getting the building inspections completed, etc.... But, it's getting to the point that he might be building it himself... sigh...

 

Saturday afternoon, Jim was working downstairs on the little bathroom, and I came from upstairs to go outside through the sliding glass doors... Before I could get outside, I saw a mama deer standing right outside, eating grass, or something out there, about 15 feet away from me... she was kinda scruffy looking, but so calm just eating and relaxing...(I had this idea that all deer look like Bambi or Santa's reindeer... I guess this is the off season, and the deer are cruising... giggle)  Apparently deer in the deseret areas are kinda scruffy.  I waved Jim over, and the two of us just watched her for a couple of minutes... she then saw us, and we had a stare down for a couple of minutes and then she just walked off... didn't run.. just walked away... It was absolutely amazing.

OK, Jim sent me a photo of his truck.  He says he likes this "look" for his truck.  Brown tires from the dirt road and the four wheeler in the back.  What is it that makes men think like this?

Now apparently we are about to have a heatwave here in Utah for a complete week... I'm not really looking forward to that and, I suggested to Jim that we may want to purchase a little window air conditioner for the cabin for this next weekend... We bought a box fan today because the main level, where I was working got a little toasty... But, this next week is supposed to be deadly hot.  We'll see.

As always, the adventure continues.  Love, Jim and Cheri

..Moving Forward... baby steps...(This is from 2 weeks ago...)

Our weekend started our just a little bit different than usual... It's usually a Saturday morning that we start the drive down to the cabin, but this week, we took off after work on Friday - hoping to get an early start on the weekend.  I had checked the weather report, and it said it was supposed to be in the upper 60's, so we were encouraged.

When we got there, it was about 20 degrees cooler, and windy.  Got to the cabin, and it was freezing cold and because we don't have a furnace in yet, I spent most of Saturday under an electric blanket.  Was freezing cold.  A guy at the store said that it had got down to 17 degrees at night - and although it didn't feel quite like 17 degrees, it was frosty...

We made another trip to Coalville to pick up a load of bricks.  This time, we stacked the bricks on their edge, differently than before, which doubled the number of bricks we put in the trailer... made it really heavy to tow.  Jim figures that we are going to need probably about five loads to have enough to complete the hot tub area... oh my... it's tough work.

And, here's evidence of the tough work... I usually pull the bricks and throw them over the fence and Jim loads them on the trailer.  But, because of the deteriorating condition of my knee, I found that I couldn't bend down to pick up the brick, so we switched jobs.  I felt so bad for Jim - it's hard work.

But, here it is all stacked all pretty...

And, here they are, all stacked up and ready to be installed!

The pattern of the brick in this picture is what I want to design... I told Jim that it was easy, and but, especially easy to fix a mistake.  I kinda like it.

This is Jim adding a paragraph after Cheri wrote this Blog page.  I understand how passionate Cheri is to build this patio out of these 100+ year old bricks.  She is willing to endure spiders in order to collect these bricks out of the ground, in a pasture in Coalville, Utah.  She is determined!

Jim still had quite a few of the big blocks to move so that we could have the water line trench dug.... Again, hard work...  He moved another 6 blocks to make room for the trenching.

 

One thing that Jim showed me, was he has put a light in every closet.  It really drives me crazy when I can't see my clothes in the closets, so, that problem has been remedied...  What a sweetie.

And, Jim showed me the progress in the upstairs bathroom.  There's lights above the sink!  I love it.

And, here they are turned on.  I am totally loving how the loft bathroom is turning out.  It's absolutely, 100% what I want.

When we were in Hawaii, I bought this light fixture because it would always remind me of our trip.  I love the sunny colour.  Jim installed it in my glass work area upstairs.  The perfect place.

And, here it is all lit up.

Jim was in Panguitch for Mother's Day, but he sent me this picture of a little present he bought for me.  Somehow, it just makes sense... at least, it's going to make a whole lot more sense when that water line goes in, and there's a working shower and a working toilet!! Maybe at that point, it should say, "The bathroom is calling, and I must go!"

And, here's our weird story of the week... There was a dead bird on the floor in the great room.  I don't know how these birds get into the cabin, but, there's no water or food in there, and they eventually bite the dust.  I feel bad for them, but if we leave food and water, we would be inviting mouses and a plethora of other creatures in.  I don't know what kind of bird this is... But, we've had wood peckers and blue birds before.  

And, here's a little purchase I made for the loft bathroom.  You can't see the mirror in the middle, but, that's what it is.   The iron work holding the mirror in is a chippy turquoise, and I think it's going to be perfect.

We will not be going to the cabin this weekend...  My daughter, Brianne is getting married, and I think her wedding trumps the cabin building.  Her fiancé, soon to be husband, Lowell, is really a great guy, and we wish them the very best. (Update - because this is late in posting.. the wedding was absolutely beautiful and amazing and fun... and exhausting... The venue was perfect, the food was amazing, the guests were absolutely fun, Lowell's family are so lovely - I could not imagine a more perfect family for my Brianne to call "in laws"... we're tired, but happy...

As always, the adventure continues.. Love, Jim and Cheri.

And, The Weekend Is In The Books!!!

And, this is how the weekend began.... I had this sign made for Jim several years ago by a friend that I work with... He does amazing work.  Jim and I were talking about the sign on the way to the cabin and he said that the first thing he was going to do was to put the sign up... We had a little bit of a hard time deciding exactly where we wanted it, but I think we found the perfect place.  It looks amazing, and makes the whole cabin just like... homey... I love it.

The weekend actually started on Thursday night - as you can tell, Jim took me out to the most expensive place in Provo.... sigh... sad, that the most expensive store is Home Depot.  But, we just found out that redwood decking is finally in stock, and we are little by little purchasing the wood for the front side of the cabin...  We need quite a bit of it, and they don't always have a lot, so we are being picky with the pieces, and purchasing when they have acceptable pieces.

This weekend, I was honoured to have this little "Nana babysitter" spend a couple of days with us.  Whenever he comes over, he likes to eat at Nico's Pizza in Provo... and, my goodness, this kid can really eat... I think he has hollow legs!

We got off to a late start on Saturday morning, but we just had to stop in Scipio (on I-15  South) because we can get a snack there (the boy was hungry... again) and they have a petting zoo that I thought he would get a kick out of...

And, along with the roosters that were fighting, Coy got a kick out of the Zonkey... I didn't even know that Zonkeys existed, but, they actually do.  They are a cross because a Zebra and a donkey.  No joke...

And, Coy got to visit with bunnies.....

and goats and sheep...

and, turtles, a camel, an emu and an ostrich.....  It really was a fun little outing.

We got to the cabin on Saturday afternoon, and did a little bit of work, but it started getting dark, so we headed back to Panguitch.  We had dinner at the Cowboy Steakhouse because... the boy was hungry... really hungry...  and, this kid knows exactly what he wants.   And, he's really particular in how and what he wants...  But, every time he wanted to talk to Jim, he would reach over and grab Jim's chin and  turn his head.. cracked me up..

...got to the hotel room, and Coy and Jim had a moment playing on Coy's tablet... 

I think Coy has to explain stuff to Jim... I know he has to explain stuff to me...  uhuh..

I remember, years ago, I was looking after Mahayla, and had to ask her how to turn the tablet on.... ya...

..it was a grandma moment.

So, we got up on Sunday morning, and the boy was hungry... why does this not surprise me.. We took him to Jim and Lowell's favourite breakfast joint and then the three of us sat outside in the sunshine and enjoyed breakfast... lovely morning...

We got to the cabin and the real work began.. We, rather Jim, has to move about 40 of those big huge blocks from the front of the cabin to the back of the cabin, so that the city water can be brought from the road... HUGE job...

Each 1,800 lbs. block has to be picked up individually and moved...

Jim did an amazing job.. but, it's time consuming and exhausting work..

Coy, on the other hand, did little boy stuff.. like, playing in the dirt.  I'm not quite sure what he was trying to accomplish, but he had fun.

Inside, Coy was busy building Lego sets and kickin' back with Nana...

Rather, he was playing, and Nana fell asleep...  

When we were driving to the cabin on Saturday afternoon, out in the middle of one field stood an antelope.. wasn't really big, but was just standing there.  We slowed down to show Coy, and when we started to drive again, a coyote ran in front of the truck... We'd never seen a coyote on the mountain before, so this was a total treat... lots of deer, and rabbits... no antelopes and no coyotes... amazing wildlife and the mountain never ceases to amaze us.

Well, the adventure, as always, continues..

Love, Jim and Cheri