I SERIOUSLY THINK I'M LOSING IT....

It finally happened... I did something I have NEVER done in my life... and did it twice in one week.

On Thanksgiving morning, I realized that I had forgot a few things at the store, so when I got up, I got dressed, and drove off to the grocery store... no makeup, no shower, my hair was not done... looked a sight to say the least... When Brianne got up, she noticed that I wasn't in the house and didn't know where I was.. She asked Jim - he didn't know either.. But, the two of them decided that I had to be somewhere in the house... why?  ...because I NEVER go out in public without makeup and my hair done...

Then, we went down to the cabin over the weekend, on Sunday morning, I am unpacking our suitcase, and realized at that point, I had forgotten my curling iron at home... ya... my hair is so straight, it's pathetic... So, I did my best to become presentable.. and yep, went out in public again.  wasn't pretty...  sigh... Seriously, I'm losing it... giggle.

While my hair wasn't pretty, the area around the cabin sure was.. was a beautiful day... And, we don't know why, but the airplanes were leaving con-trails for all to see..

Super interesting..

Saturday night was our pizza night at the C-Stop in Panguitch.. But, it was so freakin' cold, I never took my coat off!  I have this behemoth coat, that is exceptionally warm... not much on style, but, it sure cuts down the cold! And, at this point in my life, I don't care what it looks like... or, apparently, what my hair looks like.. giggle.

We are continuing to place pieces of furniture into the different rooms... This week, it was a cabinet and sink in the upstairs bathroom.  It came with these wooden legs, but, I think I am going to powder coat in chrome, a spare set of the feet we collected for the bathtub, and put them on this cabinet..  The legs for the bathtub are chrome also, so I think the pairing will look cool.  Jim can figure out how to attach them.

Jim continues to work on the siding..and, he finished the sides around the bay window.  It seems that each time he starts a new area on the cabin, there's a new skill he needs... Like bending siding around an arched window.  But, he's doing an amazing job.  It just takes a lot of time and it frustrates him.

When we go to the cabin, there's always a pattern that we follow... one of the things that we do is, on the way home, we stop at either the Subway in Panguitch and get a sandwich, or the Burger King in Fillmore...  The Subway is actually nice, clean and the people know us as locals.  The Burger King in Fillmore - well, they're an interesting breed.  They have the slowest drive through on the face of the earth, and they are ALWAYS out of something... and, it's a matter of guessing what they are going to be out of.  We have been told that either the drive through is closed, or the grill is broken, they are understaffed, or, have a new cook... trust me, we're heard it all.  This past week, we pull up to the intercom and immediately, a little voice comes over and says, "We are out of nuggets"... no, "Welcome to Burger King", or, " I'm ready to take your order".. just, "We're out of nuggets".. So, Jim says, "We don't want chicken nuggets.."..Giggle...We place our order, pull up to the window, pay our money, and wait, and wait, and wait...  we turn the truck off, and wait... A lady comes to the window with a "We have a new cook"...  giggle... I guess he was having a problem understanding, 'Whopper with no onion"... it totally cracks us up..

Anyways, here's what the side of the cabin looks like now.  I am still waiting for the stained glass windows to be insulated and completed.. when that is done, the west side of the cabin can be completed... I am thrilled.

The adventure with my sweetheart continues.

Jim and Cheri

.. A CROSS BETWEEN THE POWER WASH AT THE CAR WASH AND A BACKSCRATCH...

What an interesting weekend....

Everything started even BEFORE we got to the cabin this week...  I swear, we have nerves of steel.

Several years ago, as a birthday present, I bought Jim a cement mixer.. I know, it's a little untraditional  present, but, I know what Jim likes and wants, and I really try to get him things he likes..  remember, I am the one who bought him a box of rocks as a Christmas present... and he loves them... Anyways, this cement mixer has sat in the carport of our house for a while now, and being that we are about to need it, I told Jim earlier in the week that we should put it on the trailer and take it to the cabin..  great idea...  So, Friday night, I am expecting to see Jim loading up the trailer with the cement mixer as I pull into the driveway.. Before I even get home, I get a call from Jim, all in a fluster, telling me that he's running waaaay late... he tried to get the cement mixer into the trailer, but it had two flats, and with only one spare, he had to go to the tire place and buy a tire, and it was $75.00 that he didn't want to spend just to get the thing into the trailer ... and now, he and Lowell  (Brianne's significant other) were getting it into the trailer... I feel bad, because, Jim always tries to get on the road on a Friday by about 5 or 6, and we get into Panguitch between 8 - 9...  we were going to be late...  way late, grrrr.

Well, Jim and Lowell got the cement mixer into the trailer finally, I got some stuff packed into the back seat as well as some furniture in the trailer too that I wanted to take down... I'm sitting in the truck ready to go, and Jim asks if I had seen his work keys and ID badge for work.. I had not.. he said he set them on the tailgate of the truck, and they weren't there, and he's looking in the bed of the truck and on the ground... poor thing, couldn't find them..   So, he decides to just leave.

We get about halfway down our street and I tell Jim to just go back and look in the house.. because, if he doesn't, he is going to worry about it all weekend... He finally agrees and we go back... goes into the house, and sure enough, they are on the island in the kitchen... worry over.. travel time still an issue...

Fast forward, we are now two hours down the highway, just past Beaver, Utah, and the hotel manager calls.. wants to know if we are still checking in, it's 9:30 PM and we're just a little under an hour away...  He tells us that he's going to turn off the lights, and we should ring the bell when we get in...  giggle... (Still cracks me up that he would just turn off the lights.. we've had it before where the hotel stuck the key on the door in an envelope for us....  uhuh"... Panguitch!

The next morning, we get to the cabin and unloading was a challenge.. The cement mixer was put into the trailer with 2 people, and was coming out of the trailer with 1....  But, Jim had a plan.... The first picture is the cement mixer in the trailer.

It is laying on it's back in the trailer...

The second picture it has been tipped out of the trailer and now rests on the ground.  Big bang!  .. on the ground...'nuff said... it's out of the trailer...  Poor Jim...

The major job is that we have got to finish before snowfall -  is getting the rest of the siding on... and it's proving to be a daunting job.. Every time Jim goes, he tackles a little bit more.  This week, he was working on the bay window.  A lot of small detail takes a long freaking time.

I was inside the cabin and this is what I walked out to see... Jim, with a corner piece of siding... on his head... and he's bending it up and down the length... I was like... what?  Well, I guess we've all just learned that his head is good for something... giggle.. It had to fit on the edge of the bay window but it wasn't a full 90 degrees bend.

And, this is what he finished this weekend... We'll be back again this coming weekend, trying to complete more of the same project.

My job, this past weekend, was to clean out the RV.  We've had it for several years, and we've outgrown it... so, it needed to be cleared in order to sell it.  In one of the drawers, I found these three little knobs... I don't have a clue what they came from, or what they were going to go on, but, they're kinda pretty.  I brought them home to clean them up and see what they really look like...

Jim has been looking for his pith helmet for several years... I found it!!!  giggle.

I don't know why I had some things in the RV... but, they are ending up in the cabin...included is a toaster oven, a set of moose dishes, a donut maker, a wing maker, a crock pot, a mini pie maker, a mini cupcake maker and a set of spring form pans... I don't have a clue what I had in mind when I put these in the RV...  I'm going to be finishing the job next weekend, and then give it a good cleaning.

One of my furniture finds this past week was this corner cupboard.  Something about it just looked like it belonged in my upstairs bathroom.  Jim put it in place, and I think it's going to be perfect for towels.

Do you remember the other week, I wrote about seeing a steer down on the side of the road.  Well, on Saturday night, we had dinner with our neighbours, Ron and Mary. I mentioned to them the whole story of the steer and how freaked out I was, and they had heard about it too, and filled in the blanks... apparently, some guy was driving a little too fast down the road (it's dirt) and didn't see the steer (black and probably 1000 pounds), and he hit it while driving his car.  It totaled the car, and spun the steer totally around breaking it's back legs.  The poor cow dragged itself into the ditch.. The driver of the car knew the owner of the steer, and called him... that's when I showed up...  I don't know how you couldn't see this animal in the road...  beyond me.  They just don't move that fast!

While we were at dinner, (it's kind of a cowboy steakhouse) a lady walks up to this music area, and turns on the mike, plugs in her phone and runs a karaoke app, and starts to sing... and she is phenomenal...  absolutely gorgeous voice.  She sang mainly country songs recorded by women, and it was the sound that was amazing.  She started with "Crazy" by Patsy Cline, and it was the most impressive rendition I have ever heard...  Dolly Parton, Shania, Whitney Houston, it was amazing.  We at our dinner, then had dessert, and just listened... it was like an amazing concert.  She sang for 3 straight hours.. We were talking to her and the restaurant owner afterwards, and he said, she comes in every once in a while and just sings... he doesn't pay her.. she just wants to sing...She said she was tiling a bathroom all day, and just needed a break, so she came down to the restaurant to sing...She says she has the greatest job in the world - shows up when she wants to, is always welcome, sings and leaves. Her name is Becky Henry, and she said she had a vocal scholarship to SUU years ago.. Never graduated, got married and had 5 kids...  Such a gift.. Such an amazing talent.

Sunday, while Jim was doing siding, I hear a thump and then Jim is yelling for me... Well, you see these new boards on the deck...

..and this other new board on the deck... well, those boards weren't there.. until Jim stepped in the hole and fell through.  He was kind of stuck on the deck with his leg down a hole and I had to help him out....he scraped up his knee.  When he was back moving around again, he put some boards in...  poor thing..

One our way back to Provo, we take Hwy 20 over to Exit 95.  It goes from Panguitch to I-15... and, that road takes you through mountains.  It always scares me driving that road at night, because there are lots of deer.. Jim always says that he likes a car in front of us, just in case.  Well, we were driving on Sunday about 7, and it's pitch black out.. There's a car from California in front of us and they are driving sooooo slow and Jim wants to pass.. Personally, I would just put up with the slow speed.. I hate passing - I am really a nervous driver..  All of a sudden, the car in front slams on the brakes to the point that Jim slams on our brakes and we go into the opposite lane to stop...  There, crossing the road, is a little herd of deer, just moseying across.. no hurry... One doe stood in the middle of the road and just stared... and then, wandered off the road as if to say, "I will take my time, and you can freakin' wait"..  They must be so used to cars at this point..no fear..

Now, to get back to the heading of this blog... We were supposed to spend the night at the HooDoo Motel in Hatch, but the owner called earlier and asked if we could change our reservation to somewhere else.  He has a very small motel, and some guy who was staying in our room the night before, wanted to stay in it for a whole week...  So, we switched hotels..  We got to the new hotel late, rang the doorbell, and the owner comes out and we check in.. It was reasonably comfortable, except my husband has this idea the heat has to be set at 74 degrees to warm up the room and it feels like a sauna to me all night long... but, I digress ... in the morning, Jim gets into the shower first..  There are just a couple of things I judge a hotel by... first is the bed.  I really love my bed at home, so, the bed is going to be a tough sell.  The second, is the shower and water pressure in the shower.  I am so sick of staying in a hotel where the water pressure is questionable.. Jim gets out of the shower and I ask him how it is, and his answer was, "Well, let me put it this way.. it's a cross between the power washer at the car wash, and a back scratch"...  Interesting wording... and when I get in the shower and got in, I understood.  The pressure was so great, I thought it was tearing my skin off... well maybe..... amazing... I was thrilled I actually had eyebrows left...The shower felt like I was scrubbing with a wire brush, or having dermabrasion... The pressure was so intense, my skin was stinging...  quite like something was ripping flesh off...  No problem with water pressure.. nope...and not a speck of dirt would have survived... giggle.

We are desperate for help these last few weeks.. if anybody knows anybody who'd like to spend a weekend with us, let us know... we'll even feed and pay 'ya...

As always, the adventure continues...

Jim and Cheri

TRYING TO BEAT THE SNOW...

Well, we are winding down this season... we're kind of in a little bit of Indian summer right now...but, we are expecting this can change in a split second.  It is swinging back and forth from warmish to coldish.

Jim has feverishly been making trips to the cabin with a load of this and that... we are trying to empty out at least one of the storage buildings this year.. and it's been a challenge.

With the van full of.. stuff... Jim had to make a stop at the hardware store in Panguitch to buy some plywood and cement board for the hearth... we found that the price varied from about $10.00 a sheet to $19.00 a sheet for the cement board... quite a difference for identical products.  The only problem was getting all the stuff needed into the van..  he got creative.. giggle.  Notice the tie down running in one door and out the other side and then the tail end stuck inside while the window was rolled up to hold it in.

I think you can see a 4x4 post between the seats.. I didn't go this past weekend... it was really coldish, and I was home having a pajama party with the grandkids... So, Jim ventured off by himself.

With the cold weather coming on, it's imperative that we get as much siding on the exterior as possible.  We don't have help on this project, so the only one available is.. Jim... sad face..  The first picture is what the siding looked like BEFORE Jim started working this weekend, and the 2nd is after a few hours..  He's doing an amazing job.

Around the windows has proved to be a little on the tricky side.. There's a teeny, tiny little space between the window and wall - Jim said he didn't really know how to do this, but he figured it out.

The fireplace is an ongoing project.  Jim got the big rock in the corner wired into place this past weekend.  He couldn't go any further without purchasing a few more lag bolts and lead anchors... guess what someone forgot to buy.. giggle.

But, here's what the cabin looks like at this point... The green space on the wall in the upper right corner is where my stained glass windows are going to go.... haven't got them back from the glass shop yet... waiting, waiting, waiting...  grrrr...

Lots of work.. lots of decisions... lots of love...  the adventure continues.

Jim and Cheri

HooDoo?

When I was a little girl, many, many, many years ago, (as my brother Eldon would say...) our family took a trip into the US, driving through Montana and Wyoming... I remember certain experiences vividly...( I know I've told this story before, but just go with it.. it's MY blog...  giggle)  I can't remember what state we were in, probably the state of oblivion or boredom, but we came across cowboys, on horses, herding cows.... we had that experience again this past weekend...  We were driving to Koosharem, Utah which is about an hour north of Panguitch, Utah (southern Utah)... We were driving through a canyon totally enjoying the scenery, when we run into a dust cloud and hundreds of black steer (maybe they were bulls or maybe cows... I didn't really check that closely......) but they were walking down the road towards us and then right next to the van... it was amazing!  I roll down the window to take pictures, Jim rolls down his window to moo at them, and, guess what.... they moo back!.. and drool... giggle... then, out of the dust comes... cowboys... real live cowboys... not those squeaky clean, country singing types, like George Strait... but, dirty, dusty, horse riding' cowboys...(don't hate me, I have nothing against George Strait.. just a little too clean for a cowboy...)  One of them rode right past my window with a "Howdy, ma'am"...  like I'm city folk or something... it was great!!!  They even had dogs, 3 to be exact, and they're not sit on your lap kinda dogs, they're actual working dogs...  Amazing!

Was an amazing sight and brought back wonderful memories.

Onward ho, we tried out a new motel on Saturday night - the Hoo Doo Hideout in Hatch, Utah, which is about 7 miles from our cabin.. We had been watching it for the last couple of years... it wasn't in operation for years, and then we saw a sign go up about the cafe being open, and then motel rooms... So, a week ago, we tried out the cafe, and it really was delicious... At that time, we decided to book a room for last Saturday night... very, very comfortable.. I always judge a hotel room by how it compares to my bed at home... and, this was really nice... (Jim always laughs at me because whenever I crawl into bed at home, I say, "Oooooh, I love my bed"...  and, I really do.)

Jim has been working on the balcony off the loft - getting it all waterproofed and ready for winter.  This past weekend, he got the deck completed, and I think it looks amazing. Here you can see him covering the joist that sticks out from the cabin so that, in years from now, water doesn't get in and rot them... he put on vinyl roofing material to keep the water off.

After they were covered, the decking part goes on... I can just imagine myself sitting out here, in the morning (not too early morning... I don't do mornings very well...) and drinking orange juice and eating croissants... reading a newspaper from the weekend before - being that we don't have mail delivery here, or newspaper delivery...or pizza delivery... giggle.

Jim also did some timber work... Here he drilled out the big 8X8 in the middle of the cabin and bolted it into the saddle that fixes it permanently.  He said it was very satisfying to tighten up these big bolts knowing it was an integral part of the structure.  I'm good with it.

One of the projects that we are most anxious to get going on, is putting the hearth and rock walls behind the wood burning stove.  Jim had to cut a corner out of the front right hand corner of the base so that a big rock gets set right there in the corner... the rock weighs about 150 lbs. and should look very dramatic.  Here's the front corner cut out before he set it back down into place.

He also put the angular wall on the stairs for the cement board to attach to.  You gotta have cement board on before the rocks are attached...  I'm learning a lot in this process, even though I really don't want to be building another cabin in my lifetime...  this adventure is enough for this old girl... So the rock wall will go across the right hand wall and then down the angular wall next to the stairs.  The hearth is that wooden platform.

I think it looks amazing and I am super stoked. We already have the majority of the rock ready to go, but, we're still washing and scrubbing a few rocks in the dishwasher, and taking them to the cabin.. I didn't realize we had so many rocks still next to the driveway...  grrr..

Through all this, I still love that guy I live with, he loves me, that's all that matters, and the adventure continues.

Jim and Cheri

IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT STAINED GLASS!!! Check it out!

Oh my... such a busy week/weekend...  I guess I am going to start with a post that I put on facebook earlier in the week... so bear with me...

"Every once in a while, you have one of those moments, when someone validates what you do... and the feeling is amazing... I have always suffered from extreme self doubt/worth... and, sometimes it's absolutely crippling... But, this morning, after the longest time working on my glass project, I took the finished piece to the glass shop to be insulated and framed... the gentleman that I call my "mentor", saw my work, and called it, "exceptional".. For literally, all the blood, sweat and tears that went into this project, to be called "exceptional" by a master, is so amazing... Fantastic start to my day... Thank you, Andy, you have no idea what you did for this stupid little Canadian this morning... Thank you."

Jim has been so patient while I have worked on this project - it's been a difficult year for me, and, trying to motivate myself to get the project finished has been a HUGE challenge.... Jim has been amazing...

I was in the glass shop this morning, because we need the 2nd window insulated to be identical to the 1st window... we took in all kindsd of measurements for Andy... let's just say, we'll be taking the 1st window back from the cabin and into the glass shop next week.  I am glad that Andy is as picky with the glass as I am.  He wants them to match perfectly.  

So, here it is... this is the backside of the glass, but you can see the detail, never the less.  

There's quite a bit of scribbling on the pattern and the glass as it gets completed, and before it goes to the glass shop, it needs to be scrubbed down... Jim always takes a scrubby and buffs up the lead work so the discolouration from the flux is gone...  All part of the process.

And, here's the piece that it will be beside it in my bathroom..

A couple of years ago, we found these 10 amazing tin ceiling materials.. we weren't quite sure what to do with them, but I loved the pattern.  I believe that it came out of a hotel somewhere in the midwest.  Well, Jim had this amazing idea that we should use it as a backsplash in the kitchen, and I think it's a great idea.  So, we pulled out a piece, cleaned it off, and took it over to a powder coat guy to make the colour more uniform.  Initially, we thought that we would do it silver, but, in thinking about the situation, we came up with the idea that we want it to be powder coated a cream/light yellow colour, to match the antique stove that's going into the kitchen... We got one piece done in silver, and I'm not particularly crazy about it.  We need to go to storage and pull out the stove, remove a piece and match it.  Here's the tin before the powder coating...

The pattern is amazing..

... and after...

I'll post a picture when we get the cream coloured powder coating done..

Last week, Jim drove down to the cabin to pick up this little gem.. it's a stove for the front room... it's a little bigger than the one we already had, and it has the glass and brass on the front, so we decided to buy it... the only thing that I think is weird is.. it's a teal blue..  I told Jim that I thought we should sandblast it back to the black, but, he kinda likes the blue...  He says it would be unique... but, all I can think of is that orange piano that used to be in my parent's living room.. my dad thought it was unique...  me - not so much.

When we were driving to the cabin on Bryce Woodlands Road, we drove up on a cow/bull/steer that was laying down in the ditch.  I don't have a whole lot of experience with bovine, BUT, I know if they are laying down in a ditch, and not moving when you drive by, there's a problem.. I told Jim that I thought the animal was probably sick or broke a leg or something.. sad face.  We drove up to the cabin, and started working.  It wasn't much after this that Jim needed me to go into town and run some errands.

So, I'm driving down the hill and about 100 yards from where the downed animal was, I see three pick up trucks back to back... trailer in the middle, and oddly enough, there was a picnic table on the trailer.  And, then, I hear a blast, and a spray of something.. could be blood.. could be smoke.. don't know, don't care... I slammed on my brakes and screamed.. It felt like I was in the Napoleon Dynamite movie, (where the school bus pulls up just as some farmer shoots a steer.. and the whole bus screams...) not fun...

When I finally regain my composure, I drove by, and sure enough, they shot the cow... and they were trying to get it into the trailer.. I was totally freaked... and then ..went into town, and on my way back, I was looking for the splatter on the road... there was more than just splatter... they field dressed the animal and it was piled on the road..  so gross...  (I took a picture to show Jim... he was not impressed either...) . . . . country living.

Now we are continuing to purchase a few pieces of furniture for the cabin.. this week's purchase was a Grandparent's chair...  I love it.. and it will fit one papa and one grandbaby perfectly for story telling or book reading!

With much effort, we placed this in the living room...and the Papa was put in the living room also...

A couple of other pieces we had stored that finally made it to the cabin were:

A vintage General Electric radio

The radio went into the loft - and the next piece transported up to the loft was:

I purchased a set of bells this past week also.. I want to put these by the Jacuzzi... I don't know why I liked them... they just looked different and unique... not orange piano different, just lovely...

But, for now, they are sitting in the corner of the main floor bedroom.

We went down to the cabin on Friday night, and Saturday was absolutely beautiful for working.. Sunday, we woke up to rain... and, with the rain, comes the mud, and with the mud, comes for unhappy builders...  You know how I love my Crocs... well, the Crocs and I were not best friends on Sunday... Jim took these pictures, and said that between the Crocs and my socks, I look like I should be committed... giggle...  (LOVE LOVE LOVE my Crocs)

And, I thought I was stylin'...  Giggle.

Jim has been working feverishly getting different parts of the cabin completed.  Sunday he worked on more of the electrics - started in the main floor bathroom.. he's worked on the kitchen before, he got the wiring in there completed... We were discussing the electrics, and Jim is going to start working on one side of the cabin and work towards the living room... So, next up, is the main floor bedroom!  I'm stoked..

..he's so smart... I don't have a clue about this stuff... I know enough not to put a fork into the toaster when it's plugged in, and that's about it..

We dug out the copper post caps that go on the deck, and got them installed.. found out we are REALLY short and will have to make a little trip to Home Depot for about 12 more... again..

..they are solar, so, they'll light up at night... As we were driving home last night, Jim mentioned that the deck was all lit up at this point... was kinda nice.

Well, between glass and grandpa chairs and steers, it was an interesting week...  The adventure continues.

Jim and Cheri