Moving Forward....

Well, our 2023 edition of "Me and Manzanita" has been completed and printed!  I am absolutely thrilled how this edition has turned out.  It looks a little different than years past, but it's amazing!  Lots of thanks to Patrick who moved it from the blogger.com program, to a publishing program.. He did an amazing edit job!

So, I had this picture taken of Jim holding the book... the picture is taken in the same spot on the deck where the cover picture was taken.  I am so glad he lets me take his picture... I am not so accommodating.

And, here's what the inside looks like... absolutely amazing.

 With all the excitement last week, Jim is recovering nicely... He still has quite a bit of pain in his finger, but we are finding out, this is really quite common... It seems that "Tool Time" kinda guys have been shooting staples and nails through their fingers since the invention of power tools... Different people who have seen his picture and commentary have said they have shot staples through, not just one finger, but two fingers and even three fingers.  I got a message from a friend in Australia who, apart from being grossed out by the picture, showed it to her husband, and he said that years ago, he nailed three fingers together... So, Conrad, you are the winner of this edition with three fingers nailed together.  Jim - don't get any ideas... let Conrad be the winner!  Giggle.

You can't see this picture really well.. But, the little dark specks on this roll of carpeting is.. Jim's blood from a week ago!!

I got the cutest picture from Cyle the manager at Habitat.  Jim had told him about shooting the staple through his finger, and the whole story.... Cyle then sent me this picture.. The funny thing was - I sent the picture to Jim, who wrote me back with...  "The gun I have has 7/16 staples. Not 1/2 inch"... I wrote this note to Jim, thinking that Jim was looking for staples... apparently, Jim and I both missed the humour... So, Jim... no more staples to be shot through your hand... Giggle.

We haven't had this happen for several years - but, we found another dead bird in our living room.  We actually thought we had plugged up all the holes where they were entering... Apparently not.  We don't know where our little friend came in, but the body in the room proves they found a way....

I was talking to Kelly this past week, and she mentioned that she was talking to a friend who said that she was from Canada and they didn't have Twinkies where she was from...  Jim said that we definitely do have Twinkies in Canada - that he grew up on Twinkies.  I did not and I can not remember ever eating one.  So, at the store on Saturday, I bought Twinkies... they are vile.  That white filling tastes like Crisco... I think they're awful.  Jim on the other hand, still thinks they are pretty amazing.. Twinkies and 2% milk straight out of the jug..  ewwwww...

We got to the cabin a little later than usual on Saturday, but managed to get some insulation work done in the loft bathroom.  Little by little.... There are still two sections to complete up there and it's done!

Here's my work station.  It's not to formal, but it works for cutting long lengths of insulation!

On Sunday, we started the insulation work on the main level bedroom.  We got one wall done before it was time to go home!

Another job that got tackled was installing the shower heads in the main level bathroom..  I am stoked there are dual shower heads... With Jim AND Ben both recuperating, we have to pick jobs that are actually doable.  I wasn't sure if Jim could get his hands over his head for this job, but he managed perfectly!

And, here's the story of the week.... we were at Home Depot and we purchased some sheetrock but told them that we were in our Kia and would have to come by with our trailer and pick it up in a day or so.  So, on Friday morning, Jim shows up with the trailer and they can't find out sheetrock.  They look all over.. it has our name on the top sheet and the receipt, but they can't seem to find it.  Finally, they just load some new sheets on to our trailer and Jim leaves.  While I'm at work, the guy from Home Depot calls and asks when we are going to pick up the sheetrock... I told him that we were there that morning, and they couldn't find it..  He says he is going to put it out front and we should come that day because it's going to rain in the afternoon... ok....

So, we drive over, and we put that new load of sheetrock on top of the sheetrock we picked up that morning.... It wasn't that big a deal, because we are going to need the materials...  After the trailer is loaded, Jim is backing up the truck and trailer in the driveway, and I am guiding the way.... Apparently, my "guiding the way" turned into a disaster... I stepped into a hole in the lawn, and catapulted into the trailer... hurt my back and my knees, and scraped and bruised my arms.. and my hand!  I didn't know you could get big bruises on your hands, but let me tell you, you can!

I went to purchase some ceramic tiles for the walkway in front of the house down by the grotto, and found just at that moment, that they are discontinuing the colour I want.  So, I've been scrambling a little bit.  I called the store in Lindon, and they said they had some left.  So, I went before work and picked up 5 cases.  I was in my Kia so I really couldn't put more than that in the back.  Each box weighs 55 lbs.  So, when I got to the office, I called back to the store and purchased the remaining boxes (6).  I was going to pick it up a couple of days later, after I had dropped off the one load at the cabin.  So, Monday morning, I go back to the store to pick up my boxes, and the lady comes out with one box.  I told her that there was 5 more boxes and she starts arguing with me that I only bought ONE box... I finally just told her to look at the receipt in the register.  She finally does that and agrees that she owes me 5 more boxes....But, they were left on the shelf.. I'm like.. seriously?  So she recruits another girl to help put it in the cart, and there is one extra box on the shelf.  So, I decide to buy it also...  The girls were not excited about loading it into the cart, and definitely were not excited about loading it into my car...  But, this is their job and even though they don't like it, it's still their job.  (I'll get off my soap box now.)  The picture with the big OUT OF STOCK sign on it, is the ceramics I am using.

Jim always tells people that I am the project manager, even though I think he could do a better job.  He just doesn't want the job.  So, I was making my list of things to do, and Jim started laughing.  He said he never thought he would see the day that I would be making lists... with a Home Depot pencil...  Giggle... as long as it writes, I don't care...This pencil reminds me of my dad... there was always some kind of "Home Depot" looking pencil hanging around, and he would sharpen it with a knife..  just like this one....

Part Deux

We purchased this piece of granite years and years ago... I didn't know exactly where we were going to use it, but I think it's finally found a home.  We initially thought we would make a table to go at the end of our bed in the loft, and then it changed to a sideboard... But, we've decided we are going to change out the countertop in the main level bathroom... It's not as busy as the piece we had in there, but I think it will work perfectly...

And, the thing I like most about it, is there is a fish fossil in it...Jim started cutting it to size on Saturday... Hopefully, we'll get the project completed this next weekend.

Update:  The piece was cut and put into place.  I think it looks amazing!

And, we had a little booboo in the main level shower.. We are not sure what is going on, but the one shower curtain, all of a sudden, exploded.  Jim got some glass in his arm, along with some bleed-i-ness, and at that point, we figured it was time to just go home.  It was a really difficult week, and this was the cherry on top of a really difficult cupcake.... Jim got into an accident on Monday and our van was totaled (he was not hurt and it was not his fault), my washing machine died... and, now this...  it was really time to pack it in for the weekend, before anything else happened... and then a mechanic changing out a thermostat and a new radiator hose caused the van to never run again.  Don't ask, we just know the battery drains away without the key in it and nothing works anymore.

Update:  We contacted the store we purchased the glass doors from, and there is a 5 year warranty on these doors.  So, we just have to file a claim, and then wait...  

2nd Update:  We got the list of items that Delta wants to replace the door...  We think they have it set up NOT to pay the claim... The list is crazy long and detailed.  We'll just have to see what happens... sigh..

On another note:  We went to our storage building last night to pull some stuff out to take to the cabin this weekend, and the lock has been cut and Jim lost a tool box and a welder.  As soon as we opened the door, there was the welding cart that had been knocked over - which is super heavy.  They didn't take the welding cables or the cart, just the welder.  We called the owner of the storage facility and told him there were three units where the locks were cut... one of them was his unit.  The police came this morning to take a report - but I highly doubt anything will be recovered.  I am just glad the things that were left weren't smashed.  Small blessings.

About 11:00 pm on Saturday night, we were sitting in the livingroom at the cabin, and all the power went out..  Was a little tricky moving around a construction zone in the dark trying to get to a drawer to find a candle or a flashlight or cell phone...  Finally found my way across the room, and found my cell phone on the kitchen island... The subdivision/valley was dark and stayed that way until about 6 in the morning.  Ben came by and brought us a bigger flashlight, and that was amazing!  I did a little research and found out that one of the power poles was fubar, and it took that long to get it back working.  It was a little warm in bed without a ceiling fan, but we managed...

And, Jim was in Vancouver this past week... and yes, he got me TimBits!!!  He must really, really love me!  Giggle.

The adventure continues...

Love, Jim and Cheri

"It's not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves."

Um... just a little booboo...

You know the old saying "Into every life, a little rain must fall"?   In Jim's case, a little staple must fall... right through his index finger!  This was the Sunday afternoon excitement at the Streeter cabin!  We were working on putting the insulation in the upstairs loft bathroom...  everything was working pretty well - Jim and I had a workable plan - I measured the insulation and cut the pieces and then handed them off to Jim who stapled them into place... All was working well until...  well, Jim started screaming and cussing and making a big commotion... actually that is a total fabrication and I took some creative license to make it sound better... Actually, he was stapling along nicely, and then walked over to where I was and simply said, "Cheri, you're not going to like this..."  I looked up and he showed me his finger... all bleedy, and I asked him what happened... He said that as he was stapling, there was a shot and a split 2X4 stud and the staple glanced off and went into his finger...  He looked down at it and tugged at it a little bit, trying to get it out, but it wouldn't budge...  This is how it looked when it first happened... He didn't like the idea that I wanted a picture for my blog the second it happened... giggle.
 

And, then... he cut part of the staple because it was causing too much pressure inside his finger, and he couldn't pull it out...  So, this next picture is with the staple cut...

He was vacillating between going to the hospital and having them remove it, and trying to remove it himself.  So, we had to call for 2nd opinion.  We called my sister in law in Arizona who has a daughter who is a nurse practitioner, and we asked her opinion... She didn't even see the picture and told Jim to go to the emergency room...  So, apparently, a niece trumps Jim, so we quickly packed up and went to the Panguitch hospital...

Before we left, I hadn't yet showered for the day - working with insulation, I figured that I would be totally itchy, so I had decided to shower when the work was finished... But, I wasn't going to go to the emergency room without showering, so Jim sat out he couch and I QUICKLY showed... It was one of those 5 minute showers...  Didn't even blow dry my hair or put makeup on... I looked a fright, but time was of the essence here...

We made it to the Panguitch Community Hospital and Jim prefaced his admission with, "I think you guys are going to want to take a picture of this"... The front end nurse was not impressed and after talking to the doctor, and him telling us that they have more fish hook removals, than nail/staple removals, I can see why...

They took him for x-rays. . . 

....and, when the doctor came in, he said that he was going to give Jim a little shot of lidocaine to dull the pain and said the needle was going to pinch a little.  We determined that doctors have a different idea of what 'pinch' means...  I told Jim to just breath and don't push... he wasn't impressed... I thought it was hysterical...  again, he wasn't impressed.

The doctor pulls out a Home Depot tool box and pulls out pliers, yes pliers, (we said we figured he was a Home Depot kinda guy) and quickly yanks out the two pieces of staple... no stitches since the holes were pretty small, just a bandage.  He thought he was going to get away with no tetanus shot thinking he had his last shot about 3 years ago... BUT, it was actually 6 years ago, and so he got another... with a prescription for antibiotics...

And, the excitement was over.  Kinda killed our work for the weekend, but he's now safe and sound and his finger is still numb, so he's not in any pain.  Friends of Jim asked if alcohol was involved and let me state this.... Alcohol was not involved, but I think as soon as that freezing wears off, Jim is going to seriously consider it!

And, this is what we were working on.  The outside walls have to be insulated and inspected by the county before putting up sheetrock... Here's the right side of the room that we almost finished...

..and, here's the left side... and...

...here's a panoramic of the room... We were working on the spaces below the windows when the little booboo happened...

Our helper, Ben, has been through a rough patch as of late.  A couple of weeks ago, he had pneumonia and had a brief hospitalization. Well, it made it through the pneumonia and was well on his way to recovery, and started having further issues.  He ended up having a major surgery to put 4 stents in his heart. After having covid last year, he developed considerable scarring.  And then, a week later, was hospitalized again.  He is anxious to get back to cabin building, but we are hoping he takes all the time needed to rest and recuperate.  So, everyone... let's get good thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery going to Ben.

Saturday night was the first night we have spent in the cabin this year... It wasn't cold when we got there - actually, it was quite pleasant... At about 3 in the morning, it was a little on the chilly side, but I didn't want to get out of bed and find a blanket and get even colder.  I knew if I was chilly, Jim was freezing - and poor thing actually said he was.  Early in the morning it started to warm up, and finally it was super comfortable.  When we were working in the loft, we had the ceiling fan running, and a fan running - super hot.  So, I think we are just about done with the freezing cold temperatures until the fall!  Hopefully, by that time, we will have the insulation completed, and the duct work in, so we'll have the furnace running.  Little by little, and step by step, we are making progress.

It was late when we made it to the cabin on Saturday night, and Jim heard a coyote howling somewhere nearby.  I don't think we've heard any howling before... so, I guess, Mr. Coyote was impressed with the weather also, and wanted to make sure everybody knew it!

And, on a happy note.... our sweet, happy, smiley little Brea graduated to middle school this week.. These signs announcing the graduation was put all over the front lawn of the school... The kids were thrilled and surprised.. Congratulations to our Brea... As always, we are proud grandparents.

As always, the adventure continues..

Love, Jim and Cheri

"For fast acting relief, try slowing down."

And, yes, we made it... for more than a one day trip!!!

Yes!!! We made it down to the cabin for  more than just one day!!  I checked the weather report, and the whole weekend was supposed to have moments of being overcast, but Saturday and Sunday were supposed to be in the 70's.  This is what the deck looked like when we got there....

And, this is what it looked like when we left!!!  

 

 We drove down south on Thursday night, and spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday just working.. It was a lot of work, but we figure we have a lot of work to do this summer, so we need to get started!

With Jim's arm still kinda of out of commission, I was really looking for jobs for him to do that didn't make him lift his arm over his head, and protecting his shoulder.  Jim and Ben call me the project manager, so this was my job.  The first suggestion I had was to put the hardware in place in the main level shower.  Jim handed me the instruction and called them, "Girl Papers" and it turned out we really needed that girl stuff... Jim had a little problem getting everything to fit together when he realized that one of the screws was not tapped... and we had to go into town and purchase the a tap.. But, in just a little bit, he had the job completed.  One step closer to having the bathroom finished.

And, here's both faucets installed.. I think it looks great!

The next was putting the shelves in the corner so we have some place to put shampoo/conditioner etc.  

Ben's job this weekend was starting putting up the insulation in the loft.  He does a great job! We bought him a painters suit and mask just so he doesn't get insulation itch, and he wore it well.  I sent this picture to his wife Kelly, and she thinks he looks hot in it...  I think it must be construction worker admiration!!

This is where Ben started....

..then went down the left wall... and then switched over to the closet...

So, one whole wall is completed.  The next room upstairs to get insulated is the loft bathroom. We don't have to insulate any interior walls.. so, his job will be figuring out the insulation around my stained glass half circle windows.  He does great work and we are so appreciative to have his help.

We stayed the three nights in a motel in Panguitch - just because it is still too cold at night to stay in the cabin...  On our way back on Sunday morning, we were greeted by four of the local congregation.  You can see two of them here (actually a butt and a head of the 2nd one) and only the one stayed to say hello before running off..

Mid afternoon on Sunday, it started to sleet and hail... It was super windy all morning, and then this happened... and, it got super cold really quickly.

...which forced us to take drastic measures and start the wood burning stove.  It provided a little bit of much needed heat.  The loft was super warm, the rest of the cabin was still pretty frosty..

Through all this, Jim continued to work in the bathroom... We decided, rather, I decided earlier in the week that we needed to get the glass shower doors and get them installed... So, this is the beginning of that project.

Jim needed Ben's help with this one...  But, between the two of them, they got the shower doors installed.  This picture shows you the pattern of glass I chose.  It's called Rain..

And, this is what the finished project looks like.  Jim says there is still a little bit of finish work to be completed, but, that will be the next trip.

I didn't get a picture, but the van, this week, was chuck full of... insulation.  We had like 13 rolls of insulation that we took to the cabin... I think the next project is taking gyprock down to the cabin...  Thank goodness we have a van while our pick up is out of commission for a while..

We have met some of the most interesting people since starting the cabin.  This past weekend, we met a couple from Australia... the husband was in his 70's and the wife in her 60's - both retired.  They are taking three months and driving all over the USA.  They just had to come see our beautiful Bryce Canyon.  Their final destination is New York.  So, interesting.

We were having breakfast in Panguitch on Sunday morning, and while we were paying for breakfast, a lady saw my wallet, that has little Canadian flags on it, and she asked where in Canada I was from.  I told her Ontario, and she and three of her companions were from British Columbia.  They belong to a hiking group and were hiking.. Bryce. Very nice group, except for the fact that they are Canucks fans... They were hoping the Canucks bring the Stanley back to Canada... personally, I'd love it if the Leafs could pull a win for game 7... but, history, I believe, is going to play a part in this one...(update - The Leafs lost game 7 in overtime... sad face...)

Jim went to see his shoulder surgeon yesterday, and they were not particularly happy with him.  He had taken his sling off because he said his shoulder was feeling better, and the medical assistant was not too pleased with his decision....... He's supposed to wear the sling for another 2 weeks and then start physical therapy... But, he did have the stitches taken out, and his incision points are looking good!

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

Love, Jim and Cheri

Part 2 - the next weekend... this was a quick visit, so I am putting last week's edition together with this week's edition... 

Pulling into the area, we are always greeted by a deer or two.  This week, we were passed by several herds!  The first one we saw, I tried to get a picture, but I was too slow getting my cell out of my purse, and they all ran away... This time, I was prepared and between Jim and I, we got a couple of decent shots...  I still hate these animals...  To make it worse, we have a couple of deer that live somewhere around our house, and my little maple trees that I am trying to grow, had all their leaves stripped off them one night...  I was not particularly pleased...

We bought the posts that go at the bottom and top of the stairs and Jim, decided that this would be ok for him to try and install them.  This is the bottom of the stairs that go up to the loft.

And, here's the post...  We had to reposition it from where it was going to be... Jim had to cut through the bottom of the stairs to set this piece into a better position... But, he did it, and I think it looks great.  It just needs to be stained right now so that it matches the cabinets.

Jim also worked on hooking up the water to the sink in the basement bathroom... We purchased the sink and cabinet last year, so this is the first chance in hooking it all up and get it working... I am stoked.  I told him this was exactly what I wanted for Mother's Day...  It's fantastic!  ( I didn't get a picture..  because, what kind of picture do you actually take to show the water is hooked up....  crickets chirping here....)

We had a local police officer, Bill Hooser from Santaquin, Utah get killed a week ago.  I am not totally sure of all the details, but he was hit by an 18 wheeler and the driver fled the scene.  He was memorialized with a heart with a thin blue line across it on the side of the mountain. We drove by about 10:00 pm on Sunday evening, and saw it...

After all the work that Ben did on the insulation, he had some travelling to do the next week, so we didn't see him.  His wife Kelly sent me this picture the next weekend... apparently, it wasn't allergies or a cold, or asthma that Ben had, but pneumonia and he was admitted into the hospital.  We went to visit him the next night, and he was in good spirits, but really needed to take some time off to rest, relax and heal..

Part 3 - I know, I know....  I'm a busy woman...  We didn't go down to the cabin this weekend.. we went shopping instead - my favourite.  Right about now, Jim is groaning.

I saw these lights and I love them.  They are going to be installed above the garage.  The green matches the roof on the cabin, so it will come together nicely.  These are about 3' long - so they are a good size.  I bought three of them... Please excuse our grass.. it doesn't look so hot right now, BUT, we did just go through the winter, and we need to give it time to grow.

We're back purchasing insulation.  Jim's truck is having repairs done, so we had to put all our purchases in the back of my Kia.  I don't think a Kia is made for transporting stuff, but we had no other choice.  

We were at Home Depot getting the insulation and buying some of the stone for the walkway and the outside shower, and I saw that some of the boxes of stone had been broken open... The boxes weren't really great any more and it makes it difficult to transport. Jim and I were talking to one of the managers when we were checking out, I mentioned it to him.  He told me that if I wanted the tile from the three boxes, he would discount them 80%.  I was excited.  So, I got the three boxes for a total of $27.00 and I was absolutely thrilled!  And again, they're really heavy, but they were transported in the back of my Kia.

And, I found this decorative piece... It's stained glass and absolutely beautiful.  I am not quite sure where I am going to put it... maybe around the jacuzzi, but when it gets a little warmer out, I'll be making that decision.  It's about 2' wide and hangs on wrought iron.. and you know how I feel about wrought iron...

These two spotlights are going to be over by the jacuzzi... Probably pointing up through the trees... but, again, until I place it and check it out, I don't know for certain.

And, these two lights are going to go at the end of the driveway.  I really want something to show the driveway a little better.  We have motion detector lights around the cabin, but you have to get a little closer to the door before they turn on.  So, I think this will be a good idea.

And, we bought the shades for all the windows in the great room...And, there are a lot. Right now we just have random curtains covering the windows.  These are motorized shades that will open and close with the click of the remote... So, it's more to our liking.

And, the last piece we bought was a ceiling fan for the upstairs loft.  There is a ceiling fan there now, but it's not quite what I wanted in there -  we put a ceiling fan in there just too get some air circulating.  This is more of what I wanted.  We had to take one of the blades off to fit it into the Kia... it was waaaay too wide, but without one blade, it fits.   The blades are bamboo... I couldn't resist.

Just remember... all this stuff fit into one little Kia...  Giggle.  Jim was talking about getting rid of my Kia and getting me something else... The only problem is... I really like the Kia Soul.. It's about 14 years old now, and I've got a whopping 120k miles on it... And, I still love it.

And, here's my sweetheart, still coping with having to wear a sling.  He's just passed the four week mark after surgery and is supposed to be starting physical therapy soon.  He is so annoyed with this stupid sling - just tired to being so restrained.  But, I am glad he had the surgery and is on his way to recovery...  Love that man.

Well, three weeks of cabin blog is complete.. Sorry for it being so long, but... I have no other excuse than I'm busy.  I'll try to keep it under control going forward..... but, I can't make promises.  Giggle.

Take care- on to another amazing adventure...

Love,

Jim and Cheri

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."  Winston Churchill