We closed up the cabin for the winter, just in case any future plans we have to visit need to change. We drove home into, you guessed it, more rain!!!
September 26, 2011
We were up around 6:30 and still exhausted and sore from the weekend of damp weather. Coffee helped warm us up and yes – it was STILL raining. Carlo saw a mouse on the eave of the front porch and covered the opening.
Hopefully the mouse gets the idea that the entrance is closed!
We had leftovers for breakfast after spending way too much time looking for Pita bread. I guess the Pita and the Brats were at home. I can’t remember everything!!! We stripped all the beds and Carlo went off to the Laundromat – there were so many sacks, I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever see him again! I made the beds with other bedding, waiting for the fresh blankets to arrive.
I laid out the tile formation for the corner – where one day, the new wood stove will be situated. Hopefully my tile cutting skills will not suck when tile cutting time comes along.
I also put together the crappiest ever boot rack – which the attached labels advise to not exceed 3 pounds – I guess we’ll use this rack for our invisible boots!
Carlo got back around noon and brought a little sunshine with him. We ate more of the leftovers for lunch and then I finished making the beds with the awesome smelling, freshly washed blankets. ''
We returned the borrowed wood splitter and visited with Betty for a bit. When we got back we cleaned up the outside, added a huge pumpkin and more bird seed to the rock garden and added an additional tarp to the wood crib. Our much used brand new fire pit may not see another flame for quite sometime, but I am glad we were able to get some use out of it so soon! We were way too tired to go out for dinner and even too tired to eat.
We returned the borrowed wood splitter and visited with Betty for a bit. When we got back we cleaned up the outside, added a huge pumpkin and more bird seed to the rock garden and added an additional tarp to the wood crib. Our much used brand new fire pit may not see another flame for quite sometime, but I am glad we were able to get some use out of it so soon! We were way too tired to go out for dinner and even too tired to eat.
September 25, 2011
The morning started with a huge continental breakfast and then we hit the outside to tackle the wood crib project. Rick, Jackie and Alex unloaded the fallen and bowed crib and then we moved it to its new location. The spikes we have wouldn’t fully bore into the ground – ergh! Jackie, Rick and I split wood and eventually it was loaded to the new – okay not new; repaired – okay not really repaired; stable – okay not really sure about this either…wood crib! Many, many hands make for much lighter work! We are appreciative of the help!
Alex gathered up a bunch of rocks for the rock garden and I put out gourds and pumpkins for decoration – and whatever critter is going to eat them up!
In between all the chaos – we were in the midst of a giant rain delay – which lasted the entire day. The weather was a total change from the day before and a greater disappointment since we were finally able to coordinate a get together that included able bodied and willing helpers. What we got done was great – but we weren’t able to tackle our chain sawing multi-tree project. Now we can only hope to not lose the wood to weather or thieves! We were able to tag team several batches of wood from the easement that the electric company left in manageable pieces, but the wood wasn’t good enough for inside and will eventually end up in the fire pit.
We got lunch together so Rick, Katie and Jack could leave at 2:00. They were right on schedule – we even got in some family pictures – in the pouring down rain!
We kicked back, even napped due to still being in our rain delay, until Jackie and Alex left, which was around 7:00 pm. Katie even posted a picture of a tuckered out Jack on the car ride home!
The evening was spent cleaning and moving furniture back to our non-company configuration and we called it a wrap at 10:00 pm, as it continued to rain!
September 24, 2011
We decided to shop and cook and bring everything with us from home to save time for the weekend. We got to O’Wich around 11:00 am to find Rick and Katie greeting us from the rockers on the front porch. They, along with Jack, arrived on Friday night. We unloaded everything and got lunch started. Rick had already begun deconstruction of the old fire pit and moved all the cinder blocks to the edge of the road. The sweat on Rick’s brow (if there was any) wasn’t even dry when our scavenger neighbor pulled up, interested in the blocks. Funny thing is that we wanted him or the other scavengering neighbor to take them, but we wanted to offer them or at least put a “FREE” sign on them! Oh well, at least they’re gone! Rick said there were lots of mice and frogs being displaced – hopefully they run ‘away’ from the cabin!
We had Sloppy Joes for lunch and then Carlo and Rick ran to the store and brought back ice cream – someone really enjoyed running from cone to cone!!!
Then Carlo and Rick scooped out the remnants of the fire pit – even Jack helped!
Time to construct the new fire pit! When moving the stones to their new location, a ball of fabric rolled out of one of the stones. Katie and I noticed it moving, when a mouse with either babies “en tit” or “in birth” emerged and ran off – somewhere, not sure where, again…hopefully ‘away’ from the cabin!!!
Within a little more than an hour the stones were in place, adhered together and Jackie and Alex arrived.
Jack showed Alex the tractor...
they climbed on some stumps...
and they posed for pictures!
It was official; my children had arrived on site for family weekend! We capped off the fire pit with the last of the stones and got our first official fire started!!!
We enjoyed the fire and the beautiful day while we visited. We grilled chicken – I forgot the Brats - for dinner and watched some family videos and then we got our S’mores on at the fire side.
Although Carlo and I were both up for over 24 hours, we had a great day and evening – productive and entertaining. Jackie and Alex were going to camp but couldn’t find their tent. The back up plan was to sleep on the screened in porch – but with the cold temps and the presence of mice, they bunked in the living room. Carlo and I grabbed the loft while Rick, Katie and Jack took the bedroom. For a small cabin, it seemed to all work out just fine!
September 18, 2011
Who gets up at 5:45 am after going to bed at 1:30 am and didn’t take any naps? Weird, I know…but it was me! Trying to be as quiet as a church mouse is the challenge since I want to make the most of this awake and alert time. Time to clean up and clear out some stuff for next weekend’s family get together. I moved the fire wood from the living room – no stove anyway – out onto the back deck. As I got to the bottom, which is an old wooden crate, I noticed something moving around. Well it was 4 little, itty bitty baby mice. GROSS! Luckily, just has the heebie-jeebies set in, all the noise I made woke Carlo up and he took the box outside to dump them out. One was on the carpet but he scooped that up with a trowel. Once he threw them outside, I covered them with a rock…they didn’t die, they just burrowed deeper into the sand, but I didn’t have to look at them! This new home they were dumped in will only be for one more week! Good-bye fire pit!
We cleared up some unneeded things we had accumulated, ate breakfast then went to pick up our fire pit, return some things, buy some things, including many mouse traps!
By the time we got started on the installation of the concrete boards, it was already 12:30. We worked on that project until 4:30 and then made a quick run down to the neighbors.
We didn’t get a chance to put the stone up on the walls; but why rush and mess it up?
Now that fall is upon us, we set out all the mouse poison, glue traps and Jaws – actually hoping to get the mother that was scurrying about and seeking refuge under the kitchen sink.
We went to bed by 9:30. It was a pretty long day!
September 17, 2011
We intended to be at Menard's when they opened, but THAT didn’t happen. We got up late, watched a movie and then decided to shop local for the projects slated for today. We started at the Levee for (always) a tasty breakfast. This is a place, however, that you DO NOT visit BEFORE any lengthy car ride! Then we went to Do-It Best and right where we parked we saw the stone fire pit design we wanted. We got out to inspect the materials, counted the stones and went inside for our shopping list items and more info on the pit. We found out it was a kit – so we weighed the pros and cons and bought the kit and the rest of our stuff. We’ll pick the kit up tomorrow. Looks like all future bonfires are closer than originally planned!
When we got back we started the bathroom sink project. This project went well and there was barely any yelling! The counter top was cut to size, the hole was cut to make our sink a vessel, the faucet and drain were attached, edge banding applied the counters edge, the shut offs were installed and inspected and then here’s where the betting man won…back to Do-It Best for drain fittings, since the plumber roughed in 1 1/2 “rather than 1 ¼”! Carlo said he’d have to head back there before they closed. I thought not…I was wrong! After he returned, the install got ugly…real ugly. The pieces ended up not tightening and there was lot of leaking. After 2 hours, it dawned on us – not really us, but Carlo – that we were trying to attach American made parts to a metric sink (from Ikea). So he swapped out some parts and got the sucker fixed – WITHOUT LEAKS – the only thing is the drain no longer matches the faucet (that metric problem) but we finally have a bathroom sink – YAY!
Carlo then installed the septic alarm and started our last fire in the square, soon to be dismantled fire pit while I baked egg rolls and cooked dinner. I grilled burgers and of course I must say…they were perfect!
Our day did not go as planned or hoped and we never thought the sink install would take most of the day. We can only hope for a better tomorrow especially since the projects we need to finish have some serious, strict time constraints!
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