Cabin Update

The first day of winter arrived with a bang yesterday. All day long, the temperature kept dropping, and the winds on the mountain were ferocious, steady at 25-35 mph and gusting to 50-60. The winds just howl through the ridges and valleys. It sounds sometimes like an airplane taking off. This morning on the dog walk, the thermometer outside read 5*. It's very cold, but no wind now, and it's dry with no snow or ice.

We have 4 channels! None of them come in well, but we have 4 channels! Steve bought a humongous antenna in an attempt to help us get better reception. It's not HDTV, but I'll take it for now. Our plan is to see if the digital transition (in February) makes any difference in our reception. If so, we'll just keep our money in our pockets and live with what we can get; if not, we may have to pony up some bucks to the cable company to have it run to our house.
As a bonus, Steve has made some new friends on Jupiter.


Chris our tile guy was up last weekend to do the backsplash in the kitchen and bathroom. I originally wasn't going to have a backsplash in the bathroom, but I had leftover tile and thought it would be a good way to pull the look all together. It echoes the tile design in the shower and looks good. I love the colors with the wood; it's very spa-like and relaxing.

The idea for the kitchen backsplash was a spin on a Colorado log home backsplash that was in a magazine that Jan brought over one weekend. In this, I used leftover floor tile and shower tile. I photographed the ridgeline of the Black Mountains as seen from just outside downtown Bursnville. Using my photo editing software, I spliced a couple of pictures together, cropped it into panoramic shape, and applied grout lines onto the picture. This gave Chris a sort of template for the shape I wanted.

I think the finished product looks awesome. Not for every home, but definitely works in a log home in the mountains.

Cabin Update

It has been a busy and snowy month since the last post. Four times it has snowed since we moved in! It's not even winter yet!

We are almost completely finished now (seems like I've been saying that for while). All the little things just take so much time. The trim carpentry, caulking and insulating, trips to town for supplies... Maybe it's because we're here doing it every day that it seems like it's taking forever.

One of the last big things, installation of the countertops, was completed earlier this week. I had picked out a granite color called Seaweed Green, but our guy had trouble finding a slab big enough, so in the interest of time, I switched to Ubatuba. It looks awesome! Steve hooked up the kitchen faucet, disposer and dishwasher and it finally feels like a real kitchen. Chris our tile guy will be up probably next week to do the backsplash.

Cabin Update

Steve got all the insulation put up under the main floor joists. It was really windy up there, so windy that a power pole snapped and the whole Cattail Creek area was without electricity for several hours. Which made us realize that without power, the well pump won't work, which means no water either. Doh! Looks like we'll have to get a generator for backup.

The wind blew a good portion of the remaining leaves off the trees. You can see the mountains now without all the greenery.

Cabin Update

Wow, it was so pretty up in the mountains this weekend that I took only outdoor pictures.

Cabin Update

Cabin Update

The kitchen is beginning to take shape. The cabinets are there, but not installed yet. We'll get that done this weekend.

Here's a picture of the back-breaking double vanity in the master bath.

Cabin Update

I didn't take many pictures this past weekend, but we did get a lot of smaller stuff done. First and foremost, the behemoth double vanity that goes in the master bath finally made it to the master bath from the basement. But, I didn't get a picture. The plumber is supposed to come this week, so I'll take some after the faucets are installed.

Got my cabin name sign hung. Thank you Dennis!!!! It looks awesome!

We finally have a fully functional fireplace, so of course we had to try it out. It puts out quite a bit of heat.