We're headed back up there this weekend to begin stringing electrical wire. I feel I already have experience in this department since I was allowed to single-handedly nail up the outlet boxes. (To clarify, I was allowed to nail them up after PW showed me how to do it by nailing up half of them himself. I did the other half though, and got the distinct impression that I had done most of them correctly...)We'll also be moving rocks. When the excavation for the basement was done, we suddenly found ourselves with a great big pile of boulders. We rolled, dragged, and even lifted some fairly good-sized ones down to the back of the cabin and wedged them up against the dirt as the beginning of a retaining wall on each side. Next we chose flat rocks of approximately the same size and shape for easy stacking. PW was in charge of putting together the vertical rock jigsaw puzzle. My dear friend from Asheville came down and offered the best idea: she suggested that we plant ferns and mosses and short ground cover in the spaces between the stones and it will look as if we meant it as an accent piece, not as erosion control.
I love her.
But back to PW and his quest for perfect rocks.
He chose each flat one with great care. I could tell it was with "great care" because his tongue was stuck in the side of his mouth, which is what he always does when he's ciphering. I brought him a rock. He and his tongue evaluated it as if I was a bowerbird who had decorated an elaborate panoply with my rock, hoping to attract a mate. He either accepted my offering as suitable, or he soundly rejected it and told me to go get another one. Just like the bowerbird, I was justifiably elated when he liked my rock, and equally deflated when my offering was rejected. And still, I kept bringing those darned rocks, hoping for approval.
So now we have built a 4-foot high rock retaining wall, with grandiose plans to finish it this weekend. The good news is that the entire basement is now framed out--not a simple task although it did get simpler when PW bought an air nail gun. We are also gradually moving things up to the cabin from our storage shed(s). So far we have brought the following essential household items: wine glasses and coffee cups.
And a lamp.
We have moved the kitchen bar up there, which provides us a place to lay the blueprints. Our old mattress is up there, wrapped in plastic. Toilets and sinks are sitting in their respective bathroom-to-be's. Also we have a macaw-sized indoor/outdoor aviary for our pretty green bird. Maybe not an essential household item to some, but Cadeau likes it.
I have single-handedly removed all the staples from the interior log walls. I've sucked up pounds of saw dust and more bent nails than the wet-vac can handle. And it is my mission to keep the cabin spider-web-free.
So think of me when you're doing what you're doing this weekend. Because I'll be working. Working on our dream cabin on Cold Mountain, where the lightning bugs still exist, even those elusive Blue Ghosts. Working on kicking the smaller of the large rocks down the hill to PW, and hopefully not hitting him. And sometimes also working, like Butterfly McQueen in Gone With The Wind, at being busy doing something close to nothing, but different than the day before.
Don't squeal on me to PW...
