Friday . . . .

. . . . looks better than I imagined . Driving home from the neighbor's Thanksgiving dinner last night in the freezing rain, I dreaded what we'd wake up to, but it's not too bad outside. The roads will be manageable. Wyatt celebrates his 13th birthday this weekend, so I'll be running around, collecting kids, having them burn energy at the swimming pool, and then gleefully bringing them home the next morning.

Because Bryant is out of state for two weeks enjoying the sunny southwest, the cabin project has come to a complete halt. The timing turned out to be perfect, because that has freed up some time to work on another side project.

About a month ago, Gus asked about ways to earn money. Well, there aren't many entrepreneurial opportunities for a 10 year old who lives 15 miles from town, so at first I didn't have any solutions. Then, I remembered the Annual Butte Elementary Christmas Bazaar was a few weeks away, and the idea of tie dye shirts started taking hold.

As part of an Africa Unit, the 2nd grade class makes tie dye shirts. Although I didn't organize this for our three 2nd grade classes, I worked with my class swirling shirts and preparing them for the soda ash soak. Then I watched their excitement while slopping in dye and wearing their shirts the following Monday. Between this experience and my sister and I's decision to tie dye this coming summer with all of our kids and the nieces and nephews, I opted to invest in tie dying materials and have a booth at the bazaar. Hopefully, Gus is on the road to potentially earning some money. For the past week, the tie dye obsession has taken hold. The learning curve has been quite steep, but I think I'm figuring out what works. Whether it will pay off, who knows, but if nothing else, we have a stockpile of gifts to give away!

Another 1/4" and I'll have it!

It is not everyday that a carpenter uses a chainsaw to put in windows, but if you have a tool and it will work, sometimes you just need to go for it.
Our box now has windows and insulation. About two months ago, Bryant looked on Craigslist and found these windows, all three of them, for $25.00. "What is one man's junk, is another's treasure," as the saying goes. Next spring, we'll need to decided on the real color scheme. The red as you guessed came with the windows and the tan on the smart board paneling is actually only primer, so this job continues even after we think we're done. Overall, it felt pretty good to take this step. At times progress seems to move at a snail's pace. Then suddenly we actually can see some results and that feels pretty good.

For more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jillcaho/Shabin

Change of Seasons

Clear and Cold

These feather like snow crystals are called hoar frost. The clear cold weather that we've had for the last three weeks creates the perfect environment for hoar frost to accumulate. October turned out to be the 8th coldest on record. We kept saying that the Knik River looked like it does in January, and our nights were regularly 10-15 degrees, and daytime temperatures weren't much over 20 degrees. Eventually, it will warm up, snow some more and then rain. In the 16 years that I've lived in Southcentral Alaska, there was only one winter that the thermometer stayed below 32 degrees from November to March.

The cabin is continuing to move along, and at times it feels like a snail's pace. Probably more so for Bryant than I. It seems like every piece of this project takes twice as long. On Saturday, we finished putting up the siding, and on Sunday, Bryant wired it. I put in two short days, and managed to stay caught up with house chores. Gus came out with me on Saturday and entertained one of our friend's 5 year old, but he opted to stay home on Sunday, as Wyatt was back from his birthday party.

For more cabin pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jillcaho/Shabin

It's Not Going Away!

It means the snow. For two weeks, I kept thinking . . ."it will melt. There is always snow on the ground before Halloween, but it melts." Considering that this past summer was the coldest in decades, why should I be surprised by the way fall is turning into winter way too fast. But I am and I keep wishing. Underneath that snow, piles of leaves need to be dispose of, a rake needs to be found, and a wood pile needed to be covered with a tarp before it became covered in 6 inches of snow. Obviously, mother nature's plans and my schedule aren't the same.

I stayed home from the property this weekend to catch up with house chores and do some kid activities with the boys. As I write, Bryant is busy working on the inside support beam. Last weekend, we had beautiful clear and cold weather, and it was perfect for finishing up the roof. I learned how to tar paper and lay shingles and why real roofers would want to wear knee protection of some sort. By Sunday, I felt like I had permanent rock indents embedded in my knees from kneeling. Overall, we're feeling pretty good about our progress, and how the shabin is shaping up.