After buying almost $2500 worth of chemicals and equipment, we arrived at Elmer yesterday afternoon, ready to go.  What are we doing?  Exterior maintenance.  We've got log wash, stronger log wash, carpenter ant killer, stain, topcoat, deck finish, a grinder, sanding pads, foam backer rods, caulk, energy seal, log end sealer, a 26 ft folding ladder, a borrowed pressure washer, and a sprayer.  And five gallon buckets, and scrub brushes, and hopefully enough muscle power to outlast everything.  So yesterday we got used to the equipment and washed the south wall.  Kind of figured out what we're doing, and how to do it.  Today we got the other 3 walls washed.  And some of the railing scrubbed.  The rails and some of the east and south logs have a lot of UV damage, so we've got to remove some more finish from the last few rails and east facing logs tomorrow, do a bunch of sanding (with the grinder), and then hopefully we'll get to begin taping stuff off and spraying with bug killer/stain/UV blocker/top coat. 
Then we'll powerwash the deck and get it ready for a new stain/sealer.  And then if the gorge commission has approved our paint color (and there's no reason they shouldn't--it's from their palette) we'll paint the trim.  And chink the spaces around the window and door frames.  And then build a stairway and maybe install the slide and trim some weeds to create another parking space or two and and and...
I'm exhausted.

We were recounting the other day all the things we've done at the cabin.  I've painted almost all the walls.  With the help of my daughter and a friend, the upstairs guest bathroom has been redone.  I put knobs on all the kitchen and bathroom drawers and cupboards.  I mostly finished my reading nook.  Rob installed a new water filtering system.  We've had a new furnace and ductwork system installed.  I made a bump under the garage door to help close the gap so that mice can't get in.  Speaking of mice, I took many mice out of the basement walls and closed them back up.  For the most part, the cabin is free of mice now.  I made duvet covers and quilts and pillowcases for all the beds.  We've put up new towel hardware.  Rob and a friend put in new fan timers in all 3 bathrooms.  We've replaced batteries in all the smoke detectors.  Rob and I put in all new sockets and switches.  With a friend I got all the interior logs vacuumed and much less dusty.  We've cleared up most of the clutter around the cabin.  Tree cutters cleared our view in three directions:  now we can see Beacon Rock, the Columbia River, and Horsetail Falls.  I made new cushion covers for the built in couch.  I sorted through pot after pot, planted some with vegetables, and brought some to our other house.  We've taken 3 or 4 loads of junk to the dump.  We've reduced our woodpile by about half, and a friend regraded our driveway.  We had half of the driveway re-gravelled.  We've cut down some trees, some limbs, and groomed some of the fruit trees.  I've pulled out a lot of groundcover, and with a friend pulled a lot of weeds.  One of the things we haven't done much of is relax.  Soon we'll be caught up on all this work, and we'll get to take a weekend or a couple days and just relax.  But right now I need to schedule someone to come and take care of our logs--chink by the windows, fill bug holes, refinish the logs.

For you, Rob

Happy Birthday!  Kayak holders, one installed!

And then, guess what?

 

 

Our clock arrived, so I hung it up.  Happy Anniversary!

Part 1 of de-insulating and re-insulating

Finished the bathroom!

and more!

Got another quilt hung!  This one is in the master bedroom

Paintbrush on a stick!

The finished wall.  Paint still wet.  

I thought I couldn't be surprised anymore

Just when I thought I'd found all the dirty little secrets (and nails, and screws) here, when I was on my stepstool at eyelevel with the top of the china cabinet (which holds games) I found this:

2 dozen place settings.  They're gold colored, but they're just stainless steel.  But...I don't think we'll be short of spoons anymore!

Floor needs some work.  But not yet.  Rob, I put a no-slip thing under the rug.

The guest bathroom.  Really, it's not blue, it's more...greenish blue.

I got the first quilt hung.  Now to paint the wall.

I put new screens in the master bedroom windows

And i painted most of this wall.  Now I need some scaffolding or something to get the last bit.

Pleasant

Since I subjected everyone to utter grossness in my last post, here is something pretty, from the front of the cabin.

Don't read this if you are skittish, especially about rodents

First bit of wall sawed open

oooooh disgusting!  The smell, the look, oh, horrid!

So then began the routine:  Drill a hole, look inside with camera, saw open if mice are spotted

Remove mice, vacuum up bits, wipe with lysol wipes

some of my tools:  gloves, vacuum, wipes, also a mask and goggles

And now i've screwed the drywall bits back on

it's looking better already  Spackle anyone?

What Meg found

Apparently, a rubber boa

Meg and some of her friends stayed at the cabin one night recently.  I was happy to have them there:  The toilets would get flushed, water would be run in pipes, and the mice would be reminded that they do not own the house. I wasn't prepared, then, for the news that they found a snake, basking downstairs, in the middle of the basement's carpet.  Oh ick!  The good news is that snakes like this don't bite humans and they eat mice.  The bad thing is I think it explains the smell that comes from one of the walls.  Snake poop.  Ick!!!

I forgot to post these

I took some pictures so Rob could see the color of the bedroom walls

The bathroom floor is cold, so I got numerous rugs

More of the bedroom.  You can't really tell the wall isn't white

The guest bathroom.  You can't tell, but the walls have been textured.

A very clean kitchen, as I went out the door...

Oh %&#@

What the deer left behind: a folded-in mirror

 

I would like to think that when I am about to meet my maker (unexpectedly) I would say, "Oh no!"  But this evening, with an imminent threat to my life (or at least great bodily harm) I yelled, "Oh SHIT!"  The only evidence is a leap in my blood pressure, a folded-in driver's side mirror, and the smell of hot brakes.  But I looked into a deer's eyes tonight.  His face was just inches from mine.  I don't know how he ended up vaulting my car and running down the hill, but that's what he did.  He didn't break my windshield, and as far as I can tell, he didn't even leave a scratch on my car.

On the other hand, now safely at the cabin, there are two mouse traps without peanut butter anymore, and a third trap with a dead little mouse.  I'm not sure if that means I'm winning or not.

the bathroom, stripped

tools of destruction

naked wall!

the master bedroom now

look rob, there's the carpet!

bunk bed

view of the gorge

umm...trees

looking down the driveway

knobs!

 

and the other rooms

we still need a tv/entertainment stand

this is the office

the office has a bed

and a desk