2012: Chapter 12 - More Floor

YEAH - the guest bedroom floor is done! The all day Saturday flooring project went very well except for the fact that our table saw stopped working. So we had to make all of the cuts with a jigsaw. That slowed us down so the project took about 10 hours. Oh well, that table saw served us well. The queen size mattress fits OK, leaving a little space for getting around in the room. Another accomplishment was putting up some storage shelves. All in all, it is becoming a cute guest room.

A few days before we arrived, a full day of rain graced the canyon. This made pulling irises and weeds very easy. The red rocks were so vibrant due to the rain washing. The night sky was especially clear too and the huge Milky Way and a long shooting star added to its mystique.

Next weekend the guest room box spring will make its way up here. We actually have to split it to move it into the room. That should be interesting!

The Oak Creek water temp measured 56 degrees. Oh yeah, a mother bird is trying hard to hatch an egg or two in the nest she built on our deck. Good luck to her. Maybe next week we will be grandparents to some baby birds.

Storage shelves in guest bedroom

Guest bedroom laminate flooring

2012: Chapter 11 - Starry Starry Night

Playing Grandma and Grandpa for a bit on Saturday morning got us up to the cottage at noontime. Riding along with us was the mattress for the spare room (the box springs will come up later) and a load of flagstone. I picked up the flagstone at a garage sale not far from home about a month ago. It will be used to help create a patio in the side yard.

After a nice chat with some neighbors we traveled to Home Depot in Cottonwood to pick up sub flooring for the spare bedroom. It went in without a hitch. Next time we can install the laminate - Hooray!

As the mercury climbed over 100 degrees in Phoenix, it rose to the 80ish at the cottage. We turned off the gas to the furnace and removed the winter cover over the evaporative cooler. Spring is bringing forth supple green leaves, blossoms, and critters everywhere one looks!

Without a doubt, the best part of the weekend was stargazing. A shooting star dazzled us and we made a contest looking for satellites after seeing about 5 in 15 minutes (I won). Watching the stars go behind Wilson Mountain was cool. We are slowly becoming one with nature.

The cottage really keeps us going during the week. I hope you are enjoying the adventure too.

~M~

A "creature greeter" for us this weekend

2012: Chapter 10 - Bathtub Inauguration

The bathtub works fine to bathe a grandson!  Our 18 month old grandson, Kyler,  came for a visit this weekend. Unfortunately for the little guy, his first case of car sickness got the better of him just 3 miles from our cottage. His dad and Aunt Cindy did a great job of cleaning him up in the car. Then the next order of business was definitely a bath! Nothing like an unexpected event to make us realize we need to keep baby bath stuff on hand - baby shampoo/bath wash and a rubber ducky. Maybe a spare set of grandchild clothes too.

Fortunately the rest of Saturday was wonderful!  Kyler enjoyed his first live music during lunch at Oak Creek Indian Gardens. After his nap we enjoyed a hike along Oak Creek and his dad taught him how to throw stones in the water. It is a very special moment to watch our children pass their love of nature to their own children.

Sunday morning I painted the trim around the spare bedroom door while Bill cleaned up the outside. Sorry for the delay publishing this post.

See you next time...hopefully soon!

Cindy, Jeff and Kyler (backpack baby) along the Oak Creek

2012: Chapter 9 - Regular Blankets

The large number of broken tree limbs (some very big) that greeted our arrival in the neighborhood seemed very strange. According to our neighbors the late winter storm a few weeks ago dumped 12-15 inches of heavy snow in our area causing tree limbs to snap.  The cracking sound of breaking limbs must have filled the air for a long time. Fortunately our cottage suffered no damage. The snow melted quickly due to the warm temps that followed the storm. I sure would have liked to see that much snow!

Saturday was a "Chamber of Commerce Day" in Sedona. With temperatures in the 80's our cottage warmed up enough to allow us to sleep that night with regular blankets; no need for heat or the electric blanket. It was wonderful - actually sleeping for free. I could get used to that.

The daily 2.5 hours of extra daylight since December's short days are well spent. We finished painting the spare bedroom and look forward to installing the sub floor and laminate soon. Hopefully those projects will be accomplished in the next month or so. Another small project we did was removing the approximately 100 nails, screws and hooks the previous owner had placed in the covered front deck. It's fun and rewarding to get some small projects done too.

Dinner and lunch at Indian Gardens were splendid. Live music is back and we thoroughly enjoyed Sunday's entertainer, Rich Schonberg. I shared my canvas photograph (birthday gift from our children) to the store's owner, Daniel. He was extremely impressed and wants one for the store. He dubbed me "Their Official Photographer for all seasons!" I felt really special. We also spent some time geocaching and found the cache called Vortex View. If you don't know what geocaching is, check out this website: http://www.geocaching.com/.

We made time to enjoy Oak Creek and its environs. The March water temperature was 50 degrees, 4 degrees warmer than February.

Until next time friends...

 Oak Creek's soothing waters

Oak Creek Canyon. Our neighborhood is located in the middle of this photo (near the white house). Wilson Mountain is to the left, Munds Mountain to the right. Bare trees line the path of Oak Creek

Bill holding the geocache we found

Interesting tree and its roots at Oak Creek