Buttoning up for winter
It snowed a couple of times at Skookum and this month has been a rush to get set for winter. There was still snow on the road even after nearly a week of sunny weather. Another storm is coming tomorrow, so I figure I won’t be driving in again until next spring. I am looking forward to the skiing and the snow to come when Skookum will be a cozy get-away.
I pulled off all the concrete forms from the porch and that left a large step down, so I dug up dirt with the tractor for fill (left photo). I begged Tom to come over and help me install kitchen cabinets (right photo).
Tom spent a night at Skookum after I had to go back to town, and then he just could not resist doing some shovel and wheelbarrow work. He smoothed out the fill dirt and put a layer of gravel on top, completing the dirt work around the porch.
To make Skookum more comfortable, I brought up a couch. I was alone, and it was tricky getting it out of the pickup and into the cabin. Fortunately the wheelbarrow, along with a couple end-over-end flips, got the couch into place. I have since brought up a small table and a couple of kitchen chairs.
Wylie and I went down to Mark’s place in Alabama for a wedding. The left photo shows Sabrina, happy with the festivities and the guy to the right who she married… can’t remember his name just now. The right photo shows Wylie and me enjoying the warm weather of Alabama.
The cistern is full to the brim, exactly what I wanted going into winter. I turned off the water pump and wrapped the controller in plastic. Following tradition, I tarped the tractor. One front tire is leaking enough that I stopped using the tractor and reverted to a shovel and wheelbarrow to put gravel all the way around the cabin as shown below.
The granite countertop was installed today and it came out great with beautiful white veins. I was concerned about how to install the sink, but the crew who installed the countertop installed the sink as well. I put in the faucet to see how it will look (right photo) but it’s not plumbed in yet. With luck, the plumbing will go smoothly and I’ll soon have indoor water with a sink.
Aught to be mighty comfortable up there this winter. I like the veins in the countertop, and I really like the idea of running water in the cabin.
Sounds like we’ll have to send you some family photos to frame and put on the walls now! Miss yall!