Updates Coming!!!

I have way behind on updates and I do apologize. I’m not going to even go into details (excuses); I’m just going to pick up where I left off.

We have spent minimal time at the cabin working this winter as we winterized the cabin and at times it was totally inaccessible. The elevation on our cabin deck is 4412’; it’s a different climate there for sure! Spring has rolled around and now we are back working on it as much as we are able to; the cabin is a 2 hour drive from our home. We have been rolling along again with the remodel.

Spring has come to the mountain! 



Beautiful! 



The wild azaleas were in full bloom; their dark pink blooms brightening up the mountain and their lovely scent filling the air. It was a beautiful site. The Husband even picked me a handful for the cabin. Vase? No, but they were beautiful in a drink bottle on the counter. Thanks Hon! 



The leaves are all popping out and the mountain is coming to life. 



Look carefully in these photos and you’ll see the illusive Mrs. Grouse. 

 

It was a glorious couple days on the mountain; complete with a beautiful rainbow! 



I am so looking forward to long lazy days enjoying the mountain, BUT need to finish this remodel!

Ok, let’s get rolling with the updates!

Belle

The Mountain Cabin

When we first found the cabin we had to park at the end of the lane and walk up a winding path to the cabin. No one had been there for a while and the forest was trying to take it all back; it was too closed in for a vehicle without getting a paint job messed up.

After making our way down the long driveway we made it to the cabin.  Awwww….. poor thing! It was sitting there in the middle of the woods and barely visible. The forest was trying to take it back too. We were instantly smitten! The cabin was sitting there all hidden in the woods waiting for someone to love it again.

In spite of the years of neglect the structure was sound and we knew it had lots of potential. The view was spell binding off the front deck. The elevation on the deck of this cabin is 4412'. At this elevation the climate can be harsh and cabins need to be maintained promptly so they can weather the harsh winter. The cabin was needing some attention. 

So, we bought it and jumped right in. Because winter comes early at that elevation we started on the outside as quickly as we could before the first snowfall comes. The Husband power washed the house, storage building and all the decking. This took a couple trips to the cabin to complete but made a huge difference. 

Look at the difference the power washing made to the deck

  

Power washed cabin .... already looking better      

 Once we had this step completed it was time to paint. The Husband wasn't thrilled with my plan for the cabin paint job but he followed through with it. Thanks goodness for his power spray painter. Whew!

Two coats of primer went on first. 

Then 2 coats high gloss enamel. 

The Husband wasn't sure he needed to paint that last coat of paint. The carpenter suggested he could wait till spring and see how the one coat held up. The Husband liked that idea.  Then the carpenter said "if it needs another coat then you can paint it again but in the spring you will have to tape all the windows and doors because the news ones will have been installed". The Husband didn't like that thought; he muttered a bit but he did the second coat of paint. We started calling The Husband "Darth Vader" because he wore a respirator while painting and sounded just like Darth Vader.  The force was with him; two coats of primer and two coats of paint later Darth Vader was finally finished painting the main color on the cabin. It was well worth his effort; the siding is well protected and feels great.  

The little ugly duckling is changing everyday    

 After the painting was complete Darth Vader confessed his secret. He only painted the storage building one coat; "I want to see which paint job lasts longer".  Hmmmm ….. storage building protected by trees vs. cabin on side of mountain taking the brunt of the weather and wind? No fair! No wonder Darth Vader was a villain.

When the windows come in the cabin will really start to look great. I can't wait. Now I have to work out a front door color.  I wonder if Darth Vader has any suggestions? 

The carpenter has started replacing the trim boards, which I have already painted white. I can't wait to see them all up. He should start putting in new windows next week. Once the ugly brown windows are replaced with the new white vinyl ones it's going to look sharp. I can't wait!

There is lots more to come.

I'm glad you're here, pull up a chair and sit a spell.

Mountain Belle

Introduction to the Mountain

Somewhere over the rainbow we have a cabin     

We have been looking for a cabin for almost 4 years now. There were numerous reasons why we couldn't find what we were looking for but we were determined to find "the one" and kept looking. Our main criteria was elevation and view, The Husband and I are both heat wimps and we wanted the higher elevation for the lower temperatures. If a cabin wasn't much cooler than here at our home it didn't make much sense for us to run off to a cabin. That was our logic and we're sticking with that!

We found this particular cabin in June; the elevation on the cabin's deck is 4412' and the view was awesome. Wow, now we're talking! We felt an instant need for this cabin. We had the high elevation, awesome views and the  eastern exposure we were looking for. We were sold! The catch was the cabin was in need of some serious TLC; big time! After we both agreed we wanted to put in an offer The Husband looked at me and asked "Are we crazy? This is ugliest cabin we have looked at and we want to buy it." My response was "Yes, we are crazy. What else is new? Let's go for it!".  That is exactly what we did.

The gorgeous mountain laurel around the cabin  

We have been working our fannies off since mid July and I have lots of posts to catch you up to where we are now. Some of the pictures and cabin details are not for the squeamish; you may want to run now! ( I almost did)  Did I mention we are crazy! The cabin started out pretty bad; for those of you brave enough to stick through the bad I will have lots of good coming, eventually. I will try to get some of the good posted as soon as I can because I don't want to be sent 100's of straight jackets; I already have one. I will begin posting about the renovation / cleanup process. This is requiring lots of chocolate so if you do
send me a straight jacket please put some chocolate in with it. Please!!!

The cabins in this area are not for the faint of heart. The last stretch of road to the cabin is 3 miles straight up a rugged mountain road with lots of bumps, rocks and switchback turns. Did I mention it was a single lane road? Coming down the mountain is a bit of a different story. We use 4x4 to hold the vehicle back without constantly using our brakes; that's so we will still HAVE brakes when we reach the bottom. Still with me so far? Scared? ROFL, it's not too bad...um....most of the time.

 

When you see this view you are almost there. Deep breath now

If you are brave enough to drive up this mountain all the way to the top this is one of the views that awaits you off of the deck.

You can see for miles      

The cabin is currently a construction zone but due to the travel required we have made a "camp" with some cots in the bedroom after we finished scrubbing and clearing out. We don't want to take additional furniture up there to have in the way during the remodel so we make do with very minimal. Below is the sunrise on our first morning there. It was stunning!

and higher

Good morning       

On one of our evenings there we had a thunderstorm. It was a sight to watch. We were too amazed to attempt photos and we'll try to remember next time. The following morning again the view was spectacular and I never get tired of it. As The Husband would say: "Sometimes I wake up grumpy and sometimes I let her sleep". This is the view I woke up to:

Fog in the valley at sunrise       

The valley below is covered in fog and just the tops of the mountains were showing above the fog just as the sun was also coming up. It looked like a churning ocean. I enjoyed my coffee and the view that morning! Actually 2 maybe 3 cups of coffee but with that view I had to stay put a while.

This cabin has been neglected for quite a long time. We have a few trees that have overtaken the view. We will be opening the view up even more. I'll make sure to show you the updated views.

Lots more to come as we renovate and decorate the cabin.I have started at the beginning and will continue with the updates. Stay tuned, lots more to come!

I'm glad you're here, pull up a chair and sit a spell.

Mountain Belle