The Christmas Diaries, Part 6

Winter Wonderland, December 22nd 

No other name could apply.  We were living inside a snow globe.

It was still snowing at dawn and we had seven inches on flat surfaces around the cabin that had been cleared the day before.  It was 11 degrees, which sounds cold, and is, but so much better than the minus 13 we’d experienced last year.  We layered up, put the coat on the dog, and went outside to clear the decks and shovel a few paths around the cabin.  Bump went charging off down the drive, coming to an abrupt stop when the shoveled path ended and she met a near two foot wall of snow.  

Flocked with the real stuff

The birds were busy at the feeders, flitting around the deck chairs, sheltering underneath them.  One of them caught my eye...it looked familiar, but different somehow.  Our regular Gray-headed Junco had been joined by two other juncos, the Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco and the White-winged Junco, neither of which I’d seen before.  A Junco Trifecta!  

Near the fire, a Kindle on your lap, a dog at your feet
and a snow-covered landscape outside...bliss!

It was a perfect day to stay inside near the fire, read, and watch the snow drift down.  The loft, always cosy and warm, had a puzzle of Colorado landmarks to be finished, and Bob was up to the task.  By sunset, shortly after 4 PM, the snow had stopped and it’s blanketing whiteness was as unmarred as it would be.  We counted ourselves lucky to have gotten a good snowstorm two years running, at least until we thought about how we’d get the car down the drive.  Oh well, we’ll worry about that some other day.

Waiting...with a bit of breath holding

Our contractor, Brian Shelton, has pulled out all the stops to insure that we get to stay in our cabin for Christmas.  We have this one good window of opportunity between work and volunteer obligations that are important to us, and let's face it, the weather in the Colorado Rockies won't make it easier to get up there as winter settles in.

Brian has all the downstairs floors installed along with the hearth.  The power is hooked up as is the propane, so now working there is easier for them since they have heat.  The propane wall heater operates without electricity and is set to keep the cabin at 50 degrees, so there's no need to worry about the pipes freezing, or the cabin doing the freeze/thaw cycle a hundred times a year (not good for it).  Last I heard the plumber was due up there yesterday to install the toilet and sinks and charge the system (running water -- imagine that!) and the electrician was installing the light fixtures.  There's been a slight delay in the carpet order, but it is now supposed to arrive at the Home Depot in Colorado Springs on the 13th, and Brian has a good sub who's promised to get it laid in the loft and on the stairs as soon as it's in hand.  The wood burning stove and appliances are scheduled to arrive and be installed one week from today, on the 17th.  The final inspection, the one for the all important certificate of occupancy, is scheduled for Monday, December 20th.  That will be a day of a bit of breath holding, though there is no way Brian would not be ready for an inspection.  If that goes well, we'll leave a day or two later for Colorado, and that will be a two day thrill ride, not from our driving (or the weather I hope -- can't control that), but from being on the way to experiencing our long time dream as a reality.

Could be the very one my Grandmother made 55 years ago

I found, quite by accident, while cruising Etsy.com, searching under "vintage cabin" -- it is very amusing what you find in that category -- something that took me back over five decades in two seconds.  My Grandma, who lived upstairs when I was a little girl, used to do wonderful crochet work, making what I guess where large doilies, and here was one on Etsy that I swear was the exact pattern I watched my Grandma, with her flashing crochet hook, magically make out of a ball of thread. I now have a small collection of them, all about the size of a sheet of paper or a little bigger.  I'm going to frame them against a dark fabric backing and hang them above the bed.  I think they're perfect cabin decor.

I second the motion...

Brian says no more pictures -- he wants us to see the cabin next in person.  It's clear he's quite proud of this cabin he designed and built, and he should be.  Having this beautiful, soundly constructed cabin to retreat to will change our lives, and it will be a wonderful change too.

Next update: Go or No Go.  We're keeping our fingers crossed and remembering to BREATHE.