Lemons to Lemonade

Idyllwild Bathroom "Remodel" Nearing Completion!

 

Wel...the saga continues.  We completely replaced all the drains and water lines.  We cut through the 100 year old floor and did it!  We have a new faucet for the tub...which will allow one to take a shower (I presume).  Now the problem is ...  how to make a shower rod?  More to follow on that at a later date.  All is well with a new light fixture and a real switch.  (We can now eliminate the pull cord?)  We replaced the floor under the toilet...no more rocking chair!  We installed hardwood floor under the tub.  The only problem is we have 6 claw feet for the tub and none of them will work.  So the tub still sits on 4 X 4's....  I looked online and a set costs about $500....   Yikes.  Anyone want to buy 6 mismatched claw tub legs?   

We also ran the kitchen drain into the seepage pit and added an additional drain line.  We plumbed upstairs for future bathroom as well.  Just like down town!  Now we just have to paint and the room will be just like brand new/old...  We took down the 100 year old "medicinal cabinet" and painted it.  Now we have to re-hang it on the wall with no studs.  It must weigh 75 pounds empty.  Somehow it remained on the wall all these years through numerous earthquakes, so we might be able to accomplish that! 

Now....the only problem remaining is ~ there is no water pressure coming from the bathroom sink.  It might help if there was water in the storage tank.... Waiting waiting waiting on ONE more part for the generator so we can have power to pump water.  soooooo   the saga continues....   watch here for future updates!

Running water...

Recently I made a post about our ol' cabin in the woods.  I was being grateful for running water.  NOW I have something else to be grateful for....   Draining water.  You see, when we bought the place back in 1987, all the sinks and tub had buckets under the drain.  YEP no draining except to bail the water out the window.  Well ....  back then, we were just happy to put in black piped drains to a seepage pit in the ground.  Worked well too.... until IT DIDN'T...  

Well...we are fixing it.  The workers asked me if we wanted it done "correcto"?  I immediately said "YES"  Well there you have it.  Soon we will have drains...

but the plot thickens...NOW  the Generator we have to put the WATER to the TANK to fill the sinks and toilets is KAPLUNK.   Waiting...waiting...waiting for our brand new and state of the art propane generator to be installed.  So....once again NO WATER   That's no water AT ALL....     Yikes....  Can you say "Money Pit"? 

The Moral of the Story, Is it better to be grateful for drains or water?  or which came first water or drains.....or electricity? 

 

 

BUT WE DO HAVE A COMPLETELY REMODELED KITCHEN...COMPLETE WITH OUR NEW FLOOR. 

 

 

20th Annual Idyll-a-while Weekend

Every year our family all tries to make it up to our cabin in Idyllwild.  We sleep and eat, scrap book, sled down a dirt hill, play horsehoes, build tree-houses, and make home made (yes crank style) ice cream.  This year we had an awesome time.  Participating this year were... Dick and I, Mom and Dad, Marty and Robin, Dennis and Barbara, Megan and Shevon, Tammy, Madison, Kennedy, and Ethan, David and Darlene, Lee and Karen.....(did I forget any body?)  The Choc, choc chip ice cream was deeeeeelicious.  The strawberry was great (made from an ancient Amish recipe I found online)...all in all a great time.  Even the thunder and lightning and the torrential downpour did not sour our spirits!  Kennedy, Ethan, and David finished "Poohs House"  Madison and Ethan and David worked on the tree house.  Here are some pix.

 

New kitchen sink!   

 

Mom Ringing the ol' Dinner Bell

Sledding Hill  (Notice the new WELL!)

Poncho

       The "Upholsterer" Madison

Mom and Dad

Pooh's House

 

 

 

Licking the Paddles

The Entertainment

The Gang (or most of us!)

Water Comes from a faucet, doesn't it?

Our family has a cabin in Idyllwild.  It is in a little known area off Black Mountain Road called "Pinewood".  The house was built in the early 1900's.  It is a little rustic (and can really be called "The Money Pit"), but this is the year that we installed our own WELL!.  All these years we have had water that came down from one mile hike up the hill from a natural cistern.  The only trouble with that is the animals love to chew on the pipe, and wala....no water.  We are soooo.... excited about this.  We will have enough water to bathe when we are there.  We can water the plants.  We can do the dishes and FLUSH!  We can fill our storage tank in 6 hours.  It takes awhile to use up that much water.  And then we can FILL it up again.  Imagine!  Yesterday we went up to see the progress.  Just one more little adjustment in the generator switches and we will be set (OBTW, we don't have electricity either), but thats another story.  Here is a pix of one of the best uses of water from the past.  Enjoy!