Cabin Fever

If it's this time of the year, it means the opening of Lakeview Cottages is just around the corner. Which means that getting all the cottages ready for our rental guests is a lot of work for our owner group. I mean, these cabins were were built in 1914 to 1917 for the workers building the dam at Huntington Lake. And when you see the sign that says "modern cabins," it really means that somewhere in the 1940s, plumbing was added. Hey, I am NOT complaining about any kind of plumbing that brings me hot water for my shower and a toilet that works. Even if my shower is made of galvanized tin with a cement floor.

Here we go with some of the best things of Lakeview Cottages.

The view. We are 50 yards from the water. So this is the view I had all weekend from my front deck.

Cabin G. Okay, I'm a bit prejudiced in this regard, shower and all. Although as an owner group we own shares in all of Lakeview Cottages, when we are here on working weekends and in the off season, Cabin G "belongs" to Mark and me. And we've become really attached to it. Since we want to keep the rustic feel of the beautiful knotty pine walls, most of us are adding little things to "our" cabin that will make it feel more homey when we are there, and will enhance our guests' stay throughout the summer, like more shelving and lots of hooks for hanging things.

I love my happy little bear on the end of a chain that turns on the light in the front bedroom (sorry for the blurry picture--he wouldn't stop swinging).

Our cozy kitchen. Okay, so we have a full-sized refrigerator, and we do bring up a microwave...we also cook on what basically amounts to a three-burner camp stove. With more galvanized tin for safety...

Oh, and this is the view out of our kitchen window, Cabin F. Nice.

The denim quilt that covers our bed. I made this for Aaron, thinking he would take it to college with him. It was too big, too heavy, whatever. So now it's on the bed in Cabin G whenever we are staying there.

See this big round log? My friends, Maggie and Sue, actually rolled it uphill from the waterfront where our boats are docked, all the way up the terraced steps, to the road, where Mark and Maggie's husband, Mike, took pity on them (after questioning what they were doing??), loaded it in the back of the pickup and drove it to Cabin G. For some reason, this old smooth and weathered log just makes me happy.When the Forest Service mandated that we cut down some trees, they were turned into benches, so now each cabin has one by the firepit, and this one is ours.

And a few things that are changing at Cabin G.

The skirting around the outside front of the cabin was looking pretty trashed. So it got ripped off, and in the process of putting new skirting up, our cabin was leveled. Turns out, one of the front corners was being held up by this boulder. Yikes!

Which is now part of the new landscaping...

Although perhaps there needs to be some more thought given as to location...

Cabin G seems pretty happy with her new skirting, which has now been painted brown.

And the shower. We keep this thing scrubbed and cleaned. But honestly, as far as the ick factor--these pictures really don't do it justice.
but when we left on Monday, this is what it looked like. Out with the old and....

....well, all I can say is stay tuned!

And the best part of Lakeview Cottages--sitting out in the sun with friends.

Double Delight

Double Delight roses are without a doubt the best.

Have a delightful weekend.

Therapy Color Thursday

This is probably what you are saying to yourself: Hey, isn't it supposed to be called Color Therapy Thursday? (even though it's been a few weeks and you may have forgotten that there even is such a thing as Color Therapy Thursday). But since Sue was diagnosed with multiple myeloma two weeks ago (wow, was it only two weeks ago today? It seems like months ago...), everything seems to be turned around and upside down.

Sue has a great support system and several of us are taking turns keeping her company on chemotherapy days, twice a week for two weeks, and then a week off, and then a few more cycles.

I was with her for Monday's treatment, which takes up a good part of the day. She is in a comfy recliner, one of many in the room, nearly all of them occupied. Cancer does not discriminate. Young, old, male, female, every nationality.

Bag after bag is hung and slowly dripped through her IV: anti-nausea, pain killer, chemo drugs, saline.

Now I'm not saying the Demerol (pain killer) made Sue loopy or anything, but after a while she was feeling pretty good. We made the observation that she was actually quite colorful, with the colorful stretchy bandages on her arms for the IV drip, afghan, all the colors on her paperback. Surely colorful enough for Color Therapy Thursday. And she said, "Too bad we don't have a camera." Seriously? I am always prepared and whipped that camera out of my tote bag so fast and took some pictures.

We noticed that the lady across the aisle had the elastic bandages in Sue's favorite color, a beautiful sky blue. Hmmm...remember to request those the next time.

Even the "good" stuff, the chemo that will kick this multiple myeloma on its butt, was the only colorful bag out of the whole assortment. That has to be a good sign, right?

Love you, Sue. And you are not on this journey alone.

Oh say, can you sea?

We didn't exactly leave by the dawn's early light, but Mark needed to do some work in Carmel, one of our favorite places on the coast, so I took the day off to ride along with him.

The two colors of lettuce just popped against the backdrop of the foothills.

Mark met up with Al Saroyan, an architect he has worked with for years (nephew to William Saroyan, and yes, that was just a bit of blatant name-dropping on my part) and they went off to the job site.

I could have wandered around Carmel, which is a very quaint town with an Old European feel to it, art galleries, beautiful flowers everywhere...

and mysterious little alleyways that lead to yet another store or art gallery...

but instead, my books and I made our way to my very favorite spot, the Carmel Coffee House. Down another little alleyway...

Through the red door that is always open and welcoming...

Where they roast their own beans...

and brewed a great cup of coffee just perfect for sipping while I had some precious reading time. (Note to Candy: I may not have posted much on etsy yet, but I sure am spending some quality time studying marketing strategies...)

And what else was there to see? Ah, the sea...

Morning Sunshine

Thursday night Mark was in San Francisco overnight. Charlotte and Levi kept me company.

And on Friday morning, this was the first thing I saw when I got out of bed.

Kind of like his daddy thirty years ago...

Teeny tiny pieces

I keep thinking I will get used to these masterpieces that Mark makes out of dichroic glass, but then he makes another one, and I am complete in awe all over again. He starts working with pieces of fabulous glass. Then he starts fitting them all together, like pieces of a puzzle.

Teeny, tiny pieces. Really tiny. He will cut a piece even smaller to make it fit just so. Sometimes barely bigger than a speck. All perfectly fitting together into this puzzle of glass we call Nebula, "a bright area caused by a galaxy, or a large cloud of distant stars." After all, the glass was developed by NASA, so Nebula seemed like a fitting name, right?

This particular bowl was a custom order, and the largest size he has made, 12 x 12 inches. Pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.

Completely amazing, and soon off it goes to its new owner.

In the meantime, it sure looks good on our dining room table...