MooseWatch Lodge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 18 & 19, 2012

Moose-A-Watch is watching and guarding all that happens at MooseWatch Lodge! Scott made this moose head for me and we found the perfect place for him to hang!

 

We had a busy weekend.  We came up late Thursday night after helping the Special Needs Scouts with an Eagle Service Project.  Lit the propane stove in the Moose Suite and FELL into bed.  Friday morning brought rain, then hail, then snow.  In fact we were wondering if we had enough food in case we were snowed in.  We realize that you have to expect a little winter weather when you are at MooseWatch Lodge so early in the season.  But it was a good day for working inside.  Here are some of the things we got done:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hutch Counter Top:  We have recycles an old tabletop into a counter top.  At home, this winter, we have been applying the same Milk Paint that we applied to the table set.  We did it all up to the point were I was ready to sand off a little of the black paint.  I didn’t want to do that until it was next to the table so I did it about the same.  Then we started applying the polyurethane finish coats.    It still has at least 2 coats to go.  So it isn’t yet attached to the hutch, but here is a sneak peak of the finished product.

Railing from the wall to the fireplace:  This has been a scary place for all parents.  But we have now filled it will a rail.  It still has a few coats of polyurethane too.  (I guess you know what I’ll be doing for awhile.).  Here it is from the back of the fireplace:

If you look real close to the wall in the photo above, you can see the heat vents.  This was another accomplishment of the weekend.  It is one of those things that just nags on you cuz you know you need to do it but you just keep putting it off.  Well it’s done now.  Scott also painted the board on top of the fireplace brown. You could see it from the loft and it really stuck out.  Now it just blends in.

This is my current idea for the stain glass for the door side lights.  It is just a partial picture so you will have to image the rest of it.  It will actually have 3 sets of evergreen foliage down the window.  I am just finishing up my leaded stain glass class, so I am getting excited to start this.

Next week is Memorial Day!  Lori and her kids will be with us and we might see our 2002 Winter Olympic friends, Mike and Marlene from Winter Park, Colorado.  Tomorrow I have to go to work, but all week I’ll be thinking about MooseWatch Lodge.  Sometimes it is hard to concentrate when that happens!

April 29 and May 4-5, 2012

We made to the cabin!  We haven’t ever been here so early in the year.  I guess it is pay back for last year’s extra late start.

First trip all the way there was Sunday, April 29.  Still a little bit of snow on the front porch.  A pretty big pile in the back of the cabin.  (If Logan were here, I think he would jump out the window into it.  Oh, maybe not this year after his knee surgery!)

As we drove down the driveway, got out of the car, and started up the stairs to the cabin, I was thinking to myself, “Welcome HOME!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the view of the snow from the back of the cabin on the 29th.  Every time we come up for the next few weeks, it will look different.

 Side of the cabin, with the shed.  Or as the Smith’s like to call it:  “Little Utah”.  (In memory of the little cabin at Henry’s Lake which was lovingly called “Little Idaho”.  I’ll write down that story sometime.”)

 

Once inside I was again amazed at how it is starting to look like a cabin.  I took a few photos showing some work from last year.  (Since I neglected to take them as we were working on these projects.)

The Beginnings of the Living Room Floor

 

Wood on the downstairs window seats

Kitchen Table with Chairs

Then we went home, Scott went TDY, and I spent the week longing to go back to MooseWatch Lodge.  Finally Friday came.  Cassie was just as excited to come.  Early Friday morning, shortly after Ryan left for work, she told her mom she was ready to go.  Amy told her they needed to wait for Daddy.  Cassie said they could go without him.

It was great to be up there for a couple of days.  We lit the fire in the wood burning stove and turned on the propane stoves in the bedrooms.  The cabin was so warm and cozy!  In the morning we woke to a skiff of snow.  It was a chilly day, but we enjoyed every bit of it.

Cassie was very anxious to hang the MooseWatch Lodge sign and finally convinced us all to march up the driveway for the annual ritual.

Inside, the boys got to work hanging the lantern sconces.

Scott and I bought these lanterns at least 8 years ago during a trip to Logan that  summer.

The little light bulbs inside FLICKER so that it looks like a real flame.

The wooden shelves are made from the old aspen that fell down a couple of years ago on top of the cramper.  The boys cut it down and Scott brought most of it home.  Then Scott sliced it diagonally, and created little shelves.  The lanterns are wired into the wall, so they can not be taken down.

The lanterns in the kitchen are painted black.  And the ones in the living room have been carefully rusted!

So now we are home and I am stuck with waiting for another week to pass!  Oh well, there is plenty to do while I wait.  I am taking a stain glass class to learn to do the side light windows on the side of the door.  I have only done “foiled stain glass” and this will be “leaded”.  While I am taking the class, at home, I am practicing my glass cutting skills by making a sun catcher hanging of a doe.

I took this photo about a week ago.  I am almost finished cutting all but a few leaves and the background pieces now.

I am planning on hanging her in the front window above the stairs.

Until next week …

 

 

 

April 21, 2012

Every chance I get, I try to convince Scott to take me to the mountain.  You know, just to see how the snow is melting.  So, yesterday we took an afternoon drive up the mountain.  Once we got to the end of the power line road, we chickened out, parked the car, and walked to the heartbreak curve.    Looks like Carl has been plowing the roads.  We were told that he has plowed all the way to the picnic ground.   However… Marcia, the chicken decided she had seen the picnic ground before and so why chance getting stuck.  So we turned the Moose-A-Roo (my Subaru Forester) around and went back.  It was a nice drive and I wanted it to stay that way!

Next try in 2 weeks.  Do you think the hill past the picnic ground will be ready for us?  If so, we will make it all the way to MooseWatch Lodge!

Pray for sunshine!!!