Off-grid cabin bath house project

Wednesday, May 27

I finished the last row of the baby blanket just after breakfast this morning and am in the process of weaving in the ends (my favorite part, um yea, not so much) while we wait for the guests to check out. Once they do I’m heading to the B&B with a bag full of eggs and to try and fix a problem with some info that we like to send via email and CountryBoy will strip the cabin of sheets, towels and trash. When I get home we are going to town to do some MAJOR grocery shopping. Our cupboards are bare as they say. Actually, it’s more like our refrigerator is bare. literally! The past week has found us getting very creative with our meals. Which has not been a bad thing. We’ve had some tasty meals while using up some of the less popular and older items in the fridge and pantry.

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There was much on the agenda today and yet it was a smooth day. The guests left (after meeting Miss Mabel!); I managed to fix the email info; we survived a trip to town for our once-a-month shopping trip and a quick stop at Lowe’s for plumbing and screen and were home in time to feed everyone and gather the eggs before dark. I love days when all the tasks that need to be done simply flow one right after the other with no mishaps or interruptions.

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Farm news: 35 eggs

Thursday, May 28

This morning during coffee CountryBoy and I were talking about the cabin’s bath house. (It’s the current project.) He said the last guest mentioned that we should put a window in so that people could look out. We were already concerned about the metal walls creating a sauna effect. That’s not what one would want when they need to cool or rinse off. He mentioned about just removing the metal altogether and hanging curtains. Those were my thoughts EXACTLY so it became the new plan. Yay!

Right after I left for work CountryBoy headed up and got to work on the bath house project. He removed all the metal which really opened up the space. Now the bath house is not the first thing you see when you glance up the hill or drive up to the cabin. (Don’t worry, we’ll make it cozy and private if they so desire!)

After that he started on the plumbing. He ran pipe down from the rain barrel at the back of the cabin and along the side of the cabin…

… under and alongside the stairs and into the black tank that we salvaged from an old trailer that was on the farm…

The tank will hold about 25 – 30 gallons and will help warm the water for a comfortable bath. We’ve ordered a pitcher hand pump (like the red one) that should arrive tomorrow. Once it arrives he will finish the plumbing from the tank to the pump.

After he finished all that he screened in the last window and put leaf guards over the gutters. What a busy man!

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I went in to work a half hour early to get the billing done before the boss came in (I have to use her computer and we’re still social distancing) and since I’m going in tomorrow for a few hours to do the month end billing I left a little early. I stopped at the dollar store to pick up a couple things for us and for the cabin then headed home. Once home we went up to the cabin to take the items I just bought and to put the new hand towels I had washed yesterday up there. I also wanted to get the photos of the bath house project and its progression. While we were up there we were talking about the curtains and how I wanted to hang them and on what. Since we’re constantly working around my work schedule and our guests we decided right then and there to head back to Lowe’s to see what we could find because it was our only chance. Our trip was successful. I’m SO excited! If the vision in my head is even half of what I imagine I will be pleased and hopefully the guests will be too.

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This evening I went to fill the bird feeders and lo and behold there was one of the most beautiful rainbows I have seen. It arched from one mountain to the other. I would have needed a wide angle lens to capture all of it. But, I was able to capture a good portion of it over the farm…

The colors were so vibrant and it lasted quite a while. I was so glad I was outside or I would’ve missed it.

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Farm news: 27 eggs

Friday, May 29

The boss called bright and early and asked if I could come in later. It was only an hour later so that was fine by me. In fact, I was able to get a lot done like feed & water the chicks & turkeys, give LizzieBelle a bath, plant some ornamental grass in a pot for the cabin bath house, water some plants and drink both mugs of coffee before leaving for work.

Once there I closed out the month on both papers and started the mindless job of folding and stuffing the envelopes. I had to wait on the boss to bring a box of envelopes but other than that it went smooth and I was outta there at 12:30.

After getting home CountryBoy and I headed up to the cabin. The pitcher hand pump arrived late morning so he wanted to get it installed before the guests checked in. While he was working on that I placed the basket of goodies (cereal bars, granola bars & some bite size chocolates), put the banana bread on the trivet under the glass dome and swept the cabin. I also spot cleaned a few things that needed it. Once he finished up we tested it out…

The black tank was not filling up as fast as we thought it would. We’re thinking the pipe may be clogged as it had been lying on the ground for a while. We’ll have to find out what the problem is.

I snapped a few photos of the up and running cabin bath house…

We bought five fabric shower curtains and hung them on conduit that were cut to length and mounted into the 4×4’s. The centers are hooked onto eye hooks so that they stay in place and are tied back with some rope that’s been screwed onto the 4×4’s. Guests can untie whatever curtains they’d like for privacy – or not!

As soon as I took the last photo we headed back down only to find our guests had arrived earlier than anticipated. Hopefully they weren’t waiting long – oops! At any rate, they are the first guests to see the now-up-and-running cabin bath house.

I’m pleased with how it turned out and I’m kinda glad that all that tin is gone. I think it would’ve felt claustrophobic in there and, of course, it completely blocked all the views.

This is so much better and so much more apropo for the setting. We’re glad that project is DONE and just in time for the warmer months.

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I am just over halfway with weaving in the tails on the baby blanket. I hope to get the rest of them worked in over the weekend and pop it in the mail on Monday. I really like the way it turned out. The yarn I ordered online arrived the other day so I will definitely be making a couple more now that I have plenty of yarn!

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Farm news: 29 eggs

The garden is coming along and you can actually see rows of tiny plants now.