A three hundred pound cast iron bathtub sits propped on a large granite rock on the east side of my rustic cabin. While it has a few pine needles and rain water in it in the photo, the inside porcelain finish is in really good condition and just needs new paint on the outside. This vintage tub didn’t have any feet or hardware attached.
I’ve raked up and removed brittle pine needles and cones pretty much since day one of owning the Glen Haven property. While cleaning up around the cast iron tub recently, I surprisingly unearthed three cast iron claw feet for the tub.
Close up of two of the three cast iron claw feet, Photo by slc
Since finding the three claw feet I have searched for the fourth to no avail. Do you think it is still out there somewhere? I have found similar ones in antique stores for about $15 each. If I don’t find the fourth one, I may buy one so I no longer have a three-legged bathtub. Or is it three-footed?
Now the decision I have to make is whether to keep the vintage cast iron tub to reuse it in the cabin remodel. It may cost more in the long run to restore it as I know the hardware alone can be expensive. They take a lot of water to fill one. Another concern I have is whether I would be able to get in and out of it when I get older.
What would you do? Keep it or sell it and use the proceeds for a new shower/tub? Please let me know your thoughts.
What does Old Crow, I.D. Harper, Waterfill and Frazier, Bellows, Old Taylor, Yellowstone, Old Forester and Old Grand-Dad have in common? They are all Kentucky straight bourbon whiskeys. They were also evidently favorites of a former owner of my 1938 cabin. Especially Old Crow.
My son-in-law and I recovered 26 intact but empty whiskey bottles from under the cabin in May. Several others were broken. We knew they were there but couldn’t reach them until we demolished the addition’s flooring. While finding old whiskey bottles is pretty cool, these were even more special.
Old Grand-Dad Bottle, Photo by slc
These vintage bottles were made with the words, “FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR RE-USE OF THIS BOTTLE” embossed in the glass. According to Whiskeyid.com, “Following prohibition, from 1935-1964 th(is) text was required by the government.” The labels say they were “BOTTLED IN BOND Under U.S. Government Supervision.” The bottles are from the 1950’s and early 60’s. The oldest is from 1954.
Some labels read, “This bottle has been filled and stamped under the provisions of Section 2903-9. inclusive Internal Revenue Code. Any person who shall reuse the stamp affixed to this bottle or remove the contents of this bottle without so destroying the stamp affixed thereto as to prevent reuse or who shall sell this bottle, or reuse it for distilled spirits will be liable to the penalties prescribed by law.” Others read, “…provisions of Sections 5008 and 5243 Internal Revenue Code. …without so breaking the stamp.” Again, according to Whiskeyid.com, prior to August 1959 the bottles would have the Sections 5008 and 5243 labels. Interestingly, I was born in August of 1959.
I plan to display a few of these vintage whiskey bottles once I restore the cabin. The rest I will sell. Anyone collect vintage bottles or want one or more for your “man cave?” Afterall, the former cabin owner kept them in his man cave under the cabin for us to find 60 years later.
Since becoming the neighborhood’s HOA board president last year, my blog kind of went into moth balls. The work on the renovation of my old, rustic cabin and property in Glen Haven slowed with the onset of winter. When I returned to the cabin in April to ramp back up my work, I began to see little signs of life where once stood tall, dry grass. Hummingbirds swept past my head as I walked the property again as if it was my first time. Spring wildflowers were everywhere.
Wildflowers were springing to life since raking off the crispy, brown pine needles and cones last fall. What a wonderful surprise. John Keats was right. “The poetry of the earth is never dead.” My side of the mountain was coming to life. Enjoy my pics!
While growing up on a farm in Iowa my siblings and I spent many days in our timber helping our Dad cut wood for the wood-burning furnace. It was our home’s only source of heat. We watched as our Dad poured a mixture of oil and gas into his dirty chainsaw and pull the start line multiple times until it started up with a puff or two of smoke. Unfortunately, we hauled and stacked wood during the hot and humid summer months.
Today, a beautiful early spring day, I was reminded of those memories. I drove up to the Glen Haven cabin to cut firewood. When I pulled into the worn path of a driveway I noticed there were three young mule deer on my property just below the cabin. I reached for my camera and took several pictures as they grazed cautiously around the cabin. It was obvious I was invading their space instead of the other way around. Waiting until they moved on, I quietly exited the car and got my new power tool out of the trunk.
Since the first of the year, I have only been to the Glen Haven cabin five times. Mostly to check to be sure it is still there, but also to do fire mitigation and general property clean up. Before I arrived the cabin hadn’t been inhabited for over 13 years according to neighbors.
When I bought it the property was overgrown with tall dry grasses, firewood stacked next to the cabin, and many low tree branches. From the recent photos posted here, you can see there is currently no snow pack so it is very dry and susceptible to wildfire.
Right after purchasing the property in September, 2017, my son-in-law cut the tall dry grasses with a trimmer. I have raked years of pine needles and cones and removing them from the property. I have also trimmed several of the beautiful pine trees to decrease the risk of wildfire destroying the trees and the cabin on my mountain property. It is dirty and dusty work but necessary. According to the Colorado State Forest Service website, “Wildfire mitigation actions are on-the-ground treatments of forested properties implemented to reduce the threat of wildfire.”
A cereal bowl sat under the garbage disposal in my kitchen sink cabinet for over a year. The bowl collected brown water which dripped from a crack in the disposal. Daily, I washed the bowl and returned it to its important place. Without it, the sink cabinet would have been continually damp and smelly.
A plumber quoted me $250 for a new disposal and installation. I didn’t want to spend the money to replace the disposal so hence the cereal bowl collection system.
My daughter told me my son-in-law installed a new disposal. My neighbor, Kyle, said I should be able to do it. I was pretty sure I could get the old disposal out, but was I strong enough to lift the new one into place? I was apprehensive. What if I got the old one out but could not get the new one in? How would I use the sink and dishwasher if I couldn’t get the new one installed?
After about a year of putting up with a worsening leak and reading lots of online reviews, I finally bought a new disposal for about $90. As expected, taking out the old garbage disposal was easy with the right tools. Connections to the new one were easy too but, as suspected, I was not strong enough to hoist the new disposal high enough to attach it to the bottom of the sink. Now what?
Items used to prop up disposal, Photo by slc
I started stacking household items up under the opening until I had the right height. A medium-sized metal mixing bowl, the book The Encyclopedia of Gardening, and some cardboard packing from the disposal’s box. Then I set the disposal on top of the stack. The items acted like a jack. Surprise! It worked. I was able to fasten the disposal to the sink! I could use the sink, dishwasher and now the new disposal. No more cereal bowl and leaky garbage disposal.
Torin Big Red Steel Scissor Jack
If you need to replace your garbage disposal but don’t want to pay for the installation, you might try using your car jack. Surprise! I know I will next time.
For the past 20 years, I have had about 40 skin cancers or precancerous lesions removed by either surgery or by liquid nitrogen. Now that I am retired and my insurance coverage has drastically changed due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, I may have to limit my skin cancer treatments. Maybe it should be referred to as the Unaffordable Care Act as it was called in a July 5, 2015 Forbes article. In this article author Richard Eisenberg stated, “…people are finding themselves facing enormous out-of-pocket health expenses — sometimes leading them to deplete their savings and rack up serious medical debt.”
I had an in-network office visit in December. The dermatologist biopsied four lesions and treated four precancerous lesions with liquid nitrogen. I just received the doctor and lab bills. The copay to the doctor was $80 on the day of the visit. I now owe him an additional $314.02 for his services. The lab charged $544.12 for pathology of the biopsies. That one visit cost $938.14. The really sad part of this story is that I have health insurance and I am scheduled to return to the doctor in February for complete removal of three of the basal cell cancerous lesions and I have several more on my legs which we have not even biopsied yet. How can I afford this medical care without taking money out of my emergency savings account? Isn’t that why we pay for insurance?
I currently pay $210 a month or $2,520 annually for health insurance and my individual in-network deductible is $6,000. My pension check is only $2,055.87 per month. My health insurance coverage (if you can call it that) takes 10.2 percent from my check. I can afford that as long as I don’t go to the doctor.
My mom, age 84, doesn’t go to the doctor to get needed care due to high costs. My late father gave up cancer treatments due to costs and quality of life issues; he chose to die instead at age 80. Am I and others headed toward that same predicament?
I do not want to spend my savings and retirement account on medical bills. That is not why I put money in my 401(k) for 25 years. I invested at least 10 percent of my income so I could travel and enjoy my retirement. With my history of basal cell skin cancer, I can see those life-long dreams disappearing in favor of paying high medical expenses and insurance payments.
Is this situation what the federal government wanted when they passed the socialized medical legislation, Affordable Care Act, and Barack Obama signed it into law in 2010? America used to have the best medical care in the world at a reasonable cost and many people traveled here for treatment. Now, many American citizens, especially retirees, cannot afford much-needed healthcare. Maybe it should be called the Unaffordable Care Act or the No Care Act.
