cabin | Living Life Retired (LLR)

Cabin property firsts on my birthday

October 4, 2022 by Sherry

August 22, 2022 was a special day personally and for LivingLifeRetired.com (LLR). We both had birthdays. I turned 63 years old and LLR turned 6. I celebrated this special day at my cabin property in Glen Haven, CO and it included several firsts.

First, I had a fire in the new fire pit. Despite the county fire ban in place, a small fire burned just enough to heat up a couple of brats and some beans. There is something to be said for cooking on an open fire. Is it the fire or the natural outdoor environment you’re cooking in? Either way, it just makes everything taste better.

The second first occurred when I loaded and fired the Glock 19 BB gun I purchased for target practice and to use on wildlife, if needed. Empty tin cans provided a fun shooting range for target practice. After only a couple of tries, I was able to hit several cans. It made me feel like a kid at the fair trying to win a prize.

Lastly, the third first was a really BIG deal. I stayed overnight in my “she shed” for the first time and I survived to tell about it. I have owned this cabin property for five years and had never stayed overnight. It was past time to try it out.

While the shed’s interior isn’t finished yet, I had the near comforts of home: an antique twin bed with an inflatable mattress to sleep on, water to drink, food cooked on the open fire, music from the radio, a lantern, a bucket to pee in during the night, plenty of blankets, and my small dog, Goldi. While I didn’t sleep at all, mostly due to the bed’s slats falling down off the bed rails when I moved, I “woke” to a beautiful and peaceful 50 degree morning.

Then, I let Goldi out and I got dressed quickly. I could not wait to get outside to explore and photograph the awakening light spreading across Crosier Mountain. After several wild turkeys surveyed the property, I devoured the thick and gooey cinnamon roll (my birthday cake) I purchased the evening before at the Glen Haven General Store. I paired it with a cup of Earl Grey tea I made from the thermos of hot water I brought from home.

Reflecting back on the purchase of the cabin property five years ago, I am reminded of how blessed I am to have such a great place to explore, write, and hone some of my design and building skills. I also look back on the six years I’ve been dabbling with the LLR blog site. I hope and pray I can continue to have adventures to inspire you and more firsts to inform you. At the beginning of LLR, I said I wanted to create a community of solo retirees who can inspire and inform one another. I know I can with your support.

Cabin Update: Sherry’s She Shed

June 27, 2021December 4, 2019 by Sherry

If you have been following this blog for awhile, you know I purchased a small mountain property with an old dilapidated cabin on it. A year ago August upon the advice of my lawyer, I had to break the contract with a structural engineer I just signed due to a lawsuit my ex-husband was threatening. Since that time the lawsuit has not materialized, so I went with Plan B, or was it Plan C?. This new plan called for a she shed to be constructed on the property as a writer’s cabin, much like Thoreau’s . The shed would be somewhere I could stay while working on the property, savoring its solitude and using it as a place to write. It would be aptly named Sherry’s “she shed.”

After doing some research I found out I could build a 10′ x 12′ shed without a county building permit. Electricity would also require a permit so I decided the shed would not have electricity. I contracted Tuff Shed to build my shed once I designed it. On July 10th I ordered it online and the build date was scheduled for August 20th, just two days before my 60th birthday. Perfect. I was excited.

Cabin update – waiting

August 12, 2019 by Sherry

It’s been awhile since I have written a cabin update on my mountain property. The reason is heartbreaking really. A year ago my son-in-law and I removed the tongue and groove pine and the rodent infested insulation from the cabin’s interior. We stripped it down to the studs. I signed a contract with a structural engineer to begin work on improving the cabin and adding a septic system. I also got a bid on refurbishing the original 1938 stone fireplace. Everything was working according to plan until I received an email from my ex-husband.

It read, “I am retiring in January. 40 years. Per previous communications, I will be filing to terminate maintenance. I am traveling for the next week. If we can not come to an agreement, I anticipate we will file for maintenance termination in September with a January effective date.”

It could not have been worse timing. I made an appointment with an attorney to discuss options. His advice was to put off improvements until I knew what my income was going to be and whether I would be able to keep the property. So, I cancelled the contract with the structural engineer and put the fireplace work on hold. I was heartbroken. My childhood dream was possibly going to be taken from me. A dream possibly unfilled. I waited to be served court papers.

And waited.

Becoming a modern-day lumberjack

September 20, 2018 by Sherry

When I purchased my rustic cabin in Glen Haven in the fall of 2017, I also purchased a small forest of about 30 trees, mostly pines. One tree, a huge douglas fir, had actually fallen down in a spring storm earlier that year. I purchased an electric chainsaw and removed the limbs (delimbing) a few months ago. In August, my son-in-law rented a 20″ chainsaw and he began bucking (cutting in optimal lengths) the 50′ trunk. He cut two eight foot lengths I can debark and hopefully use as columns in the cabin rebuild. He also cut three four-foot lengths we could load in the Jeep and take to the local saw mill. The rest, he cut into 12-15″ lengths for firewood next year. I am becoming a modern-day lumberjack.

At the end of August, I purchased an axe and a draw knife from Amazon and a four pound wedge at an antique store to aid in splitting the firewood and scraping the future wood columns. The metal wedge made splitting the wood fairly easy for me to do and helped me build up my biceps! An added bonus.

While the work was slow, the rewards were tremendous. On our way home, my son-in-law and I took two of the four-foot length logs to the Mountain Home Wood Products sawmill in Drake. We asked them to cut the two logs into 1″ lumber, leaving the live edge. A couple of days later I picked up my new load of rough sawn lumber and took it home. Only $25.90 for beautiful douglas fir live edge lumber! The wood was still very wet and will require a few months of drying.

The lumber is now stickered under my pool table. I have a fan lightly blowing at least 10-12 hours a day to keep the air moving. The intoxicating aroma throughout the house the first night was almost too much to bear. But now, after a few days, the smell is not as strong. The fan helps a lot too.

I hope to use the live edge lumber for open shelving in the future cabin’s kitchen and on the kitchen island. I can sure get into this modern-day lumberjacking!

Picnic table with a view

July 10, 2018 by Sherry

Without a proper place to sit at the cabin to eat lunch, I decided to buy a picnic table. I didn’t have a truck so I wasn’t really sure how this plan would work until I found a picnic table kit at Lowes for $98.

The customer service people did not believe the kit would fit in my Subaru Legacy, but the reviews and specs said it would, and it did!

All of the pieces are precut so all I had to do was sand, stain and poly them. After that process, I put all the pieces back in my Subaru and took them up to my Glen Haven cabin. My son-in-law and I assembled the table and set it in place. Now we have a comfortable place to sit and enjoy the beautiful forest view while we eat our scrumptious cinnamon rolls or sandwiches from the Glen Haven General Store. A picnic table with a view! What could be better?

Three-legged bathtub

June 23, 2018 by Sherry

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.

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.

Collect vintage whiskey bottles?

June 12, 2018 by Sherry

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.

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.

Cabin property firsts on my birthday

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Cabin Update: Sherry’s She Shed

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Cabin update – waiting

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Becoming a modern-day lumberjack

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Picnic table with a view

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Three-legged bathtub

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Collect vintage whiskey bottles?

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