Main floor framed, Creepy Critters show, pumpkin patch

The main floor of the cabin was framed in two days last week. I guess that's the normal amount of time for that much work, but since we closed the construction loan in April and this is as far as we've gotten, it seems like a lot of progress.

The drop-off on two sides of the house is at least 12 feet, so I couldn't let Ansley and Caden walk around without holding their hands. It was nice to finally get a feel for what the rooms will be like. The view is better than I thought it would be, and windows and glass doors will fill the back wall. There are built-in shelves in the kitchen and living room that I didn't notice in the plans. I think that will add to the "old" feel of the house since built-ins are more common in older homes.

We met Scott at the house Friday, and decided to add an outdoor fireplace that will share a chimney with the indoor one. It will be $800 more, but being able to use the screened-in porch during winter will be worth it. We also decided the space set aside for a stackable washer-dryer isn't going to be big enough. So we're going to put a washer and dryer in the basement and make that space a pantry in the kitchen. I like that better anyway -- less noise and more storage space. Scott also said he's going to build an exposed-beam ceiling in the living room and master bedroom.

The porches are going on next -- this week supposedly.

Here are more photos:

We spent Friday night at DeSoto State Park Lodge, about eight miles from the cabin. Jacksonville State University's Little River Canyon Field School hosts a series called "Campfire Talks" at the park every Friday and Saturday night (May-October), and I've been wanting to go to one. We decided during our drive from Tuscaloosa to stay at the park and I hadn't checked the schedule, so we didn't know what the topic of the Campfire Talk would be. The guy working the front desk at the lodge told us it was called "Creepy Critters" and is the most popular show of the year.

A curator from Anniston Museum of Natural History (and his three daughters) brought a tarantula, python, baby alligator, scorpion, mummified cat and some other interesting creatures. He put on an entertaining show and looked a bit like Steve Irwin. When one of the kids in the audience mentioned this, he did a great impersonation.

Caden was terrified when animals were brought around the room for people to see and touch, but he ended up petting the python before we left.

Here are some pictures:

We went to the annual property owners' association meeting Saturday morning. My parents drove up from Birmingham for it. They own the lot next to ours. We met a lot of our neighbors for the first time since most of them haven't built houses on their lots and live in Georgia, Tennessee or Florida. My parents and one of Randy's cousins and his wife came to look at the cabin after that.

Saturday afternoon Randy dropped me and the kids off at a Pumpkin Patch in Rainsville where our niece is working. It was around 3:00, swelteringly hot, and he said he'd be back sometime after 5:00. I was walking away from the car when he said this and I just looked at him. I thought he was kidding. It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been the third pumpkin patch I'd been to in six days. I went to the one in Locust Fork with my parents and the kids Monday, during fall break, and I went with Caden's class on a field trip to Critter Creek Farm, which included a pumpkin patch and hay ride, on Friday. I now feel qualified to be a professional pumpkin patch critic.

Despite my mood, I had to admit this was the best of the three. Someone put a lot of thought into the kids' activities, which were, well...unique. The Cow Train should go on record somewhere as one of the most imaginative redneck inventions of all time. I paid $1 apiece for Ansley and Caden to strap themselves into garbage cans that had been painted black and white, turned sideways and mounted on wheels. The power source for this ensemble was a four-wheeler driven by an inarticulate teenager.

There was also a sandbox-like bin filled with corn and accessible via a plastic slide. I almost wanted to try this one out myself. Caden took a turn on the racetrack for suped-up John Deere tricycles. Michelle, our niece, said she's seen some pretty nasty wrecks. Her main job is to ride on the back of the hay wagons, I suppose to make sure no one falls out. She stands behind the gate and holds onto the rails. It kind of reminded me of how sanitation department workers ride on garbage trucks. Kids have spit on her and thrown hay at her, but overall, she says she likes the job.

Caden also spent a lot of time in the cab of a gigantic agricultural tractor that had been turned into a playground. Ansley preferred the corn bin and the hay jump. I'm going to stop trying to describe this stuff now. You can look at the pictures.

As if we hadn't packed enough into the weekend, our 1969 Mustang's two-year exterior and mechanical restoration was finished and Randy decided to drive it back to Tuscaloosa Sunday. A high school auto-body tech class in DeKalb County painted it, and a mechanic Randy knows did the rest of the work. We avoided the interstate except for a short stretch near Cullman, so getting home took awhile. The first time Randy drove the car to Tuscaloosa (we bought it in DeKalb County), a wheel came off on the interstate near Bessemer. At the halfway point of that trip, we were standing in my parents' driveway when I noted only about three of six lug nuts were on each tire. Irritated, Randy told me it wasn't a problem and muttered some other things, the gist being that I didn't know anything about cars. He's right, but still...I guess some things don't require a lot of mechanical knowledge...

Here are some photos of the car, which made it to Tuscaloosa this time without incident.