We've decided to hold off on building the log cabin on our property in Stokes county. The general contractor's estimate for costs came in at more than DOUBLE what we'd expected. And this is after he nickeled and dimed everything that could be nickeled and dimed, from cheaper kitchen appliances to having Blair and I stain the logs ourselves. DOUBLE. We just can't do it.

Or, we could, put we're not willing to stick ourselves into that deep a financial hole. It's a disappointment. We've owned the land, 38.5 acres, for years and years now, and have dreamed of having a little get-away cabin. (With no kids you might ask us, "Get away from what?" I tell you yet again that owning cats is very stressful...)

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Enough of the negativity already--I'm wallowing in it. Let's focus instead on what is good in life:

• The uber housesitter left Eddy's Slow Churned Peanut Butter Chunk ice-cream in the freezer.
• She also left lager in the fridge. (That's a good housesitter.)
• If you'll recall from this entry, we'd lost the general contractor for our cabin. However, Blair found a brilliant man with loads of experience who came recommended by...

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Today's post will be a mish-mash of events. We had a lovely Easter meal, having become quite the...well, chefs is too strong a word. Quite the novice chefs, then. We pull out the cookbooks on Friday nights, along with our schedules, and plan meals for the week. I'd say we're  cooking 3-4 full dinners a week. Vegetarian Paella, Salmon & Asparagus Quinoa, Vegetarian Chicken Fajitas, and even ramping up simple dishes like spaghetti with marinara sauce by adding white beans and broccoli (recipe from Runner's World magazine.) It's fun, as most of the recipes are turning out to be not only edible, but tasty. Quite the new experience for me. We have two folders now in our kitchen. Green folder = recipes to try, Red folder = Tried & liked.

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Blair and I were hiking at Hanging Rock State Park last weekend, describing our ideal days. Actually, we were talking about what our lives would be like if we were infinitely wealthy. I'm of the firm belief that you have to be able to "see" what you want if there is any hope for it to occur. It's why I'll never win the lotto: I just can't see that happening. But working hard and earning massive amounts of dough? That's within my reach.

So we're walking down this trail, chatting, and I asked Blair to describe his perfect day.

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Friends would look at me a little askance when I mentioned we were flying in an architect/designer to help us layout the cabin. I don't blame them. Given the thousands of log home design plans already available on the market, flying someone in does seem a bit excessive and out of the Harris price range. And frankly, I was worried and wondering if bringing this designer in would be worth the money.

Now that she has been here for several days and laid out an initial design for us I can say this - she is SO WORTH IT.

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