The Cooper Cabin

Repurposing an old ladder into a pot rack

2012-01-28T17:24:00.001-06:00

In case you have an old ladder laying around, Lifehacker has a great idea on what you can do with it; turn it into a pot rack.

Have an old wooden ladder that has seen better days? You can change it into a pot rack by hanging it horizontally from the ceiling and adding pot hooks (standard hardware store s-hooks work fine for this).
The site for Women's Day magazine suggests that you can use a weathered ladder for a rustic look or paint it to match your kitchen. This works best for a short ladder, or you can cut down a larger ladder to fit. You're looking for 3 or 4 rungs unless you have a large collection of pots and pans.
Make sure that you hang the ladder from the ceiling joists to ensure the weight is properly supported. Use a stud finder if necessary to find the joists.

A deck with a cabin attached

2012-01-28T11:24:00.001-06:00

I really, really, like this.

Cheesy Spinach Soup Recipe

2012-01-20T15:33:00.000-06:00

Ingredients

1 tablespoon soft reduced calorie margarine
1/4 cup chopped onions
2 cups fat free milk
1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 package frozen chopped spinach, cooked, well drained
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of pepper

Directions

Melt margarine in a medium sized saucepan on medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir until tender.
Add remaining ingredients; cook on low heat until the Velveeta is melted and soup is heated through, stirring occasionally.

Makes 4 servings.

Substitutions: You can use frozen chopped broccoli instead of spinach.

Source: The Soup Bible

Mini Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich Recipe

2012-01-13T13:38:00.000-06:00

Ingredients

4 Pillsbury Grands! mini frozen buttermilk biscuits
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon butter
2 slices bacon, crisply cooked, cut into halves
1 slice (1 oz) Cheddar cheese, cut into quarters

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Bake biscuits as directed on bag. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
Beat egg and milk in small bowl with fork until well mixed. In 7 or 8-inch nonstick skillet, heat butter over medium heat until melted. Add egg mixture; cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are desired doneness and still moist.
Split biscuits horizontally. Layer cooked eggs, bacon and cheese on bottom halves of biscuits; top with biscuit tops.

Serves 2

Cheese Fondue Recipe

2012-01-11T14:14:00.000-06:00

Ingredients

3/4 cup of apple juice
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 loaf of fresh French bread, cubed
Assorted vegetables or cooked meat for dipping

Directions:

Rub inside of large saucepan with the clove of garlic.
Bring the apple juice to a boil over medium heat...then reduce to low heat.
Toss the cheeses with the cornstarch, pepper and nutmeg...stir into the juice.
Cook and stir constantly for 3-4 minutes...or until cheese is melted.
Transfer to a fondue pot to keep warm.
Serve with cubed bread, assorted vegetables, and cooked meat for dipping.

The Feral House by Matali Crasset

2012-01-09T06:17:00.000-06:00

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Spicy Thai Mayonnaise Recipe

2012-01-07T20:29:00.001-06:00

Give your mayonnaise some zip.

Ingredients

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Thai Kitchen® Spicy Thai Chili Sauce

Directions

MIX mayonnaise and chili sauce in small bowl. Cover.
REFRIGERATE until ready to serve. Use as a spread for sandwiches.

Makes 1/4 cup.

Dreyfuss Marant Cabin

2012-01-07T19:58:00.000-06:00

From the New York Times Magazine

There’s no address — the road has no name . . . it’s not even really a road . . . it seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere,” says the French accessories designer Jérôme Dreyfuss, explaining how to (possibly never) find the rustic country retreat he shares with his wife, the fashion designer Isabel Marant, and their 8-year-old son, Tal.
Surrounded by acacia trees on the banks of the Loing River in Fontainebleau, the tiny clapboard cottage is only 35 miles southeast of central Paris, but it feels worlds away, thanks to its untamed, verdant surroundings and lack of mod cons like electricity, heat and plumbing. (You flush the loo the old-fashioned way — with buckets of water hand-pumped from a spring.) The spartan setting suits the family just fine. “It’s surprising how little you really need,” Dreyfuss says. “The expression ‘less is more’ takes on real meaning here.”

Recycled pallet flooring

2012-01-07T18:33:00.001-06:00

I love the fact that this cabin uses recycled wood from pallets for it’s floor.

Here are some other photos of the cabin.

This cabin in Northern Ontario has repurposed palettes as the floor, with windows and skylight recycled from an old family hunt camp and white spruce siding from a local sawmill.

Gorgeous.

The Best Hut

2012-01-07T17:11:00.001-06:00

The Best Hut in New Zealand. Built for less than $1500 using mostly scavenged or donated materials, the treehouse includes solar panels, rainwater collection, a gas-fired outdoor bathtub and a radio-controlled drawbridge.

Crab Quiche Bake Recipe

2012-01-01T12:18:00.000-06:00

Ingredients

8 eggs, beaten
2 cups half & half cream
1 package (8 ounces) imitation crabmeat, chopped
1 large sweet red pepper, chopped
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 /2 cup chopped green onions
1 teaspoon salt (or a salt substitute)
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Transfer to a greased 13-inch by 9-in by 2-inch baking dish.
Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the centre comes out cleaner.
Let stand for 10 minutes until cutting.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Source: Taste of Home: Casseroles, Slow Cooker & Soups

Christmas Gift Guide for Your Husband/Boyfriend and All of the Men in Your Life

2011-11-27T22:05:00.001-06:00

Every year I write a Christmas gift guide on what to get for your husband/boyfriend and all of the significant men in your life over at JordonCooper.com. It has become quite popular and I encourage you to wander over and check out my holiday gift suggestions. Let me know what you think over there in the comments.

The last weekend at the cabin

2011-11-06T20:46:00.001-06:00

We just got back from the cabin after an interesting week. We were supposed to leave right after I got off work but Jordon needed to do something with the City of Saskatoon and the police. As he said, “don’t worry, we have police backup” which didn’t make me feel any better about it. It did give me time to pack and by 9:00 p.m. we were heading out of Saskatoon and at the cabin by 11:30ish.

It was –8 degrees Celsius inside the cabin when we got there which meant for some cold beds. Mark was able to tough it out but Oliver demanded to sleep with Jordon and I. While Jordon warmed up Oliver, I got some heaters going and unpacked. Oliver crashed with us and managed to kick Jordon and I all night. We didn’t freeze to death and in the morning we went for a drive. We got to Lumsden and instead of going to Regina, Jordon took a cross country route to Moose Jaw.

One the way there, you drive through the heart of Lumsden which has some of the province’s most incredible homes. I could spend all day just looking around Lumsden and it’s architecture. Maybe next summer.

Once in Moose Jaw, we looked at where Jordon once lived, went to college, and stopped by the Lieutenant Colonel D.V. Currie, VC, Armoury where we saw…

Jordon pulled over and we got out and took a look around and (obviously) took some pictures. Marks is a big fan of the show Tank Overhaul so he got a kick out of seeing some of the old (and no so old) tanks and armoured vehicles. It’s kind of a cool display but I was a little sad to see smashed windows in some of the jeeps. They are an easy target but this is a memorial site.

We checked out the new Mosaic Place. We loved the location but weren’t fond of the design. Moose Jaw has some great architecture but I am not sure Mosaic Place ads to it. When Jordon showed Mark the old “crushed can”, he told Mark that the Moose Jaw Warriors could only use really short players because of the low roof.

After heading back to a much warmer cabin, Oliver was more than ready to crawl into his own bed. We are putting in a loft next year which means for this year Oliver gets a fold out mattress. Maggi and Hutch beat Oliver to his bed so it was nice and warm by the time he crawled into it. You can also see his ruggedized flashlight that we gave him a couple of weeks ago. He loves it and wanted it to keep it close in case The Scary Monster made an appearance.

We expected it to snow on Saturday night but we were surprised when when we woke up to this.

It`s always sad to shut the cabin for the last time but this was the latest we have ever stayed up there. We had a good opportunity to talk and make plans for 2012. We hope to…

Build a 8x12 front porch/deck. It will go from the end of the cabin to just past the front door right where the chairs are sitting in the photo above. It will have a closed railing which will give us 96 more square feet and some privacy while being a place to entertain.
On the back we will have a 8x10 deck for eating outside and enjoying the evenings. It will have the same kind of railing (horizontal 1x6s to provide privacy). Between the two decks it will ad about 180 square feet of space to the cabin. I am excited
We will be planting four trees. We talked about poplars but probably will go with some Green Ashes. It’s hard to plant trees at the cabin because the deer come right into the yard and eat anything or everything they can.
Perhaps the biggest change will come inside as we take down the ceiling and open up the cabin enough to put a loft in it. It will be 14x7 sleeping area for Mark and Oliver. It will be another 90 square feet and will open up the space right underneath it. Mark’s bed will come out (and the mattress will go up) and a small desk will go in.
The fire pit is just an old washer tub surrounded by some rocks (which do a good job of holding the heat). It was never designed to be a permanent fixture but we have grown kind of attached to it. This year Jordon put some smaller stones in the bottom of it which keeps the water drained away and also holds even more heat. The plan is to put a 18 inch border of crushed stones around it. It will keep the grass away and look pretty nice. The washer drum will get a paint job using barbecue paint as well.

Oh well, that was 2011. I can’t wait until 2012.

Murmuration

2011-11-04T08:46:00.001-06:00

I love this video.

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Our living room

2011-10-23T21:05:00.001-06:00

With the main room of the cabin only being 14x18 for a grand total of 252 square feet, space is in short supply. In that limited amount of space, we had beds for both boys, a couch, kitchen and eating areas. It was crowded. This summer Jordon and I decided to go with bunk beds for the boys until we get the loft space built. Until then we decided to get rid of one of the 3/4 beds and put Oliver one a fold out mattress on the floor. This would give us space for a living area and more room to eat in.

I have wanted an antique chest for years and Jordon found me one at the Salvation Army that be bought. We had Lee bring it up on Thanksgiving (full of stuff of course) and it provides some storage and is our new coffee table.

Next year is the year of the loft. It will be 16 feet wide and 7 feet deep. Big enough for Mark and Oliver to crash in and it will add another 112 feet to the cabin.

The last weekend?

2011-10-23T19:56:00.001-06:00

We spend the weekend out at the cabin which is our latest weekend yet. We drove out Friday night after a really long week. There was a funeral, sick kids, me being sick and a lot of stress. On the way out, I stopped by Indigo! and bought Jordon a copy of The Cabin by Dale Mulfinger who also wrote Cabinology as an anniversary gift. We got in after dark and while Mark took Maggi for a walk, Oliver fell asleep on the sofa while we warmed up the cabin and hunkered down for the night.

On Saturday the plan was to head to Regina and then Moose Jaw for The Tunnels of Moose Jaw. The best laid plans were changed and instead of Moose Jaw, we took Oliver to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time. Actually it was Mark and my first time as well and he had a blast, mostly because Mark was such a great older brother with him. We did some running around in Regina where Jordon bought me a “W” Saskatchewan Roughriders keychain and Mark a “M” one. We also bought Oliver a rubberized LED flashlight so he can go out and explore Arlington Beach with Mark (Jordon bought Mark a new flashlight last week). By the time we were done, we headed back to the cabin for dinner and then coffee with Dennis & Wilda Camplin while Mark and Oliver tried out their new flashlights.

The weather was nice for being this late in the season and we didn’t even use all of the heaters we had up there. It was cool enough that Maggi spent both nights in the bed snuggled up to Jordon who several times tried to get her down. All of Maggi’s affection is linked to the temperature. In the summer she doesn’t care if we live or die but as summer turns to fall and hot nights turn to cool ones, she becomes your best friend again. While Oliver never sleeps in our bed at home, he got uncovered and dove into bed. Four in the bed was a little much for Jordon or I.

This morning we got up early and started to pack up for the return trip back to Saskatoon. While Jordon and I were cleaning, Mark and Oliver headed over to the park where Oliver was loving the swings. It started out well…

but ended badly.

I don’t think it will be our last visit up for 2011. If it is still nice in two weekends we may head up again and if not, we’ll shut it down for the season then after one last day trip. Here are some photos of the weekend.

Ikea: Making Space to Be Together

2011-10-17T06:08:00.000-06:00

Ikea: Building a small space for everyone

2011-10-14T10:05:00.000-06:00

A dream home doesn’t need to be big, just smart

2011-10-13T22:02:00.001-06:00

A+ for Effort

2011-10-13T21:52:00.001-06:00

I really love some of these A frame cabins and homes posted over here.

Thanksgiving

2011-10-10T20:47:00.001-06:00

We were planning to head up to the lake on Friday but Mark had a football game in Martinsville (which they tied for their first non-loss in two years). After the game the plan was to leave by four but in reality we left at six. After a quick supper at Pips Esso in Watrous (they have a Subway), we got into the cabin at 8:00 p.m. Soon after that Jared/Kathy/Soren/Nathan Siebert came by for some coffee and a snack. This changed our Thanksgiving plans drastically as Jared is allergic to dogs and our cabin is quite small. It meant that we left the dogs behind. Maggi was initially upset but when we got home we could see our bed was well slept in so it looked like she survived.

Sunday morning was chatting with people, going to walks, and more chatting. Lee and Brittney came up for the afternoon and pretty soon it was time for dinner at Kinney Memorial Lodge. They packed 250+ people in for a Thanksgiving supper and it was excellent as always. For both nights up there, Oliver had a horrible time sleeping. Rather than let his crying keep all of Arlington Beach awake, we put him in bed with Wendy and I, something we never do. He kicked me for six straight hours. I asked Wendy is he kicked her and the answer was no, she turned his back towards her and let him kick me all night. Nice.

The plan is return for a final long weekend on October 21st to the 24th. Football is done and if we get some nice weather after that, we’ll come up for a Saturday or something.

August Long Weekend

2011-08-06T16:37:00.001-06:00

Wendy posted about the August Long Weekend on her weblog.

Bacon Wrapped Eggs Recipe

2011-07-24T11:58:00.001-06:00

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Caesar Salad Dressing Recipe

2011-07-03T19:32:00.001-06:00

A lot of people love our Caesar Salad. This is a family recipe and is really quite simple. The one thing you do need is really fresh ingredients.

1 cup of vegetable oil
1 clove of garlic
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice

Blend together until creamy. If dressing doesn’t thick and creamy, it means your ingredients aren’t fresh and you don’t want to use it.

Before I make the dressing, I cook up some tender bacon, chop of the romaine lettuce, and toss on some croutons and I am set.

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How to de-crapify your cabin

2011-05-24T09:27:00.001-06:00

From Lifehacker

First, you need to sort out your excess. Categorize the items you're sorting through so you can concentrate on each separately. These categories should include things like books, clothing, cables, and gadgets. They can even be more specific, if you have a hobby hording problem. For example, puzzles and board games, photo albums, and sports equipment are all examples of potentially less-common things that can easily build up in your home. If you notice anything taking up just a little too much space, it needs to be a category on your list.

With each category, sort every item into one of three piles: the stuff you're going to keep, the stuff you're going to get rid of, and the stuff you're not sure about. Be ruthless: When's the last time you used that bulky electric juicer? What are the chances you're going to start using it in the future? Is it really worth keeping around?

When you're done sorting, go through the pile of items you're not sure about and try to get rid of about half of it. One simple decision-making factor: find similar items and pick the one you like the best, get rid of the rest.

There’s more and all worth reading