Sunday, June 16, 2013

Idylwild by Barbara Jean Smith Parker

In 1953, we went to Pine Cove in Idlywild and spent some time at Grandma and Grandpa Potter's cabin. There wasn't a lot of snow but enough to have some fun in. The cabin is still there but the people that bought it fixed it up and painted it with red shutters and a red door. 
Let me explain the cabin. Grandpa built it on the lot that he bought and it started out to be the garage and he was going to build a bigger cabin when they could afford it. However, it never got done and he had made this "garage" into a very livable large room! On the inside, he built a loft. This was a fun place when I was a little girl. I could go up into the loft and see down below. It seemed so high. He built a ladder that fastened up to the beams and if you were as tall as an adult it was easy to undo it and put it down so that you could climb up. It was made out of manzanita wood as were the railings on the loft. There were two beds up there for sleeping and a window that you could see outside.
As you walked in the front door you could see the whole place. There was a sink and drainboard on the left with tile counters that grandpa had made. The tile was mismatched in bright colors. Oh yes, there was a water faucet on the sink, but it was only cold water. If you wanted hot water or wanted to cook there was a wood stove. There was no electricity and we used oil lamps for light. So needless to say, we went to bed early. The cabin was full of antiques that were not antiques at the time. Two brass double beds and two birdseye maple dressers. There was an old large windup victrola with many old records that as children we loved to play. 
The one thing I did not like was the "outhouse." I am sure the new owners have indoor plumbing. In the winter, we kept our food in a box that Grandpa had built in the tree outside of the front door. It was cold outside so we didn't need ice. A different story in the summer. Then we had to get ice from the little store down the road.
We always had fun and looked forward to going to the mountains. Bill and I even spent our honeymoon there. As it was December, it was so cold and we had to keep a fire going in the old wood stove. Not sure the boys remember our time at the cabin, but I hope so.


Written in April 2008

1 comment:

joojierose said...

Ah I love these! It's so fun to read the stories and see the adorable pictures. Grammy and Grampy are such lookers :)