Cabinetry Installation

This was Thursday and Leonardo, our feisty rooster decided to have an adventure. His wings have not been clipped so he is able to fly - and fly he did! He escaped out of the roost when we were replacing their water.

Mona Lisa got out first and one of our labs grabbed her. Luckily, she is fine. But instead of staying inside the coop, Leo took off. He went to the highest place around, the new roof.

Later on, he came back to the coop. Wow!

Here is the current view of the south side of the house with all the brick applied. The white aperture on the left side of those windows is the tankless water heater for the kitchen side of the house. I will have to find a creative way to disguise it - I'm thinking large potted bush!

The masons left yesterday, in the rain, of course, with only a few feet of brick left to do to complete the house. They should finish today.

I am reminded again of the virtue of patience . . .hmmmmm deep breath. With all the moisture still in the air, it is taking longer for the interior "mudding" the walls to dry. (More patience, please). But yesterday was fun anyway. We traveled in to Dallas to select the granite for the kitchen countertops and the manufactured marble for the bathrooms. With vessel sinks, mexican sink, painted wall board, wood sample from the trim and copper bar sink in tow, we walked through granite for over an hour, narrowing our choices and trying to stay within our budget. Success!! We selected a color called "baltic brown" and we really like it! It will require three slabs to complete all the counters - whoa!

The best surprise when we returned was the completion of the hearth for the fireplace. The head of the masons, or Abuella (grandfather), as we call him did an amazing job. We left in the morning after drawing out on the cement floor in front of the fireplace the dimensions we needed in a half circle. And we pretty much gave him "carte blanche" for the design. He was amazing - did an abbreviated herringbone design on part of it and alternated long and short brick on the front facing. We were so pleased! (A few more donuts and pigs in a blanket that morning didn't hurt!)

More later - love to all!

Brick it Baby!!

You can see in this picture how they set up the brick along the porch in piles for the masons. The process has been going on for three days (counting yesterday when nothing got done because it rained all day). But we're not complaining, we needed the rain and these guys are like ants crawling all over the house making it happen. Stuff we like to see!

We brought them doughnuts day before yesterday and they were very happy.

We also hauled up the Spanish door for the pantry to make sure everything fits - well, not so fast, pardner - it seems the giant (and I mean giant) hinges are a bit too long, like 2 inches too long. It means we will probably hide the hinges inside instead of outside. But I've got to say - the door looks spectacular. Just what we envisioned.

We expect to see painters next week. I say that with a little laugh. Nothing is EVER timed the way we think it is and so we try to remain positive - which isn't hard. It's wonderful to look out the trailer window and see an actual structure up there on the hill.

Today is the first high school football scrimmage for the new school year. Everyone in town is very excited. We plan on attending some home games this year and participating in the brouhaha that makes up a small town life. Can't wait!

In the meantime, our family is busy planning the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many menus to plan, airport pick-up trips to make and most of all, just waiting to sit down at a great meal and talk!

Love to all! Vaya Con Dios

Finally!! After several weeks of little activity, the wall board is up and the tapping and mudding begin. There's only one fella doing it but he is fast. Even so, it will take him almost a week to complete. Then, the painters will arrive to prep the walls, texture and paint.

Today, the masons showed up to start the bricks! Hallelujah! We will show more pictures later.

UPS and FEDEX continue to be our new best friends - they only have two more items to deliver. The bar sink and the mosaic that will go over the cooktop. (I tried to do one myself and it just didn't look right.) You can see the fireplace has been inserted - the first time he did it he had it flush with the ground - but we had asked for a hearth so they raised it up about 8 inches and it looks great. After the wallboard is completed - they will install the mantle and hearth. Can't wait!

I went down the storage containers and started putting together some of our fixtures. It made me feel like this is coming to a close someday soon :) I put together the lighting fixture that will go over the outer kitchen counter, and also the one that will go over the kitchen sink. I also put together all four kitchen stools that will go under the counter. Looking good!!

More later. Love to all!!

It's been a HOT WEEK :)

This has been the hottest weather we've had to endure since we moved into the trailer 14 months ago (has it really been that long!). Temperatures are right around 102 during the day, and the trailer usually gets up to about 95 by 4 pm. So the best purchase we have made recently is the 4' by 7' plastic blow-up pool. Absolute heaven! Nothing like slipping into that cool water with a cold Corona :)

Last week was a slow week for construction. Because of the delay on heating and air conditioning installation, everything stopped last week. Not fun, people! But this week we had the last of the framers punch list and the HVAC was installed - lots of silver tubing in our ceilings. By Thursday, it passed the next inspection and we were on to the next phase. The fireplace was delivered but not installed yet. And as you can see from the last post, the front door was installed.

Tomorrow (Monday), the wall board will start going up. We were told this will take as long as 10 days to complete. Also, the brick will start to go up tomorrow. We have been receiving many packages from FedEx and UPS because we have ordered a lot of our fixtures over the Internet ( good sales and no shipping costs) Saves on costly gas trips into Dallas, too. So much of our "stuff" is waiting in the storage containers to install. Can't wait!

I continue to go up to the house most mornings and sweep - it gives me the best feeling to keep the house "clean". And it sets the tone for the workers. Although we have had the most pleasant teams working on our house.

More pictures tomorrow when all the action starts up again. Love to all!

Bringing the front door up from the shed to the house

Here is our front door traveling the 600 ft. from the storage container to the house. Weeeeee!