It Looks Like a House

I don't think things are moving very fast and then I look back at my last post on the blog and I'm amazed at what's happened in a week.

The builders put plywood up on the roof trusses, the roofers covered it in waterproof material and the shingles are going on. The builders also added the porch to our main entry and the entry from the garage.

Meanwhile, Bob and I drove up to Harrison on a Saturday to pick up our new wood burning fireplace. Mike then used his tractor to load it into the garage. The wall space has been framed in for when we are ready for the stone work.

Next we drove down to Jerome to the saw mill with Mike to look at all of the beautiful wood and a possibility for our new mantle. We found many we loved but settled on the perfect piece of white pine for size and color. We watched as they trimmed it up for us.

Minnie has begun to hang out more at the new house and it is fun to watch where she will show up as she finds new places to perch and watch. 

We too are spending more and more time in the evenings and on the weekends relaxing on our future screened in porch. It is shaded and situated to pick up a nice breeze with a great view of the lake.

As the days pass, we have had several visitors checking on our progress and freely giving advice and great ideas. We happily listen and then push on. I know we'll make mistakes but we "ain't brand new," we've lived in many places and we have to do this our way. We often ask for thoughts and it's fun to hear different perspectives and we appreciate the input. And, our designer/builder has a degree in Commercial Art, so we trust his opinion and leadership even when we go our own way. It is surely a complicated process, but for the most part, we are thrilled and excited! Now to see what the next week brings.

Porch, Power, and Progress

I'm beginning to see that posting once a week is more than enough. We have days where the crew works all day but there is not good visual material for pictures.

Things went slowly after the last weekend. Then Wednesday afternoon, Consumers Energy finally showed up and started the process of hooking us up to power. It is amazing and frustrating watching the crews and the rules and regulations they have to follow. They need a work order for everything and one crew is there for one thing but can't move forward until the other crew shows up. Then there might be time to finish something, but if it's not on their list, they'll waste time to bring the whole group out again the next day. They are nice guys that know their stuff, but the organization is silly. Here Bob and our neighbor, Scott, sat on the ground and supervised.

Thursday took off with activity everywhere. The building crew worked on our future screened in porch and another Consumers crew showed up to put the gas line in.

It was back to very hot humid weather, so I found a place in the shade where I could watch the action. It was all fascinating.

Bob watched as yet another Consumers crew showed up to take the old poles down now that our lines were underground. This one Bob and Mike had worked on after the first Consumers work order. Bob ran a Jack Hammer taking out old cement and putting in new. Then they decided this pole would go and they moved it all.  All of that work that Bob and Mike had done was the kind of wasted time that can make you crazy. 

Barney had to help inspect.

Friday morning the sign company truck came with a crane to lift the roof trusses into place and our new home took shape. It was exciting. Here are a series of pictures as it grew.

Barney and the builder's dog, Jerico, found their own way to have fun through it all.

And Barney is already finding places to settle in and be our distinguished guard.

Speaking of home, I just did my first decorating on our back kitchen wall as a good reminder of why we are doing all of this. 

On to a new week and eventually an actual roof!

Studs

It has been an adventure adapting at our age to life in a small travel trailer. Our dear friends have been so gracious and helpful making us feel welcome as we live in their driveway. We do have a lovely view of the lake and can see our new home as it grows. It is nice to be able to keep an eye on things and see when the crew comes and goes.

We've had fun neighborhood gatherings to watch the full moon rise, chatting, laughing and to let all of our young dogs play. We have hit some snags though, as one night watching our dogs romp, we noticed our small cat stalking a stray cat up the yard. As we watched them, all of a sudden, the dogs noticed them too and broke into a wild chase. Barney cut through the middle of all of us and hit the back of Bob's legs and sent him flying. He was standing next to me. I felt a breeze and he was gone. I looked down and there he was. He took skin off his elbow and was sore but seemed okay. The next morning he was pretty sure he had it licked and then the aches set in. Just what we needed with all there is to do.

Then I woke up early one morning with a case of Vertigo. I had no idea what was wrong with me except I couldn't sit up without spinning and then got very sick. Luckily Bob knew what to do and helped me along. Our dear neighbor advised us further and added to my treatment and got me up and running again. I thought maybe it was just sea legs from life in a rocky trailer! Anyway, I sure was thankful and feeling blessed to have such wonderful help.

So we are moving along again and making progress. Interior walls are in and now they are working on the upstairs. Here is a short tour -

This is our main entry with a coat closet on the left and then a powder room.

This is the downstairs bedroom.

Here are his and hers walk in closets and then the master bathroom. And yes, we have windows in our closets. I like that and hope to have good cross ventilation.

This is our kitchen with a lovely big window over the future sink. It looks north to our neighbors wooded lot. There will be an open counter space dividing the kitchen from the living room. A screened in porch will be off to the left of the living room and a fireplace will be on the right hand wall.

Joel is busy building steps to our basement and upstairs.

Here they are adding the upstairs walls.

The weather has been much better with cool nights and dry days and then we finally got some much needed rain. We've gotten used to permanent sand on floors in our trailer, in our shoes and on our dog. I can sweep till the cows come home and it's still thick.

And here we go into August with Raft O Rama weekend and people everywhere. Add that to the 90 degree weather we're supposed to have and the park filling up with everyone trying to stay cool. I hope our neighbor Angie is ready with her "Slow Down" and "No Parking" signs.