Teeming with activity at 271!

There are so many people in there today I couldn't get around to take many pictures! Here's what I could snap. Jeff finished oak stairs to the guest suite last night and they look beautiful. TJ and Jeff are installing the kitchen cabinets with all the puzzle pieces mostly all fitting together. The 36' Capital stove/range came today and was almost a disaster - it didn't look like it would fit through the front door. But out of the box and with storm door hardware removed, the guys were able to squeeze it through. The island sink and all the faucetry were delivered and we picked up the black ceramic farm sink today from Ackermans so the granite counter templating can be done later this week. We also prepped the bedroom for it's "montpelier" blue paint but Mike, the floor guy, showed up to start laying out the slats before we could start painting in there. We're saving big bucks by reusing the flame birch flooring from our old bedroom. It's only about 4 years old and still in great shape. Jack and Al, the HVAC guys, were there to finish the panels for the radiant heat in the entryway hallways. Meanwhile, Jim's out back starting to harvest the field stone from the old stone wall - he's sure there is plenty of it and all of a fairly uniform size and color to more than cover what is needed for the chimneys and retaining wall. After snapping these shots, I got out of everyone's way and started pulled all the boxes out of the basement and now am laying out my paper and bubble wrap supply to begin organizing for packing.

The greatest neighbors ever!

Big changes every day now! Sara, Peggy and Loretta - our truly wonderful neighbors - all pitched in on the painting over the weekend so we had it ready today for the cement board in the kitchen to be installed and kitchen cabinets to be unpacked. I think they look great up against our newly painted walls. We particularly like the wine rack (which we can't wait to fill, empty, fill, empty) and the tall pantry cabinet on the cathedral wall. The beaded wainscoating style really suits us. Our beautiful Slate Solutions "Multicolor" tiles arrived for the entryway and kitchen as did the island sink, the bathroom vanity and the lighting for the bathroom. "WinterWheat" tiling of the master bathroom continues and final parts of radiant heat installed so bedroom flooring can go in tomorrow. Oak stairs to the basement are being put in as we speak. I spent a couple hours at Mario's picking out paint for the bathroom ("Acorn Yellow"), bedroom ("Montpelier"), library and hallway ("Firenze") today. Two out of three ain't bad I guess - in the light of our space, the "Firenze" orangey color I picked that went so well with the floor tiles in the store just wouldn't work in the hallway behind the green wall. So back to visit Dottie at Mario's tomorrow for something a little more complementary (in the brown/taupe family) for there. Today Jim walked us through the plan for the deck. Our old deck was 16 feet deep so since we're using the old wood we'll make it 16 feet vs. the 14 feet that was originally architected. A deck that big will reduce the light that gets in to the guest suite/office but we're already planning to light it well to compensate. Since we're not doing the screened-in porch on the side (at least not for now), we'll put deck there too. Jim will start bringing the field stone up this week and we'll have the fireplace delivered so they can start installing as soon as they can. The granite folks come to template Thursday. I've taken vacation to start packing. It's hard to concentrate on work anyway - and most of the clients are also on vacation. Yippee!!

The kitchen is here!!

How about that - the kitchen has been delivered as promised! It looks to me like a big set of puzzle pieces or a set of german blocks out of which one builds a castle with their father in time to display for Christmas. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done. We've bought the paint - "Plum Raisin" for the kitchen and "Springfield Sage" for the rest of the living room. David's going to try his hand at the painting to get it done sooner (and cheaper!) Tiling continues and wood flooring will begin shortly now that the radiant heat parts have been finished. The wood for the new part of the house was delivered this week and our old flame birch flooring will be used for the library and master bedroom. We go to the lighting store tomorrow to finalize the inside and outside sconces, ceiling fans, pendants and chandelier orders. The stone estimate came in and is very reasonable so we're going to give the mason the go ahead to use the field stone and go as soon as can. We still hope to be in around labor day or just after. Oh and I have I told you the leaves are changing already down around Fowler Lake? Check it out - that's the view from our new master bedroom by the way.....

Stairway to Heaven

The stairway to the guest suite was cut this week and the custom windows in the great room have been put in. The excavation is in full swing as you can see - foundation will soon be poured for the garage and breezeway and it will be ready for whenever we can afford to build them. The electric inspection is set for early next week and then insulation and sheet rocking can begin. And the propane tank has been delivered looking nice and shiny. Since there's more project than budget left, we're making some tough decisions - we're going to defer the tongue and groove for the ceilings and sheet rock them over to start much to my dismay. But that will allow us to do the deck now so it will look more finished and a nicer place to hang out. Jim has assured us that it's easy to add that later when we build back up the savings. We've finalized the design and material for the tile floor and the wood floor estimate is in. They will start as soon as the sheet rocking is finished. Time to pick lighting and fans and bathroom furniture and fixtures. One of the exciting things that happened was the discovery of the remnants of a fieldstone wall in the backyard which they are going to be able to use for our stone chimneys. That will save us big bucks as the stone we had initially chosen turned out to be very pricey. Using rock from our own land would have been our first choice anyway had we known it was possible so we're thrilled!