Electric and Cement

It was a big family week last week - baby Lucy Keniry was born in Boston and Kathy met all the Southerland clan in Belton TX! Pictures of all of that coming soon. Not too much looks to have gotten done while we were away but really it did. The electrical outlets and recessed lighting boxes are all in, the concrete was poured in the basement and more of the siding got put up. We haven't spoken to Jim since we've been back but are expecting a new estimate on when we'll be finished enough to get the COO (Certificate of Occupancy) and be able to move back in....with or without kitchen cabinets! We might move the deck, the finishing of the guest suite and garage/breezeway into a later phase or David's going to solicit help from the neighbor in finishing it himself. I tend to think we'll be going with the former since David's consulting gigs seem to be picking up but who knows.....anything is possible!

Siding!!!

We're on our way now! The beautiful parchment color Hardiboard siding is going up quickly and the concrete for the guest suite is soon to be poured. We did find out that the kitchen cabinets are going to take longer than we thought but the will be gorgeous when they're done. If the cabinets come in sooner, we still may make July for getting back in there. But we're ready to stay until August if we have to. In the meantime, the electric is done and the radiant heat installation has been completed. We've chosen a nice bold slate tile for the flooring in the entryway, powder room and kitchen and close to a decision on the tile for the master bath. We're deciding between summer wheat and multicolor slate tile too. We've also chosen the stone for the fireplace and ordered out the fireplace itself.

More rafters and inside walls

New rafters and beams are up and they've started framing of some of the inside walls. In these photos you can see the ceilings in the great room, our bedroom (with attic space behind it), and David showing me where the laundry room, powder room and master bathroom fixtures are going. In this one, he's standing in the new shower. You can tell it's the master bath because of the new acryline tub we've gotten installed!! Can't wait to put that to good use! Today Les Craig came out to officially measure the kitchen space and match it up to his designs with Jim Hollister, our general contractor. Today the hardy board siding was delivered and the cement guy is coming this week so that should make for some more good pictures coming soon! The last photo is of St Francis looking out from behind the hasta. Soon we'll be able to see more of him - after the deer turn it into hasta salad like they do every year after the hasta flowers bloom.