Takin' care of business

The first order of business this weekend for me was to get the grass mowed.  Whomever decided that a half acre of grass was a good idea should be shot!  I mowed for two hours straight on Saturday...until we had to go to Syd's soccer game.  And, since the world didn't end, I had to mow for another hour on Sunday to finish the job.  I have a feeling the first time Mark has to mow, someone will be getting a riding lawn mower.

On a funny note, we had our first canal "incident".  Yep, Syd fell in.  Thankfully, it's not deep, nor fast.  I guess if it were, they wouldn't be allowed to play around it.  She was soaked from about the chest down.  She's had a bit of a run of bad luck lately.  Hopefully, things will start going her way soon.

While I was outside enjoying the sunshine, Mark and his brother Chris were inside taking down walls.  Our nephew Tilson was helping too.  He's so good about giving up his free time to come over!  My niece Tori even got in on the fun.  (She was a bit timid though.  I guess she doesn't have the pent up rage and frustration the rest of us do.)



Tori getting instruction from Uncle Mark.



The view from kitchen to dining room
with the wall removed.

We also hosted our first dinner party Friday night.  We really do know how to entertain in style...so classy.



And yes, Syd did forget her work clothes
so she's wearing her St. Mark's uniform.



 As for the part of the house the professionals are taking care of, it's coming along nicely.  We found a bathtub and vanity.  Plus, picked our fixtures for the sinks and shower and tub.  The HVAC goes in Monday, windows Tuesday.  After that, there won't be any noticeable changes for a while as they work on plumbing and electrical.

Here are a few shots of the addition. 







They've actually made a little more progress, but somehow, I didn't get a picture.  Seems impossible with the 40,000 pictures I've taken, doesn't it?

Lastly, for this post at least, here are a couple shots of the backyard.  The barn, chicken coop and out-buildings all need a bit of work, but do look kinda cool, in a run-down sort of way.  ;-)



Another Brick in The Wall...

We have walls!  Well, kind of.  We have two by fours.  The framing is done!  We get trusses on Wednesday.  After that, they can get things weather tight.  We should have all the electrical and plumbing done in the next few weeks. 


The new addition...How do you like what we've done with the yard? 
Classy, isn't it?



Unfortunately with them moving so quickly, that means we need to get busy on the existing portion of the house. 
I'm struggling with picking hardwood.  I love the look of dark wood, but am still on the fence that it's the choice I want to live with for the next however many years.  Mark is absolutely NO help!  I think he's afraid I'll blame him if I hate it.  That, or make him change it.  :-)

I've picked out the flooring for the rest of the house.  Interior paint color is narrowed down to four.  And frankly, if you would have seen the bundle of nearly identical paint swatches I started with, you'd be super impressed.  Who knew there we so many shades that were so similar, yet vastly different? 

I've also, picked out tile for our master shower.  That was a bit of an ordeal as well.  I originally decided against tile, as we aren't super great on upkeep.  But, the "tile guy" assures me that the grout they will be using lets NOTHING grow.  I say, Perfect!  I'm actually pretty excited about the tile I chose.  It's a bit different since we'll be doing 9"x18" subway style tiles.  I kind of love it.  Now, I'm hoping the tile guy isn't shining me on about the grout.  :-)
I still have yet to figure out the vanity for the master.  I also need to find a 6 foot bathtub.  Apparently, most bath-takers are super short.  I don't even want anything super fancy.  Just a plain white tub, with a front apron.  No jets, no bells and whistles.

I was thinking the other day that maybe I could start painting in the existing portion.  I'm itching to get the ball rolling again after Mark's last business trip.  But, as I got to thinking about painting, I realized there is only one room that I could potentially paint.  All of the others are going through some sort of transformation.  Whether it's new drywall, or moving electrical, or knocking a wall out for the addition, there is just the guest room that isn't changing.  As far as paint, it is definitely the one room that needs it the most.  See below...

How would you like to wake up to this?  Yikes!

One last shot.  These little guys were swimming in the canal this morning.  It was a Mama duck, the Daddy duck and 7 babies.  So cute!

Progress...

Drove by the house today after dropping the girls at school and saw a huge truck dropping off lumber.  Yay!  They started framing today and should have the walls ready to be set-up tomorrow.  I need to go check the positioning of the doors and windows in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who can't visualize things from a set of plans.  So, our builder is nice enough to figure out ways for me to see things easily.  I know this makes a lot more work for him, so it's just one more reason I'm glad we chose him.

Mark and I both went for our tetanus shots today.  They also made him remove his bandage so they could take a look at the damage to his finger.  They confirmed I was right.  He should have had it sutured.  So there!

Can't wait to see the house tomorrow.  It will be nice to see some huge progress.  And of course, I'll take pictures. 

The good and bad of a farm-boy husband...

Some of the qualities my husband acquired growing up on a farm are very impressive.  His amazing work ethic, kindness towards animals, patience, and his ability to fix almost anything, are but a few.

On the other hand...there are a couple qualities that make me want to throttle him.  Tonight, while working on the house, he tore what appears to be, most of the pad of one of his fingers off.  Did he wash it out?  Put on anti-bacterial ointment?  Nope.  He wrapped a dirty napkin around it and applied pressure with a band-aid.  Then, he put on his gloves (which he should have been wearing anyway) to make sure the band-aid didn't fall off.  Two hours later, he came home and finally washed it with soap and water.  Now, I'm not really vindictive, but it did give me a small amount of pleasure to see him hopping around, trying not to swear, when the soap hit the wound.  But, really, I'm not vindictive.  ;-)

I'm guessing said wound should probably have stitches.  I'm also guessing that my husband would rather his finger fall off than go to the doctor for the fore mentioned stitches.  I'm pretty sure that it was a nail that punctured his finger.  He will be going for a tetanus shot tomorrow.  Unfortunately, since I can't remember when my last tetanus shot was, so will I. 

Sometimes, it sucks to be right...