Move-in Date is Getting Closer

I talked to the contractor and it looks like they may finish up by Friday.  That is the target date so far.  The plumbers and electricians have some hook-up work to do.  The electrician has almost everything installed.  I just asked him to switch out the light fixture in the entryway and that will take some creative ladder work to get to the ceiling as the railings are up now.

The plumbers, on the other hand, have a lot to install.  1 toilet, 3 tubs, 4 vanities, one small wet bar, one dryer vent, a dishwasher, garbage disposal, and last but not least a geo-thermal water heater that runs off the heat pump.  Supposed to be economical.  Lord knows I need economical after the really large heat bills.  I am hoping that was resolved with the correct thermostats.  A $799 heat bill for one month almost gave me heart failure.  As my dear son points out, “Mom you are 60+.”  I thanked him very much and told him I would out-work him any day.  No argument from him.  Kids these days are soft.  Huh, Steven?

Well, I do have to say, I like having him help me.  So here is what I/we have done this weekend:

I will begin with easy first.  We unboxed the microwave and put it on a shelf. I told you I was beginning with the easy part.  Then, we unboxed the trash compactor and wiggled it until we got it in the cabinets.  Steven did the wiggling.  Then we unboxed and muscled the freezer into the utility room.  I was so ready for a new freezer as we are still using the one we bought 26 years ago.  I hope this one lasts that long.

Now on to the study as Steven had finished up the caulking and I finished with the primer and the final coat on the window ledges and baseboards.  That just makes 2 rooms that are actually (completely) done with the painting before the carpet goes in.  The rest of the house will have to be done later.  The outside will be finished up this summer.  Promise.

Now for the pictures.

Stairs are coming together. When the pieces are sanded, the staining will follow

Looking toward the one guest suite upstairs

My favorite part. The reading nook.

Another view of the stairs

The light that will be hanging over the pool table

Another beautiful view of the back pastures, through the bonus room. aka Lynn’s man-cave

This is the view from the reading nook

Where did December go?  I was supposed to rest in December!!  And you know, winter is my time to hibernate.  No hibernating and I really get cranky.  Just has Lynn.  If our marriage survives this last 7 months it can survive a lifetime.  I have totally lost my sense of humor, and I broke a mirror so that may be responsible.  I wonder if you have the mirror replaced, does that help take away some of the bad luck?

Can’t wait to show you pictures of the carpeting and the finished kitchen.

Annie, the unlucky 60+ Jack-of-all-trades.

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Its Sunday evening after a productive but tiring weekend.  Needed to put up the medicine cabinets and the mirrors and get the vanities ready for the plumber to install.

We decided to tackle the biggest tasks first.  Moving the 370 pound vanity.  That actually was the easiest thing we did.  Hanging the corner medicine cabinets and mirrors turned out to be a challenge.  But the biggest challenge was the small medicine cabinet in the upstairs main bath which eluded all easy ways to hang-it in drywall.  Went through a couple of toggle and molly bolts before we finally just decided to drill a hole and toggle it through the nailer in the back.  Sometimes 3 heads are just too many to try to do something simple.  We all over-thought it.  But we had muscle with my baby boy Steven.  He also became the gopher making several trips to the hardware store.  He’s learning a lot from Lynn as long as one is the teacher and one is the student.

Unfortunately, Steven is seeing our limitations.  But it definitely helped having some help, I couldn’t have done it myself.  Lynn is very hesitant to take any help so that is one obstacle I have a hard time working around.  He also saw his limitations this weekend.  He got really tired after about 3 hours in the house yesterday.  Today he just spent a little time when Steven and I needed a third set of eyes to figure out what we were doing wrong.

In the meantime I found time to stain some of the upstairs bottom railings and top railings.  The masking and protecting the walls and climbing up and down the ladders really did this poor-old-body in.  It will definitely be an Excedrin night.

Now for the pictures.

The stairs are progressing. Forgot to take pictures of the railings. Next time.

Chandelier in the master bath. Who has those? Lynn insisted so we have 2.

Here is one near the shower.

Vanity with corner medicine cabinets and mirrors.

another shot that is a little dark

Another shot. Not exactly how I visualized it. I order the corner medicine cabinets by mistake and decided to get creative.

That little baby medicine cabinet was tone we spent 3 hours trying to hang.

Vanity in the guest suite.

Another shot with the lights off.

Mirror mirror on the wall, whose the tiredest of the them all.

Annie, the mirror hanger.

It’s All About Electricity – Lights and Fans

I haven’t done a Monday blog in a while.  Today it was full speed ahead.  The electrician (aka Sparky) from Hays Electric came to put in more lights, fans and appliances.  And I was anxious to check out the progress when I got home from work.

Now remember I said that I was furnishing the house with a medieval/victorian/eclectic theme?  In the following photos you will see what I mean.  The medieval will come a little bit later.

I fell in love with this small fixture with its etched glass and rough bronze. This is in the breakfast-nook

This is a small light under the staircase bar. I wanted something a little subtle as it may be used as a back light for TV watching

This is a fixture over the kitchen sink with the panoramic windows. This was a a polished silver. It was a hard one to pick because I wanted it to blend but not really be a focus in the kitchen.

Fan in the living room.

Fan in the study.

More to come tomorrow, or at least in a few days.  Can’t really promise tomorrow as I have been so busy with work and packing and other commitments.

This journey is coming to a close really fast now.  Landscaping will have to wait until spring as will some of the exterior painting.  So I may have a few days to relax after moving, or maybe not.

I really appreciate everyone reading my blog.  It has been a kind of therapy along with a motivating factor to keep me positive and on track.  To be able to look back and see where we started and where we have come up to now.  It has been through hard work and getting out there even when we were tired and didn’t want to do anything, that this is coming together.  Taking almost every extra penny and putting it into the house and keeping the dream alive.

Dreams are powerful, but the power only comes if you are willing to do the work toward that ultimate goal.  This can be applied to everything in your life, not just building your dream home.  My son’s dream is to be a nurse.  It is only going to happen with hard work and keeping the goal in focus.  He just has to believe that he can do it and it will happen.

Enough preaching, for now 🙂

Annie, the hard-working dreaming philosopher

 

Happy New Year – Questionable Start For 2015

Well, as I am seeing New Years Day coming to an end, I am hoping that the rest of the year goes better than today.

It’s cold, about 20 degrees outside now and may have got to 25 and at one point.  The sun was shining and calm and actually pretty.  I can tolerate the cold if there is no wind.

Day started out with a bang.  Of course its a holiday, and we have a clogged sewer line.  Lynn thinks there may be tree roots in the line.  Tried to clear it with a snake, but will have to call out the big guns tomorrow.  In the meantime, no laundry gets done, can’t shower and we are using the new house’s facilities.  Not optimal, but workable.  Will be calling the plumber in the morning.  Ugh.  Must have been the mirror I broke a week ago when the shower door fell-out of the shower and hit the medicine cabinet.  It’s a pivot door and not easily fixable.  Put it back in and it fell out again two days ago and hit the vanity and broke the stone top.  Another ugh!!  On to more positive news.

I Spent the day putting stain on some of the step parts in the foyer of the dream house.  It came out a little darker than I planned, but will look good nonetheless.  I need to put some wax on it after the they have dried some.  Using Min Wax Stain and the color is Honey.  Looks like dark walnut to me.  What do you think?

Protecting my floor and walls. The staining begins

On my way up

Pieced that I have stained. Didn’t make it to the posts at this time.

Another view

Cleaned up some of the prep work.

Trying to visualize the finished results. There will be white balustrades.

After my humongous electric bill, the heating contractor is coming out tomorrow to put on the heat-pump thermostats and we should see a difference.  So we have been operating on an inefficient electric heat furnace.  This is going to take awhile to get back on my feet from that sticker shock.

Have to keep telling myself that this journey is going to be through shortly.  At least the main part.  I was looking at the fence that needs repairing and a stable that needs painting and a lawn to put in.  Where is chocolate when I need it….

With that all being said, I am a very happy and grateful person.  I grumble, but I am very fortunate to live in this beautiful area.  I am in good health, have a roof over my head and food in my belly, so I’m really not complaining.

Family and friends are all that really matters, everything else is just that, things.

Happy New Year from

Annie, the grubby stair stainer. 🙂