Landscape Begins To Take Shape

Being creative when the house is a bit lower then street level.

The same planter from the front of the house looking towards the street.

Getting help from the neighbors (our grandkids), on the back patio.

Laying stone for steps in the backyard.

Adding a sunscreen for the back patio.

Done and ready to use.  It makes a big difference.  

Stay tuned for progress on the yard.

9 Months Later; The House That Ron Finished Building

Tile Work

Hi Friends.  I'm a little late getting this blog up, but here it is.  Ron started putting down tile before the accident that put him on crutches.  But I'll talk about that in the next post.  Isn't that tile pretty!  

This is the laundry room floor.  

And this is the guest bath floor.  I love it!  

This is just a pretty view of the entryway going into the living room.  No tile here, but I like to look at it.  

Thanks for coming by.  We're getting closer to finishing the house, and that's exciting.  Stick around for more posts.  Love ya!  

We Have Garage Door Openers!

Hi Friends!  It was a beautiful day for installing garage door openers.  I now have one of those doohickeys attached to my car viser that has buttons on it that open the garage door before I get there.  Isn't that cool?!   

Also, we have some lights working, and Ron is systematically going through room by room installing switches and hooking up electricity. It's a beautiful thing.  

Thought you all might enjoy seeing a few wires.  They're kind of pretty in an artsy sort of way.  I'm sure you will agree.   

There are lights in this room!  And I love the paint color!  And I have something I found today that's going right in the middle of that wall.  Can't tell you what it is yet, but I definitely found something neat.  

Now, please observe the outlet box on the siding of the house, up by the roof.  That is for plugging in a string of lights.  I asked Ron for one on the back patio and one on the front patio.  

And speaking of the back patio area, we have lights there too!  Pavers will come later.  

I think I could sell wire art.  It looks good. Just saying . . . .

Oh, my, Friends.  Today was a busy day at the house.  Tomorrow will be too.  Things are getting done at a fast pace now.  I'll try to keep you informed. 

Thanks for stopping over.  See you back here soon.  Love ya all!   

Painting Day Has Arrived!

Oh, my goodness, Friends!  Are you ready for this?  Restrained Gold by Sherwin Williams is covering the walls of the main parts of the house now.  I'm so excited, but I'm chuckling too because when we first saw the paint it was dark outside, and the walls looked much darker inside then what we expected. I said to Ron, "I don't think that gold has been restrained enough!"  But, in the light of day the walls look fabulous and we're both very happy with the color.  Keep in mind, we don't have electricity hooked up yet, so everything looks dark even at dusk.  It's so dark at night, as a matter of fact, I did not see Meredith kneeling beside me on the living room floor at her house when I was summoned by my little grandson's, up the darkened basement stairs to peek at the newly carved pumpkins.  lol.  Okay, maybe I also need to get my eyes checked. 

Anyway, my Friends, here's the paint job.  It's not quite finished but you can get a pretty good idea of how it looks.  I hope you like it.  If you don't, be gentle in your comments.  I'm a soft soul.  I might cringe to know you dislike the color, but I'll keep loving you anyway.

We still have a lot to do, but it's getting so exciting now.  I hope you enjoy seeing the progress.  Arrivederci, Everyone!    

15,000 + 15,000 + 15,000 + Blood, Sweat and Tears = Almost Home

Hi Friends!  We're getting there, we really, really are getting there!  But, before I show you more progress inside I just have to tell you about all the pavers Builder Ron put in for the driveway and front patio.  Add 15,000 pounds, three times, and you have the sum of all the weight in rock, sand, and pavers he moved.  Amazing!  So glad it's done.  I can say that because I helped move a few of the paver bricks.  And, also, because I saw how a certain guy looked very tired at the end of each day last week.  

The driveway looks so pretty with the pavers in place.  A job well done.  Can't wait until we seal it.

Thought you might like to see where the mechanical room is located off the garage.  This room is fabulous!

We call this the "west wing".  You'll see why when I do another video after the inside is painted.  

And . . . . I wanted you to see the beautiful ceiling work.  

I'm look from the guestroom.

And this is looking through the kitchen to the pantry room.  I am going to love, love, love that pantry space!   I'm so glad Ron was able to include one in his design for the house.  By the way, our design is up on the drafter's website.  I'll get the info and post it.  

Again, thank you all for coming by.  Next time you visit I should have pictures of painted walls!  Whooo hooo!  

Love ya.  Have a great day.  

What Is He Doing?

Hi Friends.  We've had rain, thunderstorms, and a new direction on color but none of these things is slowing down Ron the Builder.  Here he is, hard at work, cutting and laying pavers in the driveway and up by the house.  

We chose pavers as a way to help break up the concrete, and also because it was a third the cost.  The driveway looks great, and all of those little sticky-uppy bricks?  They are being cut to fit into the ends.  They are not a decoration, though they look really neat and in they look just like they are meant to decorate the edges.  It would be very difficult to drive over them so we're laying them flush with the concrete.    

This is a sideview of the driveway.  Ron is an artist, I'll tell ya.  

He's using some kind of special rubber mallet to help compact the brick together.  Or is that cobble the brick together.  hmmm . . . . I like cobble.  Cobble it is.  Oh, guess who's shadow?  Yep.  And I did more then take photos.  I actually got my hands dirty and carried brick to various places along the borderland.  I should have worn gloves though, and boots.  It was muddy from all the recent downpours of rain we've had.  Now my hands are rough and my shoes can be thrown away.  Don't worry, they were old.  

While Ron is working outside, the house is drying from a first coat of mud and tape, inside.  

And, I don't want to forget to mention that we now have some inside doors hung.  This one goes out to the garage.  

And this photo just makes me sigh as I see more and more how this house is going to look when it's finished.  Every week I get more excited.  The flooring is picked out and being ordered, the cabinets are coming, the trim work will be ordered soon.  Have I left anything out?  Oh, bathroom fixtures.  Yes, those have not been decided on yet.  Easy peasy though.  Just a walk around my favorite lumber and things box store, and I'll have them in a jiff.  

So, I hope you enjoyed catching up with us.  Thanks so much for stopping by, giving suggestions, being excited for us, etc.  We appreciate you all.  Have a great weekend!  Love ya!