Countertop Tuesday

Our kitchen is almost complete with the countertop install finished up last Tuesday. By pure coincidence, we seem to have a beautiful pine tree perfectly lined up with our kitchen window.

And here's another view. Our granite selection turned out very well. Our furnace is installed and was kicking out heat when I was in the house this past Sunday. And, we have running water.

Here is a look at our woodstove that I have been bragging about. I can't wait to get a nice cozy fire glowing in it.

This Tuesday, the 11th. is carpet Tuesday. Carpeting and finish work on our decks are the last two major tasks to complete. Then it's finishing up all of the "minor" loose ends. We are still on schedule so the finish line is in sight.

Have a great week, God Bless, Dana

Putting Together The Kitchen

The space designated as the kitchen is now becoming one. Here are a couple of views. The cherry wood starts out very light but will get much darker with a red tint over the next 6 - 12 months. Our stove and microwave will fill in the gaps on this side:

The sink will be in front of the window on this side:

Most of the interior trim work is completed as you see in the window and door frame above. The wood stove has arrived. It looks like a piece of art. No pictures of it yet, I'm waiting until it is fully "dressed up" before I share it with you. We feel like the end may be in sight. Lots of details to go but our builder is keeping on top of them all.

Sandy and I took a hike at Twin Lakes on Saturday. The aspen are putting on quite a show. Twin Lakes is on the highway to Independence Pass and Aspen. There are some mountainsides there that rival any aspen display in the state I think. Here is a small sample.

That's it for now. We are starting to get anxious for the final push.

Enjoy fall !
Dana

Things are looking up (and down).

Here are a few pictures of what's been happening inside the house. Our living room ceiling still needs lights and a fan but the wood is beautiful.

Here is our bathroom tile.

This is a view of the kitchen. Our hardwood floors are finished. The floor is a bit lighter than shown in the picture. Our interior doors are installed and stained, waiting for their hardware.

And here is the rest of the kitchen. Our cabinets are being installed this week. Sandy and I brought up our stove, dishwasher and microwave this past Sunday. Thankfully Gretchen and Mike came up as well. The stove was a 4-person moving job. After the cabinets are in the installers will measure for the counter tops. Things keep moving forward in spite of hunting season distracting some of the subcontractors.

Thanks for taking a look.
Have a good week, Dana

Doors and floors

Sandy and I spent the week-end doing outside cleanup and seeding work. We rented a wood chipper on Saturday and ground up all of the slash from the lot clearing last April. NOT a fun time! We are also reseeding the disturbed areas around the house now that most of the outside work is finished.

We have garage doors. Very nice garage doors; well insulated; quiet and smooth operators. It took us awhile to figure out why the openers' lights kept turning on long after the doors were open. Motion sensitive, who knew?

Our floor tile is at the house and the sub-mat for it was in place. We should have the bathrooms tiled by the end of this week. No pictures yet but the tile is pretty. Our tongue & groove ceiling is up, just waiting for a little touch-up staining.

Sandy and I picked out our granite counter-top slabs. Here they are, soon to be cut to size:

Wishing you all a fun and safe Labor Day holiday.
Dana

Putting on Some Color

We have finished our painting marathon. Here is a picture of our helper angels who kept me from getting totally stressed out over the size of the job.

 Many thanks to Gretchen & Mike for keeping things rolling.

The exterior has lots of color as well. The log accents on the garage turned out great.

The front deck rock work looks good too.

The electrician started installing plugs, switches, and light fixtures this past week. If all goes well, some of our flooring will be down by the end of the week. The painter has been staining the tongue and groove boards to go up on our living room ceiling. Lots of progress.

Major Progress

Sandy and I had not been up to check on the home for two week-ends. Everyone has been busy. Our first word was Wow! when we walked up the driveway.

The stucco crew is making progress. They have the base coat applied to part of the house and are building scaffolding everywhere. The roof is also completed.

We have front and back decks (sort of) as well. The stringers are in and you can stand (carefully) out on our decks.

And check out that beautiful front door. The window is now the background for this blog.

Here is an inside view of our living room. We are surprised by how much bigger the rooms look with the sheet rock up.

This is the view looking from the living room towards the back door and the dining room. The pedestal in the middle is the base for our wood stove. The kitchen is to the left. The left window will be over the kitchen sink.

So, we are now rounding up our paint brushes and rollers. We are painting the interior ourselves to save some money. (Seemed like a good idea at the time??). Our builder thinks the dry wall crew will be taping and applying texture by the week-end. Lots of decisions in the next few weeks starting with all of our flooring choices this coming Saturday.

I've updated the pictures at the very bottom of the blog, take a look.

That's all for now, thanks for reading.
God Bless, Dana

Catching Up

Hi All,

Lots of things have been happening around our house and the new house. Everyone has returned home safely from Erin and John's wedding celebration. It has taken me a little time to get back into the swing of things.

Here are a couple of pictures of the log framing of our front entrance deck. We also have a similar deck for the back door.

The tongue and groove ceiling will continue on the inside for the living room. Here is a picture looking back out of the living room.

Almost all of our windows are installed and roofing was underway when we were at the house July 10th. The rough electrical wiring has been completed as well as the rough plumbing. Sandy and I have been busy picking out light fixtures and ceiling fans.

Finally, here's a picture from a recent hike near Buena Vista. Nothing to do with the house, but we hiked through  the best display of Columbine that I can ever recall seeing. We hope everyone's summer is going well and thanks to all who helped in blessing Erin and John's marriage.