Time

Well, I'm finally moving into the digital age. I have a Face Book account or page. Now I can keep track of the family, even from my cell phone. That's right, the internet from the cell phone. Who would have thought such a thing was possible several years ago? Talk about science fiction but today.
My parents are celebrating their wedding anniversary - 62 years!! Their marriage has been perfect, but they do love each other and God has kept them together. My dad is so gentle and caring with my mom that his example of grace is showing through his actions. What a testimony and heritage that I have. It's most likely their last anniversary together this side of heaven, which makes it all the more sweet.
Remember your loved ones and family today, I know I will be. Take the time to call them and tell them how much they mean to you. There is no time like right now to say I love you!

July Birthdays

Another weekend has come and gone. We spent it again with family. On Monday we had our July birthday celebration. Hannah was 4 this year, Amy's birthday is next week and mine was Sunday. Here are some fun pictures from said event. Ayen makes the best lumpia EVER!!! We ate our share of lumpia for sure. Mom and dad were able to make it out for the day. Mom is weak but hanging in there. Our living room couch is getting its share of nappers. It's a firm couch and perfect for napping! Hannah and Will are all about staging the photo op kiss. They do love their Oma and Opa.

Catch Up

So, in the last 2 weeks here's what has happened. My mom spent 8 days in the hospital, and was released home with Hospice. Not good news but not unexpected. The doctor gave her 6-8 weeks to live. She knows the end result, Heaven, but is blissfully unaware of the road between here and there. She's eating well, has no pain, and is mostly mobile. My dad is coping as best he can, but he still has the burden of caring for mom.
My in laws came up for a weekend and brought furniture, so now our living room has an end table and coffee table. Naturally they did some "touch up" and the pieces look totally different. Now our living room doesn't look so empty. We're currently searching for pictures to place on the walls... Something we both like.
Both of my moms siblings have been to visit last week, that was really nice. My side of the family has been here a lot. Today we're celebrating the July birthdays. Mostly the 4 year old's birthday. I'm now 45??!! How did that happen? I feel like I'm in my twenties, weird how time flies.
We had a great 4th of July out on the water. We were boating, jet skiing and swimming in the river, which was as warm as bath water. Water sports will wear you out!

Savannah

Here's some from the Savannah's girls trip. More for later in the week. We had a nice dinner at Vics and walked around the river front. They had a great piano player in the bar area. Our table was overlooking the river and the kids really enjoyed watching the tug boats and ships coming up and down the river, but more of that later in the week.

Furniture Here

Our furniture came Saturday. The living room red leather sectional is the coolest. It looks great against the teal or blue wall. We need more accessories... Gary's folks and Aunt B are coming up this weekend so more furniture is coming with them. We also obtained a media center which we are using as a china cabinet. It's in the process of being loaded up with the dishes currently. I'm washing a load of china every night to load into the cabinet.

The Longest Night

I'll have to back up some, last week Wednesday we had the electric company hook up the power. They are the best (second best, the A/C guy is THE best!!). Everything in the house works. So we promptly started moving things in. Gary had no problems with sleeping in the house, even though there was no AC. I was very skeptical but went with the flow. I do not sleep well without air conditioning in the summer! I was awake from 02-0500. On a positive note - I did some filing, my Sunday School lesson and cleaned up in the computer room.
Thursday morning 0800 the AC guy was knocking on the back door. Our air conditioner works so good. I love it! No, the fan would not even come on, they had disconnected some wiring internally on the unit so the "professional" could check out the system first. Sleeping here on Thursday night was much better.

Side Steps - We're In There

The side steps came yesterday. Today we had our final inspection, and passed. We can move our belongings in. The electricity should be on in the next day or so which will make things much better. We moved in several things that we have purchased in the last few weeks just to see how it looks....it looks fabulous!!

Stem Wall Paint

Sunday afternoon, we painted the stem wall of the house. It really finishes the look of the house. We're still missing a shutter on the front window, but otherwise it is looking really good. If you scroll down several images you can see the pre-painted view.

Working Man Photo Ops

What do the Mailhiot's do on a Saturday. Work. I remember not long ago when we rode bikes all day, napped, went out for dinner. Did whatever....not anymore. We are enslaved like everyone else. (silent scream here) Gary put the fence back up. So the dogs can have the run of the yard.

We scrubbed and washed the camper this morning. It looks really nice when it's clean.

Last week he put in the pipes for water spickets in the yard. The electrician dug the trench, he just had to plumb it and cover it back up. I do help do things, I'm just always taking pictures and never in the "action" shots. I did vacuum the house during the week and cleaned (steam mopped) the floors last night.

Front Steps are On

We have front steps now. This happened yesterday (Friday). Now you can actually get in and out of the house easily! Sue is enjoying the view of her domain from the front porch.

Yard Wildlife

The blueberries are ripening. These are from our backyard. One of the bushes is just starting to ripen. With all of the rain fall, the berries are really plump and very sweet. It's really neat to go out in the morning and fill your cereal bowl with berries for breakfast.

This hawk was watching me from the electric line this morning. Never moved as I got ready for work, moved in and out of the garage and took pictures. He's a big fellow, somewhat bedraggled from the rain and wetness of the fog.

Pictures of completed siding

Finally, I have the photos of the house with all of its skin. We've had rain the last few afternoons. So, when I took my camera outside - it fogged up and no pictures were going to happen. We had fog this morning which is why it looks foggy, duh. The front stairs should be built tomorrow and the back and side stairs on Monday. It will be so nice to have steps and not climb up and carefully climb down out of the house!

Outside Done

The outside of the house is finished, except for the steps. The guys slept in yesterday (it was the Memorial Day Holiday) and did not arrive until 0700. They hooked up the plumbing and septic, finished installing the vinyl siding, completed soffits and fascia, repainted outer trim, and even washed off the house before they left.

I finally was able to take some fair pictures of the master bathroom. I sealed the grout lines in the foyer and the master bath floor. This morning I sealed the shower.

We have a fabulous tub in our bathroom. Can't wait to soak the cares of the world away!! I personally can't wait to use the walk in shower and luxuriate in standing under the hot water and washing my hair without keeping my elbows tucked in. The RV has been great to live in, but a full size shower is really nice.

Finished Front

The guys were not here until 0650 Sunday morning. They were able to get a full days work in since we had no rain. The outside of the house is almost finished. The tile guy finished was here too. He had to pull up numerous loose tiles in the bathroom so he finished the bathroom yesterday. I have to wait to go in there for everything to dry. Pictures of the bathroom tonight.

Activity at Last!

Finally, we have some house activity to report! The outside guys were here early this morning...the first one at 0640, yes, that's in the morning. I was expecting 7am but wow, are they ready to work. They were able to work until about 1030 when the rains came down. By 11 they were sodden and left for the day. They left everything as it stood when the rain started.

Meanwhile, the carpet / tile guys were working inside the house.

Here's the front foyer sporting its new dark grout. The pups and I now have to watch our feet, that we have clean feet or shoes before going into the house. That does take some of the fun out of it.

From the week of rain, there is so much standing water all over the yard. A lot of grass was destroyed with the heavy equipment so what was just wet is now muddy too. I have some lovely and fashionable white rubber boots for just such occasions. I make a very fetching picture in them if I do say so myself. I will get Gary to capture a photo of my "homey" outfit. It really does defy belief. It amazes me how far I have come or am willing to go that looks don't matter as much as the functionality of the objects. Anyway, this is the front yard.

Speaking of dogs....this is Suzie "initiating" the new carpet and putting her scent on it. She had so much fun doing this in every room. If only my camera had video you could hear her snorting and huffing and carrying on. Jesse and Suzie spent some time running and chasing each other all through the house. They also did some of the plumbing today.

Still Raining

It is still raining intermittently and really windy. Gary has been doing some things in the house. I've been working and ...working. We did spend some time this evening in the house doing little things. Gary reversed the doors on the fridge. I wiped off and out all of the kitchen cabinets.
No workers have been out here since Monday so the actual progress is stalled! Plus, we have more rain in the forecast for the next 2 days.

Noreaster Blows In

House happenings for this past weekend, ZERO. Gary and I did a lot of shopping. Picked out some ceiling fans, bathroom rugs, and various other house items. Today is a different story. The electrician was here and the trenches were dug for the underground electric wire. He had to wire the AC unit and the water pump and attach the meter to the house. A new crew of guys came in today to do the siding. They came in from Atlanta.

Here is the finished kitchen - living room area that you have seen in the previous pictures.
It's been raining and windy most of the day today. We had to "walk the house" checking for leaks and any wetness that may be noticeable.

Painting

The end of this week has been all inside work. We had Bruce, the sheet rock, molding, paint dude there. Very professional, nice, and fastidious. Thursday the air conditioner was installed. Next week should see the siding finished, plumbing, electrical and the rest of the outside done.

We went through the house last night and tried to decide where the appliances, furniture and other accessories would fit best. Very exciting. Gary is shopping best prices on several things for the kitchen that we want.

Wild Iris photo, just because it's pretty!

House Inside Activity

Not much has happened on the outside of the house this week. They did finish the roof on Monday. They still need to finish the "eyebrows" on the front. They were unable to finish the siding because they were waiting on the inspector to inspect the straps that tie down the house and the hurricane straps in the attic etc.

The Inside guy has been working this week. He is placing the sheet rock and finishing the edges where the pieces come together. Above you can see the ceiling and wall joints of the kitchen / living room before he started.

Here is the end of the day today. The corners are rounded and smoothed in. He is going to paint tomorrow. He will be painting a majority of the walls tomorrow to cover the feathered edges of the sheet rock.

Weekend Drying In

The main roof is together, they just need to put the end on. That's the piece upside down on the white paper.

Main roof is closed in. This is Sunday (today) afternoon.

Building the front peak or gable.

Front gable is built and tar paper laid today.

Non House Activities

So, what does Gary do when he's home all day and there are construction guys here. He works. Things like dropping and draining a gas tank. Ask my sister and Ayen about that one. Always lot's of fun.

He spent Friday fabricating some brackets for a job. That's his friend Wes welding. Note the freshly painted garage, that is what he did last week. It really brightened up the garage, looks great! Note my lonely clothes washer. There is not enough voltage in the garage for the dryer, so I either go to the laundry mat and do 6 loads of clothes or wash in the evening and hang them on the line first thing in the morning. When is the last time you've hung laundry out on the line to dry? I rather like it except for towels and jeans.

Bees

Have you ever stopped and watched some bees? I would guess that most folks would say, no. Dave and I were at the mentoring bee class today and hung out, learned and watched the bees. These guys are drinking. You can actually see their proboscis. The long pointy snout thing from which they are drinking.

Dave and I are splitting his hive. He aquired the bees last Saturday and today is the first day that he opened them up. We were all decked out in our bee suits, well he was. I had a cool veil and gloves. I'm not ready to go bare handed yet.

When the hive is opened up the buzzing is SO pronounced. They are such amazing little creatures. To see that many bees coming in and out of the hive, and to hear them is really neat! Most people might disagree but I think it's neat. No animals were hurt in taking these photos and no humans were stung. This disclaimer is brought to you courtesy of Whole Grain Farm.

More house "raising"

Here's the front portion of the house airborn. These are more pictures from Friday.

Here's Gary helping the set up guys. He's so handy to have around!

The roof is being opened up from its flat traveling position.

From inside the house, looking into the kitchen. I'm not sure what's up with the ladder but on another photo you can see the ladder inside the house. It's the traveling ladder. Kind of like the troll thing.

Friday's House Set Up

Here are some photo's of the house being set on the foundation. Here's the giant crane arriving that will lift the house onto the foundation.

The open view you can see the kitchen island.

House is Here!!

This afternoon the stem wall was completed, and they brought the house here. It arrived in 3 pieces and is out front in the yard and on the street.

Stem Wall Construction

Here's some pictures of the stem wall and foundation work.