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.

Big trees gone

I'm back, on line that is. We've had phone/DSL issues. Anyway, here's more house updates. Here is the property with the large oaks removed.

Footers Day 1

Today the foundation crew started. Gary spent this morning trying to pick up some more of the saw dust and tree shavings to put into the burn pile. Marshmallows anyone? I'll make sure to let you know when we are going to dispose of the pile so you can watch for the signal lights!!

Jesse really likes going to ground. Most of you know that he is fearless. When the tractor was here, he hopped into the bucket to see what was in it. This evening he got down into the trenches to see where they went. He is such an intrepid explorer.

House, Before & After

Weekend Fun

The weekend has come and gone and seen much action here. Friday, it was decided that a large tree stump and another tree needed to go. So my man of action was working the tractor/backhoe. He and Dave pulled out the stump and did a lot of other work in the yard. We spent today loading up tree roots and cut up tree into the tractor bucket and dumping it onto the burn pile. Isn't it nice to live in the country?! The yard looks so naked. Did I mention how HOT the sun is now that there are no large shade trees in the middle of the yard? I believe in global warming now. In the absence of trees only!

House Demo Pics

Here are several pictures from earlier in the week when the house was being torn down.

Trees Out

Now the trees are gone! We had numerous large oaks and a sycamore tree in close proximity to the previous house and the tree guys have cut them down and taken then away. Tomorrow is stump grinding day. The concrete footer dudes come tomorrow also. Things are really moving quickly!
I spent the afternoon hanging around the camper just in case the tree guys needed something...with no shade from the trees it gets really hot!! Plus, with them working where they were I couldn't have the "right" electricity so I had no A/C in the camper. Everything else works but that. Mom and dad came out to see the progress and stayed for dinner with us. We've taken to eating out on the "porch". Once the intensity of the sun wears off and the trees that are left shade things it's comfortable outside. It's really nice to sit outside because there is no TV, we only have cell phones and they're inside, it leaves time for conversation. Conversation is a lost art.
The pups are pooped. They hung out in the heat of the camper with me, ran like crazy around the yard. Once the tree guys are done we "rig" the front gate closed and they get all 2 acres to run on. Sue really stretches her legs and runs a lot. She keeps the squirrels on their toes.
More tomorrow.

Gone

The house is gone. Yes, completely gone. There is the block wall around the porch in the back and that is it. The dumpsters are gone and the dirt is smoothed out. I do have pictures that I will post eventually, but right now it's work, and more work. Get home and eat, then it's time for bed. I'm really wanting a day off of work but it will be awhile yet.

Demolition

Finally!! Demolition has begun in earnest on the trailer. Gary & I (plus pups) have been in the RV for 1 week. We spent our first night here last week Sunday. The demo guys came out last week and tore off the concrete porch from the front of the house and discovered how wet and soggy our front yard is. So, they waited several days for things to dry out. This morning they brought out several loads of clay and spread it out and then dozed the trailer down. Very weird to come home from work today and see it that way. There's nothing there but a pile of wood, junk and the twisted frame. Pictures coming.

Bug Repellent Recipe

Most of you know we live in the woods. Woods have bugs and creepy crawly things. Our dogs frequently get fleas and ticks. Yuck!! Jesse had a tick on him this evening and I removed it with the essential oil of citronella. You say, What?? Honest. I dabbed some citronella oil on my finger tip and touched the back side of that tick and out he popped. Then I promptly lost it on the brown carpet. Nice move.
I've been using a blend of essential oils that I spray on them daily. Except I did not spray Jesse today. Go figure. It's great to use a more natural and NON toxic spray on them, and on me, plus it works and smells good. It must be pure high quality essential oils.

Here's my recipe for bug repellent:
1/2c water
several drops of dish soap
10 drops citronella
10 drops lavender
10 drops lemongrass
10 drops rosemary
Shake before use. Spray on before going outside and reapply as needed. I usually spray 1 to the chest of our small dog (12 pounds) and 2 sprays to our larger dog (40 lbs, 1 to chest, 1 spritz to belly). Like I said, I use this on myself. It keeps the no-seemums off of me too.

Craziness

So, here's our life the last 3 weeks. Jesse, my wonderfully cute, ADHD little dog had lot's of teeth removed. He's fine and back to eating bones again. I'm trusting that will keep his remaining teeth healthy.
I've been to 2 bee classes. I'm thinking of getting some bees, but want to work with some "old guys" first to see how they do it. They are very interesting creatures, not to mention the side benefit - honey! Yum-O.
The house, actually mortgage issues, has stalled. But, is now back in full swing. We signed on the loan Thursday afternoon, April 2nd!! Now, the real fun starts. We're packing this week in earnest. Our storage pod comes tomorrow and I've started cleaning in the 5th wheel where we'll be living while we have no house here. Let the insanity begin! Please pray for us to have the time, in between work, to pack and the back strength next week to get it all out into the storage container.

More Car Shots

Here are several more car photos from last weekends Train Festival in town. I do love dogs so the one shot is a no brainer. The moose one, well, it was just plain fun!