Stairs and water

Len designed our stairs and he and Jeff have been building them. They look good. There will be a shoe closet as you walk in the front the door and a coat closet off the office. Two closets under the stairs!

Some resent set backs. The meter box we bought at Home Depot was not put together correctly by the manufacturer and when the PUD came to install the meter it didn't fit. So we had to replace the box and now the state inspector has to approve it again.

Also our road is flooded, but I am sure it will stop raining soon.

A differant type of construction

We made gingerbread houses at my sister's place on Christmas Eve. Good times. Len's chocolate foundation worked wonders.

We partied until we fell down.

Back to work

Len and the boys have been working hard and the house is looking good. The siding is repaired from the storm, but we still need to replace the skylight, french door, and gutter.

I am trying to design the kitchen. If anyone has any ideas of things that work well and things that don't, please let me know. I plan to get the cabinets from Ikea and the counter top from Home Depot.

Also, I'd like to get going on designing the office soon. Any ideas there would be appreciated as well. Again, I found a lot of great stuff at Ikea. It is just a matter of laying it all out and choosing color. It is fun, but a bit overwhelming.

Len and The Don installed the frame for a pocket door for the powder room. The room was a little too big so we are taking some of the space and adding it to a coat closet under the stairs.

We finally got the window installed in the bonus room. All windows are now in. We just need a garage door, to replace the french door, and to finish the last bit of siding and we will be sealed to the weather.

No Beer and No TV make Homer Something Something

We are living in the dark, but we have the Internet again so all is well.

Here is the big tree that fell and missed Len's truck with the generator in it by about two feet. There was another smaller tree that I watched from my bedroom window fall and miss the northwest corner of our house by about six inches. Yikes!

It started on Sunday. We lost power from about 11 to 4, then it came back on for a couple of hours. The wind picked up again it went out that evening and hasn't come back yet. The worst of the storm was on Sunday night and Monday morning. It felt like it just kept going and going. We lost about eight trees at the place we are living. Three of them on the power line from the road to the house. Most of the Peninsula in up and running again, but not our little pocket. We had a line lying across our driveway until this evening. I think we are looking at a week or more without power. That's okay. We have a generator and now we have Internet! Being able to call long distance also just came back.

At the new house, we lost siding, the french doors, and a skylight in the covered porch. The french door was completely blown out of the frame. Half of it was inside the house the other half was lying outside. Oddly, despite the frame and door knob being in pieces, the glass didn't break. The skylight was broken by the siding flying off the east wall. I have not been able to call the insurance company yet, but am hopeful that they will be helpful. Also, one of the new gutters got smashed.

This is the power pole across the street from our house. You can't see the tangle of snapped lines next to it, but they are there.

So far this storm has been a strange and surreal experience. We will see how cranky I get with limited power for an extended period of time. Tomorrow we go back to school!

Cold Weather Progress

We have rain gutters and a ditch. Woo hoo! The ditch has a big power line in it. Hopefully we will pass inspection and have juice soon. It would save a lot of money on the gas for the generator we have been using to run tools. The siding is nearly up. There is so much to do. It is a little overwhelming. I want to start inside work ASAP. We will be planning a big trip to IKEA for design help soon. One set back this weekend was that we ran out of phone cable. Hopefully Mr. ShinyBeerDragon will be able to rescue us soon.
Stacey e Paco visited this weekend, but I forgot to get pictures. Paco finished his doctorate and Stacey is done with her Masters. I am very jelous. Six and a half more months for me. It feels like an eternity!

No. No. Bad Storm. Stop that.

Wow! We finally had the big wind storm the news had been talking about. It blew like crazy on Sunday night or Monday morning. We lost power about 5 AM. Up here in the OP we didn't get it back until Tuesday about 10 in the morning. It wasn't too bad. Last year we were out for four days. The huge gusts were not good for our house. The bottom of our french doors blew in and broke the dead blot. The damage was a little crazy. The door is completely ruined.

Mmm Butter

My house is getting all warm and buttery. It was a beautiful day. I had to work at the camp in the morning, but was out at the house in the afternoon. Even though the sun was out it was freaken cold.

I like my door knobs. They are pretty.

Felice Cumpleanos to me!

Some pretty flowers my mom gave me today.

Today was a good day. After school I visited with my friend Kiko and her super adorable little pumpkin, Hailey. Then I went out to the property to watch Len paint. For my birthday, The Don got the first coat of paint on the south wall. It looks great. Then we went to Mom's house for home-made pizza, pumpkin cheesecake, and a wild potato show. The big "O" was in rare form. He was jumping and kicking and singing and squealing. Who needs TV when you have a two year old.

XC state went well. The kids and I had a good time in Pasco and the weather was surprisingly pleasant. Mike's boys' team go into the national race in Wisconsin. Very cool.

Another Sunday

I got to spend another Sunday out at the property. The weather was nice, but cold. I put a coat of paint on the front door and french doors. The guys worked on siding. The south wall is almost done. We put the non-painted siding up because that wall is pretty easy to reach. We will put the already painted siding on the very high gable areas on the east and west sides.

The siding makes a huge difference in the appearance of the house. It is beginning to look real.

Here is the french door that I put a coat of paint on.

Len didn't like being up on the scaffolding. It was not stable enough for him.

Yesterday was the XC district meet. The weather was perfect. Four athletes from the team advance to the state meet in Pasco next weekend, two boys and two girls. The girls team came very close to moving on as a complete team. Maybe next year.

Window Trim

I have a ton of homework and needed to work at the camp today, but I am actually really glad I blew everything off to go work on the house. It was a nice morning, but the fog blew in after lunch. Spending time out on the property really made me want to be out there more.

Almost all of the windows are installed. The wrong size was ordered for the bonus room so that space is still open, but the rest of the house is getting sealed up. I pained trim today, I put final coats on the east and north upper windows. I also painted the trim that hasn't been installed yet.

I like my front door. I picked it out at DK Windows in Warrenton. We need to pick out door handles next.

Here is the east side of the house. The french doors need to be painted and they need hardware.South Side, yo! Here are boys working on the south side of the house. The slider will open onto a balcony outside the master bedroom. I can not believe how fancy my house is!

The west view. The side door to the garage and bonus room window are not in yet, but you can see the main structure of the house. I can't wait to start getting the siding up. The garage floor is still sand. Hopefully soon we will have time to prep and level it so they can pour the slab.

I really like the sky lights in the covered porch. They look cool and they will add so much natural light to the downstairs.

Tomorrow, Len is going to be working on getting power and water. We maybe ready to start plumbing and pulling wires soon. It is very exciting.

Pain and a Roof

My legs are killing me. Every step is painful. Why did a marathon seem like a good idea? Well, at least I can check that off of my life list of things to do. I ran the Portland Marathon on Sunday. Well, "ran" is a strong work. I ran for 14 miles then jog/walked the rest. I did finish and didn't ever stop that is the most important part. 26.2 miles is a long ways.

We have a roof. I got out to the property too late tonight to get any good pictures tonight.

The boys got the French doors in the dining room, the dining room window, the kitchen window, and the sliding door upstairs in today. They did good. I will try to get some good pictures soon.

Slow Progress

The guys are working on the covered porch, still. It is taking a long time. I think we are behind schedule. The pipe is here for the water main, but I don't know when the ditch will be dug.

We are putting skylights in the covered porch so that the downstairs is well lite with natural light. I think it will work well.

More Cow Bell

Here is the house to date. The guys are in the progress of putting the porch on.

It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day! The XC team went to the beach to stay a little cool. The beach was windy, but still nice and better to work out on then hot black top. According to my sister, the temperature meter at Sid's read 90 degrees this afternoon. Nice! I loved it, others did not share my enthusiasm.

When I was out at the property this evening taking pictures of the progress I heard cows. There was a lot of mooing. I couldn't see them, but I could hear them. I don't know what they were upset about, maybe the heat. Beach cows should be happy for warm weather. They are usually stuck in the rain.

The supports for the porch were poured today. The porch will wrap around the front and east side of the house.Adam has joined the house labor group after school. They will be working on the porch tomorrow.

Pictures speak louder than words

I have a ton of pictures to share. Len and the boys have been working like crazy these last few weeks. It is really starting to look like a house.

Len has spread out all the sand and soil with this excavator. We have great soil, but it smells like cow sh*t.

I painted outside trim boards today. It was hot and sunny. The boards dried very quickly.

The guys have been sheeting the roof today. This is the south side of the house. I think Len got a sun burn.

The roof is very high. It is within code for our area, of course, but just barely.

This is the front of the house so far. The next step is to sheet the garage roof and start on the wrap around porch.

Bonus Room

The roof tresses are being put up this week. The bonus room above the garage is inside the tresses. It is nice and big. It will be a great space for a workout room. We just have to hall my treadmill up the stairs.

Len and The Don in the bonus room.

View of the garage and bonus room from the west.

The bonus room. There will be a window in the far west wall.

Going Up

Len and the boys have made big progress this weekend.

Framing and sheeting of the outside walls of the upper level.

Len working hard. (Note the Tums on the work bench.)

Mike in the septic tank.

Kings of the hill!

View from the top

We got the floor on for the second story. Yippy! I can see where my soaking tub is going to be. I sat in my imaginary tub and admired the view. Very nice. This new development also makes the downstairs look closer to being livable. The "great room" is GREAT. The study is a little smaller than I had hoped. The kitchen dinning room area will be wonderful. I love all my windows.

This is the stair well with the entry way below. We climbed up with a ladder, getting down was a little tricky.

Mom and I swept out the lower level today. Len, Jeff, and the Don have been working like crazy. They worked until dark last night and they are all out there again tonight.