Week Ending 12/26/2009

With the winter, firewood is accumulating. We've got about 6 cord (2 split), thanks to area trees coming down. Jacob will move out of his room in the next couple of days. I finished painting the boy's bathroom this month. Hard to believe holiday decorations have now gone up 3 times since we've moved back in!

Week Ending 11/28/2009

Repair of a rotted exterior board is completed. The garage door is finally painted, dirt continues to be brought to build up the back yard and ramp to the woods. We are trying to get Jacob's room completed by year end, but getting him to clean it out is going slow.

Week Ending 10/10/2009

Ben's room is finally done, and he has been moved back in (from living in the closet off the master bedroom). Difficult to capture in a photograph, the trim matches the standard trim of the house. The black paint shown allows magnets to stick to it, just like a refridgerator door, so Ben can hang art, assignments, lists, etc. All of the door trim, raised portions of the door, window trim and base boards glow in the dark. In all, there are 7 different colors in his room, contributing to the time it took to finish it. The built-in dresser has fully extending and oversized drawers, and there are a lot of hooks on the closet doors, for the boy who never likes to hang up his cloths (no excuses now!). One happy boy now lives here...

Week Ending 09/19/2009

Once the summer of 2009 hit I didn't get much done on the house beside maintenance. With the kids out of school, I really needed to let go of the project, and it was refreshing to do so. We did, however, spend a good deal of time on landscaping, and the boy's scout requirements helped us with that. Shown are some pictures of the results. I can't remember the name of all the plants, but this is a glimpse; and, with a beautiful month in September, it's really paying off.

At this point construction has re-started. Ben has taken up residence in the master closet to clear out his room for construction. The painting of his room is nearly completed (should be within the next week). The built-in work for the closet is completed, with the exception of the drawers, which I also hope to have completed by the 26th of September, allowing him to move back in. More details on that to come....

Week Ending 6/13/09

Wow, it's been four months since my last entry. That's not to say we're finished. Far from it. The spring brought a flurry of time-sensitive demands which are almost as difficult to document as they were to complete. Outside of the demands for taxes and financial true-ups, the completion of the downstairs marked the beginning of the upstairs. This means each bedroom needs to be vacated, trimmed, closet built-ins installed, caulked, puttied, sanded, cleaned, and painted. While all this was going on, the occupant needed an alternate place to live. At the same time, spring was here, imposing time-sensitive demands for landscaping. In short, the last few months included:

1) Cleaning the work area in the garage to make room for building cabinetry,

2) Cleaning out all work materials and boxes from the master closet to create a makeshift bedroom,

3) Building storage area in the attic to create a place to move all the materials from the garage and master closet,

4) Finishing the built-in closet, trim and paint for Jessica's bedroom,

5) Building a stone retaining wall in the back yard,

6) Filling the back yard with dirt (70,000 gallons of dirt), top soil and planting grass,

7) Moving and planting a variety of shrubs and plants,

8) Having a stone patio installed.

That's really just a summary. When I went to upload pictures I've found my files all corrupted and inexcessible. Phoey. Attached you will see pictures of Jessica's completed room.

Week Ending 02/22/2009

The pantry is finally finished, with the last coat of paint drying on the door. The maple shelving and drawers are very tight, maximixing the space inside; and the dovetail drawers look good and should hold up well. The upstairs hallway needs touchup painting, but little more. Touch up painting in the high foyer is finally completed. It's official: the downstairs is completely finished.

Week Ending 01/24/2009

Progress has been held back this month due to a variety of factors. We did, however, just finish painting the walls of the foyer and staircase, which are 16' high. To cut in the paintline between the wall and the ceiling we had to rent scaffolding. Painting continues on the upstairs hallway and wainscot.

Week Ending 01/03/2009

The last week of the year was spent, in addition to holiday celebration, building out the pantry closet in the dining room area. Unfortunately, this took longer than expected, but the utility of the closet will be well worth it. Slides for the drawers have been installed, and dovetailed drawers will be made and installed in January. The downstairs bathroom has been repainted, the basement stairwell has been repainted, so with the exception of these drawers, the first floor is completed.

After a brief administrative catch up, and the servicing of some power tools, the new year will include completion of the Pantry drawers, painting of the stiarwell to the 2nd floor, painting of the 2nd floor hall and wainscot, painting of the boy's bathroom, final painting of the four bedrooms, construction for built-ins in the four bedroom closets, and final trim and painting of the master bathroom.

Week Ending 12/13/2008

The Christmas season has come again. It's hard to believe it's our second in the new house! This year the guest room is finished, and will be occupied every weekend in December and into the new year. Our furniture arrived; and, with the downstairs completely painted now, some of the pictures have begun to go up. Christmas decorations really add to the completion of the downstairs. It's hard to capture this in a photo, but the music, smell of baking, glow of the candles and fireplace, and the constant visitation of friends really allow us to sit back, take a deap breath and enjoy the completion of what we've been working on all year, our home.