AIR!

The screens are installed and the windows are open!
There is a fine storm brewing so the wind is blowing through the house and I can hear the rustling of the trees and it is exactly like I imagined it would be oh so very long ago when I first started designing it!
I wanted it to be like camping, only indoors. I mean by that that I want it to have the amazing views of nature and night sky and the morning light and the evening light and the sounds of the trees and the birds and the coolness of the moving air that makes you feel like you are sleeping in the great wonderful magnificent outdoors, but that you get to sleep on a comfy mattress and use convenient . . . um, restroom facilities, and nice showers in the morning. And there is a refrigerator for cold Dew and ice and a stove and running water. The very best of camping without the nasty inconveniences! Oh, I am so happy indeed! I am camping tonight indoors!

We Are Calling It "Done" At Last!

On March 8, 2009, the last floorboard was cut and laid. That represented the last of the making of the big sawdust, and the first time it really made sense to do a thorough cleaning and begin to "move in". Now, yes, we have been "living" there during construction, but we have been carefully putting things back in cabinets and cupboards and covering and wrapping things in plastic while we worked. Because we were still working with messy masonry products and still using messy table saws. But in the week before, we had given in and hired people to do the grouting of the slate tiles in the hallway and bathrooms. And on that Sunday afternoon, I finished the grouting of the last of the bathtub tile and cleaned up the mess, while spouse and son finished the very last of the flooring and nailed the baseboard back in place. And this week, the plumber completed installation of the bath and shower workings. On Sunday, we added a shower door, and we retired many tools and supplies to their storage places, and we did a whole lot of cleaning. There is just no way. other than repeated sweeping and vacuuming and dusting and wiping, to get all that drywall dust and sanding dust up off surfaces. But we got a pretty good handle on it before our time was up and we needed to head back to real life. Of course there are a million little details left to be done on the long list under the magnet on the refrigerator door, and there is the whole garage/shop interior and the oppressively large landscaping job left to be completed.
But we are are at last calling the house 'done', finished, complete! It is really looking much more like a beautiful place to live than a construction site, don't you think?

So on Sunday, March 15, 2009 after some cleaning and assorted details, we made the family decisions to declare it "Finished", "Done", "Complete".

The framing began on April 16, 2008, and the foundation was dug and poured Thanksgiving weekend 2007.

The steps to the water were built early summer of 2007, after purchasing the lot in late fall of 2006.