Archives for January 2017

One of the many things I love about this location is watching and hearing the flocks of Canadian geese that stop in this valley for the winter.

This last week was busy! The crew started on the siding, which we are so excited to see go up. We are using concrete board siding with board and bat in the top gables. Once it’s all painted white, it will give a nice contrast of textures, adding interest and character. The trim will be painted black and there will be light wood accents (front door, porch beams and office trellis).
The electrician started installing all of the can and fixture lights and setting the switches and plugs. I’m a big fan of less can lights and less light switches, so I minimized both as much as possible. Our last home had can lighting everywhere and I always said our kitchen looked like an airport runway when lit up. Plus, it gives me a chance to order more fun light fixtures, since there are so many I’m in love with, it’s been hard to narrow down the selection.
This week, they should be finishing the siding, electric and hvac. They will have the framing inspection and next week we start on insulation and drywall. Wow, this feels a bit surreal- like it really might be happening!
We also did some major shopping over the weekend, purchasing most of our interior doors, and hardware, and ordering our hardwood floors. 
And, taking advantage of the sun, I was able to sand and stain all of the front porch beams. It’s not every girlfriend that will help you when it comes to power tools, but thank you, Ally, for lending me helping me with the sanding process- it’s an arm and core workout!

Lastly, this morning I received sad news that my Mémé passed away peacefully at the age of 94. My grandparents were immigrants from France who came over to Canada and then the U.S. after WWII.
From my grandmother, I inherited my French heritage, as well as my love of all things home; entertaining, cooking, gardening and decorating.
This photo is of a plant that Mémé dug up for me, years ago, to transplant to my last house. She gave me violets, peonies, ferns and these little pink flowers, which I still don’t know the name of. I dug up some of each of these plants (they are all multipliers) to take with us to this new home and they are planted in pots waiting for their home here on the property. They are special little plants that will always makes me think of her.

The life of my dog and cat during the last few weeks of rain- it’s rough. 

There’s so much going on around the job site. The weather is proving difficult to contend with, but the bright spot is when we see the daily progress on the house. The crew has been working through the torrential downpours of back to back storms and much of the time they have been under the house, working in the damp, cold basement.
Here are some of the highlights of their efforts:
• Exterior is completely sheared and ready for siding (when we have a longer dry spell)
• Interior is completely framed
• Windows and exterior doors are in (except for front door)
• Plumbing, electrical and hvac are being installed
• Hoping for drywall in approximately a week

In other news on the property:
• My husband has put in the cross fence for the animal “pasture”.
• He also rented a tractor to pull out the old fence on the street side, dig the fence holes and tear out all the trees, including my beloved persimmons, apple and cherry. (sad)
• He has been working with the pool company and we will be ready to start construction on the pool as soon as we can move the fifth wheel, which will be as soon as we can tear down the carport, which will be as soon as we can move all of our stuff out of the carport, which will be as soon as we can move it into the storage box, which is scheduled to come tomorrow. (process)
• The bottom section of the fence was installed.

Shopping Time!
It’s time to get serious about making decisions. I’ve purchased all of the shower heads, light fixtures, and bathroom vanities. I plan to get the kitchen sink, bathtub and hot water heater this week. UPS is a frequent visitor and storage is becoming an issue!

Another big purchase was made yesterday. The kitchen island! I wavered on this piece, but I think it will be perfect once I add new stone and butcher block countertops to it. It’s the right size, hand-made from reclaimed wood, very sturdy, and best of all, my husband was able to negotiate a pretty good deal on it! I’m very excited to see how it works out.

More to come soon, the pace is picking up!

 

These four little lemons are a bright spot in my day. This pour little tree still produced these beautiful fruits, even though the deer and goats have munched away every single leaf. At my last house, it had leafy foliage, but never any fruit!  #couldbealifemetaphor

I get a lot of questions about how life is going in the trailer. Up until about the beginning of December, things were totally bearable– heck, sometimes even enjoyable, but as I entirely expected would happen, the weather has thrown us a curveball. I’m not a big fan of the winter months, but the last few years of drought had me questioning why it was that I dreaded it so. Now I remember.
mud. cold. wet. more mud. wind. hauling firewood. (ok that’s a throwback from my youth, but still)

• Sounds in the night– squirrels running across your roof, pecans falling on the roof, branches scratching the roof. When the pounding rain and howling wind really pick up, it sounds like a freight train is outside our door, and you’re pretty sure we’re going to tip and roll down the hill at any moment.

• Yoga-like flexibility required– but you still end up with a lot of bruises. crawl over the bed to reach the phone on your nightstand. duck under the cabinet when someone opens it at the wrong time. Ask my husband, it can get downright treacherous at times.

• Worst Chore– for me anyway, making the bed. It’s a monumental feat to climb from side to side of the bed over mounds of pillows and comforters (see above), pulling and tugging on sharp corners of plywood. ugh.

• Biggest Challenge– besides space, which is obvious, is juggling the hot water for a family of four. There’s just enough hot water for two quick showers, or half of one my kids normal showers. (this has actually been a good lesson for them to cut down on their shower time!). Then there’s always a load of dishes waiting for it’s turn with the hot water, which unfortunately doesn’t always get used when the kids do the dishes (ewe-greasy! also a good lesson for the kids)

• “This would never happen in a house”– we catch ourselves saying this sometimes because truly, there are many discussions and tender/funny/memorable moments that we would otherwise not share simply because we wouldn’t be within ear shot of each other at all times. In our old house, we spread out, everyone in their corner or room of the house. In our new house, I hope we remember the importance of sharing close proximity conversation with each other.

• Let it go, Let it go– the trailer is always messy. It seems like we’re constantly cleaning, but it seriously only takes about five minutes to mess it up again. There’s no space to put anything, so it’s cluttered. We have a total of 16 muddy feet tromping through a very tiny space, so the floor is always dirty. Dishes pile up quickly. Laundry overflows from the basket. Life is busy, and at times, we all just have to let it go.

So would I do it all over? heck yea! We made the right choice, but we also knew it wouldn’t be easy, and sometimes it’s not. But that’s ok, we are more blessed than we could ever hope for and we know it will be worth it in the end!

LOTS OF HOME PROGRESS… STAY TUNED!

The last few weeks have flown by in a flurry of holiday and trip preparation, followed by a long visit to Wyoming and Montana to visit my family for Christmas. It was a wonderful, albeit quite frigid, trip.

We’ve returned to the homestead (we’re still working on a name for our home) and have spent a quiet New Year’s weekend in the trailer. It’s supposed to snow tonight here, which is very unusual, as we’re only at about 1000′ elevation. It’s a good thing it’s a cozy trailer, complete with fireplace.

I have a lot of updates to tell you about the house. Even though things feel slow, the crew has been working hard to make progress.
• Roof shingles are complete
• Subfloor is filled in
• Front porch has been torn down and rebuilt
• First interior framed wall has gone up for my office

We’ve also made some design decisions on the following:
• Window grids (windows will arrive on Thursday)
• Dormer or no dormer? No dormer. Sadly, it’s something we can’t fit in the budget right now. It adds a lot of character, but for the added cost, we’d rather spend it on something that functions. We can always go back to add a feature to the roofline at another time.
• We will add a barrel ceiling to the dining room nook and match the curve with an arch between the kitchen and living room.
• The contractor showed me a very cool treatment for the front porch beams, which is a metal-based wash that will give the wood an aged patina. I think we will use this on the wood beams for the front porch and office trellis.