Saturday, June 21, 2008

A fantastic day with the Turros

Today we met Aunt Al, Lucia, Luke, & Jimmy this afternoon at the homestead. We had a fabulous day. They checked out the new house, we went swimming in the creek & ended with pizza from Pizza King!!! It was so much fun to have them out & finally see it!!!!

We would love to have lots more visitors soon!!!!

Wow, look what takes place in one week!

Well, I had soccer camp all week and therefore wasn't provided the opportunity to head out and see the construction progress through the last five days--but after picking the kids up last night we headed to the Dinner Bell for dinner and then out to the property to see what the crew had accomplished.

They spent most of the last week framing the upstairs and putting on the pine ceiling in the great room. In addition, they placed oiled felt sheets over the log section to protect them from the elements. The framing allows you to walk through the house from the mudroom and pantry, into the kitchen and dining area, past the two log columns into the great room onwards into the master bedroom with a pair of small walk-in closets and finally into the master bath.

We are really excited at the number of windows the house will have--allowing in great light and providing beautiful views.

The garden is growing--NO REALLY, it is GROWING! Our pumpkin plants are running out of the beds. The corn is vying with some VERY healthy beans for tallest in the garden and our sunflowers are now taller than Izzy! Hmmm, perhaps Jack and the beanstalk wasn't such a fairy tale!

Our apple trees look like they are doing very well--new buds are popping up all over and we still have three small apples that may yet grow to fruition.

We'll keep ya' posted on any new happenings--rumour has it that we are going to be picking stains very soon.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Log Day!

Wow, eight plus hours of work and it was certainly worth it!

We really can start to see the house grow now and those timbers were huge!

I was really grateful that Pat and his crew allowed me to assist--it really provides a feeling of accomplishment and provides even more value to the home because you know that you assisted in putting (at least some) it together. Rebar was driven in to each log wall portion and then the floor and ceiling beams and timbers were ratcheted down with huge screws. I think I know the place that I want to be if there is ever to be a tornado!

Pat's crew was brilliant--they climbed all over the place, driving bars, screwing down posts, hauling piping hot rods and all the while exchanging that friendly and clever banter that makes being on a team so enjoyable!

My mom came with me today and she took a lot of the pics from outside the structure and then I took the camera along with me while I was working to try and give you a view from inside the structure as it went up.

Currently, it looks like a small (but tall) one room schoolhouse that you might have seen on Little House on the Prairie, but it sits on a BIG foundation. They are going to start framing the rest of the first floor today if the rain permits.

My sister was able to come in from a work trip to Cincinnati and then Alyssa arrived with Izzy and Quinn after she got off work, so the entire fam was able to partake in the day--at least a little.

Afterwards, we went to the Dinner Bell for some sweet potatoe french fries--just imagine crispy pumpkin pie! It is good--don't knock it til you try it!

I hope you all enjoy the pics--this was truly a great day!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

A Wonderful Muddy Day, Ending @ Dinner Bell

First of all, I think that I am a funny person (at least I crack myself up & Ali every time that I talk to her), but not as funny as my husband.... So bear with me... My first attempt @ blogging, I am not funny : ) We had a great muddy day with a few of our favorite people... Aunt Martha was in from Seattle & Uncle Kerry was in from Laguna. Uncle Kerry designed our house & we were super excited to have him see the house in the works... Then we ended our visit with the Norwalks @ The Dinner Bell. The Klattes went back to the property to take a hike to the creek... We had a fantastic day & can't wait to see you all....

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday

Ok, we don't live in "Pleasant Valley," but it was a GREAT Sunday at the homestead!

The sun was out and the temps were great--it had rained the two previous days, so we didn't even have to water the trees or garden, though I will say that there was a little mud around the construction site.

The kids played, picked their bedrooms to be now that the framing has started and then had a good go at the creek, though since the water was a little high due to the recent rain we didn't let them tread very far. I chatted with Mike and Pat about the house, well, electrical and storage space. In addition, we contemplated which walls would best accomodate the television and Alyssa spoke with Mike about the stain colour of the logs--we have a lot of decisions which will be coming up in a short period of time.

The kids had a good snack of animal crackers, pretzels and peanut butter crackers--nothing like eating high on the hog!

Anyway, wanted to get the pics up because over the next two weeks things will REALLY start to change--the logs are due in next Wednesday! :)