MOVIES!!

I've done a little editing of the time lapse videos.  Here are two that take a few pics every day at noon.

See the post dated 12/8 it's newer than the one below

Finally a new update

We've been remiss at updating the blog.  I guess there's too much going on.  Anyway, here are some new pics.  The outside is 99.9% done and we have moved to the inside work.  Laura will post inside shots soon.  Rich

Moving inside!!

Please welcome my incredibly beautiful granddaughter Norah Maria Hillstrom into the world, and into our family. My daughter Mary and her husband Karl are overwhelmed with joy at her adoption. They've had her with them since she was 15 minutes old, and have been savoring their parenthood every waking (but not sleeping) moment.

Well, we've finally taken over from our builder! The gutter and garage door went on and that was it for the outside except for some painting, which will have to wait until spring. I spent Thanksgiving Day planting 150 bulbs in the slope outside the front door, which will be our signal to start up outside again.

We've completed most the the framing of the walls, and got the bathtub and fireplace in place in our bathroom. The shower is just around the corner from the tub, and someday we'll enjoy the view while we scrub, and hope the neighbors across the river won't notice. The plumbers are nearly finished with the rough-in, too. I forgot to tell them to keep the wall space open above the sinks for the medicine cabinets, so they had to redo part of it. oops.

Check out Rich climbing down from the "bachelor bed" we built above the stairwell! It'll be a cool place for an extra guest to sleep, and someday our grandchildren can play in the indoor tree-house.

My son Pete was home for a week and did hard labor for us, chopping wood (I wish I had a picture of that!) installing the foil insulation between the joists for the in-floor heat, and helped with the wall framing. He and I also installed the first pieces of drywall around the basment kitchenette.

My big project was acid-staining the floor of the basement family room (future guest apartment for friends and family) and you can see before and after pictures here.

Siding at last

We've had a productive fall!   Beautiful days outside saw the landscaping nearly finished.  Our landscaper (and neighbor) Rick and his hard-working boys pulled the dead trees out of the river, got the yard countoured and seeded with grass, and installed the driveway.   The driveway is temporary, made of crushed asphalt...the concrete will go in next spring.   This past week, our cedar siding was (at long last) installed.   We had painters hired to stain the wood, but we decided we better do it ourselves over the weekend because the weather was unusually warm and it'll just get colder after this.   We're so happy with how it turned out...hope you like it, too.   The garage is another big project nearly finished...we'll show you that soon.  
Inside, the wood-burning fireplace provided some much-needed warmth, and looks pretty, too.   Rich worked hard for the last few weeks to finish installing the floor heat tubing and put together the water filtering system and water heater.   The plumbers come tomorrow to hook everything to the water supply and run the gas pipe, our house will soon be heated!
Next step...getting the basement room finished so we can (maybe) move in!   We'll keep you posted.

Rolling along

We keep rolling along.  The landscaping is complete for the year and we only have siding and garage doors to finish outside.  We had to change siding contractors because it was dragging on too long.  We like the new guy, that should be completed in the next couple of weeks (we hope).

Our neighbor Rick and his crew did the landscaping.  We really are happy with how it's turned out.  Lots of interesting areas, lots of opportunities for Laura to enjoy gardening.

We are getting up some speed inside too.  Larua has the beams (almost) finished, that was a big job of routing, sanding and staining.  I've been working on the radiant heating.  There is 4500 feet of tubing to install on the bottom of the main floor and I'm almost halfway done.  Laura and I are both getting used to sore neck and sholders.

Besides that we have water and septic and an indoor toilet!

Feel free to stop by and chat, we enjoy it.  It's interesting that about 1/4 of the people who stop we don't really know... just interested to see it...

September update

So much cool stuff has happened sinc eour last entry. The yard on the river side was graded and seeded with grass, which is already coming up; Rich's detached concrete garage was built; we got locks on the doors, so now we're taking over construction of the inside of the house.
We brought (and bought) some very cool tools, including a 57-year-old Delta Unisaw table saw. It purrs like a kitten. (Pictured here standing ready in what will eventually be our bedroom.) Laura spent a week putting a clear finish on the beautiful cedar boards that will eventually line the ceiling. Rich started installing lighting in the basement in preparation to instal the floor heating, wiring, etc, that will soon eminate from the basement. We buned the brisu on the road-side yard so that the septic system can be dug, scheduled to start tomorrow if the weather allows.
The next big project for our contractor Dave will be to have the cedar siding put on the house and after that getting the rooffin completed. Dave's been great; we'll get a picture of him here if we can catch him standing still.
We've also added a photo taken through the front door, from where you see through the house to the river.

Progress on the outside

The work on the outside of the house really progressed today! The concrete floors were poured at the front entry, attached garaged, and screen porch. Also, the forms for the detached garage's concrete walls were constructed, and the two fireplace chimneys were installed. I went out on the river to stay out of the way, and here are a few pictures from that, too, plus a panorama from the riverbank to the house.

A day on the river

I had a great birthday...Rich and I cooked out and had dinner under our own roof for the first time. Very special.

I floated around in a kayak on a beautiful day recently, and here are a few of the things I saw just up the river from our bank.

Another great week

The carpenters are done.  They packed up Thursday and took off.  There are a few items left on their list, a couple of doors that haven't come in yet, but otherwise it's on to backfill and final grade.  That will start Tuesday.  Other than that, septic, well, siding, and metal roof.  That's about it until Laura and I take over.

This has been such a productive week! The framing is done, ready to install windows on Monday. The carpenters opened the floor to what will become the stairs to the basement. Also, here's a shot of our future basement apartment...the shower tub is in the garage! Come home, Richie, so you can run around in it!