Posted on by Emily

Day 489

Exactly nothing happened at the house last week thanks to six days of below freezing temperatures, snow, sleet, and ice. The ice was no joke. We’re talking inches of it on the roads.

We ventured out yesterday as things started to melt to check on the house. It looked lovely in the snow!

Two of the three HVAC units were installed since we were there last.

This is definitely the least attractive wall of the house with all of the utilities, but we will paint the boxes on the wall after inspection and put in some shrubs to hide the units.

Apparently we have an artist in one of the crews…

We remember to take pictures of us together approximately twice a year. This is our first one of 2021.

The floors were finished the week before last but this was our first time seeing them!

This makes me feel like moving in could become a reality!

I’m in love.

We had our first casualty…little birdy must have gotten trapped in the house. Josh escorted him to his final resting place.

A peek of the foyer floors!

And perhaps most exciting of all, we have garage door openers.

Let’s hope we make up some lost time this week and can call in for a final inspection!

Posted on by Emily

Day 447

Happy New Year!

The house continues to look more like a house each day, though we are *still* waiting on the county to hook us up with some electricity(!) Until we have power and are able to connect the HVAC and condition the house, we can’t proceed with grout, paint, staining floors, etc.

In the meantime, we are moving forward with everything else we can.

The balustrades are looking lovely.

The hall bath is looking classic and precious. The chair rail tile really makes my day.

The guest bath tile is complete, except for the grout.

Downstairs, the Dining room and Library fireplace surrounds are starting to look fabulous. Can’t wait until they put up the mantel surrounds!

But what really brings me joy is the entry checkerboard floor. I have wanted one of these my entire life.

I am also extremely excited about my closet. I had the trim guys build in a dresser for a more furniture-like look and I was a little nervous about them understanding my design intent, but they did a really nice job. Can’t wait to see the unfinished wood painted!

Meanwhile, outside, they have been working on the porches. The screened porch columns are in place but not yet trimmed out.

They also placed the massive classical columns on the front porch and side entry.

I am in love.

Though they still need to finish the trim at the top and paint them to match the house, they make a huge difference in the overall look.

Thanks to our neighbor for this photo of the snow we got last week!

I got to see it Friday when I arrived for my site meeting. Can you see the columns in the distance?

Now we need the shutters, which will really complete the exterior look.

The end is in sight! I’ve already started purging and prepping…

Posted on by Emily

DAY 133

Well, a lot has happened in the last 3 weeks:

  1. We got our building permit! After the “plan review fee”, the “privilege tax”, the “educational impact fee”, and a handful of other absurd fees, I’m pretty sure we’ve paid for a county employee’s annual salary in order to obtain our permit.
  2. It has rained approximately 67″  this February, which has put everyone in construction behind and has delayed us breaking ground until the earthwork guys catch up.  Patiently waiting…..
  3. I had surgery and Josh has been buried in his Finance class so we hadn’t been able to go for a site visit until yesterday.
  4. Our neighbor’s barn is nearly finished.  Our construction envy is growing by the minute.
  5. The critters have come out in full force! We had a record 60 videos on the trail camera this time, which is about 5X as many as we’ve had before.

 

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Neighbor’s barn.  Maybe one day there will be a structure on our property, too.  Not jealous or anything.

Focusing on our wildlife for now.

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I think this is an owl on the ground to the right of the trees.  Josh agreed with my assessment for once.

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Up close and personal with Bambi.

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Practicing for her real ID picture.

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Turkey invasion!

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House cat makes an appearance.

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Turkeys are back for the first recorded snow since we’ve had the camera!

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Our resident black squirrel with white-tipped tail dashing by on a sunny day.  I can’t wait for Bu (our indoor house cat) to lay his eyes on this guy.  He’s going to lose his mind.

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Evidently our neighbors believe in free-range horses.  Exhibit A.

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Exhibit B.

Remind me to look into a property fence…

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Pretty blue bird on the ground below the trees.  Looked very busy.

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Cute little bunny! Another creature for Bu to go nuts over from his indoor perch.

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And finally, more snow! It didn’t snow at all at our current house on the other side of town.  I can’t wait to be in the new house and watch it snow this time next year.

Patiently waiting…..