Home at last...

The first big moving day has finally come. No, we are not in the house yet. We are living in the garage. Well, we are still living in Sadie, but she is now in HER new home in the RV garage of OUR new home. The home may be finished (or at least ready for final inspection) next week.

Currently, the crew is working on the stone veneer on the fireplace. It is going to be really pretty. Roberto is an artiste of the first water, and as I told Duane the other day, he is the only guy I know who is a jack of all trades and master of all of them!!


One of the advantages of living on the building site is that we can use the shower, which is a whole bunch bigger than the shower in Sadie. The shower door isn't installed yet, but we were able to put up the shower curtain bar and the liner that will eventually go in the other bathroom.


The plumber was here today and installed the kitchen plumbing and finished up the guest bath and the utility sink in the shop.


Here's a shot of our "art deco" dining room chandelier. We call it the "Clack Ten Memorial Chandelier" because we purchase it with the gift card the group gave us when we "retired" as group leaders in Clackamas.

One of the things I have been able to contribute to the house project is to do the tile backsplashes in the bathrooms and kitchen. Here's the kitchen. If the tile looks familiar, it is because it is similar to the backsplash I put in the kitchen in our last house. We like the new tile better, because it looks like natural stone, but it is porcelain tile, which doesn't absorb grease like stone.
You can click on any of the pictures to blow them up for closer inspection. Stay tuned.

More quantum leaps

This week has seen some amazing progress at Hillcrest House. The beginning of the week was given over to installation of the hardwood floors. The crew even let the old guy help, although I am not sure that I wasn't more in the way than anything.

Duane places the next board, while Alberto stands by with the hardwood floor nailer, and I am holding the board that will follow that one. Who says I'm pushing?

The dining room floor is virtually completed here.

Old guy picking out "just the right board" to go in next.

Alberto operates the nailer.

Another look at the dining room floor.

It takes a lot of study for us older gentlemen to figure out what the next step is.

Some of the rich grain that this Acacia wood displays. Just wait until Jill waxes it!

On Tuesday, the cabinets were installed. The beadboard is the back of the cabinets on the island, which will have a U-shaped, raised bar for serving buffet style or casual dining.

Looking across the living room into the dining room and kitchen.

Looking down the hallway toward the master bedroom.

Here are the French doors leading into the music room, which will be home to our two pianos, two guitars, a banjo, a mandolin, and a set of bagpipes!

Looking into the master bedroom through the double entry doors. We carried the hardwood into the bedroom as a kind of apron. Alberto is putting finishing touches on a hardwood apron just inside the patio slider. It is designed to protect the bedroom carpet from wet and/or muddy feet coming in from outside.

Yesterday, the painter was doing prep work. He will begin painting next week and should be finished by Friday. The counter tops should arrive on the following Monday.

Details, details

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, so here are 18,000 words worth of pictures for you!

Here we will eventually have a paver path along the side of the RV garage.

The patio will fill this alcove and be accessible from the dining room, via the small door; the bedroom, via the slider; and the shop, via a small door that is not visible here.

A garden shed will eventually occupy this space in the backyard.

The fence that Jill and I built has a temporary "hole" in it, so that the concrete truck can get into the backyard to pour the patio and the floor of the shed.

Looking north across the backyard.

Forming for the sidewalks has begun.

This will soon be home to our motor home, Sadie.

And this will be home to our two cars.

In the living room, the fireplace will soon be faced with faux stone.

The floor in the master bath was laid on Thursday.

As was the floor in the guest bath.

Tomorrow, this jumble of boards will be turned into a
hardwood floor in the kitchen and dining room.

Looking from the entryway across the living room to the dining room

The exterior paint is underway. (In fact, it is nearly finished.) Although
the siding color looks like beige in this photo, it is actually kind of a fern green.

Here is a close up of the detail in the gables.

The stone wainscot is underway and will probably be finished in about a week.

After the hardwood is down in the kitchen and dining room, the cabinets will be installed on Wednesday. On Thursday, templates for the LivingStone countertops in the kitchen and master bath will be made. After that, the painter will start on the interior, probably a week from tomorrow.

While the painter is working inside, Duane and his crew will finish up the exterior concrete work, the stone wainscot, and the front porch pillars. We hope we can move Sadie into her new home two weeks from today and live there until the house is complete. That will give me a chance to be on site and work on the tile backsplashes, the sprinkler system and the landscaping, plus put finishing touches on the fence, so Pogo will have a place to play.

Of course, we will post more photos as things progress. So, stay tuned to most of these same stations.

* All photos courtesy of my beautiful bride!