Busy Week

We have had a very productive and exciting week at the construction site! This photo is from the road and was taken mid-week. Now the siding is complete everywhere except just above the porch. They didn't want to pour concrete after installing the siding. The first day the siding was up, Ray and I were both a bit disappointed. The color was off to me, and he didn't like the way some of the boards were laying against each other. Everything is ok now though. The boards, after being up 24 hours, did what they were suppose to do and my color looked right when I got a look at it sometime other than pre-sunset. The picture below of the back of the house is of the bright, direct sun so it tends to wash out the color. The other is the completed garage. I bet you never would have guessed that. ;o)

Late in the week, the concrete guy came and put in all the metal and rebar for the front porch. Here is a picture of the side walkway to the deck.

Steve supervised the creation of the new doorframe.

The electricians have run miles of cable snaking all over my house and the plumbers have run thousands of feet of red and blue hoses. Just when I thought we were done with snakes, the AC guys opened up those mysterious white bags and out popped the silver snakes. I love the idea of AC, but the guys have made using the attic above Morgan's room a real pain with the way they've hung the ducts. Ray and I tried to come up with a solution, but there does't really seem a way around it. I guess I just need less junk to hide in the attic.

Isn't our back yard just beautiful with the green machine parked amidst all the mud and sand.

Our living room is once again filled with materials. This time it is the exterior siding. I hate having those back doors open but I can't close them without moving every bit of that siding. I'll be so glad when the deck is on so no one drops to the gound. Wood for the deck was delivered this week so maybe it is coming up soon on the to do list.

One thing that we've been anxiously awaiting is the front porch and it is finally poured! It is textured with these little fibers and I caught Sarah today trying to pick them out of the concrete. They make it look like our porch has hair.

In addition to all of this, we talked to two different cabinet guys to get estimates. We've heard back from one and should hear from the other Monday. We're still getting a price from Home Depot/Lowes to see where the best deals are. I'm confident that we can get what we want from any of them. Picking one is the easy part, telling the others "no" is the hard part... especially in this economy. I want to hire everyone that comes up the driveway.

Oh, a final note is that we now have a construction mascot. She is a little blonde beagle, I believe. Very sweet and insistant that she is getting in the car and going home with SOMEONE. Ray caught her in the trunk of one of the cars when he went by this morning. The area is notorious for being a "drop zone" for dogs so I'm sure she is the first of many.

Check back soon to see what is in store for us during week 13!