May 1st....still waiting....

Today marks the start of  our fourth week at Holiday Home Sweet Home.  It really hasn't been so bad, we get out in the evenings with the dogs and walk, or head to a local restaurant, preferably one with outdoor seating.  I miss cooking, and I miss home cooked foods, but otherwise, no real complaints from either one of us.  The dogs have adjusted to the routine very well also.  We have a huge greenspace adjacent to the hotel where we can let them off leash to run and expend some energy.  We are also making frequent trips out to the log home where they get to run around as well.  Progess as of yesterday looked like this:

Upstairs from master looking towards loft area

The bedroom downstairs has this HUGE closet space for me.  Although one day I'm sure I'll complain that it isn't enough room, it is way bigger than what I've had for the past two years!

The upstairs master bedroom.  We are hoping our oak sleigh bed will fit under the second beam from the floor, but we aren't too sure of that!  This bedroom really isn't very big at all, but we both wanted to make the master bedroom upstairs, so this is what we have.

This is the downstairs bedroom, which originally was planned as the master.

The builder's estimate yesterday was three more weeks.  We've had a difficult time figuring out the appropriate septic system for the soil type, and the weather hasn't been too agreeable lately, but hopefully the septic system installation will start this week.  We've also been clearing for the powerlines ourselves (well, mostly Mark!), and that has been a very time consuming process. We hopefully finished that today, and will have the electric company out ASAP to start work on the power lines.  The other hang up has been we took our time picking out the kitchen cabinets, so they won't be coming in until the first of June.  Then they will measure for the countertops, which will be another two weeks.  Fortunately, we don't have to wait on them to move in, although we agree we need water, septic and electricity at the very least!

And here is Home Sweet Holiday Inn.  The manager took out the second queen bed to give us more room, but of course the headboard is attached to the wall. We have the dog crates, and an extra chest of drawers from our house in the room.  We have a microwave and small frige, as well as a big cooler which has been a lifesaver.  We aren't too crammed or unhappy here, although we are both anxious to get into our new space!!

Lucy's New Skill...

One day while we were inside the house discussing things with the builder we suddenly realized that Lucy was inside the house.  The current entrance is through a window opening using a ladder, and Lucy had somehow figured out how to climb the ladder so that she could be with us.  Here is a re-creation...although she has definitely made it a habit lately!

Friday night we were up on the top level talking over bathroom fixture placement and we heard Lucy attempting to climb that ladder, which is much bigger!  We had to yell at her to get her from coming up to the top level.  What a kookie dog!

Home Sweet Holiday Inn

We have moved!  It was a long weekend with no Easter festivities, but the deed is done.  1174 Claytonia Terrace is in the hands of a new owner, and we are in temporary lodging, a.k.a. Holiday Inn, Six Flags.  We are actually looking at this as an extended vacation and plan on enjoying the hot tub, indoor pool, sauna on a regular basis.  The staff here has been very accommodating, friendly and welcoming.   There is a huge green space behind the hotel where we can walk the dogs and let them off leash to run which is a welcome benefit.  They are not so sure of their new surroundings but hopefully settle in quickly.  My drive in is about the same length of time, although Mark's is a little longer.  Our builder is hoping to have the house completed by mid-May, so we will be here until that time.  If only we didn't have to work....

Purlin beams

We went out to check on progress for the house today, and progress is moving rapidly!  They were actually placing the purlin beams for the roof while we were there.  The purlins are huge, and direct support the roof...there is no attic.  

Even though it was a cold and windy day, Lucy still found a place to take a swim!  This is the area of the frost wall for the basement, which is a concrete barrier that goes several feet into the ground. 

The garage is also made of logs.  We originally were just going to put log siding on the garage, but with Katahdin, the log siding is as expensive as real logs, so of course we opted for the real thing.  Hopefully it will help inspire us to keep the garage neat and tidy.

These are some of the interior beams that will be used for support.

The access to the house right now is through a ladder placed up to a window.  As we are talking inside, Lucy shows up.  Sure enough, she had figured out how to climb the ladder, without watching anyone or any teaching.  Poor Gus couldn't quite maneuver it, so Mark half carried him up the ladder.  Both dogs seem to approve of the house so far!

These are the support beams for the catwalk to the loft upstairs.  Nice and breezy right now!

Talking about further plans for building...."the Marks'" are conferencing.

Mark has the cherry picker on site to help place the purlins.  He offered to take us up in it to check out the view.  While I am terrified of heights, I wasn't about to miss out on this opportunity! 

In other wonderful news, the buyer for our house did her final walkthrough today and has signed off on the final repairs that were done.  Closing is set for April 5th, so we have plenty of work ahead of us!

Emery turns One!

For spring break, Mark and I went and spent the week in Simpsonville.  We had a blast!  We luxuriated in the warm spring sun, spent time with Emery and went to see Sara and Ryan's new lake view property that they just bought.  Ryan was in Austria on a business trip for most of our visit, so we did miss spending time with him.  Toby, Whitie and Anna came up for the weekend so we got a chance to see them as well.  Emery's birthday party was on Sunday, which was when the inevitable rainy day finally appeared.  But we still had a great birthday party for Emery and all her playmates.  I shared my camera with Anna while she was there, and we managed to take "several" hundred pictures while we were there (several meaning closer to 1000 than to 100!).  I don't have time to glean through them all right now, so here's the slideshow of what Sara culled out of mine to put on her computer.   Emery is becoming a wonderful toddler and just in the week we were there we watched her change and grow and learn.  We bought her a sand box for her birthday, which she totally enjoyed! Watch for the pictures of her eating the sand!

Spring!

Just when I thought I might not survive this winter, spring is slowly spreading light into St. Louis. We spotted this huge batch of crocuses one afternoon while running errands and I managed to get back there the next afternoon after school.  It was later in the day than I would have liked so the lighting is not ideal, but....they are beautiful anyway!  They apparently grow wild here in places, but I haven't seen any out on the farm yet even though I have in years past.  This park seems to provide huge batches of them every year, so I do get my fill of them while they are here!

Progress!

We went out to the farm again this weekend to check on things.  It looks like a house!  

This picture is taken from the downstairs master looking towards the dining room windows.  The kitchen window is the short one on the left, then the dining room, then the door to the porch.

Here's the view from the great room window.  Lots of sunsets in our future!

I think Lucy does a great job of blending in with the dirt and gravel. 

Here's the house from across the lake.

Here's how the inside corners are finished.

And here's what the corners look like on the outside.