Guess What's Next?

Today we were greeted by paint on the front door.It is a nice contrast to the paint and trim colors but doesn't scream at you! I didn't want a red door or any color that would be too bright or garish. Not that I have anything against red, but this is not a house that will wear red very well.

There were not too many other noticeable changes...

...except an indication of what is coming next.

Unexpected Things

Didn't expect to see the shingles on the roof today!

Didn't expect to see the painters finishing the exterior paint today!

Didn't expect to see my daffodils peeking up from under a pile of wood that Matt moved for me.

"Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks." 

~ Samuel Johnson

A Chipper Day!

Terry and Matt found a chipper/shredder on sale a few weeks ago, and it was at a price we couldn't refuse. We have a very large pile of yaupon, cedar, and other trimmings from our prep for the new construction. Normally, we might just burn it, but there has been a burn ban in effect up until a few days ago and it seemed better to try to recycle it anyway - hence the chipper/shredder. We had not had a chance to use it before today. so we thought we would try to whittle the pile down a bit today. The chipper worked fairly well, but we didn't get too far.


Our neighbors two houses away came to say hello, so we took them on a tour of the house. However, it became obvious that they had already taken their own tour at some point prior to today, because when we showed them the area where the master shower will be, the wife said, "Oh, we wondered what that was going to be! We thought maybe it was going to be a closet." I don't think I would walk through my neighbor's home-in-progress, but it isn't a big deal, I guess.


We also found a bag of deer corn inside the house. I guess the workers have been feeding them. I will stop at Producer's Coop and buy a bag of deer pellets for them to feed. The corn has no nutritional value for the deer, so they will benefit more from the pellets. I took some more deer blocks up, so they will have those to eat too. It is fun to have them tame enough to come up close, so I suppose the guys enjoy watching them too!

The furnace is up in the attic and it looks like most of the duct work is installed and connected. The most noticeable change since my last visit is all the electrical that has been added.  This is in the kitchen:

 We now have an "Electrical Central" in addition to "Plumbing Central!"

This is the view from our boat dock looking up at the house.

There has been some paint put on part of the house and trim. The house color is a pale khaki green with ivory trim. It is a bit hard to tell where the paint color is and where it is just the yellow of Hardie siding, but this picture shows it best.

A New Friend

I met a new friend on the road into the lake. He (she?) was very busy gathering food and wasn't about to be interrupted by my filming.

There were a lot of deer around, so I guess I should bring some more deer blocks up for them to nibble on. This one was right outside the front door, looking as if she wanted to come in for a visit.

There was some noticeable construction progress from Monday...


"Plumbing Central" looks more organized and together.

An outdoor faucet and dryer vent have appeared.

The porch railing has been started.

And the trash pile is definitely growing!

What's Different About This Picture?

If you are old enough to remember Highlights magazine, you might also remember the puzzles that were included in each issue. One was comparing two pictures and finding the changes in the second picture. That is what my trip to the lake today reminded me of - some pictures that I have taken in the past now look a bit different as work has progressed.  


For example, here is the master bathroom a week ago...

 ...and today there is a tub!

We had rain off and on last week and then all weekend, so I didn't think much work would have been done. Fortunately, there were things that could be done inside, so the weather was not as much of a factor as I thought.


This is looking from the dining room toward the kitchen a week ago...

 ...and today you can see the basic plumbing for the kitchen sink in the foreground and what looks like "plumbing central" in the background.

Here is a close up of "plumbing central" near the utility room.

A week ago - no front door...

 Today - front door and some additional trim above the door installed...

The doors on the lake side are not correct, but I am guessing that they know that. Both should be 9-lite doors. The door on the dining room is an interior door and the door on the master bedroom is like the one on the front door.

I Love Surprises!

It is always exciting to pull into the drive at the lake these days, because I never know what I will find! I'm always hopeful that there will be visible progress, but I don't know what or how much until I round the bend and pull into the driveway.


Today when I drove in, I was looking specifically at the roof, but I did not see anything different from the last visit. As I got closer I realized that the windows had been installed! An even closer look revealed that the Hardiplank siding was also up on three sides!


The windows really make it more home-like...I love surprises!


From the front:

 From the side:

 From the living room looking toward the lake:

 The porch:

 Standing at the front door looking through the living room toward the lake:

Almost a Roof!

   Drove to the lake with my mother-in-law today. With the holidays and some rain, we did not expect to see much change from the last visit. We were wrong! 
   They have gotten much of the roof covered, and it is beginning to look like a "real" house! I think they will have it shingled before too much longer. They also have erected a walkway/scaffold around the exterior - I am guessing it is for them to stand on when they wrap and put siding on the house.
   View from the front:

   View from the lake side:

   The picture below is of the porch - should make for some good sitting and visiting!

   This is the view from the master bedroom window.