HAPPY HOLIDAYS............

Traveling between blizzards in Minnesota and having a great time with the kids. Shawn is holding down the fort at the apartment and getting up to the house to take the new pictures. Emailing them to me and then figuring out how to download to the blog, I'm becoming a "techie".
The siding almost finished, finished and the view from the master bedroom.
Next the flooring should be installed.
Hope to have another post from the road, I'm off to make Lefse.
Merry Christmas!

PAINT........

Just a little touch up and the painting is done. The flooring will be next, hope to see it before I leave Friday night for 2 weeks in Minnesota. Yup trading the cold and snow of Juneau for the blizzards of Minneapolis and Fargo. Hope the worst of the season was last weekend and my trip will be uneventful. Can't wait to see the progress when I get back on Sunday the 2nd, and yes that's during the Packer/Bears showdown. What was I thinking last February when I booked my mileage ticket???

SIDING..........

Three months, 6 days since I first wrote the word siding on the blog.....finally the wait is over!!!!!

BIG DECISION.......

The drywall is done, the walls are primed and now we just need to decide on paint colors. We will meet with the "color expert" from the paint store tomorrow morning in the daylight with samples of the flooring, cabinets, and counter to help narrow down the choice. My favorite lights from Avalanche Ranch have been ordered, the tile will be ordered by the weekend. The light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to shine.

TAPE, MUD, TAPE.......

Juneau was transformed into a winter wonderland this week, giving us a sneak preview of winters to come traversing the driveway. Studded snow tires and ice cleats for boots will be mandatory. The drywall is almost finished soon the stark white walls will be painted. And yes......still waiting for the rest of the siding to go up to cover up the yellow house wrap.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING........

More progress.....the whole house has been rocked in and now the endless taping, mud, taping has begun. The half wall for the kitchen counter is built, the stairs and ceiling are enclosed.

And most importantly the long awaited siding installation has begun to cover that lovely yellow house wrap. Now to dream of Thanksgiving 2011 - counter space and a dishwasher!

INSULATION AND DRYWALL........

Lots of work going on again. Insulation, vapor barrier and drywall is being installed. Now we need to pick out paint colors, tile and flooring, kitchen cabinets and appliances are ordered. The coil of tubing hangs from the ceiling to be installed in the first floor ceiling for the in floor heating system. Still looks like a big yellow box on the hill, the siding is scheduled to be put on next week.

ENTRY AND DOORS.......

Feeling more like a house on every visit. Siding will have to wait till there is a break in the weather. The electrician should be back today to finish his work. Haven't picked out light fixtures yet, but Shawn has all the components for surround sound and is making sure Direct TV can be installed so he'll have the NFL package.....priorities!

A TALE OF TWO WINDOWS............

Remember how excited we were when the framing was done and we could finally visualize how the front windows were going to look? And then they were installed and I never did put a picture of them on the blog. Well there was a very good reason for that!

The crew worked until noon on Saturday to finish installing the windows. That afternoon Shawn went up to the house to see them, came home didn't tell me he had gone and then waited till I had a chance to see them for myself. After my inspection I came home and immediately asked him "if he could live with that"? So after all the years of planning our dream house we had nightmare windows. The sashing between the two panes of glass was just huge, over 6 inches of a solid white band which was at eye level when you sat down. We had similar windows in the house we just sold and liked the fact we could open the bottom section, however the sashing on those was minimal. After very little debate and not caring what the cost was Shawn called our contractor on Monday and told him they had to be replaced. Now after waiting 7 weeks we finally got to see the new windows today, it was worth the wait.

So if anyone in the Juneau area knows someone who wants a really great deal on 5 brand new windows just give us a call.

WOW #2............

The driveway is finished!!! The placement of the boulders to form the rock wall is a work of art. Boulders were also strategically placed at the curves in anticipation of future winter driving adventures. Framing for the arctic entry will begin tomorrow. Just checked when the first WOW was posted it was exactly 2 months ago, wonder 2 months from what I'll be posting?

ONE MORE DAY.........

And the rock walls and driveway will be done. The entry pad is finished held up by massive boulders and the pilings have been buried. The front of the house took a beating in the high winds a few weeks ago, long strips of the house wrap are seen hanging down. Still looks like a big yellow box on the hill, but drastic changes are just around the corner.

TAKING SHAPE.......

Retaining walls, walkways and planting beds are emerging from the piles of boulders. Work should be completed in the next day or two, then the entry can be built and finally the siding installed. We lucked out as a friend of our contractor is a master of building with rock and wanted to do this "fun" project. It is amazing to see how the puzzle of all the different sizes and shapes are carefully set in place and the result is awesome.

SUNNY SUNDAY..........

October is Juneau's wettest month with an average of 8.3 inches of rain, any sunny days are truly bonus days for us. Sunday morning brought a clear sky so a quick trip to the house to see the sunrise was a must. More rocks have been piled up and the walkway is taking shape. The pilings are in place and the base of the arctic entry is forming. The forecast for the week is more sun, the entry and siding should be completed.

THE ROCKS PILE UP.........

A beautiful autumn day in Juneau with unexpected sun. Perfect weather to put the driveway back together and start the rock walls. Loads of rock are being delivered and the path up to the house has been started. The pilings for the arctic entry are ready to be move up to the top. And the most exciting picture is of a deer hoof print (thanks Tom) right outside the patio door.