It has been a busy few months! We have focused on getting the house painted, but what a job. As of this date we have about half of it scraped, sanded and painted with primer. About 10% has the actual finished colors on it. We have also added trim around the back door and some of the windows. It is looking good, but what a lot of work it has been. Will continue to work on it as we have nice fall days.
We have also finished the upstairs porch by sealing and painting the floor. Then we could finally replace the rotten boards in the hallway. So that is repaired and insulated and we will hopefully get it sheet rocked soon. Have put up more sheet rock in the living room and Brian has the fireplace surround just about finished. (with sheet rock) It looks great! It will be a good winter job to finish.
A lot of work has gone into the yard. We have grass planted on the side yard and hey it is growing really well. I guess the third time is the charm! We bought special soil called energy. And boy did the grass seed ever take off like wildfire!
We bought a 29 foot trailer to use for a bunkhouse when we have a lot of family here, and we will also be renting it out. So if you are interested, let us know!
Cleaned off the back hillside pulled down some trees and laid down lots of new dirt and rock, will finish that project in the spring by adding gravel to the new parking area and on the driveway. Made some new flower beds...or should I say Rock beds. Just something to make it look good and that the deer will not eat.
We had a great garden this year with lots of potatoes, tomatoes and onions. Also my dahlias were so bountiful and so pretty.
Got the back deck cleaned, sanded and the first coat of stain on it, will do the final coat when we finish the painting on the house. (too much of a chance of splatters!) We got one of the spires up on the witches peak! Looks great! (Thanks to Adam for climbing way up there!!!) Did some finishing work on my big closet upstairs. Added a light and sheet rock and paint. It is so organized! Love it!
That's about all I can think of right now...I just know the summer has just flown by!

Cannot believe I have not added to this blog since last November. We had a busy winter and really did accomplish a lot. Guess the easiest way to do it would be to just add a list.

Got the glass block shower put together in the downstairs bathroom, (still need to add the tile)

Tiled the back splash in the kitchen and put up and painted the trim around one window

Attached all the cabinets in the bathroom, built the vanity top, installed the tile and the sink!
(wow, so nice to have a sink in the bathroom now!)

Gutted, insulated and sheet rocked the old closet upstairs, painted, added trim and new flooring & built shelves and now we have a linen closet upstairs

Worked on the upstairs deck, replaced all the rotting boards and support columns, added a railing, and sealed and painted it.

Did some more sanding and painting in the kitchen

Insulated and put up a few pieces of sheet rock in the living room

Built new raised beds in the garden

Built a fire pit in the side yard

Picked out the house colors. Pewter Moon and Silver Spree, with white and burgundy trim

Started scraping, sanding and putting primer on the outside of the house. Hope to have it painted by the end of the summer.

Had 75 sheets of sheet rock delivered so we can get the downstairs and the hall sheet rocked

So that has all been in the last 6 months...not bad.....

Just finished caulking, sealing and putting a coat of primer on the outside of the front window. We had put some caulk on it last week, but it rained hard that night and washed it all away allowing water to leak inside. We have had a few days of sunny weather so cleaned off the rest of the old stuff and did it again. Should work this time! Lot's of sun to get it dry!
Brian also did some trim work in our bedroom so not too many little details left and that room will be done!
I have been busy painting a new (to us) nightstand for our bedroom. It should be ready to go in place tomorrow.

The front window is back in place! Yea! Still some work to do to finish insulating and get the trim up, but what a difference already! Darrel and Roberta happened to stop by just as we were about to do it, and it was so nice to have their help! It is doing nothing but raining, so it will be a while before we can finish the outside work, but work continues inside.

We have been lucky in October so far and have had such a beautiful weather month. Have been able to work outdoors most days. As a result we got a lot more yard work done including putting in new steps down to the Gazebo and doing some landscaping and planting grass in that area. Also transplanted another of the Barberry to the side of the house.
I finished putting the last coats of paint on the front window and just today did the last of the detailing. It is now ready to go back in place. Brian has re-built most of the inner frame work as it was pretty rotten! It is also painted and ready to go. But unfortunately the rain has arrived so will have to wait until a decent day to get it in. What a difference it will make.
Chuck came down and did the final inspection. So we are done with the items needed to be completed to get the building permit finalized. So good to have that item checked off our list.
Also finished scraping, sanding and painting the rest of the front porch. Got the steps done back in August, but now it is a completed job! Wooo Hooo! Good to use that word! Every project here seems to get to the "almost done" phase and then we move on to the next one. Nice to have something actually completed!

Ack! Here it is almost the end of September already. Still no time to update the website....will do that some dark and stormy day. Right now we are madly rushing to get the last little things done so the building inspector can come down and sign off on the building permit. The last two things were the earthquake straps for the hotwater heater, and the wired-in smoke alarms. Brian did the straps a few months ago but just finished the wiring and installation of the smoke alarms a few days ago. Will be so nice to have Chuck down here to sign off on the last of the work he has to see.
In the last few weeks we have also put up the siding and trim on the outside of the conservatory, painted the base of it, and Brian finished the outside stairs and railings. It looks just great!
Brian also added two lights in the attic, and I finished glazing the front window panes. That was a job that really took up a lot of my time this summer, from scraping, gluing and painting to finding a new matching pane, (cause I broke one) to the actual glazing job itself. The only thing left to do is put on a few coats of paint and then we can get it put back up in the front of the house where it belongs. Will have to get some family help for that project.
Now that the weather is iffy we will again turn to the inside jobs, and there are too many of those to list. The first big project will be to get our bathroom done! (at least it better be)

Amazing how fast this summer has gone by. We have been so busy that there has been no time to update the website or blog. So here goes:
We are in our bedroom (YEA) and it is almost done, just some trim to put up and then to decorate. Feels so good to have a lot of closet space and not be living out of totes anymore! Brian did a great job of putting the bed together, but we didn't realize how tall it would be, so he had to build us a couple of steps to get up into it!
We had a little work party over the 4th of July weekend, and really got a lot done. Here's a quick list.
Expanded our garden area by extending the fence so we can plant even more veggies and flowers next year. It has been nice to have some fresh veggies, herbs and fruit.
Tore down all the rest of the old wall board and ceiling tile in the living room and dining room.
Worked on restoring the front window
Planted some Barberry bushes
Other projects we have been busy with:
Finished the floor and did more trim work in the conservatory and actually moved furniture in there. It looks great!
Built the steps and railing outside the conservatory
Added more red rock, brick and steps to the side area
Added a few more flower beds around the gazebo and under a couple of trees
Planted lots of flowers and shrubs
Cleaned, scraped, sanded and painted the front steps (thanks Colleen for all the hard work sanding!) also replaced one rotten board.
We had a lot of company this summer, from Ireland and Switzerland, and of course our family from Seattle. Had grandkids here for most of the summer, so I am surprised we got anything done.
Fall is almost upon us and we have a lot to do before the weather turns. We will see how it goes!