Wow, what a great day! We had Sally & Dom and most of their family and a few friends here today to see what we have been up to at the house. We had a great visit! Nice to see everyone! It was a beautiful day at Dahlia House.

We have been so busy the past few days. Went to Longview to pick up more lumber and get rid of the garbage from the last few days of tearing out. Then we went to Astoria and picked up the mantle and fireplace. As soon as we get the walls built for that, they will come out and install. We also got the divider wall built between the two bathrooms upstairs and the rest of the walls torn out. Just a few more things to do and then we can have the plumber back to finish the job!

We made great progress today! Colleen was here and gave us lots of help! We got the walls torn out in the bathroom and in the kitchen. Also tore up the old floor in the bathroom. We filled the little trailer with debris from the destruction. Lots of old rotten boards and nasty flooring. And a lot of old mouse nests in the walls.
There is a lot of rot we are going to have to deal with, boards that will have to be replaced. But it was a good days work. We need to build the walls upstairs to divide the two bathrooms, might start that tonight or tomorrow. We also have some major decisions to make concerning placement of showers, sinks etc...before the plumber comes back.

Today was awesome!!!! We had the plumber here to help us and we also had people here to give us quotes on gutters and windows. We are headed out tomorrow to look at more flooring and cabinets in Portland. And to buy more plumbing parts and lumber.
We have a lot of tearing out to do in the bathrooms, and we need to put up the interior walls. So Saturday will be a busy one! But it will be fun to see the progress!

I am not writing this evening about any of the progress we are making, but about what it is like living out here.
I was worried that it would be too secluded and maybe boring, but the opposite is true! We are a bit overwhelmed with all the wildlife and wonderful scenery we see on a daily basis. Being a born and bred "city" girl this is amazing to me, and Brian says he just didn't pay attention to it or appreciate it as he was growing up.
We have two "resident deer" that are here for dinner each night at dusk, and they are not afraid of us at all. We go out and talk to them and they listen, and then go about their munching and crunching on the grass. (I will have to have serious talks with them if they start eating my Dahlias or Asparagus!) There are twin fawns we see just down the road and one doe with part of her back leg missing. She has a terrible time keeping up with her baby!
Besides that we see eagles and kingfishers, and all sorts of other birds. And there are always raccoons and the occasional porcupine wandering about. Had to wait while one got out of my way the other night as I came up the drive.
I even saw a bobcat on the way home one dark night. He was just strolling down the road in front of me. Today my big find was a black and white bunny rabbit!
The views out the front window are always changing, whether it be the wildlife in the front yard or the ships and boats that are passing us by. It is a forever changing scene, and we love the move we have made.
I hope that when we open our B&B that people will relax and enjoy it and appreciate the constantly changing events that unfold around us.

Went to Seattle and picked up our bathtub at Lowes and then got the glass block kit at Seattle Glass Block for the shower downstairs. Then we spent about 4 hours at Ikea looking at the kitchen area. We have it pretty much all picked out, but didn't have room in the pick-up and trailer to bring it home. They have it saved in draft form and all we have to do is convert it to a sale. We will live with and work on the design again for a few weeks and see if we want any changes. If not, we go and get it as is.
On the way out we saw the sink we wanted for the big upstairs bathroom and the flooring we wanted for the kitchen, so we got that too! Quite a load we brought home! A very satisfying trip!

So the last few days we have been putting up a few 2x6's in the kitchen every day. We just have two to go and some cross beams and we are done with that job.
Brian found the lumber to finish the rest of the siding! He brought it home today. Now we just need to get it milled to match.
We have been taking advantage of the good weather and doing some yard work. It is starting to take shape....well for now anyway.
I planted Dahlias and asparagus!
Everyday we try to accomplish at least one thing!
So excited to pick out our kitchen at Ikea on Friday!