The Outside is Done (Well Sort of)

  Dan drove up to the property to check on the status of the house. To his great surprise he found Titus packing up his tools, materials, and ladders.  This unexpected exit was a good thing!  They were done...well sort of.  There are a few things that need to be tightened up, but all in they they are done with the main part of the house.  Yipee!

It's perfect, except it still doesn't have electric, plumbing, or interior walls.

 

At some point we will have a deck coming off of the back.  The point where we have more money and less bills.

The girls named the the weather vane Windrunner, we call her Windy for short.

         The inside has seen a few more improvements mainly in the form of actual stairs going from each level.  Up until this point we had been climbing ladders, which was fun in a dare devil sort of way, but not very safe. We are very concerned about safety around these parts.  We want everyone to be happy and healthy and we really don't want any insurance claims.

Stairs leading from garage to my mom's apartment.

Stairs.....yeah, not a lot more I can say about this picture.

Landing and stairs to the second floor.

    That is what other people have been doing on the house.  I will be back with a post of what we've been doing on our house.  It mainly involves looking at all of the items in my house and shaking my head in disbelief.  How have we amassed so much stuff in a relatively short amount of time?  On average we have lived in our houses for 2 years.  That means about every two years we are sorting and packing through our things in order to move it from one house to another.  You would think having engaged in this exercise 5 times in the past ten years our "junk" collecting would have been kept to a minimum.  I am ashamed and embarrassed to tell you it has not.  I took an van load of  unwanted treasure to the Salvation Army this weekend, and I have a feeling that was just one of many trips in my future.  Do any of you have some decluttering tips you would like to share.  I could use all of the help I can get.

Details Shmetails

   First of all, I'd like to say that we are praying for those who are dealing with the devastation of the hurricane and subsequent "rain storm" that pounded NY and PA this week.  Please know that if I sound like I'm complaining it is only for comic relief.  I grateful for the many blessings that God has given our family.
   Hmm.. where to start.  Well I haven't posted because my internet connection  was kaputz.  That wasn't too bad as I think we can all benefit from a technology vacation.  
    Our basement project is 99% done the walls and floors look great, we are still getting the furnace and water filter installed and we need to  bring all of our crap  household items back into the basement.  Pics will soon follow.  We have been diligently working on getting our yard back in order.  Again....pics to follow.  You could say we have a lot of "irons in the fire".   In the family news department we sent youngest daughter to Kindergarten.  I DO have a picture of that.

First Day of School

I didn't cry then, but I might now

On the house front, not too much has happened.  The weather has been poor and we've run out of a few supplies, a few times.

The garage doors have been installed. We're trying to figure out if we are going to paint the x's on the doors black, or if we should paint the doors red and leave the x's white.  Anyone good at Photoshop? (Sarah?)

   
The porch is on, but not finished.  We (I mean they) ran out of railing material.  The siding is mostly on, but not finished.  Can you guess why?  That's right, we ran out of materials.  This is a great opportunity for me to learn patience and for those of you who know me know that I need a lot of opportunities to lean patience.

   

These are going to be our stairs.  Well I guess they are our stairs, but they will be functional stairs at some point.  I love the color stain we picked.  I don't remember the name of it, but when I find the brochure that is buried somewhere in my car I will be sure to share it with you.  We had an Amish man build the stairs and stain them, he will also be making our hardwood floors.   If for some reason I stop blogging and you don't see me anymore, it's because I've become Amish because they are so cool and can make ANYTHING.
   I have been shopping for random items.  I have lights, tile for bathrooms, lanterns to hang on the porch, but I still have yet to buy a door handle to lock the front door.   Yeah, I think I need to work on my priorities.  Well, I'm off to sleep to getting ready for more yard work tomorrow.  Wish me luck!