It's December

Hard to believe it is December. Hard to believe we are not "in," but given all that has happened in the last year, and even more recently, it should really be no surprise. We can only do so much. Thought it would be a good time to post another update. However, most of the house updates are really somewhat minor. Some touch up painting, installed closet “organizer” in guest bedroom, finished master shower, grouting, and sealing, installed a handful of interior and exterior light fixtures, door handles, etc. All part of “getting in.” Even though these tasks seem minor, it is amazing how much time they eat up. Ten hour days on the weekend and couple hours here and there each week day evening.
Got our first frost today. Pretty neat actually. Huge full moon and perfectly clear skies – hence the cold night. Moonlight was coming in our master bath window right on the bathtub. Could only imagine soaking in that with a few candles going, or just using the moonlight. Another one of those, “had no idea this would happen, but sure am excited about the discovery” kinds of things that continues to treat us.
Chris and Troy are working on stair rails and pantry cabinets – both key elements for us to “get in.”
Sorry, no new pics since I left camera at the house…UPDATE got my camera and added a few new pics of stairs with carpet, putting finish on stair post (gotta love my stylin' house slippers heh?), and the new decking…But, how about the "one year ago today" pic of our heater. Wow.... no insulation in the house, no sheetrock, no nothing so to speak. We have come a long long way. Wow. That is all I can say.

More than a pair of Eagles heh?

Just another weekend at the Bow House…..almost. We had new visitors. Two of them. A pair of bald eagles came to roost about 75 feet from our house, in perfect view from our picture windows! This is the first time we have ever seen a pair of eagles on our property. They were there for almost an hour, and of course I said to Debbie…”you know who that is, don’t you?” She said “of course, its your Mom and Dad…. Margaret and Barney coming to see the progress on the house.” I said “Yep.”
For what it is worth we all know one can believe anything you want. We both believe there is something to this and we will leave it at that. Interestingly, I can still hear my Mom saying how much Bald Eagles “fascinated her." She said that all the time. She thought they were great and often just said “Ooooooh!” when I would mention them! It was really really cute.

Center pic shows eagles in upper left corner of our center picture window.... two black shapes side by side. By the way, these eagles are a nesting pair and their nest is located straight out from our picture window about 1/3 of a mile away, and is very visible during the winter months… see pic. We’ll be watching them this winter, and keep thinking how incredible this is going to be to have this kind of "NatureWatching" outside our windows! Wish I had a high end spotting scope…. We will one day.

The Carpet Baggers

Hey, why not. A couple pics of the carpet effort.... furniture is likely to be only temporary till we get what we want, but fine.... just fine, for now. Pics not the best. Should have taken some the other night when we had a candle or two lit... The house is so quiet! Love it. Love "youse!"

D2

D2 Trucking and Moving.... and Matt and Rachel's Magic Carpet Ride.

By popular demand (thanks Kathy!), here is an update for our Blog. Pics coming.
No question we have had another round of wicked work. Last two weeks have been intense to say the least, but with a big payoff. Last week Deb and I drove to Portland on a Tuesday evening arriving in Portland around 11 p. Then, we pick up one of two 16 ft. rental trucks, which are actually a total of 23 ft. long. We started packing everything in sight at the house. OMG what a bunch of stuff we have! While packing, I was fasting too in prep for a routine colonoscopy. Boy, now there is a bunch of fun…. Packing boxes and fasting. Matt and Rachel came over and Matt and I went downtown to pick up our carpeting and padding. Two rolls of carpeting.. 1300 lbs. each, and 16 rolls of padding that were at least 100 lbs. each. Deb and I started loading the truck. Next, Lisa and Dick came over to help...it seems that is all they do! Thursday, I had my colonoscopy (clean bill of health) and then continued to work a bit although Deb did most of the work for sure. I was loonier than normal. Friday, Sat. and Sun we continued to pack the first truck and then got the second and loaded it to the gills.
Friday night we had a real treat. Went to see Jim and Tim play! Lisa and Dick and Matt and Rachel were there too. Oh my, what a great time we all had. It sure brought back memories of the night life in Portland that we miss so much. Ah, life sure is strange. Monday morning we each drove a truck to Bow, and Matt and Rachel drove our pick up truck and a vehicle of their own on Tues.
So, Monday we get to Bow around 1 pm. Poured all the way. When we got to Bow…we:
- Borrowed neighbor’s pick up truck.
- Packed up our bedroom set in the barn and moved it down to the new house.
- Was getting dark and we were carrying dressers and such along our trail using the wheel barrow. It was quite a site. We used some of the light from our foyer window.
- Power goes out and we move the rest of stuff in the dark.
- Go back to apartment and eat in the dark till lights come back on.
- Go back to house and clean out garage and basement. Back at 10 pm.
- Start early on Tuesday and unpack first truck. Work like hell all day. Have to unpack and repack truck because some stuff goes in barn and other stuff goes in house….
- Unload everything in second truck except the two giant rolls of carpeting. Matt and Rachel show up around 6 pm and help us get carpet in garage.
- Repack second truck with everything that has to go to the barn..
- Take truck to barn and unpack it and load all the stuff in to the barn.
- (yes, we ended up loading and unloading each truck around FOUR times!
- We are dead tired on Tuesday night.
- Start early on Wed and begin installing carpet. Glued and nailed tack strips, installed padding, and then carpet for all bedrooms and office.
- Thursday more of the same. Got all done except the loft and the stairs. Finished at 1130 pm. AND THEN, Matt and Rachel drive back to Portland and get home at 4 in the morning. God Bless Them! And God Bless Lisa and Dickey who helped all weekend in Portland
- Friday we both worked our jobs. Late Friday afternoon went to store to look for vanities for powder room and mudroom.
- Sat and Sunday worked all day at house. More tiling, setting up beds and computer desk and vacuumed all the carpets.
- Nov. 10 was my Dad's birthday. He would have been 92.
- Sunday was my Mom's birthday. She would have been 88. Yes, no question there is call for celebration for the day she was born but that is not how we felt. Just a very odd day all around. Always felt like something major was missing. It was.

Whew. Matt and Rachel worked like hell. Not only do we think the house looks great, it is so so so quiet! And we, (especially me) love that!
Deb and I both travel for work throughout the week. Oh my is this an incredible amount of work.
PS – Deb and I have decided we do not “live” in Bow, nor have we for the past 1 ¾ years….. we merely “exist.” No kidding on this. Since we have moved we have not enjoyed ourselves with any of the reasons we moved there…. But, once we move in, all of that will change for the better!

Happy Halloween and Packing in Portland

We are now in Portland, cleaning out our house and packing. Great fun again. As you may recall, we had planned to clean out and pack things a couple days before we left for Bow back in March 2008..... but my back went out for the first time in my life (for no apparent reason) and that kaboshed that!

Anyway, a belated Happy Halloween.... we dressed up as homeowners and contractors and worked on the house.... boy were we scary. And, of course, somehow Deb found time to dress up our "guys" and give me a card and some candy. Gotta love that!

Here are a few pics of the lastest work on the house. Hauling deck boards was an exciting adventure as you can see (Deb warming up flexing her muscles! Don doesn't need to warm up - he's just extraordinarily STRONG!), tiling (Doesn't the shower look GREAT? we can't wait to take a shower! Don's taken this on as his own little project and he's done a GREAT job!), installed some tile in front of our masonry heater so carpet does not get dirty, trim work on the stairs, etc. And while we're gone, Chris is working on the west deck - so it will be great to see it finished when we get home! Enjoy!

Weekend 82

Yes, this past weekend marked our 82'nd weekend in a row of working on the house. Great fun again. Touch up painting, more tiling, carried/lifted 28 - 20 ft timber tech boards up to the south deck ( and that was no easy feat.... pics to come on that one), cleaned out half the basement, and made a trip to the dump. So far, have "installed" about 1700 - 4 inch tiles in the master shower! Believe it or not, it is looking pretty cool. The South deck is done, minus the railings! Looks great but no pics yet. Troy got a touch of the flu so we are on hold for welding stair railings.
Chris will be working on the West deck this week. We are headed to Portland tomorrow to clean out the house and pack up goods and pick up some carpeting. Oh Boy. More cleaning and packing! But, that does mean we will be moving in soon. Matt and Rachel will be coming back with us to help carpet the house.

Our cherry countertop was installed on the kitchen "island" so our kitchen cabinetry is complete. Looks great. Facia board was installed by Chris so we ready to make the railing posts from our spruce wood. Just two pics..... enjoy.

And she's buying a .....

Late Sunday Update. Couple shots of the weekend work. Chris progress on roughing in our stairway.... to Heaven? Sorry. Regardless, they are going to look fantastic! Our plan is to have a carpet runner down the center with maple boards on each side. Steel posts for the railings. Troy will be welding again soon.

D2 started the master bathroom shower tiling. Good grief. A contractor said it would cost two thousand bucks to do it, so that made our decision for us. Once again, sweat equity is where it’s at….. and where it has been for a long time…. :)

Fall update...

Been a bit rough the last week or so. Things just not the same and I suppose they really never will be. Less than three years ago I would say how lucky I was to still have both parents and be in my 50’s. Now I don’t have either one. But I do realize how fortunate I am to have had what I had. Debbie having a very hard time with things too. She keeps saying how she thinks my mom will call to ask her to pick something up at the store for her on the way home, or stop by to do a little something….go to the hair salon, etc.

The Fall Season is in full swing. Things look great. House progress continues to move pretty well. Deb and I spent all weekend painting, touch-up painting, and putting 2 or three coats of finish on window sills, door jams, and window frames. Chris is making good progress on the stairs, counter tops done, sinks and toilets installed but not caulked yet, more electric working, a couple doors hung, etc. Plumbers and electrician will come out once more when we have our last sinks, and lights in… Overall, we are pleased with everything that is in place. Here are a few pics for the latest. Enjoy.

Trying to regroup...

We would be lying if we said things are back to normal building our “dream home.” They are not. No question some of the wind has been taken from our sails when we go down to the house to work. We were so hoping to have my Mom there for her birthday in November and for Christmas in December…..it is not to be. We are trying to regroup... or whatever this is called.
We are trying to move on, but with heavy hearts and the belief that Mom would have wanted us to continue and Live our Life. We have some special plans for when we move in but will talk about them later. Currently we are trying to put it all together with a combination of contractor's work, and our work. We hired a “finish carpenter” to do work that we have no clue how to do such as finishing our stairwell and installing some tongue and groove boards that we stained and finished. We had planned to do this but when Chris made some suggestions on how to “do it right,” we decided to let him run with it…. Glad we did! He is fantastic, honest, and really helpful giving us tips and guidance for us to do our final tasks…. We laid the hallway tile, which was a whole lot of work! In progress photo here, will have finished look on next post. Enough rambling for now… Here are some of our latest pics of the progress. More to follow.

"Live Your Life!"

We had my Mom’s funeral on Saturday in Ohio. Pouring rain. Friends and family attended. It signaled the end of her wonderful life on earth. No one could ever ask more of a Mother. I was, and am, blessed. She gave her unconditional love in every respect, and had an incredible sense of humor. I don’t think there was person she met that she did not make laugh. She told me to “live your life!” I promise to do that, and in many ways I feel I already have. I will miss her every day.
The photo was taken by Debbie two days before my mom went in to the hospital. We rode to our house so she could see the progress. A beautiful early fall day. On the way, she had a box of chicken wings on her lap, and a cup of coke in her hand - eating and watching the scenery go by. She looked like a 15 year-old. I will never forget the ride or the day.