Monday, August 10, 2009

Long overdue update ...

Anybody still out there? :)

I realize this is long overdue - sorry for the break without warning. We have had a pretty busy summer and alas, it is time for school again. We started back today.

So, what have we been up to? Working on the house, of course.

We have taken a break here and there - we went to the beach a couple weekends ago and had a restful, relaxing time enjoying the ocean.


Isn't the water beautiful! We ended up with great weather, although it didn't look too promising on our drive over to the beach. We drove through some pretty heavy rain showers, but John wisely persevered and we enjoyed a beautiful day.

On the house side:
We have subbed out the major systems in the house - plumbing, hvac and electricity. The plumbers have finished the rough-in, the electricians have started and the hvac guys are supposed to be coming tomorrow morning.

We had a setback with our plumbing ... it's a long story, but we ended up without water for 2 days, had to replace the well pump and are still wondering if the pressure tank was damaged. I have to admit that it was pretty difficult to take such of a big step backwards.


Here's the crew who swapped out the well pump - that was a job!

We do have water again, for which we are thankful.

On the positive note - we have STAIRS!!! So very exciting. We are getting them installed piece by piece - so, right now, saying "one step at a time" is very accurate.


Here are four of the five sets of stringers ready to go.


John lining up the first stringer.


This is actually the second set of stairs installed - with the old set next to it. John is standing in the kitchen below. These are not the final treads - they are just 2x12's that we will use during construction. After construction is finished, we will replace these with nicer wood.


Look who else is happy to have stairs! She loves to be with us and now can be wherever we are in the house.


This is also very exciting - I know, it's just a washer ... but ... it is IN the house now! We are running an extension cord to it for power, but the water is running in the house.

There has been a lot more here and there, but those are the major things for now.