June Construction Update - A Few Pictures

I took a few photos today to illustrate how things are coming along.

Here is the countertop with the copper sink.

Now you may ask yourself, "Why does John get a copper sink? Isn't that a little extravagant?" The answer is, "Yes, you are correct. It is quite an indulgence." I justified it because we saved so much money on the lights. We went to the Greer Habitat for Humanity Restore and found several lights that probably saved us over $100. Also the other lights (mostly the infamous boob lights) were not expensive at all - probably saving another $100. I figure the sinks we were looking at were going to cost about $200 so when John fell in love with the copper sink for $399, he had already made up for it in inexpensive choices in the lights. It does look good, doesn't it? And as John would say - it's naturally antibacterial as well. 

This is a view of the kitchen pantry cabinet to your left and the countertops. I still would like a more neutral color on the wall, but it's not my house. 

Next photo shows the bathroom floor tiles. We wanted them installed in a running bond or staggered fashion, like you would install a wood floor. Carlton already had installed about half of the downstairs tiles when we saw them. We just let him continue. I think it looks very good even if it is not how we envisioned it.

Carlton has finished the tiling around the tub upstairs. 

We've got 2 coats of the Waterlox finish on the upstairs floors. I think we need probably 2 more coats to protect the floors the way I want it. We stained it with Minwax Golden Oak before the Waterlox was applied.

I hope these photos help you understand that the house is truly coming together and John will be inhabiting it soon.

Thank you for reading today. 

June Construction Update - Happy Days!

I don't have any pictures for today, but I am happy to report on significant, tangible progress on the house.

We currently have:
Bathroom floors tiled and grouted - upstairs and down
Upstairs tub/shower area tiled, not grouted yet
Countertops in the kitchen - beautiful granite countertops with the copper sink installed (more on the copper sink later)
Power
Air conditioning
Most lights are installed and working
Upstairs floor with stained with 2 coats of Waterlox finish (need 2 more)

Progress. Real progress. We are beginning to see the finish line. Still much to do, but we are very excited. John called 3 times from work today to check on the house. He is very anxious to be done with this. Me too, as I have more challenges ahead.

Montana Vacation - 6 days in Montana with Friends

I had a brief vacation in Montana where I went to visit my friends, Lynn and Mike. I say brief because only 6 days in Montana feels like much too short a vacation. I had a great time. We hiked some, did some touristy things, visited their family and ate very well. Lynn is a great vegetarian cook.

Here are a few photos from the visit:

Quilt kit I bought at the beautiful Deer Country Quilt Shop in Seely Lake, MT. This is the sample quilt that they made. I have not made mine yet. Lynn showed me how to piece quilts so that the corners line up perfectly. I am excited about applying my newly learned skill to this quilt.

 View on the way to hike at Holland Lake

Holland Falls, MT. There was a lot of snow in Montana this year so the falls were spectacular.

The view from the falls across the lake

Lynn and Mike and the 3 hiking dogs - Lily, Sarah, and Bailey. Luc is not shown, he's 14 years old and only does little hikes around their house.

We passed the Continental US Cold Spot on the way to the Dinosaur museum in Bynum, MT.

We also passed "Egg Mountain" where 2 paleontologists realized that dinosaurs actually do care for their young based on the presence of eggs and baby dinosaur bones.

I took a few pictures of Lynn's quilts. She is a true artist as a quilter. Most of my photos are not that great so I'm only including a couple of quilts.

This is a Twister quilt. I'm making a small table topper out of this pattern with Christmas fabric.

This is one of my favorite quilts that Lynn has made. The quilt block it is based on is called Delectable Mountains. I think the color choices are so beautiful. The border is shown below.

That's just a brief overview of some of the fun stuff I did in Montana. An excellent vacation from crawlspace insulation and duct sealing. More on that later.