Happy or Sad?

I recently got the question if I'm getting happy or sad that it is almost over.

The answer is happy. I can see how beautiful, comfortable and welcoming our new home is going to be and I'm getting excited to live there. It will feel VERY rewarding living there after having had the vision, work and investment (time and money) put into it. The saying blood, sweat and tears is definitely applicable.

The answer is sad. Because there will be a void when it's all over. From the time spent making calls, checking in on progress, working at the property, paying bills, updating budgets, negotiating the best deals and yes, of course, blogging about it all. I will also be sad to leave our current house. Where we made a house our home. Where we started our family. Where we were close to parks, bike trails, schools and friendly neighbors. Living at The Triple V will probably seem a bit lonely, and maybe even inconvenient, until we settle into our new norm.

My green thumbs

If you know me, you know that a love of flower gardening is in my blood. My mom and Aunt D are wonderful gardeners, who picked it up from their mom. Even my brother is a pretty great flower gardener! I've spent the last 10 years gathering the best cuts from their, as well as my back neighbor's (can you say Garden Walk?) yards. Not to mention the $$$ I've invested in picking up various plants from garden shops and nurseries.

There are lots of great things about gardening; seeing what works-in what soil & what light, blending the colors, the exercise, being outdoors and lovingly watch your garden grow each year.

So, all of that being said you knew I wasn't just going to leave my garden and start over. BUT (and it's a big one) the new house is NOT ready for landscaping. AND (and it's a big one) our current house needs to be ready soon to go on the market. So, what to do?  Find a place to build a flower patch and transplant all my favorites. And pray to the gardening gods that they make it.

Step 1: Weed wack, then roto-till

Better than an ox & plow, but still a real PIA

Step 2: Dig up the best cuts and load up the truck

Load 1 of 2

 Step 3 & 4: Plant & plant some more!

Half way there

The tools

Step 5: Show off (my green thumbs)

Diagram so I don't forget what was put where

A very special thank you to my hubby and my mommy for all their help!

How do people live like this?

So, I've been steadily working my way through the list of things that need to be done to get our current house ready to go on the market. As I de-clutter and find new places for all that stuff that's on the countertops, dressertops, nightstands, tables, I wonder to myself how people live like this. You know, with everything tucked away. And then I find myself wondering how we ever didn't live this way....I LOVE IT! I don't think keeping it this way will be the challenge. I think the challenge will be in the cleanliness. Because now that you can see the countertops and dressertops, you can see the grime and dust more easily.

Also, I've come up with a quick "to-do" list for showings...
Take laundry hampers with in car
Take dog bed, gate and water/food dish with in car (and dog, LOL)
Put shampoo bottles, razors, etc out of shower, put under sink
Take dish strainer and coffee maker
Wipe down counter tops
Quick Vacuum
Take out garbage
Turn on all lights and ceiling fans

So, to wrap up this post I will just put this one last thing out there....please contact us if you know anyone who's looking for a:
Lovingly cared for split level located on a quiet cul-de-sac within perfect proximity to schools, parks, river, and bike trail! 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, fenced yard with large shed
(obviously I'll leave the real listing to the professional).

Say goodbye to "The Beast"

If I never see you again, it will be too soon

"Neighbors"

This past week we got our garage doors for the Outbuilding.
Once again I have to say, they look so pretty.

We also got some insulation done in the house. This was much to my surprise. I didn't think any of that could start until the rough framing inspection had passed, but my contractor assured me that putting the foam on the truss heels would not be in violation.

Lastly, and most importantly, our electrician has started. We've asked him to do the outbuilding first, since that should take a mere couple of days. Once he is done we can schedule the inspections and assuming all goes well (and I can sweet talk the inspector) I'm hoping to go straight to Certificate of Occupancy. The siding might be in progress and the final site grading won't be done, but really the OB should be ready to start receiving some storage, so we can get our current home cleared out a bit and much more presentable for potential buyers.

Here's what you've been waiting for, the title of this post. What does it mean? Well, it means that the deer aren't our only "neighbors".....

The real visionary of our team is....

Remember not so long ago when I said Alex wanted black knobs, which I vetoed b/c the hinges were silver. Well, here's the order I placed tonight...b/c hinges can be changed out and hubby wanted black knobs.

Product Description		Unit Price	Qty	Total
	Schlage F59-PLY Plymouth Single Cylinder Interior Pack from the F-Series Finish: Matte Black	$40.09	1	$40.09
	Leaves the Warehouse in 1 to 2 business days
	Schlage F58-CEN Century Single Cylinder Exterior Entrance Handleset from the F-Series Finish: Matte Black Options: Free Keying Option: Keyed Alike	$86.50	1	$86.50
	Leaves the Warehouse in 1 to 2 business days
	Schlage F51-PLY Plymouth Keyed Entry F51A Panic Proof Door Knob Finish: Matte Black Options: Free Keying Option: Keyed Alike	$31.27	5	$156.35
	Leaves the Warehouse in 1 to 2 business days
	Schlage B60 Single Cylinder Grade 1 Deadbolt from the B-Series Finish: Matte Black Options: Free Keying Option: Keyed Alike	$34.98	4

Wells are deep and have water-Part 1

I was so happy on Friday, Sept 4th when our well contractor showed up. They went about 50' down that day. The following Monday they got another 75' or so. Tuesday was a bit of a wash out. Wednesday they were down to 223' in clay, so they placed the casing. Thursday was another 40'. Monday (9/14) they were back and at lunchtime I was informed they were approaching 280' and were not finding any water in the limestone.  Now they were headed towards the shale.

There were going to be a few options:

1) Keep going

2) Acidize the well and hope that opens up some veins for water to come thru

3) Start over 

When Alex stopped by after work, I was happy to hear they found water at 304'. It was coming in at 8-10 GPM and so we all agreed that the acid was not going to be needed.

The next crew is scheduled to come out on 9/28 to set the pump, trench the line and connect to the tank they set in our basement.

Never thought I'd say Pretty Garage Doors.

Rough Plumbing not done, should be by end of week...
Rough HVAC not done, they appear to be done with the basement and first floor (supply & returns). They are ready to start on the 2nd floor. I'll say it again, should be by end of week...
A couple rough framing items remain (such as putting up the rest of the chimney chase & framing the hearth).  The fireplace installer is waiting on my "green-light", which I am hoping to give him on Tuesday.  The carpenter also needs to set the ledger board for the deck-to be built next spring. It's gonna be a big one!

Sadly the exterior Doors were not delivered this past week, ETA is now Monday afternoon. Then the carpenter can put them all in. When front door arrives I'll be staining before it goes in. We are also currently selecting door hardware so we can get the placed locked up. Alex really wanted black knobs but I couldn't get past doing black knobs when the hinges are all going to be silver.

Finally caught up with the electrician at 6:30am on Friday. Not sure I've mentioned this before but he does NOT carry a cell phone. Which I like that he will not be distracted while on OUR job, but it does make for quite a bit of phone tag.  Anyhow I wanted to see when he could start and he's on another job for 1 more week, so his ETA is TBD. Bummer, but again when it starts, hoping he flies.

So we're pushing to wrap it all up so we can get the rough-ins inspections. The insulator was out to take a look and he's ready to go when we are. Hoping that time comes sooner than Oct 1 b/c the insulator will likely need at least a week and the dry-waller will need about 3.  Then paint, then flooring, then cabinetry, then finishing (fixtures, appliances, interior doors & trim). My original hope was to finish by Halloween, then for a couple weeks I had my heart set on Thanksgiving. My new goal is to be in the week before Christmas.

Oh one more thing, the sider has ordered his materials and will start as soon. He's the same guy who did our roof and I know he'll do a fabulous job on the siding, trim and gutters.
Another few weeks and this place will looked "finished", well at least on the outside!

In the meantime, there has been visible progress. We got House Garage doors installed Friday! Never thought I'd say this, but they are so pretty!

And the Outbuilding floor was poured on Saturday. This was awesome b/c we'd like to get the doors on and get it locked/alarmed so that we can move all of the motorcycles, bikes, wheelers, lawn equipment, etc out of our current garage, as we expect we'll be putting the house on the market beginning to mid Oct. That is a separate project in itself.....

Rub a Dub

My poor plumber!
He's almost done with the rough ins though. He was waiting on us for a few things but he should finish up this week.

Tile selections for master bathroom

Boys bath is in.

Stairs are IN

Pine box stairs by Amron Stair Works. 1st to 2nd floor will get carpet. There will be a door at the top of the 1st floor to basement. No picture but there's also stairs in the garage to the basement.

So, you know what that means, right?! Yep, HVAC has started going in as well. Progress slow thus far, but should wrap up by end of week. Pix to follow.

Also, in other/electrical news, Jim came out to do all the exterior so it will be ready to go for the siding. We finalized our exterior doors order so those deliveries should happen this week as well. Garage doors are scheduled for Friday. Outbuilding garage doors are on hold until we get concrete done. Alex and Tom finished up the radiant floor tubing etc on Saturday so we are ready for the pour now.