Way Overdue

Just a quick post to show some progress!!! Neil is mainly working on the inside right now. He will have to post later with what he is doing in there!! We'll get it done some day. :)

Just For Dan

Wow! It has been a long time since we last updated. I wish we could say that our house was done - but it is not. This is what the outside looked like back in August.






And then Neil's parents came to help!!



And now our house looks like this ... almost. We do have our doors in. I guess I need to take a current picture and get it posted in 6 months - - I mean soon.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

Yesterday was our first really warm day in Alabama this year. Up until now, it has been pretty mild, which makes for good building weather. We were able to find a fun activity for the kids, which they love. It will probably get used a lot this summer.



Here is a good view of the kids climbing and sliding. The picture above looks like an advertisement.



Matthew is showing his dunking skills.

Let it rain!!!

We claimed that we had a roof before, but now we really have a roof. I'm waiting for a big rain to come, but of course it has been dry and will probably be dry for the rest of the summer.



I had a crew come in and put up the rest of the sheeting. It is too difficult for one person to sheet a house, especially when there are gables that extend 30'+ in the air.



I also got a roofing crew to come in and install the flashing and shingles. I figure that I saved the state a couple of tornadoes by having it done quickly with a roofing crew instead of doing it myself and taking 3 weeks. Getting a real roof on makes me feel a lot more relaxed.



Here is a view from the other side. Yes, we really are adding on to an existing structure. We spent yesterday window shopping (shopping for windows, not looking in a window for a Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle BB gun with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time). It's interesting that you can drive1/4 mile and buy the same windows for $2000 less than another store.

Anyway, now it is time to finish off the inside framing. Once I get doors and windows in, I can cut into the existing house and do rework framing. Tomorrow, I think I will try to build a staircase. Google Sketchup is my friend.

Enjoying the Wildlife

Early this morning, Neil found this floating in the pond.

It is a goose egg. I put a quarter next to it so you could see how large it is. We have 2 geese that make their nest on the island of our pond every year. We are thinking that they rolled the egg out because it is not viable. We went for a canoe ride after I dropped the boys off for school to get a closer look at the nest. We know there is still 1 more egg, but the geese are nowhere to be found. It makes me sad to think they may have abandoned their nest. Later on in the day, I let Mika out for some fresh air. She was barking like crazy, so I went out to investigate. This is what I found.

I guess a turtle decided to take a walk. It poked it's head back in a bit. Does anyone know what kind of turtle it is?

We Have a Roof!

So here is where we are at right now. We finally have a roof! That means we don't have to get up in the middle of the night when we have rainstorms to suck up all the rain that would pour into the garage. Yay!

Neil also started to build the dormers. Soon we will put shingles on. (I think Neil plans to contract that job out).




Here is another view.

Way Overdue!

So we have been delinquent...just a bit. Sorry.

Here is a picture of what our house looked like last Sunday. Neil is up on the roof working some more right now, so we will have to post another picture soon.



And just in case you don't already know - we have a new addition to our family. She is 15 pounds of trouble. Meet Mika.



She is hard to photograph because she is always moving. Mika is a 3 month old lab mix puppy. We took her for a canoe ride and swim last week.





Check back soon for an updated picture of our house. We promise to have it up this week.