Driveway Paving and More

Well, here it is, our update for December. We got quite a lot done in the first two weeks. And since what was accomplished were finishes it was very satisfying.

The first thing is the driveway paving. Up to that point we had a dirt and gravel driveway so we were always tracking dirt, pebbles or mud into the trailer and the house. It's great to have the asphalt paving done. No more tracking in messes from the driveway.

Cliff started laying the travertine tiles downstairs in the master bedroom, bathroom and closet. They look great but it's been quite a challenge because of the pattern we chose. It was really confusing transferring what was on our diagram on paper to putting the tiles on the floor. That made the job take longer than if we had chosen square tiles. As of now all the whole tiles are down and Cliff is in the process of cutting the rest. Note: the difference in color in the next two photos is due to the lighting-the tile is all the same.

This is our diagram for laying the tiles down. It started out as just the single pattern in the middle but after our brains started to hurt I decided to trace it six times and tape those around the middle. It made the process much easier!

Here are Pete and Iain Murray relaxing in the house. They are on a cot that has a cozy down comforter on top of it. As comfy as a couch or bed at home but with a much better view (not that the cats care).

That's all for now folks.

Catching Up

Finally, an update from the coast! It's been 3 months since the last post so for this one I'll show you what happened in Nov. and hopefully do a Dec. update in a day or two. So here goes...

We had our granite installed in our shower. That was quite a job and required 4 men to lift and put into place the largest slab. Boris (our "granite guy extrordinaire") said that it weighed about 500 lbs. The other 2 slabs were half the size, so you do the math. We're really pleased with how it turned out but how can you go wrong with green granite!

Cliff installed brick shaped travertine tiles above the granite to the ceiling and also on the stem walls (foundation) that are in the bathroom. The stem walls are concrete and not too pretty so we had to cover them with something. They look gorgeous covered with these tiles!

We put the bathtub in place but haven't done any finishes in this bathroom because we're focusing on the master bathroom first.

These lights are outside of our master bedroom which looks out to the ocean. Very nautical and we love the look.

And last but certainly not least here is the newest addition to our family, Daniel Ryan Trzeciak. He was born on Oct. 27, 2009. This picture was taken at Christmas when we were up in Wa. visiting our kids and grandkids. Daniel is a really good baby, very laid back. He gave us all a scare when he had to have hernia surgery at 3 weeks old, but he came through it fine.
I hope to post again in a day or two with the Dec. goings on so check back soon!

Painting & The Submarine

You might be wondering what we mean by "the submarine". Actually the submarine is our nickname for our propane tank and believe me, it deserves the nickname! We decided on the big one because there are frequent power outages due to storm damage on the coast. We've heard stories from friends who live there of the power being out for several days at a time. Our submarine will provide us with enough propane to run our generator for a long time when need be. We're considering painting some portholes on the sides with little men looking out...what do you think?

The exterior of the house is almost completely painted. My brother Doug came up and painted the north side of the house. Cliff couldn't paint it himself because reaching to the top required an extension ladder. Thanks to Doug for driving all that way and sleeping on a cot! This paint job has been lots of work taking so many hours that we've not been able to count them. The only thing left to paint is the window and door trim on the south side.

We have installed 3 doors in the master bedroom and bathroom and the medicine cabinets in the master bathroom. The door of one of medicine cabinets is not on yet because one of the hinges was broken when we opened the box. A new hinge is on the way.

That's all for now!

There Be Color on the Walls!

As the title says, we have done some painting, this time the fun part (not just white primer). I should say, "Cliff has done some painting", because he's the one who has done all the painting. I play the roles of: 1.Choosing the colors (so if you don't like them you can blame me) and 2. Providing food and drink at the proper times throughout the day.

The master bedroom color is blue and is called Sea Dreams.

The master bathroom is green and is called Beach Bum. I really didn't set out to choose colors with names pertaining to the ocean, it just happened that way!

This trip wasn't all work for Cliff though. He took some time in the mornings and evenings to go hunting and was successful one morning at 6:22. We know the exact time because one of our neighbor's looked at his clock when he heard the rifle shot.

For those of you who don't care to see a dead deer close your eyes. I don't like to see the dead animal either, but I certainly like how the poor critter tastes cooked up for my dinner!

One of the reasons we love the coast is the constantly changing color and condition of the ocean. During our last trip we had one of the most beautiful days we've ever seen up there. It was very odd weather, really warm which is unusual and overcast which is not so unusual! Here is one of the pictures I took that day. Cliff teases me about taking so many pictures, but see for yourself why I'm obsessed!

Our next trip up will be spent painting the outside of the house. Cliff really wants that done before the rain starts. Our propane tank is also going to be installed while we're there. Stay tuned!

The Drywall and Texture are Finished

There's not much to report except that the drywall is hung, the texture is drying and we took up half of the travertine for the downstairs area. We only took half of it because it's so heavy that our truck can't carry more than one pallet at a time. Here are a few of the latest pictures.

Billy inspecting the texture...


Travertine laid out in front of the french doors in the master bedroom...
More proof that Iain Murray the cat is the boss...

Now the painting begins. We have a lot of primer to put on before we get to the fun part - colors!

Drywall

Drywall day finally arrived. It seems like years since we got this project started. Well, it is one year and two months as of July 19.

Here are a couple of pictures of the day the drywall arrived... first our driver and next our installers.

And now on to the work in progress..

the stairwell

the great room

one of the skylights

taping in progress

Next up, paint. I've been thinking about the colors for 14 months but now it's time to choose. The majority of the house will be green but we're putting in some blue and possibly a little bit of orange. The colors will reflect what you see when you look out the windows...ocean, the bluff and California poppies in bloom.

See ya next time (and I'll be covered in paint-my dad would have laughed at how sloppy I am at painting).

Fuzzy Walls and Dump Runs

We now have insulation, aka fuzzy walls (and floors and ceilings). Next week is drywall and texture. We can hardly wait. The days leading up to the insulation coming were busy for Cliff with finishing up all the little details that are easy to put off. But he got everything done on time. The difference is amazing. We had become accustomed to sound traveling throughout the house. The insulation deadens sound, so when we walked into the house for the first time it sounded so different. We kept having to ask, "What?" when we were in different rooms trying to talk to each other.

One of the details that needed to be finished was making sure the projector screen worked properly and it does. We can hardly wait for out first movie night!

One of the unpleasant details that comes along with construction is all the trash that it generates. We went on dump run #78 (a little hyperbole there).

Of course, I hestitate to complain about dump runs when this is our view on our way home.

Stay tuned in for pictures of drywall....