Goofy Parent Games

This is for all you adult children who wonder what your parents do after you leave home.

No More Dirt Piles

We've had these huge piles of dirt and wood chips on the property since excavation last spring. During the late summer and fall when it was really dry and the wind came up out poor neighbors to the south had to contend with our dirt blowing their way. We wanted to get the dirt piles spread out before it stops raining so that some grass will grow on it this spring, holding the dirt in place once again. Last Friday that took place and it's nice to look out and not see big, ugly piles of dirt.

Picture with dirt piles...

Picture during spreading them out...

Picture after, notice how smooth...

It's been a while! I'm sorry to those of you who are wondering what's going on at the bluff!

Cliff has been working on electrical. Not too exciting or spectacular, but we're so glad that it's progressing. Much of the house is wired up. We have all the recessed lighting installed and some of it is connected to switches. I never knew there were so many decisions to be made concerning electrical. Now is the time to choose the light fixtures, to place the recessed lighting, to decide where all the switches and receptacles should be installed. If that isn't enough, we're also putting in a sound system throughout the house and an alarm system. We can't thank Alex and Jason enough for all of their expertise and for giving up weekends to come and help with installation.

Cliff did have a bit of fun last weekend burning brush piles. It is legal there, you simply have to follow their rules such as: size of piles and only burning on "burn days" during the hours of 9 am to 3 pm. But really, what could be more fun for a man than spraying fuel on something and lighting it on fire? Our neighbor and his son had a few piles of their own, so they worked together.

We installed our first "finish" item last weekend as well. It's our shower pan for the master bath. It needs to be in before drywall goes on so here it is.

We take our cats with us if we plan to be there more than a couple of nights. Here's a picture of our newest addition, Iain Murray. He's such fun to have with us, he even fetches his toys (when he feels like it, he is a cat!). In this photo he's on top of the cabinet in the kitchen area of our 5th wheel trailer. He's a great jumper.

That's all for now! I'll endeavor to post more frequently!

Movie Night

We had our first movie night in the house over the weekend. We decided to bring our TV out of the trailer and into the house so we could enjoy a nice warm fire while watching. Our choice for our first movie...

Here's our set up: warm fire, comfy chairs, and itty bitty TV (better than nothing!)

Cliff did some work over the weekend too! He was getting ready to start the electrical installation by putting up electrical panels. First came insulation in the wall, then plywood and drywall and then installing the panels.

That's all for now!

Warm Toes

Working on warm toes! I went up with one of my friends (Randy) and we installed most of the pex tubing. I ran out and need another 300'. I also took a few shots of the paint at the east elevation. Next up will be the electrical rough in.

We're Dried In

The long awaited day finally came, you know, that day when you pay your carpenters for the last time and they drive off site. They're great guys, nothing against them personally, but what a good feeling it is when they leave for the last time!

The exterior of the house is finished except to get paint on it, which will be done next spring. The weather up there is too unpredictable throughout the winter to try to paint. The deck structure is finished as well. We have plywood nailed down on parts now just so we can get out on it and enjoy it.

We had the garage doors installed the day before Thanksgiving. It actually looks like a home when you drive up to it now.

We also installed our wood burning stove, a Lopi Endeavor, so we could warm the place up a bit while we work inside this winter. It will be much more effective after we get insulation in the walls, but if you sit close it keeps you warm.

Cliff and I had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving up there. Our dinner was very nice and we had artwork from Jake and Warren to remind us of family. There was a Thanksgiving day disaster though. As I was taking the absolutely gorgeous, totally homemade pumpkin pie out of the extremely cheap trailer oven the rack came loose and my pie fell from the rack and landed on the open oven door spilling half of the delicious filling onto the floor and beyond. At the time I didn't think it was humorous so I didn't take a picture of the mess, but I did get one of what remained of the pie. It sort of looked like dog food, but it tasted just fine.

What's next? Christmas....so there won't be much to report on this month. In January we'll continue the installation of the pex tubing for the radiant heat and get the electrical work done. Maybe even get the insulation in...who knows.

The Grandkids

I can't resist posting a few pictures of our adorable, wonderful grandkids. It's still surprising (when I pause to think about it) that only 4 years ago this month we were waiting for the birth of the first and now there are five of them. They are surely a blessing from the Lord.

Here are Warren, Aubrey and Jake posing on a quilt that my quilting friends made for me way back (!) when Jake was expected.

We take pictures of the babies with Billy our 100+ lb. doberman (mostly to frighten thier other grandma's). Aubrey was happy to make his acquaintance. (For you non-dog people Billy is very gentle with the kids).

This is Johnny in his spiderman jammies and Burger King crown. Jess and Isaac found him asleep in bed with his crown on the night this was taken.

And here's little Jeanine in her car seat smiling adoringly at Miss Bessie Cow. She (the cow) is the best thing since sliced bread according to Jeanine. (Not counting her mom and dad, they're pretty great too).

Thanks for indulging me and taking a look at the kids!