This Just In!

A week or so ago Joe, from Rizio and Calandra Plumbing/Excavating, told me that when he and his crew began digging for our septic system installation they uncovered an old well just off the east side of the house where our new piping was going in.  I remember talking with both Terry and Lyn Wardwell back in the summer about where the wells and septic tanks may have been located back when they lived in the house.  Well we found one!  Joe just sent a bunch of cool pictures from their 4 or so days on the job.  This next one is of the leach field piping

Since Oliver left late last week for Florida, Steve is working solo again.  Each day he adds to the structural integrity of the back of the house by placing LVL's in the ceiling of the Rustic Room to support the Yoga Room above.  That is a long expanse! I appreciate that he explains his progress to me each step of the way so that I understand the "guts" of the house.  Once we start sheet rocking and making the rooms all pretty again, at least I will know how solid and sturdy things are underneath.

view of new beams from kitchen into Rustic Room

looking down over new support beam into kitchen

new floor joists in Rustic Room

I met with Mark, our electrician, over the weekend to lay out the plans for lighting these back rooms.  He will be getting started with the wiring and installation soon!

Feeling so Blessed on this Thanksgiving Day

The turkey is in the oven.  Family will soon be arriving.  I am happy and excited to share this day with everyone whether they are here in our home or far away enjoying their own holiday.  Cheers all!!

So, winter came fast and furious this year.  Last Friday it was 70 and sunny when my friend Maria came to see the house.  We snapped this selfie from the upstairs yoga room to the open outdoors.  A mere 24 hours later the temperature had dropped 40 degrees, and a short while after that it snowed.  Steve and Oliver were able to get the second story sliding glass door in and the whole back of the house buttoned up just in time.  Now they are working on the support beams in that back part of the house.  I am having to make decisions on where electrical outlets and plugs etc. will go in the rustic room as the electrician is coming next week to set us up for the winter work space.

Almost Done with the Enclosure of the House

Even though the autumn weather has been extremely favorable for our house project, daylight savings and some very cold days foreshadow the long winter ahead.  Steve and Oliver have been working hard to get everything all buttoned up so once the snow flies we can be concentrating on the interior modifications.  This week they got what we fondly refer to as the window-door-window ensemble installed on the east side of the house in the Rustic Room.  We had to shift this whole set quite a few inches into the space to allow for the interior swing of the door.  Spike has been working right alongside the guys and has created an artistic stone wall foundation and is now building the new side steps.

Early last week the digger returned with its owners and our septic tank was put into place just off the back east corner of the main house.  That same day Lenny and his guy, Carl,  showed up to continue work on the west side chimney.  I had to park across the street and up the hill again just to pay a visit!

Meanwhile Steve has installed 2 huge support beams in the ceiling of the Rustic Room.  He also removed the back wall of the house in the Yoga Room in preparation of a structural rebuild and the installation of the sliding glass door.  Joel and I saw this new development late in the day on Thursday as darkness was falling.  I couldn't get a proper photo so I asked my dad to return on Friday to get some shots.  Not only did he take that pic, but he also captured Steve and Oliver using their brute strength to place the gorgeous large paneled window in the lakeside wall.

No Lines!

My friend Margo came in from Syracuse on Saturday for lunch and a visit to the house.  She was one of the first people that got the grand tour when we first purchased back in May.  Margo has some knowledge of energy fields, spirits, beings, and the like and she was intrigued by my experience with the red and purple lines.  I showed her all through the rooms, downstairs and up, and we eventually found ourselves in the master bedroom.  Joel was working next door in the Yoga room so we asked him to take our picture in the same spot as the lines sighting.  Nothing like that happening in this shot so we are a thumbs up!

So much work got done over the weekend thanks to Joel.  He spent most of Friday afternoon, all of Saturday, and 7 hours on Sunday taking out windows and a door, removing an upstairs bump-out closet, painting trim work, and rearranging and consolidating building materials as well as debris to go to the dump.  Just so you know, I joined him for the Sunday trim painting!  We systematically covered the tops and sides of at least 30 boards in the cream trim color so that when Steve is ready to put them up he will be good to go.  I tend to work better when there is the promise of good food and drink at the end of the project, so as lunchtime approached I zipped home and prepared a shrimp gumbo and warm cider with bourbon.  The afternoon just flew by:)

Oh, and I almost forgot...when Joel was removing a piece of ceiling sheet rock in the rustic room he disturbed this guy.  Seems like he has been making our home his home unbeknownst to us.  We can add him to the list of resident critters (remember the flying squirrels and the snake??)

In case you are having difficulty identifying the long eared creature it is a bat!

As we packed up and got ready to head home yesterday, we paused to take in the beauty of Lake Delta in the fall.  Quite nice, wouldn't you agree?

Boys and Toys

For some reason, it seems like guys have a fascination with all things mechanical, machinery in particular.  Starting at 7 am on Monday of this week we had our share of big trucks up at the house.  I've got to say, even I love to watch them do their work as proven by the fact that I set the alarm to be sure I did not miss the rustic room concrete pour.  I ended up following the cement mixer up the road and took several pictures of it dumping 6 yards through the window of our back room.  Steve and a new helper, James, quickly screed the concrete while Oliver signaled the driver when to stop and start the pour.  This was only half of the load.   Later in the day, at 3 pm, the mixer returned and poured approximately another 6 yards.  The leftover was poured in the dug-out area near the front door to fill it in a little before we lay down some crush and run gravel and then finally create a stamped concrete sidewalk and patio.  My parents and Joel were both in attendance for the second pour!  Note the digger in the foreground as the cement mixer sets up.  That was dropped off in anticipation of the septic tank installation which I have been told is on hold for the moment.  Apparently the town of Westernville let the water guy go, and our application is sitting on a desk somewhere until the position is filled again...

Meanwhile Spike has been working on our west side stoop steps (say that three times fast!) and they look gorgeous.  Steve also asked Spike to rebuild the stone foundation on the west wall of the rustic room once the wall was taken down.  Again, very nice!

So I just returned from my daily house check-in, and I have to report that yet another truck visited the property.  Joel has been working on filling in the gully on the west side of the house with discarded supports, bricks, stone, and small tress that he has been chain sawing (another machine!) down.  To cover it all up and create a usable green space, Steve arranged for 18 yards of dirt fill to be dumped on top. Joel has his work cut out for him now!

I was so happy to see that Steve and Oliver were able to install the floor joists in the rustic room today and also lay down a sub floor.  This room is really coming together!