FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR

I LOVE fall. I love the colors and the crisp air. You can smell ditches being burned and I can see the Tetons almost the entire way home. While we were driving home tonight, we could see the mountains where we live. The sky was clear blue all around except those mountains and they were covered in tall, puffy clouds that looked like they were pouring white dust all over the canyons. The white dust filled all the cracks and crevices and covered the trees and fields. It just looks like Thanksgiving is around the corner. The fields went from green to golden and then chocolate brown after harvest. I love decorating for fall and baking pies and cakes and other warm dishes. I can't wait to make some hot cider and sit by a warm stove.

We used to have a lovely ribbon fireplace in our house in Colorado. All I had to do was flip a switch and the flame rippled to life and there was instant heat. Well, there's no such switch in our new house. We put in a wood burning stove and that means we had to haul wood. 

Last week was the last of nice weather. James grabbed a chain saw (eek), I grabbed snacks and candy bars and we headed up to the woods. It was a beautiful day.

By the third day of wood gathering, our arms and legs were pretty strong. The boys amazed me. I don't think I'll be winning the arm wrestles anymore. There were some complaints for sure. We had two smashed fingers and a smashed toe. My legs were covered in bruises afterward! I haven't had bruised legs since I was kid. I actually haven't worn high heels other than church, in months! My wardrobe, sadly, is changing. I find myself grabbing my boots more and more often. I am even going to DI to get thrift store shirts that can be ruined...lots of them. :(

It was three solid days of cutting and hauling and another of splitting and stacking. We have about three and-a-half to four cords of wood now. (I think a cord is 4X4X8) I think we'll need more to get us through the winter. We'll have to wait for another nice day.

A delivery truck came with our appliances!! Yay! And yes, I finally committed. More on that later...

They did finish mudding this week and they are texturing tomorrow! Texturing brought me a little stress. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought..."Uh oh, did I tell them not to do orange peel?" This may seem silly, and bless their hearts, the men that work on our house are amazing and wonderful, but they do forget things a...lot....and I am constantly reminding them at the last minute! I'm so glad I live right down the street right now. 

So, texture...I do NOT like orange peel. I don't hate it...it's not classic (I promise.) But I'm so tired of it.  Long story short, orange peel allows hangers to be sloppy with the sheet rock and mudders to be sloppy with their sanding. Its a cheap way to cover up a bad technique or a quick job. It's cheaper, gets sprayed on, and looks kind of like an orange peel, but uglier I think. They usually do this method on tract homes and it's very common in the midwest and west. I have had it every house I've lived i. It's harder to patch because it's hard to match the texture even with the spray stuff you can buy. I've heard rumors that flat, smooth walls are still standard in much of the east coast. I'm jealous! 

Smooth walls means that the sheet rockers and mudders have to be very precise. It's a higher end look and looks delicious and luxurious with a good paint job. 

Well, I had originally asked for smooth walls and was told that would be fine...but they forgot. They sheet rocked wrong for that job and the walls will have to have texture. I was having a decorating nightmare when I found out, but I did some research and asked them if they could do a less intrusive look like, "Old World." 

Old World is a little less choppy than Santa Fe. Santa Fe is kind of like the stucco look, but if you ask different people, they'll say different things. Stucco can be lots of different textures actually, and Santa Fe has lots of variations of texture too. Basically, Old World, is the least textured look after smooth. I'll show you pictures when they are done. I'm supposed to be there at 9am sharp to make sure I like it. They're learning! 😘

We have puppies in the canyon! This is a something doodle...I think it's a...no I can't remember, but I know the daddy is a reddish colored poodle. They are so darling. My SIL breeds them if anyone is ever interested. Good dogs! Too small for me, but I sure love snuggling these little guys. The mommy had these puppies just last week and I saw them the very day they were born. I went down to look at them and we were counting, and two were missing! We searched all over and finally found the little tiny, bony runt puppy stuck down under the blanket next to the cold floor. The other one was on the other side of Silver, the mommy. She's a good mommy now and so sweet with her puppies, but this is her first time and she had a hard time keeping track of six at first. I don't blame her a bit. Once we got that tiny runt over to her, she took good care of him and he's growing. We were worried he wouldn't make it, so Rylee did get him on some formula for a few days.

My first fall treat. I have made a few pies, but they don't count because it was still warm outside. We had a fall festival this week though and I made a carrot cake, a recipe from a good friend. I really enjoyed decorating it. When I took it to the festival, I set it on the table, feeling pretty proud of it, but I had forgotten that all desserts were supposed to be bite sized...oops! It got chopped into pieces within a minute of setting it down. It was so ugly and unappetizing after that. My kids were so worried they wouldn't get any...they got more than half of it at home later. They licked the platter clean. That means a lot to me. My kids are picky and brutal! 

Happy Fall!

Home-Stretch?

I feel like we're in the home-stretch, but I don't really know for sure how much longer it will take. We have sheetrock in the top floor and the rest goes in on Monday and Tuesday. I have no idea how long mudding will take. I know that each sub job usually takes between 1 week to 2 weeks longer than planned. One of our issues is that no one wants to drive this far to work on the house.

Problems we've run into with subs:

Sadly, it happened with our favorite sub, the electricians! (PS. I think this was mostly my fault and I'm kicking myself!) They did such a great job and were so fast and efficient, but in the end, we were a little frustrated. So here's what happened...

I had a very detailed design for lighting...I knew exactly what I needed in each room for decorative and utilitarian purposes. I made an intricate lighting design and even included outlets and switches and where I wanted them wired.

When we met to decide, they seemed to already know where everything should go?? I didn't mind at the time because I thought, "They're the pros. I'll let them take the lead." But, it turns out that half of what they wanted to do with the house, wasn't even in the bid!

We were not told how much these would cost and when the bill came, it was several THOUSAND dollars more. This is actually a trend it seems with new home construction around here. Maybe it was my fault and I was supposed to be following every single can light and dollar around. I also remember in Colorado, they were required to tell us exactly what we were doing that was above and beyond the bids.  (That was an FHA loan! DIFFERENT ANIMAL) This same issue has happened with the well, the doors and windows (BMC), and finally, with the electric company.

I was really upset for a few days. Fortunately, James is level-headed and good at letting things go and calming me down. Really, it doesn't help anyone to be upset. I will, however, make sure that when my parents build their house, they know exactly what to expect! At least I can use what I learned the hard way, to help someone else from making the same mistake.

(Ignore my terrible photography. I was tired and didn't have time to edit any photos)

Audra celebrated her birthday this week. It was a REALLY nice week. It wasn't that it was less messy or less to do, but we were all alone in the canyon for a whole week! I haven't been alone in almost 6 months!!! I did all of my laundry upstairs and watched the British Baking show, we got up early and did homeschooling and we baked and cooked and had so much fun. I forgot how it feels to do whatever the heck I want! Don't ever take for granted having your own space. No matter how wonderful the people you live with are, it's still good to have your own family space! We needed that week so much! Plus, I did something I love more than any other hobby...I organized! 

We ALMOST didn't have a wood burning stove in our house. (See the black pipe!? I'm so HAPPY) That was another issue we dealt with. We were very clear that there had to be a wood stove somewhere in the main floor. It didn't happen. I think my contractor realized that they better find a way before I blew a lid! Fortunately, at the last minute, before the insulators and sheet rockers came, our contractor came up and found a way to run the pipe up through Audra's bathroom and on out the roof.  This was a tender mercy, one of many. Power outages and blizzards on top of a canyon, miles from the neighbors and no way to get to them...it's a real thing! With a wood stove, we will have plenty of warmth and a way to cook.

DO YOU SEE CAN LIGHTS? HOW MANY DOES A WOMAN NEED IN HER MASTER??

I feel like I'm in Walmart. I prefer ambient lighting, especially at night. Seriously, why couldn't the mistake have been...oops, we spent your money without your permission and poured you a big back patio?? No, of course not. 😅  

I'm realizing that with each phase of building, the rooms will look BIG and then small, then BIG again and then small. Sheetrock is one of those times. Sheetrock is usually grayish in color and it's a depressing cold gray. Not a good choice for rooms facing north or west.  

Do I seem stressed? I am a little tired of everything and we still have a long way to go. I am also very grateful for this experience. As hard as it has been, it has been just as wonderful on the rewarding end of the scale. That's how blessings and trials work I guess, but not always simultaneously. We have also been babysitting and cooking for lots of people, A LOT. 

Hopefully we are living in the house by Thanksgiving, ok maybe Christmas :( 

FIVE MONTHS

We've been here for over 5 months now. It really doesn't seem like that long. It feels like I've been in the basement for a few weeks. (Tender mercy!) But, we still have two months left before we move in...and it's getting harder...and colder. The summer and fall are fleeting this far north. We decided on a REAL wood burning stove. YAY!! More on that and why. Going woodcutting as soon as James is back! And I'm looking forward to the first snow that drifts on the north side of the house.

There are a few things I would like to document about basement dwelling...things I want only to revisit in my journal and blog, but I don't want to relive.

FIRST OFF: My in-laws are SAINTS. I would hate us by now if I were them. They are sooo patient. I am learning a lot from them. Patience and more patience!

1. Laundry is awful. 20 loads a week and trying to keep it organized in three baskets along the wall. Oh my precious speed queen, how I miss you!

2. The kitchen. I don't have my precious, sacred recipe holder that is lost in a very important somewhere in our huge shipping container that contains my entire life. This big important box was labeled (GO TO GRANDPA'S HOUSE) in huge letters and somehow, it ended up buried in the far reaches of outer darkness in the container. I don't have any of my pots, pans and utensils either. I'm really picky because I'm not a professional cook, just a mom cook, and I'm only good at using my own stuff.

3. My bathtub. I haven't had a bath in over 5 months. That is a punishable crime. My new bathtub is covered in dead flies and sheetrock dust. Sounds enticing!

4. Never alone! We've established that I am an introvert. A "social introvert." It's  thing. And sometimes I think being an introvert is a disease, but really, that's dumb. We introverts just need to be alone to charge our batteries. It's actually essential, not just a nice thought.  I am really, literally, never alone! There are people above me, around me, in my room, the bathroom, the yard and even the campground down the hill, all day, every day for 24 hours of the day. When I go to bed at night, I have to hope my phone light doesn't wake up Tabby or Audra, who both sleep in our room, unless James is home, Audra sleeps on the couch, two feet from my door. My introvert is like a sad, scared little mummified thing crushed deep inside of me until we move.

5. Meals...I like to make a meal, eat the meal, clean up the meal, and be DONE until the next meal. All the meals seem to flow into the next one. There are often 17 people dining here! The kitchen is rarely, clean and quiet with the lovely sound of a dishwasher humming and the hint of bleach and lemon soap in the air. It's a mess of snacks, canning, dicing, peeling, begging and butts. The kitchen has way to many butts for it's size. I think...that I will actually miss some of this.

The house is progressing. Siding is going up, garage doors are coming this week, the vents for the gables will be here soon...I'm excited for the vents. I found a beautiful, historic farmhouse photo and it had pretty white vents in the gables with a triangular border and then horizontal siding below it. I'm alternating with board and batten. I wanted all horizontal siding but James really likes the look of board and batten so I compromised. (Don't you see if EVERYWHERE now? Yes it's a classic, but I get sick of seeing the same thing on every house!) It's on a few pop-outs and the front of the garage.

We did get doors and windows. We also had some arguments about the grid on the windows. I love the grid. I think it looks perfect for a farmhouse...and we are actually on a real life farm and surrounded by farm for hundreds and thousands of acres. The grid doesn't have much of a function nowadays. The grid used to actually be individual panes in the windows so if one broke, they could easily and inexpensively replace the single pane instead of the whole window. It also provided some obscurity from the roadside to the inside of the house, creating a little privacy. Now, the grid runs between the panes and they are just pretty. And they do cost more. So, we put them on the front and the sides of the house, and left them off the big picture windows in the back.

The front door was fun. A year ago, while we were designing our house, I made real life renderings of each room to show James because he had a hard time visualizing. I drew and decorated each room, two dimensionally on paper. I put a door with diamond grid sidelights and three quarter window in the door. I love the diamond grid. I found the exact door in a BMC catalogue.

I am still not happy with BMC salesmen by the way. They don't give you prices or a breakdown. Our garage doors ended up costing $1100 more than the bid price, so we had to go back and pick new doors and hardware because the guy handed us a catalogue and told us to, "Pick what we like!" We thought that meant everything in that particular catalogue was in our price range...well it wasn't.  I was mad.  Just because you're building a custom home doesn't make you a millionaire. I like to know every dollar I spend and I mean, ever dollar! And I certainly don't need $4000 worth of garage doors on my house. No thank you, not after a 600 foot well expense!

I'll get over it all once we've moved in...

You can see the vent in the gables. I couldn't find this exact vent, it's not as cute and diamondy, but I hope to achieve the same affect. I LOVE those windows and I wish I had done a light roof. The roof choices we had, for some reason, didn't really have a light option. They were just...dark and darker. So I went dark. I love how simple the front is. 

This is where we are right now, except the front has some siding. The siding is skin color, ewe. It will be white soon enough. Probably next spring. We have SO much to do and buy that isn't going in our mortgage. MORT-gage. I don't need anything else attached to my death. 

This is the door. I spent a lot of time researching classic doors and I'm pretty sure this fits into the classic category. However, the grid inside is technically supposed to be leaded. These are just metal caning. Leaded glass windows are usually antiques. So, it's not totally authentic. A really authentic classic door would have been solid wood with some transoms probably. No ovals. Oval windows in doors are not classic. They are newer thing.

This is the ugly side of the house. I think they started siding here because they were "practicing." See, skin color. Ewe.
They brought me up to ask how I wanted the windows wrapped. I could not for the life of me think of how I wanted them wrapped. So many detailed decisions to make and I hadn't thought of that. I gave them artistic license (which can be scary) Yep there's a face on the right of the picture. That's James photo-bombing.