Still building!

Of course we are. It doesn't happen over night. It does however seem to be going very fast. We had a slight bump in the road when the rains came and a small tornado took out the local Walmart. Since then it's dried back up and the masons have completed their work. We were able to capture the basement walls about 2-3 days before completion.

The walls are now complete and the floor joists are set. The floor boards are being installed now and over the weekend the staircase should be placed and framed in.

Our exterior wall boards are due for delivery on either Wednesday or Thursday depending on weather and when we return in 2 weeks we will be able to see the walls partially finished and hopefully the roof started.

Best news of all? So far my little (OK not little) apple tree has survived! Just look at my little sweetie there standing tall near the corner of the foundation! :-) It still has to make it past the installation of the boards and the grading. That's the dangerous part. If the grading is too high it will suffocate the bark and it will get infected. The smaller tree that was transplanted went into shock (completely expected) but seems to be holding it's own. The unpredictable rains did help in that matter. I'll still need to find another fairly large apple to adorn the opposite side of the house for symmetry, of course. ;-) and good taste.

 The walls are 9' high. I had forgotten we requested the taller basement and by the looks of things the home will be MASSIVE> Now I'm glad we kept it to under 1200 ft. I can't imagine it being any taller or bigger and we still don't have the cabin walls up!

At the back of the house the basement walls will be approximately 18" above ground to allow for a small window for light. At the front of the house the basement walls will extend roughly 3'. We will one day come back to put a rock facade over the block but for now we'll seal it and paint it complimentary coloring to the stain...

Oh the stain. *GULP* That is what is scaring me right now. What a big decision. It's not like paint where you live with it for a year or two and simply repaint it to a color you like better. Stain is for better or worse. Once it's sealed it's pretty well done for 5-10 years.

So while I'm debating on putting the colors into a hat and drawing one, I'm also dealing with the back to school rush. The kids met their respective teachers this week and while my twins will have separate classrooms it seems like they each like their teachers. That's one relief. Next step - getting them to the bus stop Monday morning. LOL.

See you soon!

Barbie~