Finally!

After two weeks of no contact with the outside world, our internet and phone have been restored! It's been a very frustrating ordeal with Eastlink involving a dozen phone calls (with increasing amounts of yelling) and a letter to their Vice President, but we have finally been able to return to the 21st century. So this will be the last post for this blog. Here are some pictures of the downstairs area. 

The kitchen turned out really well we think. If you are ever thinking of new countertops, we would recommend these Silestone (essentially an aggregate of crushed quartz) counters. You can't stain them or scratch them, and they require no sealing or maintenance the way granite does. Apparently you can also defrost raw meat on them, but that's a little too gross for us to experiment with. 

It's hard to see the marbling in the floors, but they also turned out really well and are very shiny!

Here is a before and after picture of the TV wall in the living room. Erin had great fears of what kind of monstrosity I had ordered, but she was generally pleased. She would have been happy with a tube TV and rabbit ears, but I think she sees the wisdom in my "upgrade" now.

And finally one last shot of the "library"... To see the rest of the house, you'll have to come and visit.

Moving Day!

Today is the big day! We're moving all of our furniture in and hopefully will sleep in the house tonight! Here are a few pictures of some of the empty rooms. I'll post more after we move in.

I'll start with the "library" area, which is probably my favourite space in the house. It will be used mainly by Erin! 

 This is a view from the back "playroom" looking east towards the living room.












Rory will go "where no kid has gone before" with his Starship Enterprise light in his room!

Heading downstairs...next entry will show pictures of the downstairs.

The Countdown is On

We move in in 10 days! There is still a lot left to do but everything is moving very quickly. The hardwood floors upstairs are almost finished. The sinks and toilets are getting hooked up this week. The painting is almost done and the trim work is finished. A few things won't be done in time though. Our countertops aren't arriving until a week after we move in, and there will still be some painting left to do. But we should be able to start living there on January 15th. Well we better be able to because we have no place else to go!

Unfortunately, almost everything is covered in plastic, cardboard, or tarps so I can't get any decent pictures. I'm sure I'll be able to take some this weekend so I'll post some new pictures then.

Still a Mess

The guys are putting a push on this week to try and get as much of the interior finishes done as they can before the Christmas break. The house is full of dust and debris but it's starting to take shape as some of the fixtures, cabinets, and millwork are put in.

Super-carpenter Mike has been hard at work building the millwork. On the left are the shelves for the upstairs linen closet. These sent Erin into spasms of glee I have rarely seen from her! Below are the wall length bookshelves that will finally enable us to empty all the books we've had in boxes in our last three houses! 

                                                              
                                               
The bathrooms are getting close to being finished. The vanities have been built and installed, and the tiling should be done this week. Soon we'll get plumbing....oh and toilets.

And the   kitchen cabinets are now installed. The white cabinets are a nice contrast to the dark brown floors (that you can't see) and countertops (that are not installed yet), and the stainless steel appliances (which are still in boxes in the middle of the dining room).

This week the painting, tiling, millwork, and a lot of the lighting should be finished. We're hoping they install the appliances before Christmas as well. Mom and Dad are in Nova Scotia for Christmas and are dying to see the house, but we don't want to take them up until all the mess is cleared up. We're shooting for Christmas Eve.

Getting Closer!

The outside of the house is pretty much finished now. A few small details like some exterior painting (doors and maybe window frames) and the final grading of the lot, but these won't get done until the Spring. 

 The stone wall creates a little walkway between the front entrance, the carport, and the entrance to my office/studio. My original design was for an underground tunnel, but for some reason this didn't make it to the final plans!

There is quite a big back yard between the house and the pond. We have no idea what we want to do for a back deck or for landscaping yet and Erin and I have different priorities - flowers and vegetables vs. a hot tub! We'll figure it out but we want to live in the house for awhile before we make any decisions.

 

I am standing in my new office/studio. The floor is cork which provides a better acoustic than the concrete on the rest of the main floor. I can't wait to have my own space where I can make as much of a mess as I want.

We spent a few days last week stacking wood in the carport. And yes - for those of you who know me and are laughing right now - I did my share as well! Rory was a big help and is very proud of his work. The wood is near the front entrance and there is a wood storage cutout in the front wall of the entrance way that allows us to pass wood through to the living room next to the fireplace.

Lots to do this week. These boxes contain our kitchen appliances and bathroom vanities. Before those go in, the kitchen cabinets have to be installed starting tomorrow. Later in the week the upstairs hardwood floors will be installed and the bathroom floor and shower tiles will be finished. The countdown is on - only about four weeks left until we move in!

Stonewalled....

...but that's not a bad thing. The stone wall on the exterior of the house is finished. The main part of the wall is cultured stone and the wall cap is made out of sandstone from a quarry in Wallace, NS.

The chimney is also faced with the same stone. We must be anticipating some exponential growth in Santa's wastline because the chimney is really big!

The upstairs has been completely painted, but we couldn't get pictures because they are staining the downstairs floor this week and we haven't been allowed in the house.

And I spoke too soon about the exterior concrete. A little kitty got a big surprise when it ventured into the carport. The tracks run all along the porch! We've decided to leave them there for several reasons: 1) too much of a pain to fix, 2) we actually like it, and 3) it will serve as a warning to future cats!

Weather Woes

The weather has not been kind to us the last few weeks. As one of my students put it, only 30 more days or so before it gets biblical! We had a few nice days where some outside work could get done, but the major accomplishment has been the completion of the drywall inside. Below you can see me warming myself by the future fire. The picture on the right is taken from the bottom floor looking up through the cutaway section.

The house is water tight but Rory isn't taking any chances!










Erin's upstairs office area.

This is the future kitchen, which oddly enough looks in this picture like our kitchen normally looks after I've been cooking!

Below you can see the concrete guys "sweeping" the floor of the carport to give it a rough finish. It should take about 3 days to dry so we're hoping no animals decide to pay a visit.