9/9 progress

My dad wanted an update--rather he wanted to harass me about my lack of updates-- so here is where we are today.

The end is in sight and getting closer and closer. It is exciting but also means more and more work for us to do. I am going to get to do more soon than talk to the workers and be a mommy (as if that weren't enough to wear me out). We will do all the painting and master bath tiling. Todd is going to be helping put in the wood flooring also. That will be a big job. The children particularly J are making plans for their rooms and I am consulting my friends who have a knack for decor to make color choices soon.

The siding is done except for one piece above the garage door. Todd was short that one piece, so it will be finished when he gets that one piece.

This is the septic field. You can see the tanks in the bottom left of the picture below. They base tank and field size by number of bedrooms. I guess 5 bedrooms requires a big one--we have 2 tanks to total 2250 Gallons and 600 linear feet of drain tile. I have thought about how to use the space that can't be use for much, (this was the site I had originally planned for my big vegetable garden), I hope I can get a wildflower meadow to grow here.
Tomorrow the electricity is going to be hooked up to the house and then before the weekend the excavators will do the drive way (so you don't have to be afraid of getting stuck in the sand when you come to visit) and the final grading of the topsoil (or more accurately sand). So here are some before pictures.

The pond level continues to rise slowly. I don't think there will be anymore swimming this fall though.
I will not be sorry to see these dirt piles go. Then I will get a better vision for my landscaping and gardening.

I hope to get some rye planted soon to help the soil. Then in the spring we can see what kind of lawn or lawn alternative we can get to grow. I also have one flower bed already scoped out. The one under the master bed and bath windows. My mom has some lily of the Valley she is going to thin and share. If you have any thinnings I would love whatever you can spare.

Last week and this week the only thing that has been going on is drywall. They hung it all in about two days. They said that they will put on 3 coats of mud then sand and be finished by the end of the week. The children enjoy watching the guys walk on stilts--if we are lucky we can catch them singing along with the blaring radio and dancing on the stilts also.

walking into the house from the garage

view toward the back of the house from the front door

family room from the front door

From the front of the family room into the kitchen
looking out the front window. There will eventually be book shelves around the window with a window seat in front of the window. We hope to use wood from a couple of the trees we had to cut down to make these--or have dad help make these
View from dining room doors into kitchen

Our Builder had salvaged this mantle from a remodel he did. He let us have it the price couldn't have been better. It is about 82 inches wide and up to my collar bone, BIG. The tile in the picture is some granite I found on clearance that we will use for the hearth and around the opening of the fireplace.