Today was a good day.

Before I even got home this am ( was on overnight) the hardwood, trim, interior doors etc had all been delivered. Two more rooms were primed today and DH painted our hearth room/kitchen with it's final coat.

The really big happening - now that the drywalling is done they were able to hook up the geothermal coils. We have been running on the emergency heat "toasters" as our builder likes to call them- we had a whopping huge electric bill last month. Add that to home heating oil we bought to heat our current ( on the same property) home, and we had a very big energy bill last month. Looking forward to being all electric.

Tomorrow more painting as the floor acclimates. Hopefully they will start installing by the end of the week- or at least by the new year.

LOVE the flooring - it's character hickory. Very rustic, very farmhouse.

Love to hear an update from others....

I will try to take some pics in the light this week.

PD

It would be great to see some photos, ponydoc! Sounds like you're making excellent progress.

So exciting!
Sounds like things are moving along. Isn't it a good feeling to have so much "action" at the house?
We had our hickory floors installed last week. The same "chacacter" hickory. I'm in love!!! We are leaving them their natural color....no stain. Today the flooring guys were building our stairs. Next week all the plumbing, electrical and HVAC trim outs.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Oh, the hickory is just gorgeous!

ponydoc~ You all are just speeding along. Yahoo. So excited for you!! Yes, photos please when you find the time. :o)

Shopgirl~ Holy, MOly. That floor is gorgeous. If that is what ponydoc is getting, she's a lucky girl too. Beautiful floors, and lovely home. You really ARE nearing the finish line. Woo-hoo!! :o)

We don't have much going on here. DH did prime the 2nd floor today, so that's great. It took him most of the day to mask it all off, and only a little while to spray the primer!! :o~

Concrete crew pulled off the forms from the portion of drive that was poured on Monday. They'll continue setting the forms (is that the right term even?) to continue on down our driveway. We have a super long driveway, and it continued on past the house out to the barn, so they will be very familiar with our outhouse before they are finished. LOL! ;op

They had a machine of some kind out there this afternoon and were running it across the portion closest to the barn, that was poured the previous Thur or Fri. Not sure if it was scoring the concrete or just what? Haven't made time to go out there and look at it. LOL!

My mosaic tile order for dd's shower arrived today, so I'll pick that up tomorrow (not many pieces... for the shampoo niche). HOpefully tile crew will be back soon to grout master fireplace surround, set that mosaic in the shampoo niche, and then grout the last bath. :O)

Ordering carpet tomorrow. Should be ready to install in 2-3 weeks. Waiting on cab's... hopefully soon. Some toilets installed in house, as well as hot water tanks installed and wired. Most lighting hung. Painting finished on 3rd floor, most of 1st floor too. Should finish up 2nd floor this week.

Whew. Hopefully we're nearing the end too. At least it's in sight!! :o)

Shopgirl!

Our flooring looks almost exactly like yours! Thanks for posting the pic. I can visualize it all the better. I see the boxes yours came in- wondering where you ordered it if you know - just curious. Ours came from a local sawmill.... a client over the years. Their dog fell in the pond several weeks ago and they rushed her in- was trying to be creative and get one night in hospital to equal 2000 sq ft of hickory! LOL

totally blessed - boy do I envy that concrete drive. Mud is our middle name right now. I just want it to stay cold until April at this point. I much prefer frozen ground. We will probably never have a paved drive of any kind- too long and we live on a true farm - equipment etc comes up the lane. We need a few loads of gravel right now- will wait until snow threat is over- it tends to get pushed into the yard if we need to plow.

Off to work... no rest for the wicked! LOL

Shopgirl the floor is beautiful!!! I love your windows. I have to say I am regretting doing the rounded corners on the windows. I wish I had trimmed out the windows :-( but I do like our windows, but LOVE yours! LOL!

ponydoc- y'all are really moving along :-) I had to laugh at your creative thinking on your floor!! I had a lady ask me to sew her some curtains in exchange for her doing some landscaping designs for me. Not sure how she thought I was that good on a sewing machine but I had to tell her I needlepoint mostly and can hardly make clothes for DD's dolls! LOL!

totallyblessed - I can't believe how fast y'all are going! Your house is one of my favorites! I can't wait to see new pictures! Speaking of pictures, I snapped some today. The cabinets are finished and the counter tops are going on in the next few days. I think we are moving along, besides a small break in last Sunday, no harm done, but we did move our cameras to look at the front door. I was not sure if I wanted to post anything but I think I might have my problem solved so here are a few pictures I took today.

Looking at kitchen from living (the wall is going to be rocked with the same sandstone that is outside)
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Kitchen
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Kitchen
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Up close of the upper laundry
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I just took a few tonight as it was chilly and late. I am just glad I am not dealing with snow :-)

Kelly, your cabinets look gorgeous with the stain-you will so love that kitchen!! I am so glad you had a good Christmas-I was thinking of you. Shopgirl-LOVE your floors!! We're in NC too. Being from NY, it seemed so strange having a 60 degree Christmas!
Pattie

Thanks for the compliments! It's funny how things wind up. I originally was set on using reclaimed wood floors, but unfortunately and sadly, the cost was too high for our budget. I saw this flooring on display at a local hardwood store and thought that it would give that old rustic look I was after. We used 3" widths even though 5" is what I would have preferred. At this point in the game we are trying to shave off any excess costs we can!

Ponydoc...I'm not sure where our wood is from. We went through a local hardwood dealer. The box I think you are seeing in the picture is our stair handrails. The flooring came in big bundles. Please show us yours when they install!

Totally......I don't post much, but read on here often and have been following your build. I remember when you were thinking of building one of the Southern Living homes. Things have turned out wonderfully though. Your house is lovely and you are almost there! I echo pondoc about the drive....wish we had ours, it's a muddy mess!

Kelly....so glad you had a nice Christmas. Your cabinets are gorgeous! Ours should be up by tomorrow. Your floor is tile, correct?

Pattie...we are in the mountains so it wasn't 60 degrees for us, but it was warmer than ususal. We actually had a little snow Christmas night.

PD, how exciting! I can't believe how much work was done during the holiday week. And your subs are working weekends? How on Earth are you getting that kind of service? ;o)

I hear you on the mud. I too wish it would just stay cold enough for the ground to remain frozen. We brought in a load of gravel to spread around the work area because we couldn't handle seeing all the mud getting tracked into the house. The workers didn't seem to have a problem with it, but we sure did!

ponydoc~ your vet bill/flooring bill comment gave me a good laugh. :0)

Gosh kelly, your cabinets are just beautiful. I loved them unstained, and they look even better stained. How can that be? Well, they look rich and warm, and I'd LOVE to work in that kitchen or laundry. Just let me know what week you'd like to book me to be your cook and laundress. Twould be a pleasure in those spaces, for sure. :op

WEll, don't get too envious of our concrete drive... yet, anyway. Today is the 1st day we can drive on it. They will continue pouring next Monday, so this is a break where we could actually get down our hilly drive with our RV. And we need to get it down the hill TO THE GAS STATION and to fill up with LPG. We ran out of lpg night before last. So yesterday, dh decided to go cross country around our house (no, i am NOT kidding) with our RV. But he did it while electrician was here with his backhoe, in case he got stuck (eyes rolling!!).

He couldn't even get out of the back yard. He was spinning and sliding and finally got totally stuck. It was pretty hilarious to see him with such determination. What a funny guy. Finally, he had to admit defeat, and electrician brought his pickup truck over and wenched our RV back to the sewer dump. What an ordeal.

So, as you can see, my concrete drive is of no value at this point. WE can't get over to it to even make use of it. And as soon as they begin pouring, we'll really be up a creek, because our house sits on a hill. In dry weather, our SUV has no problem climbing to the top to park. But in the mud, it will be another story. Oh my. Let's hope they pour quickly! :o) ha, ha.

Well, glad to hear/see all the progress. Everyone's homes are looking so good. I'll try to take a few update photos for you soon. Right now I'd better scoot... gotta go up to a neighboring state and pick up a draw from the bank. We need to hustle these workers along, and the things that seems to speak better than anything is to actually PAY them. :o) ha, ha.

Have a great remainder of the week, all. :o)

shopgirl, your hickory floors are gorgeous!! Kelly, I just love your cabs, they are as beautiful as I thought they would be. Congrats on everyone's progress! I am inching closer to posting pictures of ours...

Amy

Amy

I cannot wait to see some pics of your crib! LOL

As I recall you are a displaced Buckeye ( or was it your DH)- are you having a shindig for the game? How I would love to have big blow out party in the new house for the game. I would get a big Fathead Ohio State logo for the "big wall" just for fun. I'll have to speak to Tressel about getting back there next year "cause we will have a new house and all!" LOL

We are doing very well. DH has painted the kitchen/hearth room, the library, the living room, our room/bathroom/closet and our DDs room. He has a lot left to do but should be done by the weekend. We have different colors in every room- it is really starting to look like a home. GC started hanging doors today. WOW - it's looking good.

GC is taking off until Wednesday - then will start laying the hardwood. Cabinets are coming the first week of Jan.

I haven't taken any pictures in the light- hope to tomorrow. I spent my day building a Playmobil castle. LOL

The best part of this week...... the geothermal coils are hooked up. Literally you could watch the meter slow down. I am so so so happy we went geo.

Amy- know what you mean about the kids... mine came at a great price both emotional and financially and they make me weep all of the time. We are building this house for them as much as for us. If it was only going to be us we would have just remodeled and spent the money on the barns and the horses. DH came in tonight smiling from ear to ear--- loving painting his DDs room a nice shade of pink....at her request. There is a lot of emotion in building a home.....

PD

Oh Amy I wish you would post some pictures! I know it is hard, I have resisted the urge to not post pictures anymore but.....I love to see everyones pictures :-)

ponydoc - I love to read your posts! I think that is great that y'all went geothermal. Yea for you! Funny about the kids, mine made me well up with tears tonight when she pulled out her little horse border for her room (we were going with a chair rail until she saw this border at Lowes). She looked at it and then looked at me and said "Thank you mommy for making my room so wonderful!". My heart skipped a beat and I wanted to start crying right there! If she only knew! LOL!

Sounds like you are moving right along PD! What type of wood are you using for the floors if you do not mind me asking?

Kel

PD, yes, both my DH and I are buckeyes from birth, permanently displaced to Maryland. We fly the buckeye flag and have brutus sitting on our couch at all times. I hold real buckeyes every year for the Ohio State/Michigan game, and we have so much scarlet and grey we may as well not decorate!! We are having a shindig on the 7th, much to my chagrin. My DH loves to have people over for important games. I on the other hand would prefer to pace and remain unsocial, muttering the more than occasional profane blurb;-/ And about asking Tressel for one more year, I hear he is ever the gentleman and quite a class act, I'm sure he would try to specially accomodate you!!

It sounds like your DH is very busy painting, what are your colors? I loved that stage, it made everything look so homey after white drywall everywhere. I'm excited for you to get your floors, that will change everything! Hickory is gorgeous, oh, if I could have several different homes.......just kidding!

One thing I haven't said no to since we completed (mostly) our build and moved in is to any requests to read to, play with, or hang out with my kids. Too much of that got put off with the build. I am loving just hanging out with the kids again! And yes, I ditto your sentiments. I'm Irish anyway, I can't look at someone else crying without joining them, let alone get through something like a Christmas play or two! My DH just looks at me, laughs, and hands me a tissue. I'm not sorry!!

Have a great time watching your houses (kel too) turn into homes, it is a wonderful experience. And I am working on DH to "let" me post pics. He is coming around.

Amy

Amy

My DH coached with Tressel for a short time. We left college ball because of the hours and the moving around. I am not a "mover". Plus it's hard with a herd of horses in tow let alone a vet practice. He coaches high school and it gives us just enough football but not too much. It is sometimes hard for him as most of his contemporaries have "big time" college jobs but they have also moved around the country many times while we have contentedly stayed put. We both realize we would have never been able to build "this" house. Maybe some house- and maybe just as nice but different - our new home with it's acreage will not be very marketable when we are finished. If we had built and known there was always a chance to be moving we would have built a different house/different setting.

Our colors- our woodwork is all white except in our library which will be stained but not sure of the stain at this point. My MIL is going to be living with us and the library end of the house is "her" area. She picked the color for her walls and bathroom - SW Icelandic. The rest of the house
Clutter room/mud room/powder room are SW practical biege. The floor will be tiled with a slate tile. I have extensive cabinets in my clutter room- white laminate and the counter top is black "Chemtop" like you had in high school chemistry lab.
Kitchen/hearth room is SW Inviting Ivory. Flooring is the hickory. My cabinets are two tone- frost glaze birch with Mystic Black Zodiaq countertops. Farm house sink. My peninsula is going to be very dark Oak with Lunar Pearl zodiaq counter. The dark Oak will also be used for a book shelf area in the hearth room and a cabinet in our master bath. Our foyer and all three floors of the staircase is SW vanillin. More Hickory on the floors- and the staircase with white balusters and risers. Still working on the newell posts ( all TEN of them!) Our living room is SW Seasalt- hickory again stone fireplace ( as is the hearth room firplace). Dining room is two tones of blue and think they are called SW WIndy Blue and SW Bracing Blue. More hickory on the floor. Our bedroom etc is all done in SW Agreeable Gray which is actually a brown based gray- carpet is "Mink" colored and tile is slate looking again. River rock on our shower floor. DD room SW Demure. Her carpet is beige/gray with big pink/mauve cabbage roses all over it! I have always wanted carpet like that! DS's room is SW Upward with a grayish blue very low nap ( sp) carpet. Important he can run cars/tractors easily - he's a 3 yo gearhead!! LOL

I haven't decided the basement playroom yet... it will be the last thing so it might be just something cheap! LOL

I am Irish too...... I cry everytime I hear the National Anthem... LOL

Kel

Love to see that horse border! I am trying to avoid any wall paper but love to see anything horsey...

PD

Okay, that explains it. I weep at the drop of a hat, and dh just pats my back and grins at everyone. I can't watch a sentimental tv commercial without crying! LOL. I didn't know it was that tiny bit of IRISH in me. :op

PD~ Love the colors you chose. Can't wait to see photos!

Kel~ I want to see the wall paper border too. I'm a certified horse nut!

That expains it! I am Irish also! My great grandparents where from Ireland. My mother is 50% Irish and 50% Portuguese. My father was 100% Irish :-)