Two More Weeks and Counting

This is the water heater that runs the radiant system (see all of the manifolds) and our domestic hot water. I only include this for you engineering types who are actually interested in this stuff.


The fireplace is nearly finished. FP is installed. Tile is finished. Mantle is installed but I still need to stain/seal the corbels to match the mantle. Trim still has to be painted.


The great room now has tongue & groove on the ceiing, trim is finished and painted, beams are in place and stained (nothing is sealed yet), drywall is complete, lighting is up in a few spots, and the paint is halfway done in this room but nearly complete in the rest of the house. The concrete floor has not yet been stained.


Gresham standing next to the frame for his built-in bed (one of the ones that caused the leak in the PEX?)


Garage door was installed yesterday.

To Make You Laugh

Yes, that is Miss Evangeline with a new haircut. We're trying to grow the bangs out with the hair. We're now down to two layers or less . . . and counting. She's looking at some of the 560 seedlings that the kids and I started this past month. We've now got nearly all of them planted in huge recycled wine barrels. Those things are beasts. I cringe to think of how we will move them to the new house. Thank Providence for moving dollies!

You know you're building a house when...
Eva came into the kitchen after her bath carrying a brush and asking me to brush her hair. I asked her if Daddy had washed her hair, to which she replied: "No, he didn't put any air conditioning in tonight!"

You really know you're building a house when...
Your daughter points out every single outhouse around town as though it's a vacation destination: "Look Mom, dere's de outhouse!"

Funny mistake:
Seth was caught red-handed the other day with something he'd stolen. I took him to his room for "the routine." We ended with a discussion about stealing and he recited the eighth commandment to me (You shall not steal) very nicely. However, when we went to pray, he confessed, to my surprise, breaking the seventh commandment. "Dear Father, please forgive me for committing adultery!"

Past Photos of House

This month has been a literal whirlwind of site visits, errands to various home improvement and electrical supply stores, trips to Medford, prepping for next year's Classical Conversations program, and finishing our year of homeschooling. Last Friday we finished our last day of school and I took Brandt and Gresham to see "As You Like It" at the Bowmer Theatre in Ashland. It was fantastic and it was a much-needed break for all of us. We camped for a few nights at Valley of the Rogue campground between Medford and Grants Pass. The weather was incredible--warm but still enjoyable. Our campsite was spacious, grassy, full of trees, and only a few hundred yards from the Rogue River. The big boys and Brian caught several small trout in the Rogue which pleased them as well as it ought to please men & boys. Here are some pictures of the progress on the house that has been made in the past month. All character lessons gleaned from the experience have not been captured on film.


My favorite landscaping feature: Blaine (Travis's brother) used the backhoe to place these huge flat rocks going up the hill to our front stoop. The kids love to use them to get up to the front door and I can't wait to fill their planting crevices with cascading plants.


The Great Room, pre-drywall, looking toward the living room portion with the fireplace and then on to the front yard and down the street.


The pile of rocks that was leftover will, Lord willing, become an enormous rock garden if my best-laid plans come to fruition.


After the drywall came the (fortune in) paint.


Another view of the great room without drywall, looking toward the stairwell and hallway this time.