Final Weeks

We're just two or three more weeks from completion!

Mirrors, Mirrors, on the walls ....

... in the master bathroom,
(but we're still waiting on milady's medicine cabinet)...

 

 

... in the upstairs bathrooms, and the powder room.

The carpeting has gone in, with the stairs, the two second floor galleries and bedrooms .....

 

 

.... and the master suite, in this color.  

 

The media room is a dark sort of chocolate color.
(Sorry, forgot to get a picture.)

On Friday, the kitchen appliances arrived, .....
(that would be the cooktop and hood, oven, microwave and dishwasher)

... while the concrete flat work (garage apron, sidewalks, AC pads and door stoops) were being formed.

 

 

 

 

The concrete arrived in the afternoon. Pictures of the finished work in the next post.

A Busy Week

Well it's been a busy week at Painted Views Ranch.

All of the leaching pans have been installed for the septic field. When it's finally in operation this is guaranteed to be the greenest spot on the whole ranch. The trench was dug from the well house to the house and the pipe was laid and partially backfilled. Now we're just waiting for the connection to be made between the pipe and the pressure tank in the well house and then we'll have water to the house.

The laminate countertop was installed in the utility room, to be followed by the sink installation.

The balcony railing was installed on Tuesday. Here's a shot looking up at it from below and a couple of pics from the balcony looking northwest and southwest.
Quite a panorama, huh?

We passed inspections for water and septic on Wednesday, so on Thursday the electric conduit was installed between the house panel and the barn in the same trench as the water line. Here you can see that the conduit goes under the water line from the well and the electric line that powers the well pump. But now we finally have electric in the barn! WHOOPEE! Now the "fun" begins.

On Friday the glass was installed in the front door. The glass panel is on hinges so that it can be opened to allow the breezes in. And blemishes were touched up on the door and the frame.
Looks pretty darn good, doesn't it?

The doorchime button will be coming soon.

The swallows over the balcony door are being good parents, but we'll be glad when breeding season ends and the youngsters leave the nest so we can get that mudball of a nest out of there.

And here's some photos of another one of our neighbors about a half mile down the road.
Oddly enough it didn't run away, but instead came to the fence to greet me, or maybe just to pose for a portrait?

Closing In on the Target

It's looking possible that we may actually be on target to close at the end of this month.

Yes, we know it's been a while since the last post, but because of a defective fan in a desktop computer, I've been without a way to post for a while. But now we're back in business so here we go...

The stone work has been completed on the fireplace. Here's before and after the stone went on. Now we're just waiting for the mantle.

The cabinets in the utility room have been replaced. (The first batch were the wrong color.)

Now it's just waiting for its counter top (and sink) and toe kick.

The tile crew has been hard at work. All the floor tile has been laid in the Great Room, Kitchen, Dining, Breakfast and Pantry and then covered with paper. The same tile was used (on the diagonal) for the kitchen back splash. And the second floor outdoor balcony has been tiled too, with a tile rated for outdoor use. The balcony railing is coming soon.

The garage doors have been installed.

Many of the light fixtures and fans were hung earlier this week .....

And the electricians were back again yesterday to (at long last) bring power to the house so they could begin troubleshooting all the appliances and fixtures.

Now that this panel has been installed and power has been brought to the house, if things go as planned, next week we'll finally be able to have power to the barn/workshop after waiting six months for it.

The trench was dug from the well house to the house, the water line was installed and is waiting for inspection at the same time the septic system is inspected.

But even as fast as things are going, we won't be the first residents in our new home. A pair of barn swallows decided that the ledge above the balcony door was a good place to build a nest! You may think that's cute, but after reading about them and the mess and health hazards they bring they won't be cute for very long. They're protected by Federal law and this nest wasn't discovered until after it became illegal to remove it, so they'll get this one breeding season. As soon as the birds leave the nest it goes, we'll scrub off the remnants and install screening before they come back next spring.

How's this for a framed landscape painting?

Here's one more photo taken from the breezeway between the house and the studio, looking west, as the sun was trying to burn off an early morning fog. It was taken before the electricians did their installs, so there's a ceiling fan hanging in the ceiling now. That'll make watching the sunsets much nicer in warm weather, won't it?