The Life for Me

The remaining windows and doors were installed this week, and the fellas got a good jump on the siding. I was having some decision making issues pertaining to the window trim, but I finally got it worked out so that things could continue. Although new/modern windows have some nice feature, it's hard to make them look like they've been there for 50 years. The machine formed aluminum channel that runs around the exterior (to increase rigidity?) is hard to hide. I decided that finding a balance so that the trim worked with it was better (and cheaper) than trying to cover it up. It seems as though it's going to work out very well.

It's a shame that this image is a bit soft, but maybe it just adds to the beauty. As you can see from this picture, there is nothing quite like the Blue Ridge Mountains in the rain. With the bits of clouds laid into the valleys, it gives tremendous sense of calm.

Today we celebrated Independence Day by becoming truly dried in. Tim, Bobby and Peter sacrificed most of their day to finish up the front porch. Thank you all very much for all your hard work. The place is looking fantastic.

After a good soaking (somewhere between 5" & 7" fell in a weeks time) the crews were back. Tim and Bobby jumped on the front porch and Deibert and company knocked out the front retaining wall. It would have been prettier to do it in stone, but the brick was available and quite a bit faster/cheaper. The roofers got started on the back. I decided to go with copper flashing - a 50 year shingle needs flashing to match. The down side is that the copper is $12 a foot! Having all the separate parts and pieces make the house more interesting to look at, but it also drives up the cost per square foot.