The Life for Me

There's nothing quite like having a party to motivate you to finish a house project. We broke out the brushes on Saturday and got a coat of paint on the kitchen walls. Slowly but surely, we will get this thing "done".

Not the best photo but, it shows a different view looking south/southeast down the Blue Ridge Mountains. Shot was taken on November 15. The recent winds have stripped most of the leaves from the trees. Winter is around the corner. Get your sleds ready!

Here are a couple of photos from October 20th. It will be interesting to se what things look like once the rain passes. I'm very thankful for the rain. The shot on the bottom is looking up through one of the persimmon trees.

Don't worry, it hasn't left yet. Actually it has not really gotten here. Some of the maples have started to turn, and there is a hint of yellow in the poplars. There is stil a lot of green. It will be interesting to see how the dry climate will effect the colors. Here are a couple of photos taken on October 11th and 12th. I will try to get a couple of pictures posted each week for your viewing pleasure.

What's that strange buzzing noise? Why that would be the hummingbird that some how ended up in the house yesterday. After becoming thoroughly exhausted it decided that it would be happy to climb onto the long stick that my brother held near it (his second hummingbird rescue). After enjoying a few sips of sugar water from a measuring spoon it regained its strength and took off out the window with a happy little chirp. What an amazing creature! It was fun to see one so close.

So after the first of my final inspections I had a small list of things to take care of which were completed over a couple of days. During my second final inspection, which was performed by a different inspector, it was pointed out that I would need to install a railing on the basement steps. Yes. I should have thought of that. So last Saturday I installed my first railing system and I think it turned out pretty well (see title). During my third final inspection I received the offical sign-off and it's on the C.O. (Certificate of Occupancy). A little piece of paper that says, "It's OK to move in now." And it only took two years. Go figure.

Here are a few more recent pictures. The beautiful tile work is all complete thanks to Aqua Fit USA in lovely downtown Crozet. The soapstone counters are also in and look better than I had imagined. Thanks Mike. They are a little softer than I thought they would be, but I think the gradual wear that they will show will benefit the overall look. The stair and loft railing are back in place, thanks again to Tim and Bobby for all their work. I'm going to have to start another project just because those guys are so great to work with.

Riner's Cabinet Shop strikes again. This time Craig came up with a short bank of cabinets to go in the dining room bump-out. After putting the windows in, I felt the the ceiling really need to come down to make the space more intimate. There was a small dilemma in that recessed lighting had already been installed in the ceiling. Solution: Uncle Earl! Uncle Earl does beautiful stained glass work and has graciously agreed to build four small panels to fit in the doors. Throw the switch and Viola! Beautiful back-lit stained glass. It nice when things come together... See the original sketch.

The soapstone counters have been delivered and several pieces have been dry-set. I'm really please with how the swirls in the stone coordinate with the flames in the maple. It will be interesting to see how it looks when the island gets set in place.

Tim and Bobby have almost completed the railing around the porch. Even though we decided to go with a simple deck style railing it turned out looking very nice. It gives the porch a nice comfortable feel. It's a lot more fun sitting on the front porch when you don't have to worry about taking a drive over the edge. Opening up the dinning room doors and being able to move from the front porch to the back porch is also a real treat.

The window and door trim is coming together nicely. All the pieces were custom milled either on site or at Riner's. Who knew that Charlottesville would be such a mill-work desert? I miss being able to run over to Portsmouth Lumber to pick up the old-style casings, but it has been fun getting back into the shop and watching the piles of sawdust grow. It's certainly a nice contrast to sitting in front of a computer. All the trim will be painted to match the Navajo White of the sashes and doors. Yes, that's a lot of painting. I have plenty of brushes if anyone is interested.

The beautiful wormy maple cabinets were installed today by the talented crew from Riner's Cabinet Shop. It's starting to feel more like home everyday! On another note, Tim and Bob have soon an incredible amount of patience with me on getting the stair case details just right. The rail had to come down to make room for the floor finisher (forgot the camera that day).