3rd Week November, Kitchen

Sink wall, before

I thought I was going to get better about posting when we got back, but I haven't gotten back into the habit yet.

2nd Week of October, 2012

Fence on right and left

As the fence did not get finished either over the vacation or the weekend after, I stretched the last 1/3 of the welded wire myself. Used some straps and a come-along. Why is it that all outside tools are made for strong people with calloused hands? Then this weekend I made a picket gate and hung it all by myself. Amazing.

2012 Vacation

In three weeks of Stephen's vacation, we painted the interior of the apartment, put in oak floors, and started the dog fence. I usually do all of our painting, but we used a paint gun this time, and I don't know how to do that very well.

2012 Update

My last post was at the end of June, 2011. At the beginning of July, we put the house we were living in up for sale, and I sold it the next day. That's right. One day.

Week 27: Vacation II

Stephen took another week of vacation, borrowing a Bobcat for the first weekend. The photo from week 25 is actually from this week, and shows some of the dirt he moved away from the front of the carriage house. He moved it to the front left of the carriage house, creating the pad for our house. From various areas around the house, he moved dirt that was leftover from the construction of the carriage house pad, and made a pile of topsoil well south of the carriage house for use in garden construction. We moved a HUGE pile of rocks from the house we currently live in - it took seven or so trips on a 16' trailer with the 3/4 ton pickup. He also used the Bobcat to smooth out parts of our drive, and used an auger bit on it to drill pier footings for our carport/well house. The carport side of the structure will hold the travel trailer.

Week 26: Drywall

I worked on the drywall this week, putting on corner layers and then floating out the mud build-up from the corners. While I did this, I put a thin layer over most of the walls to make a sort of rough plaster finish. I didn't want a spray type of texture, I really wanted it to have a smooth look like plaster. I still need to do a final sanding before I prime and paint it, but it looks great.
I also primed the front of the front door because rain was expected this past Wednesday.

Week 25: Vacation!

Stephen got his vacation this week! We put in the last piece of drywall on the bathroom wall, built the stairs, finished the siding and exterior trim with a boom lift, and put in the well. We also built little concrete slabs for the well and the front door. Stephen put in a front door, as well. It is a nine-light all wood door, with some old, real wrought iron Arts and Crafts Colonial Revival hardware, with the help of his stepdad. At the same time, Stephen's mom and I did a layer of mud on the drywall tape and screws.