What happened to November???

As I look back on my last post, I realize that I haven't updated this blog since October. I guess when you're busy building a house you don't have time to write about it!

Fall has become a distance memory and we're now facing a long, cold winter. Lots of deadlines had to be met so we could winterize the cabin. Although it's a very comfortable place to stay during the warmer months, the cabin has no central heating system and can't be used during the winter. It felt strange leaving the cabin behind. It's been a great place to stay while we worked on the house, and we're both grateful to Don and Gaye Kuester for allowing us to use it.

So with a lot to accomplish in November, I'm happy to say that we now have:

1. Heat in the house! Very important when you consider that it's 5 degrees outside today.



2. Lights and power! Not all the lights work, but it's enough to get by on. Most of the outlets are live, so that allows us to plug in extra lights as we need them.



3. Hot water! The well was dug this summer, but we've been going outside to get water into the house. I'm happy to report that we now have one sink, one shower, and two toilets!
   

So with the necessities taken care of, we can focus on the jobs that make the house a more inviting place to stay.


Most of the painting is complete, and I couldn't be happier to have that job out of the way. We decided to use Behr paint from Home Depot with colors from the mid to deep tone collection. I'm happy with the colors we chose, however whenever you paint with red tones you can expect MULTIPLE coats. With some of the high spots being 20 feet up there, we've spent many hours on scaffolding painting and re-painting areas in the kitchen and master bedroom. Although the colors are rich and beautiful, it has been quite an ordeal to achieve the coverage we want.

The tile work is completed in the master bath, 1/2 bath, and both entries. The double shower was quite a job and we're both so pleased with the way it turned out. By the way, if you're looking for beautiful but inexpensive tile, head to the tile outlet store at 23rd and 291 in Independence. Great stuff and DIRT cheap!!

Half of the house is sided, but with the weather turning colder it's been difficult to get the workers out to finish the job. I'm not thinking we'll see them this week either, so who knows when that will get done!

With the two of us working on the house things are going slow, but the work is quality!!! This week we're putting in the loft flooring and attaching the trim. Mark has become a pretty good carpenter, and with me as his supervisor, you know it's going to get done right! I have to admit that even though it's been a slow, laborious process, it's been great working on this dream together. As for Christmas this year, I think we'll give each other a house . . .