No Imagination Needed

It’s been over 2 months since we talked. We haven’t been bored! Time did get away, but here we are. The bad news – our original goal to be done by the end of June when Jeremy’s family is here is not going to happen. The good news – we are much wiser and realistic than we were a year ago. =)

I just read our last blog – my, how far we have come since March. I just don’t realize the changes when I see it every day. Things are coming together so quickly, but there is only so much time in a day. It’s hard to catch up in a blog. So where to start??

Two words. THE DECK. Oh my. It is almost completely done and oh, so peaceful! Now that the trees are full and green, we have lost our view. We have been taking trees down, but Mini died on us. The problem with Mini is she is so old and cranky, and her parts don’t work so well. Sound familiar to anyone? =) We are both empathizing with Mini tonight. Anyway, Noel has had to learn how to fix an old, decrepit excavator when parts aren’t available, and he has been quite creative. She is up and going again, so more progress was made a couple weeks ago. The picture below shows the end of the deck not quite done, but that is finished now. It is so peaceful and beautiful. It is often my office.

The drywall is nearly all up. The doorway and window trim have to be put on and the bathrooms finished. Mudding will start soon.

But for today, we will just be dealing with Covid. I have had a rough week – not scary rough; breathing is just fine. I’ve lost taste and smell, fainted and fell once, and have a pretty nasty cough, but I’m feeling so much better. Noel is just getting started but so far has a mild case; hopefully it will stay that way. He is antsy to get started and got all his drywall mudding tools out today and is ready to go. Except for. . . Covid.

The plumbing is done other than the final septic connection. The tiled floors will have radiant floor heat, so Noel is putting the tubing in the showers too so the walls as well as the floors will be heated. Other than tubing, the cost will be free because we have a wood boiler.

The electrical is also done. Temporary lightbulbs are in until after the painting is done. The box below. LOL. Our house isn’t a fancy house. It’s a basic ranch-style rectangle. It’s a great room with bedrooms on the side. But Noel has a creative engineer brain, so things aren’t going to be normal. The box will allow us to select which lights are on which switch. I understand but not enough to explain it any further than that!

Gutters were installed yesterday. That was a 3-month wait but a blessing that it wasn’t earlier because a hailstorm came through in April and did quite a lot of damage. So, the gutters were spared! Two windows were not spared – and the plastic trim around the patio doors, some dings in the metal roof. . . an insurance claim before we ever moved in!

We have had some breaks from the house occasionally.

We took a fun break and headed to California at the end of March. We have a “tradition” that we take a grandchild on a trip wherever they want in the continental USA when they turn 11. Haddon is our first 11-year-old, and we already broke the rule and took a cruise to Ensenada, Mexico – not that far from continental USA. We loved spending time with just him, and it was a good break with no power tools. Haddon ate lots of ice cream, learned to haggle, ate calamari & frog legs, and swam a lot. When we made this “tradition,” we did not realize our children were going to produce offspring for 8 years in a row. Our vacations are planned for a few years – and we are looking forward to it!

A few weeks ago, we went to Kansas City for Lexi’s kindergarten graduation party and baptism. And then Covid hit Zak’s family. We still got to visit with Josh’s family. It was a fun visit, and we are glad Zak is doing better. We got the rest of the tile for our bathrooms and found our hard wood for the rest of the house.

I have been keeping too busy being semi-retired. I realized today after seeing some numbers, that I am working more than full time. How did that happen? I am writing a class for ACSI and recently was scared to death to have a film crew show up at my house. They were amazing. We filmed on our back deck and at the Holy Land in Eureka Springs. Way outside of my comfort zone! Now I have a class to write, and I am behind. Covid is not helping.

Josh & Tina were to stay with us this last weekend on a stop-over on their vacation, but I got Covid. Since they were already on their way, they pulled into our driveway, got out of the van and we had a “distance” visit. Grandkids got to stretch their legs, and we got to talk; missed the hugs, but it will be a fun memory. They were going to stop on their way home this coming weekend, but Noel got Covid. There seems to be a theme with visits lately. =)

So, what is left to finish the house? So little, yet so much!

Noel has hung 205 sheets of drywall. Now it all has to be mudded and sanded. That is 8,800 sq ft of drywall including ceilings and walls – a lot of joints – although he used as large of pieces of drywall as he could and mapped them out well to avoid butt joints as much as possible.

Painting will come next. Floor and shower tiling fits in there somewhere. Hardwood floors have to be laid. Sometime during this time, we will have air conditioning and heat pump installed. Here is the spot where we will move into the house.

Noel is making the room doors. You might want to make sure those are mounted before you come for an overnight visit! =) We need to move out of our temporary living quarters in the shop so he has room to build kitchen cupboards. I know this will worry our Wisconsin friends. =) The lower cupboards as well as the bathroom vanities will need to be built before the rest of the cupboards because we are on the schedule to have our countertops installed in mid-August. Is that going to happen? A couple lucky people behind us in line will probably be thrilled to get bumped ahead while Noel builds.

A woodstove is waiting to be installed, and the boiler will need to be hooked up before winter. Noel will be making his own trim, so that could be happening throughout the coming winter. Whew! In case you were thinking it was sounding so close to being done. . . BUT why the title, “No Imagination Needed?” I’m terrible at imagining what something is going to look like. Noel will make these great explanations, and I’m clueless. I just trust him, and I’m always amazed. I guess those 2 thoughts don’t go together – I trust him, yet I’m amazed. =) Anyway, no imagination is needed now. It looks like a house; I can see it. And I’m so excited to be in it soon!