progress

They put the doors on my cabinets yesterday. The shop didn't have the crown or light rail ready yesterday, so they'll make another trip out in a few days. And before I hear any lip about the hood not matching anything (cough-Michael-cough), the furniture island will be painted white to match the hood and the beadboard. In the meantime, enjoy...

Oooohhhhh...



Ahhhhhhh...

Granite closeup:

Breakfast area, beadboarded and painted:



My red dining room that took 5 coats of paint:



The built-in bench at my back door. There will be a row of 6 big hooks in the top section to hang coats and such on (I designed this myself):



Did I mention that the toilets are in? If we ever get water, they'll be usable. In the meantime, I guess we'll have to be content with the porta-johnburt in the yard...

hood

OK...the hood has been finished and will be installed tomorrow, as will the cabinet doors and the laminate top for the - ahem - "upstairs refreshment area." The island won't be built for another week or so. I can't put it in until I move, or the inspectors won't give us a CO (some nonsense about islands having electric outlets).

I hear my granite was installed today. I can't wait to get home and inspect!

lit - almost

Slowly but surely...it's coming along! Here's my screened porch (without the screen on it yet). The tile is down (but not grouted), and the ceiling fan is up (but not electrified yet!).



Here's my foyer...painted, light fixture up, beams stained.



Sconce in the hall going up the stairs:



Hannah's leafy light:



Living room painted, with light up and junk on the floor:



Next week should be big. Gresham the hot granite guy is coming either today or Monday to put my countertops in. My marble bathroom tops will go in either Monday or Tuesday. The plumber will be there Tuesday to hook everything up. The hardwood floor guy will be there the last half of the week finishing the floors and laying carpet. My bathtub is delivered the following Monday. The appliances are being delivered sometime at the first of the week. If I just had water, I'd be ready to move in 2 weeks from today!

hookup

Look what I saw when I came out this morning! CP&L is putting in the power hookup! At least I'll have lights in the house. No water...but lights.

Still no progress on the water situation. Since we discovered that the town of HS has no jurisdiction (even though that's my mailing address), it's been a finger-pointing contest between the town of FV (keep in mind that I'm neither in their city limit NOR in their ETJ) and W county. H county (supplier of said water) will hook me on if I get permission from someone in W county. W county says they have no problem, I just need permission from the town of FV. FV says they can't give permission because W county won't allow it. Bunch of jerks.

I'm beginning to understand why people shoot up government offices...

***UPDATE: Fred found out that the subdivision going in that adjoins our land across the road from the new house has H County water. He called his accountant, who is the developer. H County is providing the water...HS gave him no runaround. Wouldn't you know it...THAT side of the road is in HS, while MY side is in FV. Fred is calling the mayor of FV right now to see if we can't get this resolved...

******ANOTHER UPDATE: Fred called the mayor of FV. His response? Screw you and dig a well. Grrrrrrr...

**********THE SAGA CONTINUES: We found out that the septic drain fields from the houses that back up to me DO run down the lower end of my land. My builder is meeting a special inspector from W County this morning. She will determine if it's a health issue that will prevent me from having a well. If it is (and there's a good chance it might be) then they may give us permission to get on the H County system. Check back daily for updates...

**************WHY NOT..: A gentleman from W County came out and looked at my land this morning. He seems to think that the town of FV has no jurisdiction. Interesting...

inspectors

My friends Kelli (who is also one of my favorite Yankee imports and well on her way to becoming a naturalized Southerner) and Karen came to visit yesterday. Well...they came to see the house. I was honored that she drove to the other end of the world for a quick visit. Kelli did pretty well climbing around in 3" heels. I don't even own a pair of 3" heels. Ahhh...city folks.

stained

So my bookcases have been installed (all except the doors!). Javier did a wonderful job! I am compelled to go over there twice a day just to look at them. I also took a better shot of my finished front doors. They will be installed sometime this week after the foyer is painted. I'm trying so hard to be patient...but I'm ready to live here!

painting and painting

So it's finally beginning to look like a house. They're doing it one color at a time...and we have six colors throughout the house. They started painting with Hannah's room...so she had a nice birthday surprise when she got home Wednesday:



The next color they picked up was the neutral I picked for the theater room and the guest rooms and laundry room. My reason for picking this? It'll go with pretty much anything (since I don't really have furniture or accessories for all these extra rooms!). I really like this color...it's in the historical color palette:



Camilo and Raul have been busy in my kitchen! Here's the stove wall. The middle there with no wall cabinets is where the cooktop will be. There will be a painted decorative hood over it. Then the microwave and wall oven will be in the tall cabinet, with plenty of room for cookie sheets and trays above:



Here's the opposite wall. The dishwasher is the farthest left, then the sink, trash rollout, refrigerator, and pantry. I can't wait for you to see the tall skinny pantry doors. They're a neat detail!



All my bathroom cabinets are white. Here's the master bath double vanity. This bathroom was meant for custom cabinets. The factory stuff wouldn't have fit here. Note the drawer stack on the right. It is the smallest drawer stack in the history of the world (I think it's a 4" drawer). Mr. Carl said that if I ever get married, I should make my husband have that side. The drawer is only wide enough for a comb and small razor. : )



Last but not least, I thought you'd like to see this little sketch that one of the painters left. It made me laugh. Bonus points to anyone who can guess which wall it's on...

front doors

They stained my front doors. And my cabinet boxes are going in today. I'm so excited!

Also...my builder just called and told me that the house that's entirely too close to the back of my lot is putting in a 6' privacy fence. Now I don't have to pay for one!

cabinets in progress

My cabinet doors are finished...they just won't be installed for a few weeks. We put the boxes in, then wait until painting is done, granite is in, and plumbing is finished. Then we come back and put the doors on. That eliminates the chance of the doors getting dinged.

In other news, Javier built my bookcases. They will go on either side of the fireplace, and the one on the left will house the TV. They will be stained cinnamon, like my kitchen cabinets, and sit on a base cabinet with 3 0r 4 doors. Ooooh.....

more trim

Well...after much measuring, remeasuring, and taking a field trip to a $500,000.00 house to see exactly what I wanted, my dining room wainscoting is finished. I can't wait for you all to see it in person...it's so beautiful!

The garage floor was supposed to be poured yesterday...and for some reason it didn't happen. I guess I need to call my builder. I leave you with a quote of the day (this was actually heard on site): "I just can't figure it out...I've cut this molding twice and it's still too short!"

tile, trim, and big honkin' doors

Jefry and Jony (who are our finishers at work) laid tile over the weekend. They just have half a bathroom and my shower left to do...then it has to be grouted...then we'll be ready for cabinets! Tomorrow is the date that I have to sign off on paint colors, so I'll probably worry over it all day (I'm mostly decided...it's just that fear of commitment thing). In other news, the crown molding is mostly finished:



And the upstairs windows have been trimmed:



Daddy and I also brought my doors to work today to be finished. We felt a bit like Samson lugging those huge doors around. I think they're doing the porch sometime this week. We'll see.



The "drop-dead date" (the date set by my dad in the come-to-Jesus meeting) is June 30. Today is June 4th. Anyone want to start a pool on when I'll be in the house???