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It has continued to be hot! We have gotten about 1-1/2 inches of rain in the past week, but the ground still dries up very fast, and the trees, bushes and flowers have to be hand-watered anyway every couple of days.

We are making slow progress on the house. It seems like the hot days cause us to move more slowly. We are ready to paint the dining room. The kitchen and work room still need the finish plastering before they can be painted. The shower and tub still need to be tiled. We’ll keep pushing forward, one small step at a time.

We are painting the bathroom and the bedroom. We also have some of the window jambs installed, and should get the rest done soon (had to go get some more shims). Then we can start putting the window casing on and finishing off the spaces. We can also start tiling the shower and tub areas.

We also need to get busy with the hardwood flooring for the bedroom. We have about half of it reclaimed, but the other half is still waiting.

It’s hot – and watering the plants and trees we have planted has become a priority.

The bathroom is well underway. The floor tile is installed and grouted, and we’re getting ready to put the tile on the countertops. When that’s done, we will be able to install the faucets and turn on the water. We’ve had the toilet working for a week or so now.

We’re also starting to paint the bedroom.

 

Some of the bathroom floor tile has been laid down and grouted. The rest of the tile  is ready to be laid.

As soon as we fill nail holes and touch up the paint on the trim, the toilet can be installed.

Today we came back from town with 20 gallons of paint. In 5 gallon buckets. We are ready to start the big push — get the house ready to move in. It’s been 2 years from the time we poured the footings for the foundation.

24th – we have returned from a brief trip to Colorado. Since we have been back, the temperature has been over 100 degrees 3 times. Today will possibly be cooler, since we are getting some rain.

Now it’s time to get back to working on the house.

 

Well — May is finally done. We got about 1-3/4 inches of rain there at the end of the month. Potentially we will get some the first part of June.

The days are very warm, and I can’t get the house cooled down enough at night to make it comfortable to work. What if I reverse the days (sleep in the daytime, and work at night?) Maybe I can get more done.

The first task now is to lay out the tile for the bathroom floor, to see how it will fit. Then I may get some tile laid in the next few days. I have been trying to get some stain on the porch and deck, but the rain gets in the way. I don’t get enough space for the wood to dry out before another storm comes. Maybe it will have to wait until later.

We’re putting a ditra underlayment on the floor under the bathroom tile. It will help the tile to remain stable and not flex. I got some put down and then after a couple of days, I can start installing the tile.

Got some of the bathroom tile laid in the guest bath and partway into the main bath. I hope to be able to install the baseboard tomorrow, then I can install the toilet. That will be nice!

As soon as I can connect the condensate line to the water heater, I’m going to get it running. Since it is a heat pump, it should help cool the air in the house. (It takes the heat from the air, and puts it into the water.)

 

 

 

May 2017

We are getting the floor in the laundry room put down. We’re using a parquet tile that we had left from prior projects. We’ll put it on the floor, apply several coats of polyurethane on it so that it is sealed from possible water (being a laundry).

The floor is down, the water heater is now put where it will stay, and I’m ready to finish the baseboard installation after I put the finish on the floor.

The days have been so hot and humid that I’m having to water our new plants about every 3rd day to keep them from wilting.

Now the bathrooms are beginning to come together.

20th – finally rain. We’ve gotten 1-1/4 inches – a big blessing for the new trees and shrubs. Now the heat is coming back. Supposed to be 80s and 90s for Memorial Day weekend.

April 2017

We have one bathroom sink installed in its cabinet in place, and the second one will follow soon.

Denise will have to go back to Colorado for a while again later on, so that will slow things a bit.

We’re not getting very much rain. Where are the spring rains that we are supposed to have?

 

 

March 2017

We’re thinking about how we can make the property viable, and have settled on the idea that we need to have some animals on it to provide for the agricultural use tax valuation. We have plenty of grass and forbs to provide feed, so what do we do?

We have decided that the best idea would be sheep. Now, how to go about putting sheep on the land?

In the house, we are moving forward with plastering and preparing the rooms for painting.

We’ve also decided how we are going to finish the outside of the house. We will use siding panels that look like stucco for part of the surface, and lap siding installed vertically to look like board & batten for other parts of the surface. It will all be painted in southwest earth tones with trim in white and turquoise.

We have installed some of the window and door trim, and are continuing to prepare the finish.

Our son came again the end of month, and helped finish the plumbing in the crawl space. We now have all the drain system installed, the bathtub and shower are in place, and the water is all hooked up and turned on in the house. The refrigerator can now make ice! Since it’s already getting warm, that is a good thing.

February 2017

Still working slowly on the interior.

We are noticing that working inside is very pleasant. The solar mass floor seems to be doing its job.