The kitchen countertop is in, at long last. It is so much nicer to work on than varnished plywood!!
Kitchen sink was replaced and looks so much nicer than the funky stainless steel sink. The blue on the wall is simply unfinished wall boards that were replaced before the cabinets were installed.
Soon there will be a gas range (hopefully). I’ve since cluttered up the countertop with a microwave oven, and various other small kitchen appliances.
So the next steps in the kitchen are to finish the sheetrock which needs a skim coat and texturing, then painting, both on the wall behind the sink and on the ceiling. We are replacing the track lighting. We need to improve the lighting in that room. Then the overhead beams will need to be sanded and varnished. And propane needs to be installed in the house so that I can use the gas range which is still sitting on our front porch.
The bathroom remodeling is just beginning. So far all we’ve accomplished is to replace the door, and the bathroom vanity, sink, countertop and faucet. We have a new shower which will double the size of the existing shower and it is sitting in a box in the front yard. First we have to install the new water heater which is propane, then we can remove the existing water heater which is to the left of the shower, and re-frame that area for the new shower as the plumbing will not be in the right location for the new shower. Then we are going to replace the flooring. We are going to move light switches around so more sheetrock repairs will need to be done, and new light fixtures and medicine cabinet, and the shower faucet needs to be replaced as well. Then we will need to do more painting. This will be the next room we tackle once we have propane.
We put in a different granite countertop in the bathroom, with colors that are reflected in the new shower. Since this is our only bathroom we have to plan carefully.
Propane is theoretically being installed next week. I say theoretically because we still don’t know if a plumber is going to show up before the propane company sets a tank, which happens on the 24th. This may all need to reschedule to sometime in June. Sigh.
The fencing contractor has finished putting in the wood fence posts and bracing, and the metal fence posts which go between the wood ones, and they started running the barbed wire today. That part goes quickly.
They have put in the gate on the driveway, and the personnel gate which will give us access to the stairs down to the creek. The contractors will be starting that project this week. It will take roughly three weeks.
The gate has a latch which is easy to operate, and there is plenty of room for a big truck to make the turn off the narrow gravel road, and for a UPS truck to pull off the road. Most of the time the gate will stay open, anyway, when the cows and calves aren’t running loose. That silver ball on the ground across from the gate is barbed wire waiting to be uncoiled and installed on the fencing.
This is the creek. It’s so shady and cool. We can’t wait to be able to go down by it and watch the water go by.
The water runs over granite bedrock, and it always fairly noisy even at low water.
The garden fencing is also under way. And it will be done by the end of this week, as well as the perimeter fencing. So looking forward to seeing cows and calves on the road looking through the fencing and wistfully eyeing our grass, and deer looking through the garden fencing wistfully eyeing our flowers and plants. The perimeter fence won’t inconvenience the deer at all, nor the bears. The deer will simply boing over the top, and the bears will go through it – they might lose a bit of fur but they got lots.
The garden is in the front of the house. This is the view of it off the front porch.
Fence posts and bracing, and the holes which they dug yesterday.
Normally they will dig deeper holes but the ground is so rocky they need to set the wooden posts in concrete.
Posts and bracing. The bracing will hold the poles in place until the concrete sets.
Next year we will put up nest boxes on the wood fence posts, for bluebirds.
Speaking of flowers, these are the ones that came with the house.
Purple Iris
Columbine. The hummingbirds are particularly fond of these flowers.
Lilac. Next fall I want to protect this plant so the deer don’t prune it to within an inch of its life like they did last year.
Peony. Dan was reading about these today; they are a super long-lived perennial. I did not know that!
We have a long list of small projects for the inside of the house, and the major outside projects like a living room/bedroom/bathroom addition and/or garage are probably not going to happen right away due to skyrocketing building costs and unavailability of components like concrete for a foundation, floor joists, and roof trusses!!! Who knew? We will need to wait for normality to return. It is a combination of the pandemic and profiteering that is driving up the costs. We still hope to replace the roof and repaint the exterior of the house this year. We don’t know how much the roofing is going to cost, nor if it is even available, so that may also be waiting another year.
I love all the plants that you have! I miss having lilacs. The work is coming together and excited to see. The creek will be especially amazing in the hot summers.