It's really "News From the Hill"!

We're finally living on the land!  

This is at last truly "News From the Hill"!!

We thumbed our noses at Hurricane Sandy

and went ahead with plans for the move on Monday.

We didn't have much choice.  

The new tenants at the rental

were coming to take our place in three days

whether we were still there or not.

There was a little drizzle and some bitter cold wind

but since a hurricane was on the way,

I was grateful that it wasn't worse.

We had a team of six young men, from a moving company in Roanoke,

who worked like Trojans and got the job done in 7 hours,   

minutes before the downpour, sleet and snow(!) began.

So here we are out on the driveway of the new house

living in the RV section of the horse trailer.

So close and yet so far away!  

I know it sounds sort of grim, but it's fine!

Yes it will be tight quarters for the next few weeks (month?)

But it's SO nice to finally be here.

On our own land.

In our own "home"/trailer.

Packing and cleaning the rental gave me a six day

hiatus  from painting 

and am practically in withdrawal!  

I'll post some photos of the new digs tomorrow.

It's cozy, 

and it's home sweet home for the next month or so!  

9 Days to Moving Time!

We took a break and left the new house before dark today!!  

Painting windows in the Master Bedroom

We committed to a fellowship dinner group
that will meet monthly so

we scrubbed most of the paint off our hands 

rejoined society for the evening.

And now since I'm not tired,
I can blog before bed!

My big accomplishment this weekend has been getting
the second coat on the kitchen ceiling.

BUT by the end of cutting in around all those edges,
I was beginning to think that a plain old ceiling would have been just fine. 

Not really,
but it was definitely a strain on this middle aged neck!

Other happenings this week have been that the new tile setter
Johnny M, is working at lightening speed. 

Yes, there's a new tiler.
... a long story better forgotten.

No grout yet, but here's the floor sink by the back door
 It'll be used for dog paws, muddy boots etc.
Everyone insists on calling it the dog shower,
but whatever the name, it's sweet!!

Heavy equipment everywhere as grading is being done
and the septic system is being installed. 

Nine days until we move out of the rental..... OMG!

The house is weeks away from completion
and I honestly haven't a clue where we're going to put our furniture.

But we've graded out a pad for the living quarters horse trailer
so we won't be homeless.

A Few New Pics

We get back to the rental at around 9-10 pm each night 

after a 10-12 hour day of working, 

and practically fall into bed each night.

Joe is handling lots of construction details, working on the retrofitted antique furniture vanities 

and helping make my painting job easier by moving things and sanding.

Meanwhile, I'm still staining, filling holes, caulking, puttying, polying, 

priming and Sealcoating as fast as possible.   

Here I am staining the kitchen windows 

and practicing my Olympic balance beam routine at the same time!

It's a long way down on the other side of the glass

so I hope to not do a triple dismount through the window!  

At long last, the little white front door has been replaced!

FINALLY the front door arrived and was installed (still missing trim in these photos) 

and the little temporary white door moved over to the side entrance.

We'll have another Loewen glass door over there, 

but are waiting until more work is done inside 

before getting rid of our little white "beater" door.

The lower half of the kitchen cabinets are here!!

And the Silestone quartz in the our bathroom was installed without a hitch!

There's lots more to show and tell but I'm hitting the pillows!

Front porch and Underporch

We got quite a bit of painting, polying, puttying, priming 

(say that fast why don't you?!) 

accomplished this weekend.

You'll  have to use your imagination 

to see me wielding the caulking gun or paintbrush 

since we didn't take time to snap photos.

The things that we're spending so many hours on are rather unphotogenic anyway.  

Many bloggers take photos of chopped onions etc, 

but does anybody really want to see a filled nail hole?  

We aren't the only ones working, outside we had some changes last week...

The bluestone was laid on the front porch 

and the plan for the steps, front pedestals and our entry from the garage

 came together with the help of a lot of cinderblock and concrete!

The original elevations had the columns ending a ground level 

and so no need for the steps 

but our placement of the house made the front a little higher.

So this was a head-scratcher to try and figure out how best to ground the columns 

and route the side steps without detracting from the columns and porch.

And yes, the front door is here (finally) and so is the side door!  

As soon as the bluestone is grouted, 

they'll finish up the front of the house!

Another decision that I debated was what to do with the "underporch" area.  

Aggregate (too expensive), scored concrete (a bit out of character) , bluestone (again too expensive)?  

Instead we went with pavers 

and I'm totally happy with both the pavers themselves (Hanover Pavers) 

and the careful attention to detail that the local guys are giving to the installation.  

This was the scene a couple of weeks ago (pre-paint too)...

And this weekend... they're still working and tweaking....

The polymer sand will go down to bind them all together when the layout is completed and it's all level.

I'm headed to the house for more puttying and caulking down in the basement.  

At noon, I'm removing my do-rag and work clothes 

and scooting over to a friends for a two hours of bridge.  

They swear that they won't laugh at my paint spattered arms and hands.  

Then it'll be back to the house for the evening shift!