Busy weekend! We climbed, we went road riding (we've been doing that but not taking photos) and we finished the master bedroom. All that remained was painting the wall, ceiling and newly wrapped beam. Oh, and installing the baseboard (after painting) and getting blinds up...
Well, you get it. Lots of finishing touches that took some time, but it was worth it. We still need to hang a few photos, but it was terrific to get the furniture back in place, and get some photos out again. It's a little piece of the house that is complete. We also finished the master bath - the beam was wrapped there too. Nice!
First thing Monday morning, the kitchen cabinets arrived! I thought the two guys delivering were going to expire. They kept asking if we have "any oxygen up here". It was hot too. Not a bit hot, but 100 degrees with 8 percent humidity. Brutal. Before you comment how much worse it is where you are, think about doing this with no a/c. It was not pleasant! Still everyone worked and sweat.
There were many boxes. It took some time to go through everything to ensure everything was shipped (a side panel was not, so this step, though time consuming is important!). Then the cabinet installer got busy. Lots of little prep work was needed before cabinets actually got installed.
Our pantry is tall. TALL. If we didn't have the new skylights, I'm not sure if it could have been installed! It couldn't be tilted from horizontal to vertical (well, I suppose we could have done it on the stairs - still it's tall!).
Currently, one half of the kitchen is installed (doors come later). Tomorrow the electricians return to do some fancy electrical magic. Then the plumber will come for some of the same. In short order, the entire kitchen will be installed! I kept myself busy with some graffiti in the house. Admit it! Haven't you always wanted to do something similar?
While this was going on, the door to the new room was put in (no trim yet). The porch was built (no steps yet/no photos yet).
And I spent some time at the tile store trying to figure out backsplashes. Backsplashes are definitely a first world problem - SO MANY CHOICES. With Chris' help, I think we've narrowed it way down. When Dave gets home tonight (he's out climbing again), we'll make a decision. We're booked for the tile guy already.
The countertop template will be cut Monday - cutting the granite takes 2-3 weeks so a big wait there. Boo! So, in some ways we are really close to being done. But lots of little stuff remains. It's looking great!
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Dave and I headed out to Eldorado for an afternoon of climbing. It was packed, so we had to walk in. Decided to climb on the Bastille. We started with Hair City.
I've not been on it for a long time. It's a really fun climb and a hella lead. Dave's a great climber.
Then we headed over and hopped on Blind Faith. This is another excellent climb with a hard roof - for me anyway. To date, I have not pulled the roof cleanly. Grrrr. Still, the rest of the climb was excellent. It started sprinkling a tiny bit on top, but the storm blew over.
Next up, we hopped on the North cut start to the Bastille Crack. It was empty - a rarity. I'd only done it once in about 1999. Dave hadn't been on it for five years of so. Fun time and crazy one can remember particular movement even though it's been a long time.
Next up, we headed over to C'est La Vie. Dave climbed it - I didn't. My day was over - I was tired. For the first time ever, my pack got pilfered by some enterprising little chipmunk. Rascal unzipped the top (thanks for not chewing a hole!) then pulled out a pack of goo. It was not to his liking - in fact he didn't even open it! Probably has learned from the packing it's something he doesn't care for.
He next pulled out a Chocolate Mint Clif Bar. He like this! Little rascal ran off with it before my eyes. As we hiked down, we encountered him again.
I picked up the package and he worked over the bar. :/
It was a gorgeous day. We took some photos of the area from the top of the Bastille. There was a lot of commotion while we were there. Evidently a hiker got lost and was injured. The poor EMTs looked like they were going to die hiking up to the top of the ridge to retrieve the person.
Hopefully who ever got hurt is doing okay.
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Thursday was our third anniversary. After a frenzy of drywall workers at the house, we raced up to Flagstaff Mountain to celebrate. We have had a picnic where we got married for our 1st and 2nd anniversary. This time, we had a picnic under the picnic cover where we celebrated that day instead. It actually was raining a tiny bit!
No flowers were out, but it was still pretty. We watched a few birds, then enjoyed some sushi, prosecco, and other goodies.
Nice time!
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We named her Notch Ear. She's the very friendly squirrel. I told Dave about her and showed him the photos of the silly thing coming in the dining room with the electricians feet away. Cute little bugger!
Next morning, she was back. Dave was surprised and got a kick at how friendly she is. Not sure if you can see in a photo, but her right ear has a notch cut in it.
Tuesday morning, we woke up. Dave left the bedroom and I hear "Well hello! What are you doing in here?" Notch Ear was sitting in the dining room. She'd figured out how to get on the garage roof and come through the open and screen-less new window! Uh oh! We'll have to stop feeding her. Can't have her chewing through screens. She comes by everyday, but isn't being pesty to come in. Nice to have her around.
Here's a photo of the house. Looks a bit the same from the outside - most work has been in the interior. Looks great!
Thought I'd throw in a sunset. Enjoy!
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Sad day in the neighborhood. Maddie, our neighbor dog has been growing older. I feed and let Maddie, a German-Shepherd mix in/out many afternoons as Ellen, her guardian works until the evening. I've been helping out as needed for years and watching Maddie grow old. Seeing Ellen walking Maddie and visiting with everyone has been a standard part of our neighborhood. But it is no more. :(
I went to let Maddie in on the 15th and for the first time, she couldn't get up. Her hind legs had been getting weaker and a bit less cooperative over time. And on one level we knew the day would come when they would be too weak to do anything at all. But honestly, I was stunned that it happened on the 15th. I went over and she tried hard to get up out of the grass, but she couldn't. She just laid down on her side - head and all - helpless. Thank goodness, three guys from Namaste Solar Panel company happened to be at Ellen's checking out some work stuff. They were kind enough to help me (well, they did it all really) get Maddie in the house. She's still a big dog! Once in, she just laid there. She wouldn't lift her head. It was just so sad. I called and left a message for Ellen and waited with Maddie for her to come home. Dave came over as did Harlan, a neighbor who also cared for Maddie. We stayed most of the evening with her and helped carry Maddie to the bedroom for the night.
After Ellen was home a while, Maddie was able to lift her head. She was clearly so happy to see Ellen! Maddie - she was 15.5 years old and lived a fantastic life.
The morning of the 16th, we went over to spend with Maddie and Ellen. Many of Maddie's friends came over to say goodbye. Lots of tears. RIP Maddie dog.
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Lots of activity at the house lately. We got the evaporative cooler installed. This meant a fair amount of duct work, new vents, playing on the really hot roof and in the hard-to-access attic. They did a nice job making it look good.
I hear some of your saying "What is an evaporative cooler? Suffice it to say this is how people cool their homes when they live in a low humidity environment. Our humidity as been in the 7% range lately. I'd say that is low enough.
I sort of laughed when I saw that darn expensive unit sitting in the yard like a piece of refuse! I'm glad I didn't see them putting it on the roof. Nerve wracking I'm sure.
We also had a swarm of drywall finishers in the house. They moved FAST!
By the end of the day, not much remained to be done. A little more mudding, a little bit of sanding, and they say they'll get the texturing started today. If so, I may just finish the bedroom so we can put it back together again. It'd be nice to have one room in the house in order.
We were able to get our upstairs non-bedroom closet put back together yesterday! Very exciting! Enjoy the photos. They are here to finish right now. I'm getting out of their way!
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Busy weekend! We climbed, we went road riding (we've been doing that but not taking photos) and we finished the master bedroom. All that remained was painting the wall, ceiling and newly wrapped beam. Oh, and installing the baseboard (after painting) and getting blinds up...
Well, you get it. Lots of finishing touches that took some time, but it was worth it. We still need to hang a few photos, but it was terrific to get the furniture back in place, and get some photos out again. It's a little piece of the house that is complete. We also finished the master bath - the beam was wrapped there too. Nice!
First thing Monday morning, the kitchen cabinets arrived! I thought the two guys delivering were going to expire. They kept asking if we have "any oxygen up here". It was hot too. Not a bit hot, but 100 degrees with 8 percent humidity. Brutal. Before you comment how much worse it is where you are, think about doing this with no a/c. It was not pleasant! Still everyone worked and sweat.
There were many boxes. It took some time to go through everything to ensure everything was shipped (a side panel was not, so this step, though time consuming is important!). Then the cabinet installer got busy. Lots of little prep work was needed before cabinets actually got installed.
Our pantry is tall. TALL. If we didn't have the new skylights, I'm not sure if it could have been installed! It couldn't be tilted from horizontal to vertical (well, I suppose we could have done it on the stairs - still it's tall!).
Currently, one half of the kitchen is installed (doors come later). Tomorrow the electricians return to do some fancy electrical magic. Then the plumber will come for some of the same. In short order, the entire kitchen will be installed! I kept myself busy with some graffiti in the house. Admit it! Haven't you always wanted to do something similar?
While this was going on, the door to the new room was put in (no trim yet). The porch was built (no steps yet/no photos yet).
And I spent some time at the tile store trying to figure out backsplashes. Backsplashes are definitely a first world problem - SO MANY CHOICES. With Chris' help, I think we've narrowed it way down. When Dave gets home tonight (he's out climbing again), we'll make a decision. We're booked for the tile guy already.
The countertop template will be cut Monday - cutting the granite takes 2-3 weeks so a big wait there. Boo! So, in some ways we are really close to being done. But lots of little stuff remains. It's looking great!
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