Saturday, January 4, 2014

House Building Journal - Part 18 and final

As much as we enjoyed this house building project, it is quite wonderful to be actually living here and appreciating all that has been created. There are still projects to be done to keep Frits occupied for quite a while but the urgency has passed. We can take our time deciding just how the pantry shelves will fit together and how the bar will look. The house is very comfortably warm and feels just right to us.

Over the holidays we entertained frequently, and plan to continue with just a little break for now. After 2 1/2 years living in 900 sq ft with almost no counter space, dinner parties were pretty much on hold. Never one to enjoy everyday cooking I had become less and less interested in even baking, but now in the new kitchen I think I may get quite creative.

The door in the far corner leads to the pantry.

The outside porch has no permanent floor yet, but once inside the front door you are on warm tiles and greeted by 'The Holsteins'.

We were quite taken by this painting by Vermont artist, Rebecca Kinkead, and so these interested cows have become a permanent fixture.

My red chair is definitely in the right spot, rocking and swiveling me to watch activity in the kitchen, the sunset or sleeping dogs.

The center column for the stairs is a good spot for the poinsettias for now, but this will change with the seasons until perhaps a sculpture or some other art piece finds it's way to us.

The Christmas tree landed in the perfect place where the lights can be seen from near and far. The chaise in the far corner has not seen much use to date but what a wonderful spot when time allows.

Our bedroom still needs some more art work but with such large windows there is plenty to view. Well, there would be if it wasn't always dark when we get up!

The walk thru closet, large on my side and less extravagant on Frits' side, leads you to the still-to-be-completed master bathroom.

The shower has a drive-thru opening for the wheelchairs, if the time comes, and the hot water comes fast and plentiful. Radiant heat in the base feels mighty good on these recently frigid days. The Japanese soaking tub will feel even better very soon.

We have been waiting for the granite corner shelf before installing the faucet. It is coming in a couple of days and then the bubbles will fill it almost to the top. Note the almost! There is no overflow on this tub so my dear husband, just as a precaution mind you, spent countless hours designing and installing this floor that naturally drains along the pebbles all the way to the shower drain. This is my tub exclusively, so it is not he who may forget that the water is running!

The winding stairs lead down to the lower level family room, two bedrooms and an almost finished bathroom. It is all sheetrocked with a first coat of paint so just trim and some finishings plus carpet are needed. My office is set up down here and also floor mats for exercise and yoga. The French doors and large windows give lots of natural light and view and I use it daily.

No rush to finish this right now. We have to have some unfinished space or it just wouldn't be right. 43 years together and always in abodes in need of completion. First a tiny 'Cubby' where even I couldn't stand up, to a school bus with no plumbing, to our first house with no heat, to our 2nd house without kitchen until our 3rd child came along and still had plywood floors in places even after we moved out, to our shell of a cabin when we moved in, in January and now what we hope to be our final home, and the best!

So it is with some regret that I end my House Building Blog. There will be other posts on new subjects as the spirit moves me but for now, it is good night and thank you for reading.