Overdue

This post is long overdue,  but it seems the days fill up so fast with contractor calls and inspections.  We did pass plumbing, HVAC, drain tile, and our porch inspections this week.  Chris made a big step this week deciding to hire out the electrical.  Work is just too busy and vacation time too precious that he realized doing the electrical ourselves would push our finish date too far.

The brickwork on the house is all laid and they are starting the stone work.  That lays the foundation so we can begin hanging siding this week.  The roof shingles are being installed as I type so no more drips and we will truly be weather tight.  The coolest progress made this week was the porch steps were poured.  They came out so nice,  I think they look just like a wedding cake!

Have been busy interviewing electricians, insulators garage door installers and cabinet makers.  With all the work going on,  it is hard to make sure the boys have a fun summer as well.  We did purchase a used golf cart and they have been having lots of fun getting the mail and taking out the trash.  Their definition of fun has changed a little since we moved to the country.  Cooper told me "Mom,  you know you're a redneck when your golf cart has an air horn and a gun rack."  We did get a trip to Dave and buster and another to Hershey in, as well as several trips to the library and pool.

Last weekend we harvested the honey we had in the freezer.  Our new extractor made light works and we got 58 1lb bottles of honey.  We were surprised at how easy the cleanup was as we just put all the dirty dishes outside and the bees cleaned them up in a day!

After months of no new tools,  we got to buy a new paint sprayer to paint the white bricks.  Once we figured it out it worked great.  There was one brief body painting session,  that was not pleasant, but in the process we learned that hoses really do need to be tight.

One last note.  I finally did it.  Yes,  I finally ate the beets, and I made Chris eat them too.  After about 900 suggestions of how to eat the beets,  I diced them and put them on salad. They were lovely and yes I would try them again.  I must admit,  they taste just like pickles so why not just eat a pickle?  Then you wouldn't have to deal with the interesting output side effect of beets.  You beet eaters know what I am talking about!

Bountiful Harvest

We are getting 3-4 cantaloupe each day from the garden.  I think my skin has a slight orange tinge.  Our tomatos are really starting to produce as well.  We have had some great bruschetta and this week and we are going to have to can some sauce very soon.  The watermelon is still ripening and the chickens are eating about 6 cukecumbers a day.  They are laying 7.5 to 8.5 eggs a day.  The .5 is usually a soft shell egg.  Maybe I need to feed her some milk!

The house is coming along so quickly right now.  Plumbing and HVAC are all roughed in for inspections next week.  The stone has been delivered and the stone mason has begun laying the brick on the back side of the house.

We had our first trauma when we noticed the versatex facia boards were not being installed according to the manufacturers directions.  The guys were about 1/2 done and it all had to be ripped out.  Sad as it was to loose all that material,  it allowed us to change our mind on the sofit boards they had installed so we will be happier in the long run.

So much work has happened in the last two weeks that we are optimistic the we might be able to move on around the New Year.  It is going to take a lot of work and consume every weekend,  but hopefully we can make it happen.  We all know nothing happens according to plan,  but we will do our best,  because this RV is getting smaller each week,  and We all really miss our stuff!