Going for a swim before some seriously cold temps!

10/12/2009:  The frogs were loving all the water but Jeff and I are completely over it and ready to finish the drainage aspect with some landscaping!

10/18/2009:  Still pretty wet but after almost a week to dry out Garrett was able to come back and put in the drainage box as well as grade and backfill our "pool"....now we just need to get some plants in before the next rain LOL!

10/19/2009:  Even temperatures in the low 30's were not going to stop Garrett and his guys...they are so ready to be done with this job (weather has been a serious kink in the works).  Garrett, Brantley and Paul showed up bright and early Monday morning sporting their winter wear and ready to work.  Paul cut out the broken sections of concrete while Garrett graded the back and re-dug Jeff's yard waste pit.

The boys are back in town!

10/8/2009:  Mike and Garrett decided they could share a day of work finally!  Garrett came solo to finish up the landing and paint the trim while Mike, Paul, Alan and Danny worked on their own trim work...

Mike's guys were busy installing the new bead board ceiling and other finish pieces...

Garrett making things look pretty again!

10/9/2009:  Not too much to be done on Friday but they did finish off the front door cover with new bead board...lots of rain expected in the next few days so another halt to work coming...

Danny poses for me...

Okay, now I'M back...long update time!

10/20/2009:  From deep in the tundra...well it feels like it anyway!!!  When the mornings start out below 20 degrees, it takes a bit to get moving. ;-)  I realize (from the multiple harassing emails) that I am a bit behind in updating the blog...I do have a good excuse...or three though!  Work was at a stand still for a while due to more rain then there was a short trip to NY to visit my sister and her family and 10/9 found me on the operating table once again...left elbow this time!  Of course the biggest hold up was the fact that my computer was at the doctor for two weeks leaving me with a ton of catch up emails and such.  Now that  the excuses are out of the way...on to what you really came for...an update on the project!!!  I'll just add them all on one page by date.

10/1/2009:  Mike and his guys worked on more details that weren't as visible (the concrete work is more obvious minute to minute) but they did add the railing - wow what a difference!

10/2/2009:  The stairs finally went in on Friday...no more going all the way through the house or using a ladder to get up on the deck - yeah!

10/3/2009:  While I was in NY visiting, Jeff was in charge of photography as Mike's guys added the new roofing and posts for the stairs...

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10/6/2009:  Garrett, Paul and Tony claimed Tuesday as theirs!  They came in and finished up detail work though there are no pictures to prove it! LOL  I did manage to capture one of them with the patio replica cake I made for them...unfortunately by the time they got it, the cake was three weeks old and worth nothing more than a good picture...good thing they got to taste the scraps when it was first made!

The inquiries for a blog update are flooding in again so I'll wrap up for now and continue with a new post hopefully later today...believe it or not, we are only DAYS away from completion!!!

We have frameage and a roof!!!

9/29/09:  Today's work was a huge transformation!!!  It's incredible what a difference this whole project makes on the look of the house...it looks so nice as you walk or drive up the street!  The guys got the framing up as well as the roof boards and the columns out front!

Notice the beautiful "blue" borders?  Garrett is going to come back and change those...

Once the border color is changed the front entry will be complete with the exception of landscaping...

Patio cake and a broken arm?!?

I almost forgot to add the picture of the cake I made for Garrett and the rest of the guys from Cornerstone Concrete Development... It's a replica of the patio!  I've still not managed to get it to them as they
had to work on another project while Mike works on the deck...

As far as the arm part goes...it's not actually broken.  Cassandra was running UP the new staircase and mis-judged her stride.  She bailed and along with several cuts and scrapes she bruised the elbow bone.  She is in a fiberglass splint until Friday "just in case"...she is thoroughly loving it!

Destruction and artwork all in one day!

9/28/09:  Mike and his guys started demolition of the deck today!  We had to leave for Yom Kippur services so I don't hav too many pictures but what a treat to come home and find a beautiful new deck floor laid...it looks spectacular!

Jeff came up with the diamond pattern!

Now that's what I call a real fire!!!

9/26/09:  Jeff was so bummed that he didn't get to do the first "official" burn in his new firepit and he has been trying in vain ever since to make up for it.  With the rain and all the wood being soaked he had resorted to burning old bills and cardboard boxes - anything he could find that was dry!  But today he finally had a real burn and he was so happy!

View from the bay window in the kitchen...

Of course we also had a "pool"...or two from all that rain...we still have to figure out the drainage issue...

Picture doesn't do it justice...there was several inches of water pooled up under the deck...