First Day Cottage Walpole

 Here are some updates on the house.  Firstly I can't stop looking at my awesome clothesline.  Isn't it a beautiful sight?!  So much sun out there.  It really makes me happy. Here is a hint at what's going down this week.  I think Jason will be setting the cobblestones which will separate the courtyard gravel from the paved (eventually) driveway.  They will also encircle the tear drop shaped island in the middle. Grass has been planted in the areas where we needed to fill in the bare patches.  Rain would be very helpful to get it going but it's been hot and dry. I am still painting.  It never ends.  I have stained one half of the long front porch decking.  I tried rolling it but did not like the coverage so brushing it on worked better.  Not easy on the knees! And here is the big reveal on our new stone steps!  I just love the natural look of them.  The stepping stone pathway has been started and will continue all the...

I chose a butcher block countertop for the pantry as an economical option.  The kitchen countertops are so expensive! I am staining it a dark walnut and then will treat it with a special oil that will harden into a satin wax finish that is food grade.  It is repairable so the counter can be refreshed as opposed to polyurethane which has to be sanded off. Here is the first coat of stain

After five months we finally got electric service.  Now hopefully construction can begin soon. Our new pole is now functional The boys sitting in the studio.  They will be more excited when there are walls and a roof!  We took a long walk around the whole property and they were pleased to find piles of deer poop in their soon to be new yard.

We were doing pretty good for a week or so on progress.  Some of the floors got poured and they look nice and smooth.  But then this happened... the inevitable first big winter storm of the season.  Now we are buried so I am not sure what will happen with the rest of the concrete.  Unless we miraculously get an extended warm spell and a lot of melting!

This week the trench has been dug and conduit laid in preparation for electricity.  We need to get on Liberty Utilities' schedule (no small feat). This is the "slurry pit" for the well which is supposed to be dug this week also.  Big happenings!

There was a lot of earth moving out at our building site this week.  The foundation is mostly backfilled.  The driveway was filled and the giant hole was filled in.  Here you see the rocks that were screened from all that fill out of the hole laid for the slab under the garage. The courtyard is pretty much filled in.  This will eventually be washed gravel and flat stones for the walkway. Our piles of screened fill...not sure where these are going. Now let's hope for some temperate weather so they can finish pouring concrete.  It has been unseasonably cold the last week.  I know it's a lot to hope for in November!

We were out at the site this morning and we were excited to see lots happening.  Erik the plumber is laying the tubing for the radiant heat in the basement (with the help of his son on school vacation day).  It looks like it will be nice and warm down there! It was exciting to finally be able to walk inside the house now that it is partially backfilled.  I can't wait to get the decking on so we can see what our view will be from the first floor. Snow predicted tonight so let's hope it is not too bad and they can get the concrete poured soon.

We stopped at the building site to show our daughter the foundation and were there to receive delivery of the foam insulation that will go around the foundation.  It was exciting to get the stuff delivered but not as exciting to receive the bill.  It was not included in the original estimate but apparently it is code to maintain energy efficiency.  Once this gets attached the site will be backfilled which will be great because then we can get closer to the building.  Right now there is a deep ditch all around and a plank to get across.  Not willing to break a leg to get inside! On the plus side, I am finding lots of good rocks for landscaping! Thomas and David Howard (our architect) consulting on the backfilling and grading that will happen.  The man from Perkins said he used to fish in the pond next door.  Everyone who comes out to the site remarks about what a nice location it is.

The forms for the foundation are set and concrete is getting poured this week.  It is looking amazingly tall to me right now considering this is all going to be below grade so there is a tremendous amount of backfilling to be done.  I hope we are not sitting on top of a mound at the end of it like a cupcake!  We will be back in NH in a few weeks and it will be good to see all of this in person.  These photos were taken by friends who are keeping an eye on the project.  Thank goodness for friends! Hello Jana!

Starting to see some real progress on the foundation work.  The footings have been poured and the walls should be poured next week.  They will stick way up high and then be back filled and the soil will be graded away from the house.  Because there is so much grade the architect changed the size of the side basement windows so we wouldn't have so much cement exposure which is good.  They put foam on the outside of the cement and there is supposed to be some sort of stucco applied to that they assure me so you don't see foam along your foundation! It's exciting to see the footprint clearly now.  Thomas says it's looks like three train cars hitched together. We are also trying to untangle the mystery of how to get electricity run to our new place.  Many people have driven out and checked out the pole situation on Old Drewsville Road including the electrician, electrical engineers from the Liberty Utility Co. and a site person from Consolidated Commu...