Jennifer Came to Visit

Jennifer has been here for a week. Ladybug has liked having her around. She was the first one to use the shooting pad. She shot trap with her dad's shotgun. Check out the boots with the shorts, Aunt Susie. She's not very happy with me for posting this but.....she'll get over it.

More Walls!

The whole south side is just about up. The first picture shows the bathroom window, the stairway window, the front door opening & the two den windows. Old Green came in handy lifting part of the garage wall into place. Leryl is using a little gentle persuasion to get the wall right where he wants it. A pretty big window in the garage.....it matches the one in the man cave above. I think they've accomplished a lot in two days time.

We Have Wood!!!

Not only do we have wood....we have an entire wall plus a little!!!
Leryl & Mike put up the west wall, which is our bedroom, closet & bathroom. The corner windows are where the soaking tub will go. They worked hard & they're hungry! It was a productive day & we're excited!

WOW! Pumper trucks are way cool!!! The slab was poured today & it went perfectly! Even the concrete crew was impressed with how everything came off without a hitch. They did a great job so I baked them cookies. Leryl & I couldn't have asked for a better anniversary gift! It was a fabulous (Pfabulous for my sister) day!

The Tubing is Laid!!!

Woo~hoo! The radiant heat tubing is laid.....all 2,500+ feet!!! The pictures show Mike rolling out the tubing and Leryl zip tying it to the rebar. Leryl is on his knees attaching a tube to the manifold. The manifolds are in the last picture. I even had a job today.....I snipped off the zip ties after they were tied to the rebar. That's me in the white tee shirt & straw hat. Leryl & Mike were pleased with what they accomplished yesterday & today. Now.....if we could just get the concrete guys here Monday morning!!!

Gettin' Closer.....

So.....here we have another of Leryl's pride & joys....the trench drain for the garage. We can drive in with all the slop on our rigs & it will just drain into the trench. The rebar is now in place over the blueboard in the house area so it won't blow away. The garage area is still not "barred" so we'll have to weight it down well when the guys leave today. The last picture shows Gary & Kevin framing up the step into the laundry room. Our plan to pour the slab tomorrow is out the window. Mike & Leryl will have the weekend to lay out the radiant tubing. The pour will be next week. I'm starting to sweat a little......the days are flying by and we haven't started framing. Guess it will happen when it happens.

The Dreaded Blueboard

It was 95+ Saturday. Little John, the neighbor offered to come down and lay blueboard so.....that's what happened. They had to cut and piece around the plumbing. It wasn't a fun job especially in the heat. They quit around 1:30 and Leryl finished up Sunday. Leryl duct taped most of the pieces together, laid out bricks, boards and tools to keep it in place. Well, the wind blew Monday night in a big way & lifted about a quarter of the sheets up & out. He spent Tuesday morning putting the puzzle back together & he's not convinced he got it back the same way. It's ok but it's not nice & tight like it was initially. The concrete guys were supposed to be here Monday morning to lay the re~bar. Had they shown up like they were supposed to.....we would have been fine. Oh well.

Compacting the Hard Way!

Randy, the concrete man took his cool remote controlled compactor with him so.....Lery had to resort to the little guy. Notice the wet gravel.....I did that & a fine job I did!!! It's a hot one so he's hydrating as he's working. Isn't he a cutie??? Judy....remember those glasses??? I had them in college! :)

Workin' Solo.....

Mike is gone for a few days so Leryl is on his own. Plumber Nate & Helper Steve have all the water lines in so they're done....except for the fun stuff....fixtures! The pictures show Leryl shoveling rock, checking his work with the lazer level & then raking what he shoveled. I couldn't get this to load 6 pictures so I'm posting a second group as soon as I'm done with this.

Nate the Plumber

Nate, the plumber came by Thursday night to tell Leryl & Mike what needed to be dug out for him to lay pipes. He was supposed to come back Saturday but he got busy with another job so.....he came Sunday!!! He liked the digging the guys had done. He laid the pipe, put in the drains and vents then called
for an inspection. The inspector came Monday, checked the pressure on the pipes & we passed all the tests! One more sign off! Woo~hoo!!!!! Mike is going back to Oregon for a week. Leryl has a bunch of piddly stuff to do. The concrete crew will be back Monday to work on the interior footings. Still not sure when the slab will be poured. You'll just have to keep checking! :)
We had a ferocious thunder & lightning storm with a good shot of rain Friday night. Our dust is now settled and it's almost like concrete. It's kind of nice.

Big Toys are Gone!

Well, the big toys are gone! Tony finished dumping dirt in the corners and then about 7 loads of rock were delivered. Now, we have to wait until the plumber can come to show Mike & Leryl what he needs them to do. Mike & "The Girls" are relaxing at the end of the day. I probably won't post for a few days as we're at a standstill until the plumber comes. I'm getting really tired of dirt, concrete & rock. I'm ready to see some wood!!! Leryl says I have to be patient!

Digging, Dumping, Pushing & Compacting Dirt!!!

OK....I'm having trouble posting tonight so we'll see how this goes. Tony was back today. He dug out the pond, loaded the dirt into the dump truck & dumped it into the hole. His son, Rob & Leryl used the Bobcat & the John Deere to push the dirt around. Mike ran the compacter to get the dirt all compacted down. There's almost enough dirt so they should finish up tomorrow. It was pretty busy out there today & the dust was flying! The top left picture should have come up last. This was at the end of the day with Mike & Leryl figuring out what should happen next. Notice the level of the dirt compared to the last picture. A whole bunch of truck loads & the pond is getting REALLY big!!!