Where the Pigs Feel at Home

The sun was out this morning and the air was Spring-like in the 60's. We decided to pack a lunch and stop by the building site on the way to the Washington Township Park. The cable was down (good sign), but the site was deserted, lunch break I guess. I tried to drive up to the garage, but the van bottomed out here when the tires sank down in the mud. Luckily I was able to back up to firmer ground!

The girls wore their matching frog "puddle stompers", and good thing too. The mud was several inches deep, as you can see where they have been moving this equipment around.

Hey bro! Your artwork was hanging on the wall in the study!

The beginnings of the first main floor wall was almost ready to put into position.

I did hear from our builder on Monday, who felt pretty optimistic about getting this house under roof very soon.

After we wallowed back down the hill, we had a lovely picnic at the park. The girls enjoyed swinging (L didn't want her picture taken), sliding, playing on the monkey bars, and throwing rocks (and unfortunately J's birthstone ring) into the creek. Out of necessity, we went through the car wash before returning to the apartment.

We spent this evening talking to this gentleman, who looks remarkable for being 200 years old!

Wet Concrete

We are afforded a great deal of privacy with our long driveway up the hill. The building site is not visible from the road (and we like it that way!). We get hints about what is going on at the top by whether the cable is up or down across the drive, and, since there has been snow, the number and variety of tire tracks.

J got off work early yesterday, and the weather had blossomed from .1* on Thursday AM to about 47* Friday afternoon. We took this as a sign to head up the hill for a look around. The cable was up across the drive, but there were tire tracks heading up (or down) from a BIG truck...a good sign! Apparently those tracks were either from the concrete truck, or the truck that delivered the roof trusses.

The concrete for the 2nd floor walls was obviously poured today, as bits were still slowly oozing out from under the framing around windows, and there was a fresh pool of extra cement in the driveway in front of the garage. We were a bit disappointed that we missed observing the pouring of both floors. I was also at a loss to figure out how to photo document it until I noticed a ladder still set up against the scaffolding in the future Master Bathroom! I went up first to snap a few shots, and then little J was quite eager to join me up there.



She was tentative at first, but then enjoyed it so much that she made 2 full circuits of the house on the scaffolding before climbing down!



Who can resist the opportunity to write their names in wet cement? We put ours in the study wall for posterity!


A friend of ours, who always seems to be "in the know" told us that all construction in the area has basically ceased this winter, weather related issues, he says. It only makes me feel slightly better that we aren't the only ones twiddling our thumbs impatiently!

The Cutest Blog on the Block

Thanks to The Cutest Blog on the Block for the new look for my blog! I downloaded this cool background FREE from their site.

Ice

This week was a stellar one if you are interested in bad weather. The public schools were closed Monday and Tuesday, and delayed on Wednesday and Friday. We had snow, freezing rain, sleet and ice descend upon our small town. Today, the sun is out and the thermometer reads 50* in the sun.

The builder and crew were not able to achieve much at the house because of all of the above. On top of our hill yesterday, the scene was sparkling with pristine ice covered snow. This is the view from the study and laundry rooms.

There was an ice skating rink in the future study.

Some of the equipment was iced in.

Icicles hung from the most improbable places. These are in the downstairs window...the one that is below grade!

We also had some sort of tiny visitor in the first floor...bunny perhaps?

Today all of Western Pennsylvania is focused on the Super Bowl, and hoping that the Steelers pull off a "6 pack" of wins. We are headed out into the sunshine. I'm praying that it lasts through next week!

The Second Story

Lo and behold, as we approached the top of the hill this morning, two stories of house rose up above the frozen mud!

The temperatures actually snuck above the freezing mark for two days this week (in fact, they snuck up into the 40's). We enjoyed seeing some blue sky and sunshine, and taking great gulps of fresh, winter air for those couple of days. But I am so grateful to the men who were out working on those not so balmy and lovely days!

This is a shot of the house from the driveway. The doorway will be the main entrance to the house, bringing you in next to the dining room.

This shot gives you an idea of what the view from our Great Room will be like.

Eventually there will be a breezeway between the garage and the house...into the laundry room.

Here is the inside of the main floor. It is so exciting to see new things the past few visits!

There's Snow Place Like Home

It's been COLD around here! Temps have been in the teens during the day, and down to -12 point something Friday night. By Saturday morning, it had warmed up to +12, so the family bundled up and headed up the hill. I have to heartily applaud the guys who worked in the cold and snow this week! They got up the 1st floor joists and framed the walls in the basement.

This is a shot of snow on the first floor...the hole is where the stairs will go down to the basement.



Here are the girls checking out their rooms. (Still looks small to me, but I keep reminding myself that it's not done yet!)


I am standing in the "Exercise Room" to take this photo, through the Media Room, into the girls' rooms where everyone else is standing.

It looks like a REAL construction site now! I'm looking forward to exploring more when it isn't so cold!

2009...the year of the HOUSE

2009 slipped in somehow when I wasn't looking. So did these I-beams for the floor joists. Now, if the house would just get finished that quickly...I'll turn my back for a while, and then: ta-da it will be done!!! They are calling for "winter mix" this week, a form of precipitation which encompasses all other forms except drought and maybe tornado. All in all, not nice weather to work in. But this is the year that we move to our new house, it's getting more palpable with the calendar change!