We’ve had quite a bit of rain this week, so mostly we’ve worked inside.  I got all the shower tile grouted, and John installed the shower head and control.

Shower head and control installed

Now, all we have to do is install the glass walls and doors.  Hopefully that won’t take more than a few hours.

Trying out the wash stand

We brought up the wash stand to see how it was going to fit.  Then we installed a “hotel style” towel rack on the wall.  The sink will be installed in the center of the wash stand, but we have to put a couple of “drawers” in the top.

Faucet

One of them will hold the faucet up high enough to clear the top of the sink.  The other, on the opposite side will be a small drawer.  It’s hard to explain, but we want to leave the sink up to look like a bowl, so the faucet has to be raised up too.

More work on the side garden

Yesterday, after grouting the tile, I did some more work in the side garden.  I added some more rocks along the path and planted more hosta and ferns.  The rain today insured that all the new plants got settled in.

Back yard from the porch

It has been nice not having to water the grass out back.  The new plants back there are growing too.  The final task today was cleaning out the sun porch (aka the workshop) and moving the downstairs cabinets.

Downstairs kitchen base cabinets

We took all the wall cabinets down and brought up all the base cabinets so they can be finished.  They have all been stained, but some of them have had one coat of finish, so we just brought them all up.  It’s a lot easier to work on them on the sun porch.  Now, if we can just get those wall cabinets hung…………

Well, we had some damage from the freezing temperatures, but most of the plants are already on the mend.  I got back out into the yard and did some more planting last week.

Left front planting

I planted the left side planting bed and surrounded it with more rocks.

Birdbath moved

I added more irises and some liriope to the front bed.  Some of the large ferns suffered from frost bite, but they’re sending out new growth, so they’ll probably recover well.

Birdbath

I planted begonias around the front beds and moved the birdbath to the front.  It looks pretty good there.

"Kitty" approves

Kitty surveyed everything from “The Rock” and gave her apparent approval.

Driveway planting

I also cleaned out the weeds that had grown up at the top of the driveway.  That area has been neglected and abused ever since we started working on the house, so it was a big mess.  I planted a couple of plants and filled a culvert with…more rocks!

The fence

John and I finally got the back fence up again.  This time we set the posts in concrete lest another violent storm with high winds blows through again.  It really serves no purpose other than decoration, but we like the look.  We’ll add one more section and it will be done.

Back yard and planting area

We’ve had pretty nice weather this week, so the grass in the back yard has come up nicely.  I had to re-establish the planting area lines around the grass and planted more begonias.

Shower walls

We didn’t work entirely outside this week.  John was busy making plumbing connections and installing supply lines in the upstairs bathroom.

Shower pan installed

I got back to the tile in the shower and then we installed the shower pan.  I had to cover it with black plastic so I could finish the tile on the walls.  It’s ready for grout now and then John will install the shower head and controls.

Black tile baseboard

I also started installing the black tile baseboard.  It’s going to look sharp.  We still have lots of work to do, but we’re moving right along.

Saturday was kinda gloomy with off and on showers, but I spent the day outside planting the flower beds.

Front entry flower bed

John had gotten most of the soil amendments added and the back yard seeded, so I worked all day planting out front.

Landscaping around "the rock"

I planted some freshly dug irises and ground covers  around “the rock” and scouted for rocks to put around the planting edges.  All of these rocks were dug up in the flower beds. They’re everywhere.

Camelot Rose foxglove

I planted two foxgloves at the edge of the front flower bed.  They are about 2 feet tall.

Close-up of foxglove

I just love the rich colors.

Belleza dark pink gaura

I also planted 2 gaura plants…new to me, but very promising.  They are supposed to bloom through fall.  They won’t get very high.  I don’t want any of the plants in this bed to hide the foundation plants.

Columbine and azalea

Around to the side, I planted hostas and columbine.

New bank at side

There’s a lot of shade over there, so hopefully they will thrive.

Left-front planting bed

I planted shasta daisies at the left front of the house and determined that there needs to be another gaura on that side .  I’ll plant some annuals around the front of the bed for more color later.

Saturday's work is done

Everything looked really good.

Bathroom tile trim

Next day, I headed upstairs to put tile in the bathroom. I put up all the black trim tile around the top of the wainscoting.

Medicine cabinet

It really is striking with the bright walls. Then I began working on the shower walls.

Shower wall

I don’t have enough trim tiles, so I couldn’t finish around the “niche”.  I did, however get the black and white pattern set that will wrap around the center of the walls.

Tender vegetation covered

Then John came home from work and we had to go back outside to cover the tender plants because they’re predicting temperatures in the upper 30′s tonight ( with the possibility of some SNOW) and freezing on Monday night also with a chance of snow!!  It’s called “blackberry winter” up here in the mountains. It’s a cold snap that comes when the blackberries are ready to bloom.

Plants are covered

So, we covered the ferns and azaleas and hosta and all the rest of the plants I planted on Saturday.

Ferns in the living room

John pulled the ferns from the front and put them in the living room.  The wind was blowing like crazy and blew some of the covers off right away, so we had to weight them all down with………….you guessed it….MORE ROCKS! Please, let this be the last winter punch!!

We continued working in the yard this week even though we had sub-freezing temperatures on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights!  I don’t think we lost any plants, but we probably lost some blooms.  What can you do?  On Wednesday, I worked all day plotting the landscape.

Laying out the hose

I used a garden hose to lay out the path around the side of the house.

Garden path viewed from back porch

First I laid it out, adjusted, then marked the planting areas and a garden path by sprinkling topsoil along the line of the hose.  Then I planted some of the plants.

Rhodies at the side

The rhodies are small right now, buy they will eventually grow together. The fern bed at the side is really growing.

Interrupted ferns

These are native ferns….interrupted ferns.  They get their name because as they unfurl, they start out bright green, then there is a section that is dark green and turns brown.  Then they unfurl to the top and are bright green again.  The brown is fern spores to produce more ferns.  They will eventually get about four feet tall.

New plantings at front

I planted several plants at the front and John added soil amendments to the planting areas.

Back yard soil amendments

We have the back yard about ready to seed (again).  We’ve had to rake a lot of rocks.

Kitty inspection

Every time we till the soil, more rocks.  We did, however have one rather large rock that was at the base of the big bank.

The Rock

It had to be moved, so we rolled it out to one of the planting areas at the front.  Must have weighed at least 300 pounds, but it looks pretty good there.

Ferns and "the Rock"

We also added some queen ferns between the azaleas at the front.  They’re not native, so they are planted in their pots so hopefully, when it gets cold, we can take them up and bring them inside for the winter.

Left-front planting bed

We put them on both sides of the entry.  It was a good week despite the freezing temperatures.  I did manage to finish all the wall cabinets for the downstairs kitchen, so we’ll be able to install those soon. Yay!  Move-in day is getting closer!

Well, it looks like spring has finally come to stay.

Spring has sprung!

The flower bed has popped right out and everything is turning green at last!

Ferns along the driveway

The ferns by the driveway have unfurled and it was a gorgeous weekend.

Rented a tiller for the weekend

We rented a tiller for the weekend and started working on the final grade around the whole house.

Tilling the front

John started at the front.  We have so many rocks that even the big rear-tine tiller will beat you to death, but I love the rocks.

Tilling the side yard

John moved around to the side of the house where the sun porch is located.  We’ll be able to see this area most of the year, so we want it to look nice.

Raked and ready to plant

It is ready to plant now, and I have some rhododendrons that I hope to plant this week.  We re-did the back yard also.

Re-do on the back yard

When we planted the grass last year, it came up fine, but it really wiped out during the summer.  We determined that the soil was just too sandy to hold moisture, so, much as we hated to, we started all over again.  This time we’re adding more soil amendments.  I hope it works, because I don’t think I want to do this again!

The back bank

Additionally, we tilled next to the big bank on the back side of the house.  We’ll have to rake that dirt up next to the house and slope it back toward the bank so water won’t puddle around the foundation. This is really hard work, but it has to be finished to get the final inspection.  We don’t expect to finish all the landscaping before we move in, but I don’t want to move in until everything inside is done, so it looks like this week will be mostly dedicated to landscaping.

A good weekend's work

It really does look good at the front now even without the plants. We’ll get those in this week and get back to work on the inside. By the way, you can click on any of the pictures for a better look.

Yay!  Winter is over! I’m tired of gray! We’ve added a bit of color this week around Shadowood.

Upstairs bathroom sink

First, take a look at the upstairs bathroom.  The wainscoting is installed and the upper walls are painted to match the color of the “daisy” sink.  It’s a real eye-opener.  We’ll paint the wainscoting “oyster” white, and the vanity will be old oak.  Next we have to tile the shower walls and build a bench seat on the end wall.

Jacuzzi tub panels/kitchen cabinet

I began working on the downstairs kitchen cabinets.  They had been stained, but it was too cold to work in the porch to do the polyurethane.

Downstairs kitchen cabinets

I got several of them done this week.   These are the wall cabinets.  They’ll be installed first, then the  base cabinets.  I also stained and finished the tub panels for the tub in our bathroom.  I got one coat of finish on the tub surround, so that will be done soon, too.

Freshly dug forsythia

It was a gorgeous day today and the temperature was hovering around 80, so it was out to the yard for more color.  I dug some more ferns and also some bushes.

Placing the plants

I also had some purchased plants to plant.  I added to the front with two more azaleas in front of and between the red ones we put out last week.

More azaleas in front

Note the pick ax….yeah, ran into some more hard rock.  Good exercise, but I know I’ll be sore tomorrow.  It’s time to tackle the “big bank” beside the house, so I climbed the ladder and planted some on the bank… not easy.

Ladder on bank

I also went to the top of the bank and planted some forsythia at the top.  Hopefully, it will cascade off the top and root some more plants eventually. We’ll have to build a wall at the bottom of the bank.  We’re thinking we’ll do it out of railroad ties.  Hope we can do that soon before it gets too hot.

The flowers are back

All of the other planting areas are looking good. The big ferns have taken hold and are unfurling.  Also, last year’s flower bed is looking good .  The plants are coming back and I added some muscari.  Hopefully, the good weather is here to stay!

We got some major “stuff” done this week.

Master bath sink

John installed the first of two sinks in the master bath.

Master bath toilet

He also got the toilet installed.

Our bedroom window sill

I worked on the window sill in our bedroom.  It is a “bump-out” where I plan to put plants. First I lined the “box” with left over rubber shower pan material, then covered it with backer board.  Next, I’ll tile it and do the wood trim around the window.  I will be able to put pebbles in it so the plants can sit in the window and if I spill water, it won’t seep through and rot the wood underneath.

New saw

Speaking of trim, we finally got a table saw to use for that.  Now we’ll be able to rip the boards for all the door and window trim.

This week-end was really nice.  The weather was warm and we went outside to do some more yard work.

Clean up time

We’ve had a couple of piles of miscellaneous building materials piled in front of the house while we have been working, but it was time for it to go.

Where did all these rocks come from?

John sorted it and moved the good stuff and threw away the trash.  Then he raked the area clean.  We have rocks everywhere!

All cleaned and planted

Then he planted three azaleas in front of the rock wall.

Raking under the porch

While he was doing that, I raked the debris from under the front porch and got it all cleaned and sloped so any water that gets under there will drain away from the foundation.

Pansies in front of the ferns

I planted some pansies in front of the fern bed at the side of the house and mulched it.

Now, we clean up the other side

Now, we have the pile on the other side of the front to clean up.  Whew!  We really appreciated that extra hour of daylight today!

I know it’s still winter, but the weather has been crazy.  We had a few sunny days and we were able to do a little yard work.

Fern bed 1

I dug some ferns and planted them.  I made a fern bed for each side of the back porch steps.

Fern bed 2

There is one fern in each that will grow very large, and I surrounded it with smaller ferns and some primroses.

Side fern bed

At the side of the house, where we can view it from the sun porch, I planted two more of the large ferns and several smaller ferns.  These are planted next to the redbudtree that we put in last year.  It’s going to take a while, but they should look nice.

Red dogwood

John got a small red dogwood and planted it in the  flower bed by the “handy hut.”  We should be able to enjoy the blooms from the kitchen and dining room, and the back porch, too when it’s warm.  We’ve had a few warm days, a lot of rainy, overcast days.  Friday there were storms and tornado warnings all around, and today it was windy with snow flurries!  I’ll sure be glad to see springtime!

Picket fence panels

John got the picket fence panels down this week.  They were blown down and we need to set the posts in concrete this time.  We thought they would be okay without the concrete, but I guess we were wrong.

Master bath baseboard tile

I got all the tile baseboard in the master bath.  It just needs to be sealed now and we’re ready to install the sinks and the toilet.  I think John’s going to work on that tomorrow and next week-end.   It’s good to be concentrating on some of these final details now.

Cork flooring

We got the flooring for the loft rooms, but we’re not quite ready to install it.  It is made of cork, so it should make it quieter when you walk around up there.  The picture shows it beside the downstairs oak flooring.  They look good together.

Sun porch sheetrock

I also got finished with the sheet rock mudding on the sun porch.  Now it’s ready to paint, but since it is still open to the weather, I’ll need to wait until it’s a little bit warmer to do that.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate now that we’re nearing springtime.  There is still much to do, but it’s a lot easier when it’s warm!

We’re still working in the upstairs bathroom.

Looking up the stairs

This week, we installed the stained glass windows…yes, stained glass in the bathroom!  The windows step up above the shower stall.

Stained glass installed

They are “lit” from behind by the skylight in the stairwell, or from the stairwell, they are “lit” by the bathroom lights.

From top of stairs

They give real personality to both spaces.

One of the shower walls is built in front of the pocket for the pocket door into the bathroom, so we had to add plywood between the studs of the pocket in order to attach the backer board.

Pocket door re-inforcement

The screws can only extend through the backer board and the plywood or they could go through the door. Then the door wouldn’t slide.  It worked!

We got the board in and also installed the niche into the wall.

Backer board installed

It is a small shower, so we are trying to limit any projections into the shower space.  It’s about ready to tile now.

Trying out the shower pan

The shower pan will be installed before the tile on the walls, then we will assemble the shower walls and doors and slide them onto the pan.

Some assembly required

Piece of cake, eh??

I got a package from Willow last week.  It was a really neat metal sculpture..a lizard!

The lizard

It came from her favorite store where she is living now in Texas.

Lizard on the bark

It’s really cool and we thought the best place for him was climbing up the bark on our back porch.  Looks good!

Now, one other thing. I did an interview a couple of weeks ago for a magazine article about timber frames and small homes.  It will be in the April issue of Timber Home Living.  You can link to the article here.  http://www.timberhomeliving.com/shrink-to-fit

We’ve come a long way, and we’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.  I know we’re going to love living in our new timber frame home!

We finished setting the tile in the dining room before we left for Myrtle Beach.

Finishing the tile

It was fun to get away for a few days, and we had a nice visit with Mandy and Jules. It was warm and sunny and we got to relax.

Dining room grouted

When we returned, we grouted the dining room tile.

Mud room to dining room

I like the look and the chairs should slide nicely without scratching the floor! Ha!

We moved upstairs to the bathroom and John got all the shower plumbing in the walls.

Shower corner

The shower sits in the corner next to the pocket door, so there will be tile on those walls inside the shower.

Shower niche

We’ll have a niche in the wall for soap and shampoo.

Tiling the upstairs bath

We also got the tile on the floor.

Upstairs bath floor

It’s a classic black and white basket weave pattern.  We’ll do the shower walls in black and white too.

We didn’t get as much done this week end as we had planned, but we spent Saturday honoring an amazing lady.  John’s Aunt Jimmie died this week.  She was 102 and was a beautiful and godly woman.  She lived beside us until she went into a nursing home a few years ago.  I remember her always working in her yard and tending her flowers.  She always had a vegetable garden and she could grow anything!  She built rock walls and took care of her house and was such a sweetheart.  We will miss her greatly!