We've got grass!

We've been hard at work since March creating a landscape out of the mud and woods. I'm pretty pleased with the way it is all turning out but we are definitely either going on a 5 year plan or contracting out at least some of it. It is great to see grass (and be able now to actually walk on it). In the rightmost courner of the above pic, you can see our new crabapple tree. Eventually this will have a 20 foot canopy. Early spring brings a deep pink bud that bursts to a while flower. Now it is covered in tiny green fruit.

The woodland pathway has been great fun and I'm learning a lot. When we got the scrub and 30 years worth of fallen leaves out of the way we were blessed with several lady's slippers.

This little unplanned garden area of hosta, daylillies and irises was the result of trying to stop the topsoil from washing away until the grass grows in. After a couple of torrential thunderstorms, we had more soil on the driveway than the slope! As I write this, the blue iris' are popping and the multicolored viola I planted along the edge filled in with a pleasing display. And the soil stayed (mostly) on the slope! More to come.

Our first holiday Thanksgiving

Celebrating our first holiday in our new home was a truly thankful experience and we were able to share it with a good deal of our family, and considering the travel time for them, we were truly thankful to share the day.

My daughter and grandsons had the longest trip - more than 4 hours. They were our first overnight guests, staying Wednesday and Thursday nights. Their favorite spot - the shower! Everyone had to try it out! That certainly makes for the most unusual holiday tradition!!

My son Shawn worked the morning, but made it before the turkey was gone. His favorite - the refridgerator! Just kidding, he loves the sunroom best.

Here are Tom's mom, brother Kevin with his wife Judy, and (aunt) Sister Mary. Sister Mary took more pictures of the house than I have! Coming from Albany, they made the trip in 3 hours and returned home the same day. While they were here we had a surprise visitor. A red-tail hawk perched on a tree just outside the sunroom and preened for about 5 minutes. No pic - we didn't dare move and disturb him.

I did remember to get a pic of the first fire however. I was almost glad to see the weather finally cool enough to light the fire.

December 6 - it snowed. And when I got a look at the view (out of every single window in the house!) I was thrilled to see snow for the first time since I was a little kid. I didn't even mind shoveling - well, that is because Tom did it all.

Just a dusting, maybe next one we can have a snowman...

The Library

Last Friday, a couple of great guys from Arhaus showed up with our much awaited library furniture. Arhaus is a great furniture store we found in Natick. Based in Colorado, their furnishings are a bit uniuqe and much to our liking.

The delivery guys were very patient, moving this big desk a half dozen times until I was satisfied.

I'm glad we took the time to paint the wall behind the bookcases before they came. It gives some depth and contrast to the room.

Since this last pic, I've done a bit more rearranging to get it less cluttered but it still needs work... and a carpet, window coverings, oh and the computer. Even still its pretty cozy here!

It's Ours!

Yippee! On November 6, we became the proud owners of Lot 4! Just a little less than 11 months from the first time we saw the property, it is ours.

The night before the closing neither of us slept at all. Between last minute packing and the excitement we were like first time home owners; giddy, fearful, too excited to speak.

The closing at the Registry of Deeds went smoothly, with our attorney, Susan Kaye and Mike's attorney Scott Ambler. The process is much simpler that I remember and we we done in less than 45 minutes. We packed the cars with live plants and a few precious items and raced to our new home. It took minutes to unpack the cars, but we spent about an hour just walking around touching things and opening doors. Yes, we'd been there the day before, but this was different - now it was ours! Mike left us a wonderful bottle of champagne and glasses in the fridge to celebrate. Off to dinner and back to the apartment to try and get some sleep.

The movers arrived promptly at 7am the next morning to pack us in. A couple of the guys had helped us move into the apartment 15 months before and it was nice to see familiar faces. Mark's is one of the best movers I've ever used - and I've moved a lot! Careful, fast, polite and patient. And they have come in a good 10% below estimate each time I've used them. I'll post a link to their website here.

Halfway through the day, it suddenly hit me that I had all sorts of new computerized appliances with no idea how to work them. We had a box full of instruction manuals to go through! I discovered how fast it is to overboil water (don't put the stove on high and add a cover to your pot) - it really is possible to screw up spagetti!

I'm liking the kitchen more and more as I get used to it, but it is crying for bright color. I'm thinking either Chinese red or cobolt blue.

Here's the new dining set, delivered Monday. Fits perfect in front of the sliders and expands when needed.

My plants were so excited to be in the sunshine again instead of the one cramped northfaced window we had in the apartment. The peace plant has a new "flower" appearing after just 3 days. Good sign I think!

So far, I've left the great room furniture right where the movers placed it. We are still waiting to unbox the rest of the stereo equipment.

The bed got put together first thing of course, but we haven't done much else here yet. You can get a peek into the master bath in the background. The bathroom will be a post to itself. It deserves it! The shower is worth every penny, every angst and aggrivation! But more on that later.

The lawn will wait till spring to go in, it is just too late in the year to expect the grass to grow before the snow. We did find a solid and relatively flat bit of land to rest this 300 pound concrete bench on.

Mike was able to get in the foundation planting, thanks to the mild autumn we are having. New England is not the best place for new gardening in November, but Tom managed to get over 100 bulbs into the foundation area at the front of the house, so we will have blossoms in the spring. Budda found a happy new home greeting guests at the beginning of the walkway.

October 24 It's really moving now

With the cabinets installed, things are moving really fast.
Outside, the big event was the installation of the sidewalk, which is truly stunning. A small mountain of topsoil was brought in, grading completed and we are ready for landscaping.
It is too late in the season for the hydroseeding, so that will wait for spring. But everything else will be done this week.

With the floors in and the island in place, there are just a few finishing touches to complete the kitchen.

And, of course, we still need the refridgerator to be installed.

The deck is complete - this view is from the sun room.

And the sun room is definitely our favorite place. The sunlight pouring into this room is awesome even on this rainy Saturday morning.

Another look at the floor in the great room. Just georgeous!

The shower is everything we hoped for. No there isn't a window in the shower, just a reflection. Coming from a very large family with one bath, I remember as a little girl looking at the Sears catalog, I always wanted one of those massive bathrooms all to myself, and now I've got it! OK, not all to myself, I suppose I'll have to share with Tom. He can have one drawer and a towel rack, but the rest is mine!!

A view across from the shower to the rest of the bath.

And the guest bath. No the wall isn't blue, just another case of my poor photography skills and no time to manipulate the photo.

Upstairs bath was such an odd shape that we had trouble visualizing it early in the process. It turned out wonderful. I was nervous about this dark terra cotta floor, but it looks just great.

Closing is planned for November 6th and we should have the occupancy permit this week. The apartment is nearly packed, notices have gone out to everyone and we are more than ready to move in! Less than two weeks remaining...

The whole month of October at once

A frantically busy month on all fronts left no time to journal our progress. So here is the month of October all in one shot!


OCT 3 - Good thing Mike warned us before we got here - every room was jam packed with boxes, ladders, saws, floodlights and all manner of "stuff." The cabinets had arrived, lighting was going in and the painters were adding finishing touches all at once. It was exciting to see and hard not to show up daily to watch the progress!



All kinds of problems with the lighting as we drove poor John to distraction.


The ceiling fans did not have the 4' extension poles as promised. A quick run back to Loewe's fixed that one easily.


The kitchen lights, special ordered months ago, fit poorly and had a broken joint. We'd checked the glass parts when they came in, but there was no way to see these flaws in the units themselves until they were installed - too late for a return. Fortunately, "Lights and Leisure" opened a new store nearby and was running a sale. We got some lights that "will do" for now and we will worry about replacing them later.


The big track light for the entry way had a stripped out part so the arm of the track would not remain in place. I'd spent weeks looking at track lighting and I was near tears over this one! Tom, indominable and unshakable as ever, merely shrugged and said he could fix it - once he got his tools unpacked. So a simple bare light bulb hangs there now (no I didn't take a picture...) Missing parts in two other lights meant a couple more trips back to the store but were easily fixable problems. A very stressful week - but this was the worst of it. On the upside, it gave us an excuse to stop by the house regularly and I got to check what the traffic will be like in the early morning and evening (pretty decent, I'll have about a 40 minute commute).


OCT 10 - and the kitchen and bathroom cabinets are installed. The cabinets are beautiful, very solid and well made and we love the look of the countertops. We went with a high-end laminate instead of granite, and it has the look of oiled leather. I'll be posting more pics of the whole completed kitchen in the next post.

We were however, a bit disappointed in the layout. In fear of not planning enough storage, I moved too far from my vision of a kitchen with a lot of open space. The dark cabinets going nearly 10' up look heavier and more imposing than I like. This corner was originally planned to not have upper cabinets, until I worried about keeping the dishes stored near the dishwasher. We will wait until everything is done to be sure, but there may be a remodel in the not-to-distant future.

The tiles are installed on all the floors and they are more beautiful than we imagined. This is the floor for the master bath and we were there while it was being installed. It was interesting to watch him lay it out dry to get the color variations to look natural. Hard to see here but there are several colors of grey, green and browns, and the installer was absolutely artistic in the care he took in placing every tile.

Mike had recommended Classic Tile to us when we went looking for tiles. I'd complained about their prices but Mike said they were worth the expense and, if I've learned anything over the past 8 months it is to trust Mike! He was right, of course. I really appreciate the care they took with everything they did.

OCT 17 The outside was not to be ignored this week either. Truckloads of topsoil were brought in, the driveway was completed and the deck installation was begun.


Beautiful inside and out!

Another masterpiece in tile - the shower in the master bath.

And the kitchen is a few steps closer to completion.

October 22- an early morning phone call from the tile installer sent us both to the house over lunch time. He'd put the backsplash up as we'd requested and he didn't like it. The original plan had the tiles only over the stove and under the fan. He felt it looked incomplete. We both stood in the kitchen staring for half an hour trying to decide if it would look better finished across or not. Since we couldn't make up our minds we decided to trust his expert opinion and told him finish off the wall. (the vent fan isn't finished, there is a large brushed aluminum cover going over this part). He was right of course. I really love this stone. When I first saw it, I knew I had to have it somewhere in the house!

Even more excitement - the hardwood floors were installed. I haven't yet seen this. Tom took these pics on his way home from work. It was the most excited I've seen him! Our old house had beautiful hardwood in the living room which he's missed. Hardwood throughout the public rooms on the first floor was the first thing he put on our wish list when we began to plan the house. The hardwood extends through the great room, sun room, kitchen and library. This is a red oak with color variations from light to dark. What do you think of it?

Outside, the cobblestone sidewalk was installed. This was a last minute upgrade. We "found" a bit more money for the budget and asked Mike to decide where best to use it outside. This was what he came up with and we couldn't be happier!

The front entry is almost complete. The stairs are quite grand and deep enough for seating and planters. Guess I'll be going shopping!

Our closing is planned for the first week in November. Only a week later than schedule in spite of the 5 week delay for the spring rains. That is only 2 weeks away! The movers are scheduled, the apartment is nearly packed up, notices are given, the bank is drawing up the paperwork. We vacilate between being anxious to have moving day arrive and panicking that there isn't enough time to get everything done.

9/26 Getting Busy

We pulled up to the house to see a big truck in the yard again. The septic system is being installed. Mike is excited to be getting to the landscaping soon. We've decided on one last upgrade. We asked Mike what we could do to make the landscaping really stunning. He said it was already going to be stunning! Then he thought a minute and suggested a cobblestone sidewalk. I've always liked flagstone and hesitated a moment, but as he talked, I began to visualize it and realized it would be a perfect compliment to the front of the house. Tom, as always, said if that is what I want, that is what we will have. I do so like that attitude!
A lot of changes inside, but not great photo opportunities, especially since the painter was covering everything up to prepare to paint.

Trim, sills, molding and frames are all completed as is the subflooring where tiles will be going. That includes the master shower, which now looks like a great gray box.

Permanent stairs are now installed in the basement and main living area. Aren't these just georgous! This bannister is stunning!

We wandered the rooms for about an hour, measuring for blinds and trying to place furniture.

A phone call from George - the kitchen guy - tells us that the cabinets have finally arrived and will begin installation next week.

Mike made a mantle for us that we really liked. Perspective here is tough, this stands about shoulder high on Tom. We started looking at glass doors for the fireplace and went into serious sticker shock! Starting at around $850, they can go up to $3-4,000!
As we were getting ready to leave, Tom noticed something we'd missed all along. There wasn't a cap on the chimney. It just hadn't occured to us sooner, but having chased critters out of the fireplace in the past, we knew it was important. The fireplace guy will now be coming back, once the deck is in place so he doesn't have to rebuild his staging, to add on a chimney cap. It is really important to read the specs as you are going along to be sure you fully understand if all your wants and needs are understood.

So now we are nearing the finish and both Tom and I have long lists of things to get done. My job is to get notices of the move out to everyone, the apartment, movers, storage company, post office, new furniture delivery and so on. Tom will arrange for all of the new services and finish up with the mortgage requirements. Busy, busy!