Saturday, October 28, 2006

First Flush - and Tiling

We have had the first flush! and the slate and tile are being layed. Yesterday Ryan (who came for a few days) and Dave set the soaking tub. Since the plumber had been here this week, we now have a working bathroom. Today, Ryan is working on the wall which is tongue and groove. Dave is laying tile in the laundry room which will then be ready for setting the washer and dryer. I posted a couple of new pictures - check the Gallery and click on Last Uploads.

Today, is just one huge rain storm - as a matter of fact, there was just a flood warning on the radio for nearly all of Maine. We have had an extreme amount of rain this year - ugh.

If all goes well this week, we may be able to "take up residence" before my birthday.
Great present.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

October 22 update

Progress on the house - things have been happening (although not all obvious for pictures). The plasterers are gone and things are slowly drying out. They finished all the concrete walls and taped the ceilings. We plan on putting wood on the ceilings eventually through most of the house. There is one wall between the two bedrooms that will also be tongue and groove - so it is still just a stud wall. But it really looks like a house and we like the layout even more.

The radiant heat is working! First we buried all those PEX tubes in 8 inches of concrete and then we attached water (nerve-wracking), but only two or three very slow leaks at joints in the copper - yippee! It took about 12 hours to heat up the slab - it seems to be exactly as people had told us: a very cozy heat! It is so nice to open up the door to warmth - I can't wait to move in.

Friday, the first tile (black slate) was layed in one of the bathrooms - the soaking tub surround in the same room is also ready for grout (it has dark gray slate). Looks good. We plan on having this room usable first. Starting to count the days until they haul away the green porta-potty. Break out a good bottle of wine and some brie!

Let's see the near future -- appliances are here and will be placed as possible. They are now in the hallway behind the kitchen. Kitchen cabinets should be done in another week - Tulikivi may have to wait until around Thanksgiving as he has three installations and we are one that can be flexible. Plumber will be here next week to finish the tub and commode in the bathroom.
We have the tile for the laundry and the other bath, so they will be next. Our absolute drop-dead livability date is Nov. 1st - snow showers are forecast for the coming week. brrrrrr!

New pictures in Gallery.

Whew - we had quite a gale last night. It did in a lot of trees and seems to have taken my ISP offline for now. I am going to write this and post it later. Been a long while since I put any updates out. Last weekend, I was in Littleton, MA for the Northeast Leonberger Club Specialty with Milos. He did a good job and took his class (Novice Dog) and then came in second in the next round - Reserve Winner Dog. I was proud. I posted his results and a small picture on "his page". Also some shots in the Gallery.

There was a funny in the hotel. He does very well staying with me, but in the middle of the night I woke up to his growling. He is a noisy sleeper and dreams of porcupines and deer alot - but this time, it seemed urgent. It also was slowly increasing in volume and deepness. I switched on the light and broke into laughter. There he stood - stretched to his full height - full ruffled down the back - tail up and curled - growling at ---- his reflection in the full length mirror on the closet doors. He must have woken up to see another leo in his room!! When the light came on, he realized what was going on and just drooped -- with the funniest look on his face. What a clown.

Winter is going to be pretty quiet for both him and Sophie. I do want to get him into some class again, but it is difficult to find things here in the "Maine woods".

Monday, October 09, 2006

Milos the Lover


There have been so many adventures with Milos that I felt I should post just what a lover he really is. Every night, he insists on giving Dave a goodnight hug and kiss - not a trivial matter from a leonberger.
This weekend, I am taking him to the New England Regional Leonberger Specialty. He will show in the Novice category - wish us luck. I kid that he is short on both ends as his nose is a bit blocky and his tail just meets minimum length.
Remember that you can enlarge the pictures in the blog by clicking on them.

Plastering


They are very busy plastering and it is a messy business. They arrive around 6 am - Milos shows exactly how we all feel about that. Finishing the walls is starting to make the house really take shape. It is quite interesting and a long process. We have a challenging house with the concrete topped with framing - they are doing their best. First they "paint" the walls with a bonding agent, then apply a base coat (some times several to smooth the flaws). That is all followed with a final coat of white plaster. They work extremely well as a team - but, there is plaster everywhere. Thank goodness the first thing they did was cover all the floors.

You can view other pictures by clicking the word: Gallery.