HOME AT LAST!

We're home!

We moved yesterday, slept in our new bedroom, made breakfast in our new kitchen, and ate breakfast (and lunch) in our new dinning room.

Here are some photos of those new places.

Notice the new chairs. This is an important addition, which will allow us to just sit comfortably with our feet on the ottoman (which is barely in view in front the chairs) and read a book in the bedroom. THIS is luxury.

The dinning room is actually so big that our large table looks small. That's my jacket drying from last night's downpour. It not pleasant moving furniture in the rain! And of course, there's the New York Times spread open on the table. We had one hellva time getting them to deliver the paper to our temporary address, and, of course they didn't get it right when we moved back home. But since we're still shuttling back and forth, we get the paper somehow.

And this is the gleaming new kitchen, minus the Richlite counter tops that should be ready for installation next week. We've almost moved everything into it and, as expected, we have room to spare. In my entire life, I never had so much space in a kitchen. You can see the refrigerator that started it all on the left.

And last but not least, the living room.

The new sofa, old table (which won't stay there, but works for now) with pictures of our children and their spouses, and the new, built in bookcases. Lots of work here: area rug, Leon speakers on that back wall (the Kaplan boys at work, check out their website at www.leonspeakers.com) and some more tables. And all the artwork needs to be added.

One of the most amazing things is the remodeled house is SO different from the original house that it feels like a totally new house! This came as a big (but pleasant) surprise to both of us. And actually, that was part of our intention; to have a house that was Len and mine, not just mine. We didn't realize exactly how "new" it would feel.

Juan and his crew are still working on the outside: downspouts which we sure could have used in last nights downpour, finishing the deck railing, and doing the ever-present "punch list".

But WE ARE HOME.

Very close

As you can see by these photos below, we are almost there. The new refrigerator came today. The closets on the left are pantry closets with pullout drawers! Finally, enough room for all of the weird pasta we collect (and use).

The lights you see are actually over the counter top extension which is cluttered with all the tools at the bottom of the photo.

The stove is operable and they are working on the vent. The countertops should be in next week.

And we move in on Thursday! They will still have some work to do outside, but everything will be done on the inside. We are very excited, but also overwhelmed by the thought of packing and unpacking.

And you may not hear from again until after the BIG MOVE.

We're almost there!

We're getting close. This the almost completed kitchen and the photo below that is me (see? on the left? admiring that new gas stove that I ran out to buy at the last moment. Five burners, self-cleaning, digital, stainless steel. Almost all the bells and whistles.

The cabinets are wonderful. Pull out drawers (you can see one on the left below), great fronts, but not so easy to install. Len is doing the drawer fronts himself and ran into problems so it took a long time. But pretty much done. Next is putting on the hardware.

And, while all this was happening at the house, Ella Whitty Kramer was here with her dad, Eli Kramer and mom, Naomi Whitty. She had lunch with us in our cottage backyard. That's a french fry in her hand. They left today to head back home to Alaska. We had SO MUCH FUN spending time with her.

This is NOT X rated

Despite what this looks like, this is not an obscene gesture. Juan Rodriguez, our contractor, is showing us how the height of the vanity in the bathroom is really convenient for us short people. I am looking on gleefully, because the bathroom is almost done!

Below are the doors to the screened porch which we expect to practically live in. We continue to imagine we're just sitting on the porch, drinking wine, listening to the crickets . . .

After, we've cooked dinner in our gorgeous new kitchen. These are some of the cabinets. the two big one's on the left will be pantry closets, with pull out drawers.

And, we interrupt this blog to present this adorable little one, our granddaughter Ella, visiting with her parents Eli Kramer and Naomi Whitty from Alaska. We spent the afternoon with her and had a GREAT time. Went to Young's to see the baby animals, ate ice cream, went to the farm to buy apples, and then for a short walk in the Glen. It was great -- she is lively and curious and fun to be with. They are here until Wednesday, so there may be more pictures.

A bit of a panic yesterday, when the appliance supply place informed us that they couldn't get the stove! They've had the order since the middle of June and now they tell us! We're a week away from moving in!!! So, while Len was at a meeting yesterday, I ran out to Sears and bought a stove. We should have done that in the first place. It will be delivered Tuesday. Another crisis averted.

The Tileman Cometh

The tileman cometh, but then he goeth. He wenteth because he did it wrong the first time and had to come back. See those little diamond shaped things between the large tiles? He forgot to insert those very expensive glass tiles and had to re-do part of the floor.

And speaking of tile, we just found out today that the local distributor of the tiles we are using in the kitchen has gone out of business! Luckily enough we hadn't purchased the tiles yet, but now we have to find a new supplier. They are a national brand and there is another distributor in Dayton, but it is sad to see a long-standing company, Kemper Designs, go out of business.

And did I say mistake? We had the new front door painted at the factory with the same color as the screen porch. Juan gave them the Sherwin Williams number, but when the door came, it was not the right color. Hard to figure out how this could have happened, but it did. They are coming out to remove the door, repaint it, and set it back in. Since we're not sure why they got it wrong in the first place, we're not totally confident that they will get it right the second time. And finally, those scratched up posts (legacy of Boo, the cat), will be gone.

One great thing, below, is the pantry cabinets. I'm admiring them on Monday when they started to put the kitchen in. They ultimately will all be covered in wood and you won't see any white at all. We may finally have enough room for all those spices and pickle things I can't seem to resist buying.

And lastly, Juan says we will be home in two weeks. We just can't wait, although the thought of packing and moving all the stuff is giving me a headache already.

Watching Paint Dry

Who said watching paint dry is boring! Not if you are remodeling your house.

We love watching the primer on the house dry. The entire house was primed THIS MORNING. For those of you who know anything about painting walls and ceilings, this is nothing short of miraculous. Juan, our contractor, recommended using a company that spray paints. He said it would be cheaper and quicker, words we LOVE to hear.

And he was right. They primed today, it will dry overnight and tomorrow and then spray painted on Friday. Juan thinks one coat will do it since we are painting it a sort of creamy white.

Whole house painted in two days! Amazing. And for those of you who also like to watch paint dry, here's a photo of the living room drying. That thing in the box is our new front door.

And we have a deck and steps from the deck. The color of the deck is a sort of a bluish grey so it looks great with the house.

There are also great steps from the deck; wide and shallow. Good for walking down and sitting on.

There will be lots to report these next few weeks. The crew work with Juan, Ari, Tom, Delbert, and Vanessa, are just amazing.

Something Finished At Last

Finally, something finished.

Below is the yellow ceiling of our new screened porch. The yellow is just gorgeous. Buttery and bright. It makes the room look just wonderful. You can get a bit of sense of the color blue that the walls will be painted as well.

We just LOVE IT. One of the great things is you can see this sunny yellow from the front door of the house. So it just brightens things up instantly.

We're painting our front door the same color.

And it is something that is done! The roof also counts as done, but somehow this ceiling has made a big difference.

We've also met with a landscape designer, Nadia Malarky. She has come up with a wonderful concept for the back yard. We'll start it this fall if we can.