We did it.

Phase one is complete! Moving back out to the land in May really motivated us to finish the original plan of having the first part of the house complete, and we worked very hard to make it happen. Right on target we finished painting inside and out, rails on the deck, installing outdoor lights, and getting everything ready for presentation to our family and friends who have not seen us much since we started!
October 10th was our come-and-go housewarming, catered by my mom, and attended by several different rounds of our best buds. Here's a link to pictures of the house itself, and of the second half of the party -- we were having too much fun to remember to take pictures at first, regrettably:

Open House

This winter we will work more on the land instead of the house, clearing more area, and saving up for PHASE TWO, which will begin this spring!

Getting There

Oh, such things we will have to show you soon. We are on target for completion of "Phase One" of the goodbyecitylife project: a complete, liveable home, by my 40th birthday, on which we owe nothing! The plan is to show off the house to all our friends and family we have ignored for most of 4 years while we carved our place in the world, on October 10th. Until then, we don't want to give too much away, but here's some of the things we've been doing:


Building out an addition to the main body, which will eventually become the front entrance and hallway to the different sections of the house,


mudding, taping and painting the walls,


finishing the beautiful, wood-tile ceiling,



and installing the earthwerks floor.

More soon (but not too much!)

New Deck!

I haven't mentioned that we're back at the land full time now, so construction is really moving along fast. The kitchen and bathroom are 99% done, we've added a front entrance and hallway (details soon), and begun all the finish work in the main body of the house. PLUS, with Jason's dad visiting last week, we were able to build a 432 square foot deck at the back of the house, which has done more for the look of the place than any other single thing we've done. Here are some pictures:



I've started staining/waterproofing the whole thing this weekend, and will post some more pictures when that and the railings are completed.

Everything is coming together nicely for the big reveal party this October (we can't believe there's only 3 months left)!

Update

Here's a sneak peek at how the kitchen and bathroom are looking:

Donkeys and Such

I drove to grandma's this weekend for a visit, and to hang the shelves she got for Christmas. Here she is proudly showing off her annual donkey mugs, never before seen together as a collection:









This is a sheet metal sculpture on Highway 177 I pass on the way there -- another bit of strange Americana:












Back at the house, Jason installed my grandfather's butcher block as a section of my countertops, and got the stovetop wired up, two more steps towards the finished kitchen!

Kitchen

With Greg
and Sharon here to help us this past week on vacation, we made a major leap forward on the house. The project began by tearing down our temporary fixtures, and finishing up the drywall in the room, to accommodate the three cabinets Greg made and brought to us. These we hung, and then began construction on the countertops below them.

Here's the dry fitted cooktop, a steal from a hardware store in WI.

Next, we tiled the countertops

and routed the trim and sanded all the wood:

Jason then put in the vent hood, puck lights, and the Armstrong tiles.

We then stained and added more tiles as a backsplash, while the Fore-monkey assisted.

At the end of the too-short week, here's photos of the kitchen nearing completion. It's amazing the difference this build-out makes in the look of the place. We extend many, many thanks to dad and the Evil Step Mother. We wish you a safe trip back and a quick return visit!