Settling in

We are settling into the new home. The weather is getting cooler and we have the first snow on the mountain.














We started the first fire in our kiva fireplace.













Friends come to visit and warm up by the fireplace.
















and look how organized the garage is becoming!





This will be my last post on this house. We start a new job on Monday. Watch for the progress on the next great strawbale home.

Certificate of Occupancy

Suzie holds up the C of O which we got on Friday after the final inspection. Now we can legally move in.













We finish little details like this one, Suzie is putting sealer on the grout.













The hot tub was also delivered this morning. We are getting ready to celebrate out first night in the house.







We jump in at sunset after watching the opening ceremonies of the olympics at a neighbor's house.



So we're done now. Just need to move our stuff in. Hope you can come out for a visit. The guest room is ready and the hot tub is fired up.

Final grade

We got the final grade today. That is where we bring in soil to bring the earth up to the house so as to aid drainage and make it look beautiful. Here Rusty looks on as Kenny uses his backhoe like an artists brush.

The front of the house is all smoothed out.












View from the back. That is a terrace on the left.

Finish details

Roger from affordable gutters sets up while Patrick talks to him about another project.












Mario from Northern Lights woodworks installs cabinet doors.
















Kitchen is looking good with the cabinet doors installed. We put glass inserts in the corner upper cabinets.













Gutters are finished by early afternoon. Note that the downspout feeds into an underground pipe that fills a 500gal. cistern.







I installed doorknobs today among other things.

The unveiling

We take up the tar paper from the floors and start cleanup.



The greenhouse










dining room,














living room,














breakfast nook,













and kitchen.

Final plaster

The plasterers spent the week finishing up.













They take a break after a hard morning.













Ramon works on the fireplace.

Countertop and backsplash

The countertop is set into place. The color is Indian Prana.













The plasterers come in and start the final coat. The color for this part of the house is called Scotch Ale. It will lighten up quite a bit when it dries.










They make this coat very smooth.














Meanwhile I set the tile backsplash in the kitchen.