Well I just thought I wasn't going to post again before leaving on my trip. The fourth load of lumber was dropped yesterday and it had the Hardi siding in it. I was so excited to see the fish scale shingles that I had to post pictures.

this is the cedar for the corbels Kim is building

beadboard for the porch ceiling

fish scale shingles - aren't they cool???

stacks and stacks of them

these are the staggered shake shingles - hard to see in the stacks

We had one more meeting with the framer before I leave to go over exterior details like trim, stone cap, colums, etc. It's hard to believe all that will be done when I get back. Yea!!!!

This will be my last post for a couple of weeks. I am off to Europe with Jo Anne and leaving Kim in charge of all things house related. We are frantically trying to decide on stone, roof, and doors before I leave. Kim, Daddy and I went into town today to make a decision on the stone. We picked Silver Mist Hackett, which is from the Hackett, AR rock quarry on the Oklahoma/Arkansas line.

Kim, checking out the stone

this is the lighter gray Hackett

and here is the darker gray - the white tags are on the pallets we picked

there are rows and rows of stone

 

you can see the layers of color in the stone

more white tags

and even more white tags

this is a huge stone yard with acres of stone

We're trying to decide if we want to use this lighter gray Texas Leuders stone for the cap at the top of the stone wainscoting and the window sills.

This is a sample wall of the stone we picked. I can choose how much rust or gray color I want by reversing the stone. I wanted some color variation but mostly slate gray so I think this is going to work out really well with the natural cedar corbels (made by Kim) that we're using .

another sample wall using more of the rust color

Kim put up a flag pole. Isn't it great?

This is my sewing/craft room.

Kim is checking out the view from the top of the second floor

and wow! what a view it is

this would be an awesome pic in the fall when all the trees are orange and gold

looking down through the roof - how do they figure all of this out???

it's really coming along

putting up the rafters on the second floor 

view from the driveway into the garage

That's it for today! When I return from England, Scotland and Ireland, the siding and roof will be on, windows and exterior doors in, and the fireplace on the back porch may be completed. What a change that will be. So, tune back in around the 20th of April for more pics. Meanwhile, feel free to follow us on our Heritage Walk in Europe: http://www.epiccrossing6.blogspot.com/

Looking for Stone

We've spent several days going to about six different stone suppliers and have a few samples. Feel free to share your opinion.

a blue/brown mix of Hackett

a 70/30 blend of Rustic Highland chopped

the supplier just called this Big Blue

this is marble and its a bit sparkly for me

Keota blend-Keota blue sq and rec & Keota blend irregular with tan mortar

The Build Begins - March 11, 2016

On March 11th, the first load of lumber was dropped.

hmmmm...where shall we put it?

quite a load

the framers begin - March 12, 2016

we had lots of rain overnight

it continued to rain most of the day

building the walls

the first wall goes up

more walls up

the view from my kitchen windows

end of framing day 1 after working through the rain

it's a muddy, sloppy mess under the lumber

hopefully it will dry out over the weekend 

the second load of lumber has arrived 

Kim is a hands-on general contractor

second day of framing sees much work done

third lumber drop

floor joists for second floor go up

 Kim installed a silt fence to keep the pad from washing away with all the rain

view of the stairwell from the second floor

second floor walls going up

view from the little house