Home Sweet Home!

On July 8, 2016, my contractor Alex Bain, of Action Construction, handed me the keys to my new house. (And yes, that's a check I'm handing him...)

One year ago, I was whacking weeds on the property,

And a little over nine months ago we broke ground.

Today, July 17, 2016, I've been in the house about a week, settling in, trying to get a few things put away. Jim Medina's car trailer has been storing a bunch of boxes and assorted things, and I'm getting that emptied out so I can go to the kids' house in Alpine and load it up with the rest of the stuff I haven't used in two years.  Should take most of it directly to Goodwill or the dump..

Could have moved the trailer closer to the house, but it was more fun with the little tractor.

The contractor's work is done, but mine is just beginning.  I have plenty to do in my woodshop before the house is complete, as I'll point out in this quick tour of the house as it sits today, one week in.

Still have to build those tapered columns on the front porch.

Brand new couch, with dog blanket. Map tablecloth a gift from my friend Gigi.

The coffee table, gift from Julie Schaefer and "Bubba," does a cool trick for dining on the couch.

Little hobo-with-woodstove on the woodstove from LeeAnn, painting of Venice from Merrily

Tree wall sculpture (gift to myself)

Old faithful recliner - the piece of furniture I've missed most.

Mostly I eat in the "breakfast room" where I sip coffee and read The Sun magazine (gift subscription from my old pard Randy Simpson).

Laundry room is all set up and being put to good use...

...but I still like to hang out my towels...

...on my spiffy retractable clothesline (gift of good friend Kellie) 

Back porch waiting for screens (stained glass table gift from LeeAnn)

Former TV cabinet in guest room..

  

...turned computer desk.  Given to Jami, then "borrowed" back...

Internet, like everything else here, is off-the-grid.  I get mine from a satellite.

Brand new bed...

...also with dog blanket... (beginning to see a pattern here?)

The old antique dresser, with coin bank from John & Anne Godley (for saving up for a trip to England)

Barn door hardware on the closet doors

"Costco closet." I need to stain all the doors like I did the sliding closet doors.

Pure white countertop by Alex Bain.  This cabinet too is awaiting doors and drawers. Plant a gift from Merrily & family.

Love that waterfall faucet

Installed one of those curved shower rods like you find in swanky hotels

Had them install the medicine cabinet so it opens toward the shower... for shaving in luxury...

The home-made kitchen countertops are a combination of quarter-sawn oak and the same marmoleum used in the dining nook. Chopping block a gift from my oldest buddy Bruce Bell.

They'll get all those drawers and doors as soon as I can get them done.  The wood parts of the countertops have about 8 coats of finish on them, including two coats of penetrating epoxy, so they should stand up to getting wet.

Trying my best to simulate Greene & Greene Craftsman furniture, I threw in a "cloud lift" in the backsplash.  The plugs hide screws into the wall.

Only a Greene lover will recognize this as a detail from some of their tables...

... like this.

Cast iron sink large enough to wash a small dog...

... for obvious reasons

I'll get all that stuff done... eventually... when I'm not sitting in one of these rockers watching the upside-down sunset or in the recliner feeling that lovely air conditioning, provided free courtesy of the sun.  When I do, I'll update this blog, but in the mean time, happy trails, and y'all come to the country sometime...

-Gary W, luckiest man alive.

The 90/10 Rule

There are variations on this rule, but the one that seems to apply to my project is that the last 10% of the work takes 90% of the time.

At least that's what it feels like when you're living in a tin box itchin' to move into your brand new house.

We really are down to the last details, and it's even conceivable that tomorrow or the next day the house could be ready for me to move in.

I'm not holding my breath..

Those of you who know me know we had a little interruption in the form of an 8000-acre brush fire that came pretty close to Sabado.. Close enough for mandatory evacuations, although I didn't wait to be awakened by someone pounding on the door in the middle of the night, so I hooked up the trailer and headed for Alpine the day the wind started blowing in my direction.

Hung out at the kids' house for a few days, sitting by the pool while the world's best firefighters took care of the situation, saved Campo and our beloved Lumber/hardware/feed store which was directly in the path of the fire, and only lost a couple of houses in the area where the fire started.

The other thing that has slowed things down, at least for me, is this:

On the back porch, in the shade

It's been over 100° every day for what seems like forever, including all the days the poor guys were fighting the fire. At one point today it was 106° inside the trailer! Needless to say I wasn't spending any time in here, but it was 100 in the shop.

But enough whining about the heat.  It is what it is, and the house has AC.

Most of what's left to do is really my stuff.  I have the basic kitchen and bathroom cabinets built, and actually made the kitchen countertops (more about that when they're done...) but I still have to make the doors and drawers, and also the wall cabinets. Once the bathroom cabinet is in and the sink installed, nothing I have left to do should keep me from moving in.

I've made a little more progress on the porch pillars, making and installing the bases for the tapered columns, but haven't made the columns yet.

Those green column bases will be set in mortar and leveled, then the columns will go on top.

Also built a Craftsman style mirror for the bathroom and today the guys installed a medicine cabinet on the opposite wall so I can look into infinity every day while I'm brushing my teeth...

The octagonal medicine cabinet fills the frame of this picture, reflecting the wood mirror, reflecting the medicine cabinet, reflecting the mirror.... to infinity and beyond! 

Bought a funky old table and chairs on Craigslist that will add furniture refinishing to my project list, but the clawfoot table is solid oak, and a perfect size for my little dining room.  Came with a wide leaf that makes it into an oval big enough to dine with guests, in case you were thinking of visiting me...

It's in the living room here, but has since been moved to the dining room.

Molly and I even had our first meal in the new house the other day.

  

Today, the gutter guy came and custom made gutters for the house and shop, and Alex brought a trencher and he and the crew put in drains and long pipes to move rainwater away from the buildings.  The gutter downspouts will also empty into these drains.

The next post will be the Move-in post.  Stay tuned!

Okay, I might be a redneck...

The washer and dryer arrived today and they hooked up the washing machine, but couldn't hook up the dryer because it has to be converted to propane.  I'm pretty sure the propane company will do that, but I won't ask them to come out until the stove arrives, so they can do both at the same time.

However... I was running out of jeans, so rigged up a redneck clothesline.  I think the tire and propane tank are a nice touch, don't you?

This wasn't the first time I've jury rigged a clothesline.  Before I went to the Vintage Trailer Rally last week I decided it was time to wash the trailer curtains (for the first time in oh.. like... ever...)

Here's a the wood stove, all hooked up and ready for a break in this 80-degree weather.

We now have the woodstove, the heater/AC on the wall,
and ceiling fans.  I'm ready for anything!

Not really ready for this though... I've been fascinated by the long caterpillar tracks, but this one ain't no caterpillar!

Somebody passed through my property.. Hope he kept on going!

Been working on the kitchen cabinets and tried a couple times to get a photo of the Marmoleum floor, but it's not an easy shot with the glare from the windows.  Here's a little corner of the dining room that shows the two colors.

This is the drawing I did showing the kitchen and dining room. No flooring under the sink cabinet, since it's a wall-to-wall "built-in."

Granddaughter Macey ("Ace") got not one but two wild mustangs yesterday, and has requested a place to gallop them around when she trailers them out here to Campo, so I plowed the South 40, and made her a flat place to work the ponies.  I'll do the final smoothing when she's ready to use it, since the gophers are keeping it "aerated."

The littlest granddaughter Maya made this sign for me when I was camped on their property.  Had to move it out here!