9-1-1 SIGN PUT UP

We will probably have the new house teaser tomorrow, it's been crazy busy and I didn't finish the post.

But in the spirit of updates on the new house, here is one of the recent things we had to do; we had to get an address sign put up.  Not just any address sigh, we have our number on both sides of our mailbox...but this is something different:

We must have a 9-1-1 sign to be exact.

Since we are rural, the emergency services for our county wants all homes to have a reflective sign posted at the entrance to their property.  It's highly reflective and can be seen during the day and at night in the event of police/fire/medical emergency.  Our builder, and indeed all subcontractors, also require it to be put up in case of an emergency on the site.

Our house number is blocked out here for privacy reasons of course, but it has huge, reflective white numbers.  You order the sign from the county ($25) but what they don't give you when you pick it up, are any sort of mounting brackets (?!).  There is one hole on each end, but the sign is horizontal, and it's supposed to be on your mailbox post (which is vertical).  They don't allow them to be mounted sideways and that wouldn't work any because the you couldn't see both sides.  After some research, we found that you need to use what is called a "wing bracket" (hey, we learned something new, ha).

I ordered it and got it put up.  Dad always told me, if you have the right tools, you can do anything.  He left me a LOT of tools, ha, so I grabbed what I needed from the barn, some deck screws (weatherproof), hex head bit, drill bit, cordless drill, etc and headed to the mailbox to get it done.

I got the bracket up first (using deck screws so it'll last as long as possible).  After that, you just slide in the sign and use a hex bit to turn screws that hold it in place, tightening the sign.

And just like that, our sign is up, and we are compliant with the county (and the builder).

One more step on the journey!

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 Another week has flown by and it's still hot here.  Come on Fall, we are ready and waiting!  This heat is slowing down packing up the house.

The other night, we had roasted chicken.  We took the leftover meat off the bones and the next day, 2nd Man made this...

He mixed it with some frozen veggies and used a low fat cream of chicken soup and seasonings and added in 2% shredded mozzarella and topped it with mashed potatoes (brushed with olive oil instead of butter).

It was a wonderful chicken pot pie/shepherd's pie fusion.  It's so good.  With a nice salad to start, we ate on it for three days.

Shepherd's Pot Pie?  🤣

 

I was working on laundry and tossed some towels on the floor to add to the laundry basket.  Then Hobart found them and curled up to sleep.  I delayed washing those items for a few days so we didn't disturb his new favorite sleeping spot until he was done using it.  Because...

#notspoiled

NEW STAKES ON THE PROPERTY

More things happening!  We had engineers out to the property and they planted some more stakes.

Electrical pole location!

Well, at least the temporary pole.  We submitted a request to have the power line disconnected from the house and rolled back up onto the pole and that will be done soon.  This is where the builder will put a temporary pole for use of power during construction.

The well location!

This is going to be where the well will go.  They will put a concrete pad around it but we are responsible for the 'shed/building" over it.  We'll have to see how big it is, etc and figure that out later.  It will be behind the garage near the rear corner of the house (quick access to it from the garage).

The septic tanks!

And this is the spot they determined for the septic tanks.  They are currently permitting with the county and working on the design.  We'll post when we have that information. 

Things are happening!

GUEST BATHROOM NEW HOUSE TEASER

Well, last week we posted about the master bathroom.  We'll have two baths in the house and this is the second one.  The house is split so that the master bedroom and master bath are on one side and the guest rooms and bath are on the other side of the house.

This is the bathroom that will have our only bathtub.  It is a bathtub shower combo of course, with a single sink vanity and elongated toilet.

This is a photo of our floor plan's actual guest bathroom.  We'll have different colors but this is what the layout will look like.  Our mirror will be framed (like the master bathroom) in the same color as the cabinetry and we'll have a different light fixture.  Also, our tile in the tub/shower will go all the way to the ceiling (again, to reflect the master bath).

We're going to have our shower rod mounted high so that we can have long shower curtains like this.

Speaking of decorating and choices, these are the colors we chose for this bathroom.

Now the cabinetry won't have the grooves like in that picture, but they will be this gray color, just like the cabinets throughout the house.  We'll have the same soapstone black countertop as the master bath, but we decided to make the floor a bit different by having this black and white design tile.  We thought it would be nice (being the guest bath) to have something with some impact and style for guests.  The tub/shower tile surround will be the gray one on the left side of this picture (and remember, will go all the way to the ceiling). A little extra price for maximum impact.  Same fixtures as the master bath and same knobs and cabinet pulls as well.

Now there is a cool built-in cabinet at the other end of the bathroom but...

...that bottom section is a hamper/laundry compartment.  Sure, if we had kids and a family, it might be good to say "hey, put your dirty laundry here".  But for us, storage is much more important, so we are changing this to just more cabinets with shelves, all the way down.  Storage, storage, storage!

We need to stock up on those pandemic supplies of toilet paper, just in case, LOL!  But seriously, we do have a lot of quilts and blankets that will need to be stored and the more space the better!

LET THE PACKING BEGIN

  It was a busy weekend. 

Thankfully, the weather cooperated and my mowing last weekend worked out great because...

...the grass has not even grown.  In fact, areas are turning brown (lack of rain/seasonal).

But we're OK with that.  Here in a month or so, it's ALL going to be a mess, ha.

The weather was cool which was good and so I had to figure out a plan of attack on how to start tackling the house contents.

We have this new storage unit and that will be for the majority of what we are keeping.  Mostly the big furniture.  It's 10x15 (and climate controlled).

I decided that instead of making half a dozen trips back and forth there, I would just start sorting and packing, starting by taking all the pictures/artwork off the walls (that we're keeping) and put them aside.  Then I started emptying drawers.  All the kitchen drawers and then any furniture that had drawers and again, what we're keeping, I stored in boxes.

Then I started on the closets and got all three emptied and sorted.  I filled up two contractor bags with trash, and used another one to put soft goods in, pillows from the couches, some loose blankets and throws, etc.  We'll bring those back into town so they'll be safe from mice.  We're not keeping any of the curtains.

We figured the barn is a good place for the pictures and flat items.  The hottest part of the year is over and let's be honest, with the house not having a/c or heat, the barn is just as good as the house has been. Plus when the house is done, it'll be easy to bring things back, a little at a time.

So I got all of those items moved to the porch and backed the truck up, loaded it a few times and drove it to the barn to unload it.  Here's a picture from the last trip, ha.  It worked great and we still have room in the barn for more stuff.  We'll see what all we can put in there.  The more we can put in there, the easier (and less crowded) it will be in the storage unit.

All we need to do is keep packing and sorting. A couple more weekends and we'll be done (and if we have to take a day off during the week, we will).

Speaking of boxes and packing supplies, we have been amassing a large amount of packing stuff from, you guessed it, the downstairs "trash to treasure area" at the building, ha.

Here was a recent haul.  Found several boxes, packing paper and even two giant rolls of bubble wrap.  All we had to buy was a roll of packing tape, ha.  It'll all come in handy for the farm now and later next year for the apartment when we move to the new house.

Things are getting real!

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

Almost October!  Where DOES the time go?  Today is time for some good food and some Hobart!

I found this at the store the other day:

Had no idea that Tony Chachere's had a no salt seasoning blend.  We tried it...

2nd Man used it on some Mahi-Mahi and pan seared it with just a bit of olive oil and oh my gosh it was so good.  He served it over couscous with mixed veggies.  It was a complete meal and so delicious.

And here is Hobart...sometimes he sleeps in the chair on his afghan and sometimes he sleeps on the floor next to it.  Cats are like that, choosing wherever they feel comfortable.  And of course we let him, because...

#notspoiled
 

OFF TO THE FARM FOR PACKING

We dodged the bullet with Helene but wow, what a horrible storm for those in the path.  Sending our thoughts to everyone affected.

Today, it's off to the farm to get started on sorting through things.  No mowing, since no rain this week and best of all, COOLER WEATHER!  We'll open the windows and let the breeze blow through.  Should be a nice day for that.  We got our storage unit and it's time to put Bill the Farm Truck to work!  The goal today is to get all the pictures and wall art we are keeping, moved into storage as well as all the soft products (pillows, quilts, blankets, etc).  We may be back out tomorrow to start boxing up more stuff.

As always, we are hoping you all have a great start to your weekend!

PUTTING UP NECTARINES

Nothing like some plump, juicy, fresh nectarines!

 We had a half dozen, and you know me, since they were super ripe, my first instinct was to put them up for future use!

First, I pitted them and sliced them up.

Then I put them in the freezer overnight (on parchment so they wouldn't be stuck to the pan) and popped them off the next morning.

Then I vacuum sealed them and put them back in the freezer, ready for the next time.

Nectarine cobbler?  Anyone have something cool to do with nectarines or do you just use them as you might if you had peaces?

MASTER BATHROOM NEW HOUSE TEASER

 OK so last week we promised to move inside.  Of course, we know a lot of you are waiting to see kitchen choices, ha, but that will require two or three posts alone (and don't even get us started on our pantry!).

Until we have actual construction pics to share, we figure this is a good way to stretch that waiting time out and we'll share different rooms of the house.

The master bath was pretty standard, two sinks, water closet (or toilet room as we call it, ha) and a tub and/or shower.  We opted for a large walk in shower, no tub (but a tub in the guest bath). 

It will look similar to this but with some changes.  It will be 6 feet long and 4 feet wide and it will go up to the 9 foot ceiling.

We chose this tile for the majority of the bathroom.

It'll look like this on the floor...

And like this in the shower itself.  We also changed the plans to have this tile go all the way to the ceiling.  Normally, it stops around the top of the window height.  As the designer said, doing it all the way up gives a lot of drama for just a little more money.  We did the same in the guest bath (though it's a tub/shower combo more on that in another post).

The shower floor will have this tile...

...we liked the complimentary color and the shape will add some texture (and the matte finish some grip).  We even had to choose grout.  Ironically, the picture we showed above this one, shows the way it will look, color-wise of course.

Now the standard shower has a corner seat exactly like this.  Let's be honest, does this look like something that would be comfortable to sit on?  LOL!

So we are having a full length bench put across one end (the end opposite the shower head).  It'll be nice to sit down in a hot shower and just let the water run, but I told 2nd Man, no sleeping in the shower!

And if you are going to sit down, it might be nice to have a handheld faucet, so we had the regular shower head changed to a dual use like this.  That way, we can use the handheld portion to make it easier.  Heck, who knows, we might be washing a dog in there someday and a handheld faucet would be one of those moments where we say "We wish we had done this..."

And speaking of "we wish we had done this..."

We are doing this: who doesn't want to stand in the rain?!  We are having a rain shower head installed above the shower!  We will be able to turn on a separate faucet and have water fall down like a rain.  It will be center mounted, between two lights.  It's been one of our dreams for a long time and while it was a splurge (due to having extra plumbing run overhead) it is one we hope is worth it.

We do have the window like this as well.  It doesn't open, it's just to let some light into the bathroom and still have privacy.  It'll be nice to be in the shower and look at the weather outside.  It's almost 8 feet up from the outside so only Bigfoot can look in, ha!

We also thought ahead to our older ages, ha, and are having an ADA compliant grab bar put on the wall of the shower, 18" long and in easy reach of the bench or the shower head.  More elsewhere.

Here is what we did on the plans...

...and this is what it will look like in real life (almost). Ours will have different colors.  For cabinets, we are having this extra one put in the middle, we've never been a big fan of a giant, long countertop (in the bathroom anyway) and let's be honest, storage is always important.  Also, the mirrors will be framed to match the cabinet color, similar to above but rectangle.

Speaking of cabinets...

We are going with the gray and this design.  We didn't want brown wood tones, so we opted for this slightly more modern feel with clean (Shaker) lines.  this picture looks darker, it's a lighter gray.  The hardware will be slightly different as well.

For countertops (in the bathrooms only), we chose this color and texture.  It's made to mimic soapstone.  It's called 'concrete gray' but it's more like a dark, charcoal gray/closer to black, well, like soapstone!

That's about it for the master bath. We chose brushed nickel/stainless for fixtures, we got the elongated toilet instead of the smaller one and chose to have cabinets above the toilet, again for all important storage.

These are the colors all together (but not the brown granite, that's the table they were on at the builder, ha).  You can see the lighter gray cabinet color in this picture.  Wall paint color will be a shade of white.

That's it for the master bathroom!

Hope you enjoyed the 'virtual tour'.