Meet me in St Louis ..

OK, so maybe we weren't exactly in St Louis, but we were about 45 minutes north .. so close enough.  Jeff and I hopped down to Missouri for the weekend to visit with my father. 

Brother Gary was kind enough to let us impose on his family and we arrived amidst a festive birthday party for our niece, Austyne, who turns five this year.  Our birthday girl was greatly impressed by the Disney offering of the summer and her birthday wish included a bow and arrow just like her heroine, Merida, from Brave.

Here's a picture of Austyne, proud archeress, and our nephew, Anderson.

We visited my Aunt and Uncle's farm and Jeff convinced me to hike up into his deer stand .. a first for me.

Whilst out of town, my dear friends Rhonda and Dean were kind enough to offer shelter for Cluny.  Thus, Cluny's big adventure ... a roomy backyard (a real luxury for him after 6 months of apartment living), friends that match him pound for pound, and he can neither bully or be bullied by.  A great big thanks to Rhonda, Dean, and the boys for welcoming Cluny for the weekend!

Dean, who is clearly a superior photographer, captured these photos and generously shared them with me.  Here's a photo of the three Hound-cateers.  Wilson, Cluny, and Newman (r).

If you aren't over it yet ... here's another construction update

As we begin to zero in on closing date ... I seem to be making more trips to the construction site.

Outside, our deck is taking shape.  I'm very excited to have a deck large enough to use as an outdoor space.  It's too late for this year, but I'm asking the Easter Bunny to bring me patio furniture next year  :)

On my next trip, I noted the columns are in place in the entry.

As well as the air conditioner ... since cooler weather is here, I won't need it till Spring, but Jeff is happy to know it's there.

Here's a picture of the deck now that the stairs are in place.

and another angle taken whilst standing on the deck.

The sprinklers have been installed.  These have to go in before the ground gets too cold.  Another item, that we will be happy to have come Spring.

Moving inside, this is the cascading wall that you'll see as you enter through the front door.  It's truly one of my favorite design elements.  It reminds me so much of the cascading walls in Mom's galleria.  On one side is the main floor and the stairs on the left, head down to the basement.

The durarock is in place in preparation for the tile floors in the kitchen and baths.

This picture captures the outlet for the radiant heat floors we are having installed in the bathrooms .. this is going to make the tile floors nice and cozy in the winter months!

The cabinetry is being un-crated (although not yet installed) ... I just love the color (the pictures doesn't do the rouge color justice) and Shaker styling!!

This niche in the office for a flat screen TV.  It's difficult to see in the photo, but the short walls on either side of niche are angled to add a bit of interest.

These pictures are in the family room in the basement.  Or as Jeff likes to call it .. the future home of his big ol' TV.  This picture angles West.

And this picture angles East.  The niche is where the TV components will be located and the doors are resting against the wall where the TV will be projected.

Musings from Folsom ..

Folsom ... that's what we like to call our apartment.  Mostly because we think the inmates at Folsom have more personal space than do Jeff and I in our current quarters.

Despite having the completion date moved forward to November 15, we are now about 30 days away.  And we can't help being excited about that!!

Since the last construction entry about a month ago ... this is what's taken place in the last 30 days.

The masons went to work adding the bricks to the front of the house.  Jeff and I are both very pleased with the look of the brick we chose.   It's heavily tumbled, so it looks pretty rustic.  The second picture is a close up of the keystone over the guest room window.

The siding also started going up.  This is an 'in progress' photo .. the window in the picture is the window to my studio.  The stakes in the foreground are the markers for the deck footings.

On the inside, it looks like the inspectors have been here and granted us the required permits.  Sorry for the quality of the photo ... taken with my phone  :(

Next up, the dry wall crew.  The dry wall went up and the walls and ceilings have been textured.

We are having the interior walls textured, so this is what the dry wall looks like right now.  The dry wall guys spray joint compound to create the textured effect.

This is an architectural element in the living room. This is one of two cascading walls ... I just love them.

We have also added a recessed niche for a wall mounted TV in Jeff's office.  The wall is built out and the TV will sit flush in the niche.

The opening in this picture is an open niche for the TV components in the basement.

The garage door has been installed...

and the aforementioned deck footings have been poured.

 The trimmer is set to start work this week.  Here are the interior doors waiting for installation.

and the Durarock in preparation for tile in the foyer, kitchen, and baths.

We also have a driveway now !!   The concrete for the sidewalks and drive was poured a couple days ago.  Here's a picture of the front exterior and the entry.  The transom window over the front door is pretty cool.