Day 225 - Random Shots - In and Out

While we've been waiting for the painters to finish their magic, which they have done, we've been planning some of the further outside work.  This week should be a busy one, so hopefully there will be a lot to report.  In the meantime, here are a few random shots of some planning work and a brief house status.

Outside Planning

The first bit of outdoor planning is Bruce imagining himself in his completed pool with a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other hand.

Bruce getting in a "pool" mood with cigar, but no drink!

Other outside planning has been selecting just the right spot for the firepit.  It needs to be located 5 feet away from rainwater collection pipes, be close to the pool, and have enough space for nice seating around it.  Here's a couple of shots of the location we picked this weekend.

General Location of Firepit

Orange marks the spot!!

Paint and Stain

Remember the raw cedar garage doors from the last post?  Check out the difference made by a coat of stain!   I am lovin' these doors!!!

Double cedar garage door

Can't wait to see the lanterns beside the doors!!!

The interior painting looks great and we are looking forward to cabinet arrival this week and the trimwork to be totally finished.  Here are shots of a couple of the painted rooms.

Master bath - Sherwin Williams "Blonde, SW 6128"

Downstairs guest bath - "Svelte Sage, SW 6164"

Nancy's study - "Sea Salt, SW 6204"

Powder/pool bath - "Svelte Sage, SW 6116"

Closeup of powder/pool bath shower floor

So, that's all for now and I hope to have more updates and pictures to share this week.  Seeing the interior come together is going to be great fun!!

Day 218 - Solid Foundations

Right now it's tough to get good shots of the interior of the house where the guys are doing the painting.  The windows are covered with protective plastic and my camera has decided it doesn't want to flash.  And I don't want to take pictures during the day when there is paint in the air!!!!  So, this will be a very quick update.

The main core of the house is being painted with a color named Bagel.  I'm really liking the way it looks with the stone fireplace.

Painter at work!!!

My study has been painted in a color named Sea Salt - a pale greenish blue.

Soothing color for Nancy's study

The exterior has had a little more work accomplished on it.  The exposed part of the foundation has been covered with a skim of finishing product to make it look "prettier" - which is a stretch!!!!  We will decide later if we will also paint the exposed foundation.

Smoothed foundation

Another view of foundation after beauty treatment!

It has been a lot of fun to reconnect with some of my college friends/sorority sisters since moving to the Hill Country.  This past weekend, one friend invited a few of us for a girl's weekend at her beautiful home on the Guadalupe River.  Saturday morning, we drove over to see the house.   We had a fabulous time catching up with each other's lives and proving solid foundations are hard to erode.

Kappa Delta Sisters Forever - L-R: Nancy, Sarah, Eleanor, Jeri, Margie

Day 214 - Oh, Deer: A Short Update!

As I posted in the last entry, we are at the stage of "watching the paint dry" - but seriously, the fellas have finished staining the woodwork.  Some areas are still lacking trim work and the stain crew will need to come back to finish those spots later.  It was interesting to see an entire door assembly stained before installation.  It looked like an unusual piece of art in the garage.

Door for Upstairs Storage Room

As you can see in the photo above,  paper is placed over the window glass to protect it from the stain and paint.

Front Entry - and NO, that is not our final front door!

Crown Molding in Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom Window trim

We were delighted to arrive at the house one afternoon and find our garage doors had been delivered and installed.  They are made of cedar and will be stained the same color as the inside wood trim.

Garage Doors before Staining

Closer view of Garage Doors

The other big news is we are capturing water in our rain collection system - that's right - it is raining!!!!!!  For those of you in wetter areas, this may not seem like a big deal, but we are thrilled to get rain.

Featured Fauna of the Day

Living in the apartment has been an experience for us.  Among the undesirable aspects, one wonderful feature is the view from our living room.  I took this shot the other day of our local herd of beautiful deer.  A number of residents feed the deer, so the critters love to hang in the backyard and we love to look at them.

Day 208 - Back in the Saddle Again

You know how you get out of the habit of doing something that really is fun, and you just let other activities take over your time...........Well, that's what happened to The 44 Ranch Blog.  We have had so much progress in so many areas, I found it a little overwhelming to try to get back in the blog writing groove.  So, here is a synopsis of the last 20 days of work at the ranch.

Rainwater Collection System

The biggest news is the rainwater collection system is complete and we are ready for it to rain, rain, rain.  The final filter and purification equipment is yet to be installed, but we can capture rain off of the roof and store it in our cisterns.  Yippee!!!!  

Connection from Downspout to Pipe to Cistern

All of the downspouts have a filter basket integrated into the pipe as the first step in cleaning the rainwater.

Filter Basket

The buried pipes around the house converge into a set of pipes going into the cisterns.  Now we just need some moisture.

Very Important Pipes!!!

The Septic Tank

 Since we don't have city water, it follows that we don't have city sewer service either.  So, we are the proud owners of a big, honking septic tank.  It was quite an operation to get that thing installed in the huge hole dug for it.  Here is a sequence of action shots!

Tank Arriving

Tank Transfer from Truck

Lowering Tank into Hole

Making sure Tank is Level

Tank will be covered with dirt

The next step in the septic process is to set up the spray field located to the west of the house.

Masonry Work

The masons erected the half stone wall to provide the back side of the outdoor kitchen on the patio. The front of the kitchen area will be the same color stucco as the rest of the house exterior.

Back Side of Outdoor Kitchen

The masons were also busy inside placing the stone on the outermost kitchen island facing the great room.  In addition to being a cool design element, the stone will prevent the inevitable scuff marks of younger folks knocking their toes into the wall - you remember doing that at counters - don't you? A piece of "Alaska White" granite will top the rock wall to provide a serving surface and a cabinet topped with granite will be on the other side.

Rock Face of Island

The other really cool piece of masonry work to watch develop has been the indoor fireplace.  Check out the progress shots as it grows to the ceiling.  The masons did a beautiful job.

About a Third Complete

Just a Few More Stones

Complete to Ceiling

The hearth will be topped with a smooth stone to provide a stable surface.  The mantel will be made of rough cedar to mimic cedar beams throughout the house.

Unfinished Hearth

The other cool progress on the fireplace was the installation of the outside chimney shroud made by Hill Country Fireplaces.  We chose this design to coordinate with the exterior lighting on the front porch.

The Swimming Pool

I had no idea all of the steps required in building a swimming pool!  One of the major steps is to make the pool start to look like a pool with the application of a concrete like substance.  So, imagine the color blue and a lot of water.......and you can see our pool!

Imagine Boulders and a Waterfall at the Back

Imagine an Umbrella Pole in the Middle of the Beach Ledge

Imagine You on This Bench with Cold Drink in Hand!!!

View from Upstairs

Trim Work Staining and Painting

A new group of workers is currently at the house staining the trim work.  They will put an initial coat of stain, sand the wood, put another coat of stain, and then apply a matte finish to the trim work.  After staining is complete, then a crew will start painting the walls and ceilings.  Painting the 18 feet high ceilings should be interesting to watch!

Jose Vasquez Staining Study French Doors

  

Door to Upstairs Closet

Study Closet Doors

 Upcoming Events

We had our first arbor design meeting today with Jason - arbor builder "par excellance." The design for the arbor is proving to be much trickier than any of us anticipated and we are looking forward to drawings from Jason next week.  He had some great ideas and I know his final design will be beautiful.

Bruce, Jason, Aaron

So, that's a wrap on the last 20 days of construction.  I will try to have more frequent postings, but we are getting to the point in the project where we are "watching paint dry!"