Clean-up day

On Saturday we enlisted some help to clean up in and around the house. We all swept, sorted, and burned construction mess. I sorted metal and sheetrock and piled on the trailer, then bagged up plastic, and then vacuumed sheetrock dust and sawdust for a while inside. Haylie was following Josefin around, helping her, so I had to make the best of having som time to myself. Stefan had a good laugh when I was carrying a large piece of sheetrock over/on my head and had a mishap. It was somewhat damp after sitting outside for a few weeks, and as I rounded the corner to the front of the house where he was, it buckled in the middle, pinching my thumb where I was holding it, and left me stuck in a little sheetrock pup-tent, crouched on the ground holding my thumb and complaining. After a good laugh he helped lift it off me.

After lots of hard work, Josefin, Haylie, Camilla and Todda were tuckered out. Just Stefan and his dad were still working after several hours. Stefan and Todda had driven a load of sheetrock, plastic, and metal scraps to the recycling station. When they got back, we took a break and roasted hot dogs over the fire.

The roof and gutters are on, and we are content with our choice of black. Soon the siding will be coming, and we will be painting it inside the house.

The builders are waiting for some parts for the ventilation over the stove before they can insulate over the vaulted ceiling. After that, they can spray up the insulation and finish sheetrocking the ceiling.

Here is our entryway, facing the closet. The convergence of the infloor heating is in the back of the closet. To the right of the closet we will have coathooks and shoes for everyday use.

Off the kitchen, we will have a little computer/reading corner, and a door to the patio.

This is the view from the kitchen. The eating area is on the right and the living room on the left. Straight ahead will be the wood-burning stove (where the particle board is), and a pocket door to the family room and our bedrooms and main bath.

Here is the hallway with the guest room on the left, the guest bath on the right, and laundry straight ahead. The storage room is to the left of the laundry room at the end. That is where the furnace and the breaker box will be. At the end of the hall here, we will have a green door to outside. We wanted a window in it, but had to settle for without, because getting a colored door was more expensive than white, and I had to have a colored door.

This is the guest bath. The toilet will be to the left and the bathtub to the right.

The kitchen windows are supposed to come in about 3 weeks. Those will make a huge difference in the feeling of the room.

We are stockpiling lumber scraps out by the shed, so that we can burn them this winter in our wood-burning stove. Stefan's dad was restless while we were eating hot dogs, so he built a side for our wood pile. He is going to do the other side the next time he comes. I have my perennials on the opposite side of the shed. Stefan's dad is one of those guys that saves stuff that could be of use, so he brought home a bunch of plywood scraps for burning in his stove in the garage, some plastic pipes and other odds and ends we didn't want.

Josefin (Stefan's youngest sister, in blue) and Stefan are going to go to the paint store tomorrow and buy some supplies to start taping and spackling the sheetrock seams. She is working as a painter at the moment, and likes to paint and wallpaper. We are going to hire her to help us.