Christmas and stuff

Christmas this year seemed more of an afterthought in our family. We've been running crazy for the past few months trying to get all the decisions made for the house and its still continuing. Plus, everyone has been sick off and on for the last couple of months, my mom, John and I lately. But, we had a very nice time with family. Santa brought John lots of great things, his favorite being a "Doodle Thomas" or Aquadoodle. He's also already broken a few of his items. His Channel 11 helicopter got caught in Miss Piggy's hair and it fried the motor, he had a case of the intentional dropsies and broke the battery casing on his North Pole train. But, he's having a good time. Santa's biggest goof, the Limited Edition Fire Truck pedal car, has really got his attention, especially the bell and horn.

Trimming the house is continuing. Almost all of the doors are hung, and they are waiting on the cabinets to finish some of the other trimming. All of the debris has been discarded from around the house. We're still in limbo on the wood, tile and marble for the entry. But, everything's coming around.

We have a couple of new additions. I adopted a pair of Coturnix quail from a lady who wanted them to have a home that might be interested in incubating their eggs. So, we are now the proud owners of Fred and Ethel. We got our incubator yesterday and currently have 4 eggs inside. We'll see how it does. Hubby wants to raise quail, ducks and chickens out there, so this gives us a small start. Of course the family thinks we're crazy, but they've always thought that.

Finally, a brick house!

Well, the brick has finally been laid. It took three additional loads of brick, and lots of wall tear downs, but it's done. The bricklayers did less than good job. It probably won't look too bad to the average person, but there are alot of imperfections in the job.

The bedding and texturing has also been done. Also, the fireplace has been installed. Charles is helping the builder trim the house - hanging the doors, base trim, window trim, etc.

Here are some photos of the brick. The exterior of the house still lacks paint on the porch, shutters, final doors and flatwork (concrete around the house).

Lost another one - I can't wait for this year to end!

Tonight I lost my first pet that I had as an adult outside of my parent's home. Well, make that the second. This little bird was a replacement for a cockatiel that flew out our back door in February, 1985. Tonight I lost one of my best friends, my Frisco, a Cinnamon Cockatiel. Upon reflecting on his long life, I realized he made it to his 21st birthday. Quite a feat for a cockatiel. But, then Frisco had almost as many lives as some cats do. He probably should have died, or came close to dying at least two times. He had two wives, Roxie and Stormy, that he truly loved. And he left behind two sons that he taught how to wolf whistle and his own special form of whistling. He also has lived in every place I've lived - Dallas area; Lubbock, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado and Lake Jackson, Texas. His final resting place will be on the farm with the other animals we've lost.

This photo shows a one year old Frisco with a one year old Chloe (cat, died 2000) and his first wife, Roxie. Frisco has the yellow face.

We have lost so many pets this year - Poodah, Hayley, Jausenclaus, Lord Nelson, Nemo and now Frisco. I'm glad there are only a few days left in the year. Surely, 2006 will have happier times for us.

Brick!!!!....Finally!!!

News Flash! They started laying the brick this morning. It was a very, very windy day with temps in the 40's when I was down at the house this afternoon. We do have a problem. The number of bricks was underestimated, so we are going to need another 4,000 to finish the house. We had a little over 11,000 to start off with. The person who estimated it did a bad job. The brick layers will install all the brick probably tomorrow. Hopefully, it won't take another 6-8 weeks to get the new brick in and the color will not be off. The interior doors were purchased today also. They will start trimming out the doors tomorrow. The bedding and texturing is on hold until the "mud" dries. It has been pretty cold and moist, so it still hasn't dried from last week.

Tuffy in the tree

BRRRRRRRRR!!

It's cold out there! Not much has been done with the house this week. The sheetrock has been taped but the bedding and texturing was supposed to start yesterday and its too cold for them to do it. We bought the vanity for the downstairs bathroom. We got a display and quite a discount on it. There's a little loss of finish on one of the legs, but it can be covered with a furniture pen. I've been going over and over trying to decide on the wallpaper for the kitchen. Just can't decide between roosters, floral or fruit. The lights we plan to use are stained glass and the pattern name is Tuscany, which means there are grapes on them. So, if we can incorporate grapes we're doing okay. We're also trying to make final decisions on the floors, do we want wood, tile, marble or what. We're getting close, but haven't finalized anything yet. I've told my mother, nothing is final until its put on the floor. Of course, then I worry and worry about whether we've chosen the right thing or not. It's seems I can't make any decisions without "buyers remorse", no matter how good or bad the decision is.

We've put some lights up outside and put up our tree inside, but our monster kitten won't leave me alone long enough to put on the ornaments. I've almost decided to not put any on. Every time I touch the tree, he comes running and climbing. (I've tried twice to post photos, but it is not letting me, so I'll try again later.) Tuffy's so cute, but he's totally full of it. He even divebombs our Corgi and Cocker Spaniel. They seem to love playing with him.

We have walls! Well, sort of. Here are some photos.

Here are some photos of areas that you can kind of tell what they are.
1. looking up stairs 2. family room with fireplace 3. looking into dining room 4. looking from dining to parlor 5. Finished porch post and rails (still need paint) 6. Kitchen

Walls!!!!! Sheetrock goes up tomorrow!

Well, if the people show up tomorrow, the first walls should be going up. The sheetrockers are coming! Yippee! Now if we could just get those bricklayers, we'd be doing much better. Our builder has replaced the straight wooden pieces with 3" turned posts on the porch and it looks so much better than it did. They really go with the larger posts. So, if we ever get the brick on, I'll share photos of that when it happens.

I met with the cabinetmaker today and we finalized measurements and plans for the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room cabinets. We're using maple cabinets with a rope detailing on the corners and in the crown molding. I think its going to be really pretty. We still have to decide on our range hood though. I really want a wooden "mantle" style range hood, but we have no way to vent it to the outside, so we may end up changing plans for that. If we do, we'll just put a microwave hood up there. I was hoping to "hide" the microwave in the pantry, but it may not be the best place for it.

Well, that's about all for now. I'm going to try to get the Christmas decorations up either tomorrow or this weekend, if the kiddo and kitten will cooperate. It's going to be all plastic, cardboard or fabric on the tree because of Tuffy. I wonder how long it will take for him to climb to the top? He can't knock it over because it is a 4' tree with a base tied to a table, so it makes it extra sturdy.