Some pictures of the house and property
We did end up going up to the house on Saturday as I mentioned a couple posts ago, and I took the opportunity to take some pictures while we were there.
First, here’s the garden. I fixed the taller structure last week (it did not prove capable of handling our snow load, but it at least proved fixable) I added a few more stakes to make it a bit more sturdy. The hurdle course for preschoolers is actually covered with deer netting, and is now held down with logs to keep the rabbits out. This should help keep the plants from being nipped from above or the side. At some point I hope to fence in a garden area so that I don’t have to cover each bed, but that will have to wait until I know where I want the garden and also for more funds. Right now I’m using scrap wood from the construction process and deer netting we’ve owned since we lived in the Santa Cruz mountains.
And here’s a shot taken from our upstairs bedroom window. As you can see, there’s a lot of work to be done! Someday I hope this will be a view of a nice garden, a medium sized lawn area (big enough to play badminton and no larger - neither Matt nor I are big fans of mowing lawns) and perhaps a patio.
Here’s a view to just to the right of the last picture. I’m hoping that someday in this area there will be a deck next to the house and a nice little gazebo with a wood fired oven and a seating area.
And here’s a close-up of that area next to the big cedar (in the foreground, next to the pile of branches) in the picture above. This is Emma’s pizza shop, and it has provided hours and hours of fun and entertainment for both kids.
And here’s one of her pizzas. Mmm… crunchy.
And here’s a picture of our journeyman electrician and his apprentice. Our master electrician (Matt’s brother) was out the week before last but went back to Alaska a little over a week ago. Thankfully he was able to get a lot done while he was out here and we are forever grateful for his help!
And here’s a shot standing in the master bedroom and looking through the master bath and into the kid’s bath. See all the wiring and plumbing pieces (including a bathtub!) here and there? That there is progress. 
So, lots of work ahead of us, but also lots of progress being made. Yay!
Sarah Marie on 25 Mar 2008 at 12:17 pm #
Wow, Emma’s ‘pizza’ brings back memories! Emily and I used to run a ‘restaurant’ we entitled ‘The Natural Nature Restaurant’ down near our chicken house. We crushed a variety of dried weeds with rocks to make ‘flour’ and ’sugar,’ and used live weeds for ’salads.’ Jonathan wanted in on our lucrative business endeavor, but we wouldn’t let him come in the restaurant - I guess we were going through a mean phase at the lovely ages of seven and nine or so! So Dad helped Jonathan set up a competing restaurant next door, haha. Fun times.
amber on 25 Mar 2008 at 3:54 pm #
I love the name! I do think that was rather mean of you not to allow Jonathan to join in though… but I rather like your Dad’s solution.
It is amazing how fun and engrossing that sort of play is for kids in that age range, isn’t it.
Dy on 26 Mar 2008 at 11:52 pm #
Oh, what fun! I can picture everything you described, and you are never going to want to leave the property once you get settled in, you know that?
BTW - only NINE weeks to go?!?!? How’d that happen so quickly??? How are you feeling?
Dy
amber on 27 Mar 2008 at 10:14 am #
I already don’t want to leave the property, and I don’t even live there yet!
I certainly hope it’ll be the place we can settle and not have to leave - especially with the amount of work that’s gone into the project already, it seems like it would be awfully hard to ever move.
I’m doing well - feeling rather large, but other than that not too bad. I wish this baby would go head down and engage into my pelvis at least a little bit… rather than staying slightly cock-eyed to my left. It puts a lot of pressure on my left hip and makes me feel absolutely gigantic!