AUG. 22 UPDATE: Back to blogging

Well, after a brief hiatus, I'm back at the keyboard! Sorry for the down time, but I am at the moment living the life of a Holstein, only the milkings aren't as regular. For several evenings I couldn't get out to take any photos -- it seemed I was always nursing until it was too dark for photography. Throw in a church council meeting and a trip to Aberdeen, along with too little sleep, and it seemed like my blogging moments and inspiration were hard to come by this week.

In any case, Dave didn't slow down while I was away from my reporting! He was busy installing windows and a door this week. Now all that we have left to install are two windows -- the final one on the west side of the first floor and the window that goes on the east wall of the addition.

We decided to leave out one window that had been in the house plan -- the one that would have been over the kitchen sink, on the east wall of the house. While it would have been nice to get that east light in the morning, we'll get plenty of light during the rest of the day from the south windows, and as we looked around the kitchen, we realized that we were going to be short of cupboard space if we put it in!

Also, this means there's no problem putting in one of the features of Finnish households that I really want to incorporate: a drying cupboard over the sink. It's basically a large dish drying rack behind cupboard doors -- instead of putting dishes into a rack, that takes up counter space and from which the dishes need to be emptied to de-clutter the counter, you just put the dishes into the cupboard after you've rinsed them, and when you're done you shut the door. You can either put the dishes away from that rack later, after the dishes are dry, or the dishes you use most often can just live in that cupboard.

I think those cupboards haven't caught on in the U.S. for several reasons -- we are very fond of our dishwashers here, so I think fewer people wash dishes by hand, and also people like to look out a window as they do dishes. (I am still planning on having a dishwasher, in case you are wondering. I'm all for a simpler, less plugged-in lifestyle, but I've got better things to think about and spend time on than dishes.)



... The plumber was hard at work by 8 Wednesday morning, and by 3 Wednesday afternoon, he was done! He is just doing the pipes that lead out of the building, and the venting system -- Dave is planning on doing the water input pipes himself, depending on how much time he feels he can devote to learning that, and/or whether our bank account can stand paying the plumber to do that work. He certainly did work quickly on this part of the job!

The rest of the plumbing is going to wait a bit. There are other needs more pressing -- Dave wants the whole outside of the building to be weather tight and basically done before doing much more work on the inside.

So, to that end, Dave took today off to paint the wood trim on the house. He didn't get as far has he had hoped -- it was still windy today, despite forecasts from early yesterday that the wind should die down today. And it wasn't as bad as yesterday, which was truly a batten-down-the-hatches kind of wind, but it still wasn't all that pleasant to be up on a ladder.

But up he went anyway. He painted until he ran out of primer -- the wood really soaked it up, he said.

You can see the new door and one of the new windows here on the south side of the addition. Eventually I want a nice deck to fit into that little corner -- a great place to put my little herb tub, and maybe a chair or two.

Figuring out what kind of skirting needs to go around the base of the addition (you can see the wide open space under there in the photo above -- the dogs have found refuge under there from the heat) is the last outdoor project we're going to tackle this year. Eventually a stone (heh, heh -- I'll get my stone in this house somehow!) skirting would be nice, but I think in the meantime it's going to be treated plywood.


Dave is going to let Gary, the guy whose crew is coming to do the siding, do the high-up work that he can't quite reach -- painting, and putting up the last of the insulating foam and house wrap. They should be here on Monday to get going on the siding. (Notice there's a window on the east side second floor now!)

... Don and Mary will be here for the weekend again, and I think the plan is to do some wiring while they are here -- Don has some experience with that. Mom asked if we needed to have someone with a license do electrical work, and apparently we don't -- we just need to have the work inspected before the juice is turned on. ... So I need to be helping to decide where all the outlets go! Apparently there are guidelines for this that spell out where outlets should be, but I'll help if needed.


... Sofia got a present in the mail today, in honor of becoming a big sister, from her great-uncle Walt and great-aunt Karen. She wanted to try the outfit on right away, of course, and I took some pictures for a thank-you card. She had a great time posing in it! I just love that flower on that hat -- it really works well for her.



... No new Erik picture today! I should get one up soon, though -- he's really filling out. He's looking more like a baby and less like a newborn now. And he gave a smile, or at least something close to one, to Sofia, another to Mom, and another to me -- though he can't be counted on to repeat them. The first smiles are such a big moment! I clearly remember when Sofia first smiled at me. It truly became a relationship then -- she could respond to the care I was taking of her, and suddenly became more of a person. Somehow that slight shift made mothering a lot easier.