Trust me.

It's only been a week since the last post (in which I surmised that the kitchen cabinets would be installed within the week)....     you're feeling very sleepy....    a weeeeeeeek.   Not three weeks!   A weeeeeek.

I am trying to spread the delusion.  Work with me here.


Anyway, this odd space-time warp finally ended and - lo and behold - what do we have?  

Installed lower kitchen cabinets!!!  Aren't they lovely?    The only answer here is:  "yes."

Once the countertop is installed, then the upper cabinets will be installed... and then... and THEN....   well, maybe a floor?

The upper cabinets are still in a jumble:

But soon, we will rejoice with flute and lyre.  

Forgive me; my African friend Emma is practicing Hebrew at the table and it feels very Biblical in here.



But back to The House:

So, I dashed into The Log House to lay mine eyes on the kitchen (and was pretty squealy), when I turned to tell Emma something about the layout of the kitchen and dining room and was pleasantly (and very squealy) surprised to see THIS:

The Hubs added the bead-board wainscoting to the dining room walls without telling me!  Totally exciting!
The chair rail is being stained, but that oughta go in soon, too.

Well, soon is a relative term in Log World.

Warning: SQUEEEEE ahead

Although I know it is different in many parts of the country, around here the new school year starts after Labor Day, which means that yesterday was our First Day of School, both for the children and for myself.  After a thrilling and exhausting day, I drove up to The Lake to nab the kiddos so The Hubs could work a little longer, and witnessed this:

The sweetness!  Oh!  The SWEETNESS!

Okay, that's not the best part.  This is what really got my attention:

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS?!!!    That beautiful, precious, lovely truck was delivering [most of] our KITCHEN CABINETS!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

I admit it:  I did squeal an inordinate amount upon bursting into The House and witnessing this momentous event.  I may have even startled the guys delivering the cabinets ... just a tad.

Installation will likely be next week and the countertops after that, but just this was enough to send me into raptures of delight for the rest of the evening.

*sigh*    Kitchen cabinets.   I am a happy girl.

Log ends = flyways

Here's a finished view of one of the corners of The House after The Hubs finished trimming the log ends... er flyaways flyways.*   You learn something new every day.

[*editor's note:  If you scroll down to the comment section below, you'll see that an "anonymous" commenter  *cough*thehubs*cough* corrected me.  Apparently, I misheard the first time.  Eh.  Whaddyagonnado?]

(I know the before and after shots are of different corners of The House, but they all looked pretty similar.)

Before                                                                After

Now those little flyaways  flyways are all nice and neat and tucked in under the overhang of the roof.

Log ends

Maybe that's what we should call our house:  Log Ends.   You know... like "Bag End" in The Hobbit?    I like the idea of a house with a name.  But, since The Hubs and I could barely agree on names for our children, I doubt we could agree on a house name.  Still....

Anyway, what is this about log ends you ask?   Well, if you've noticed in all the many photos I've posted that show the exterior of The House, we never trimmed the ends of the walls.

Until today.

Buh-bye log ends!

Boy oh boy did The Hubs smell like chainsaw exhaust when he got home!   But you know what that smells like to me?    That's right, baby:

PROGRESSSS!

Ta-Da!

So, I couldn't wait until the scaffolding is down to show you the completed facing on the chimney exterior.  Betcha could have called that one, eh?    Whatevs.

BeCAUSE:  

TA-DA!!!!

We have a completed chimney facing!!  (on the outside, at least...)

So totally awesome, right?    The only correct answer here is an emphatic 'yes.'    Proceed.

Our Day In Logs

The facing of the chimney exterior is ALMOST done --  all but a little corner, so I'm holding off on my TA-DA!  pictures until the whole shebang is done, and the scaffolding down.  

In the meantime, the rain today nixed The Hubs' work plans, so I bundled us all off to The Lake to get wee bits done on The Log House.

What makes me nearly as happy as progress on The House?  Children reading. 

We put on some outlet and switch covers in the downstairs bathroom:

Before

During

After.

Then Bob hooked up the sink in the upstairs bathroom:

We made a written list of the rest of the outlet/switch covers we need and I made a mental note of the remaining tasks that need to be done before we can move in (installation of kitchen cabinets & countertops, flooring over the entire first floor, exterior and interior doors, railing on the balcony, caulking in the bathrooms, wainscoting in the dining room, building that half wall between the dining and living rooms....  oh me oh my!)

But today, I'm grateful for the little things that were accomplished that bring us that small amount closer to done.

And that Bob didn't die while doing this: