week 12.

Karen: She weeded & mulched around trees and the peony row. She also planted two of the raised beds with rainbow swiss chard and lettuce. She is waiting for her asparagus starts for another, and the fourth will be planted with jumbo garlic and horseradish in honor of her daddy.

Matt Anderson: Matt's Plumbing & Heating will be working in conjunction with Renz Plumbing to reconfigure the radiant heat system and install central air conditioning. This week Matt installed the vent boots, plenum & ducting in the attic for the upstairs' AC unit. He also placed and cut return vents for the AC.

Mike: He removed the old catwalk in the attic and replaced with new boards. He also worked with Nick Arlt to maneuver the old radiators to the front porch for a good cleaning next week.

week 9, 10 & 11.

Graduation party and post-surgery checkup trip to St. Louis in May are my excuses for getting so behind with the Big House blog posts.

Work has continued. In a nutshell, Magill Restoration finished tuck pointing the bricks around the house and the chimneys - and Dave rebuilt the Mudroom Porch

No, we are not keeping the blue door on the back porch but rather using it until we pick out our new one. But those are the new windows!

our magnolia tree.

We are the proud parents of this beautiful old Magnolia tree outside our kitchen window. (Actually, it is so tall that the blooms are by the kitchen roof.) We have been waiting for it to bloom... and it finally happened.

week 8.

It was a big week at The Big House. Besides having Magill Restoration start the tuckpointing process,

• We had the footings poured and foundation bricks laid for the new mudroom by Knoell Masonry




• "Slick" Dixon poured the concrete flooring in the new mudroom




• Mike got the dirt moved out of the basement with his team of young bucks




• Dave Grimm got the basement walls framed up and basement stairs installed (with temporary treads)

(Next-to-last photo shows future Laundry Room with future Sewing Room behind. Bottom photo shows future Playroom with future Storage Room behind.)

no, the house isn't on fire.

The smoke-looking stuff is loose mortar being blasted from between the bricks. Magill Restoration out of Omaha started the first stage of re-tuckpointing the house this week. (This is the same company that is restoring the old Opera House in Fremont.)