first day of spring.

Hannah snapped this photo today of Spring springing at 315 Thomas.

lighting installed.

 We used as many of the orignal light fixtures that we could, as you can see in the photos above.

 We added new PB Rustic Glass Pendants in the hallway downstairs.

We also got our Casa Blanca Panama fan installed in the Master Bedroom. The crew also put the dimmer switches on the Pottery Barn Audrina Chandeliers that will hang over our night stands. Baby steps.

plumbers & electricians on the scene this week.

 The goal is to get the plumbing and electrical work on the second floor completed before Jens Andersen returns to put the finish coat on the upstairs wood floors later this week.  Great progress was made on Friday when a whole crew from Renz Plumbing and Electric descended on the scene. Thank you to Gene, Clint, Justin and Matt for your excellent workmanship.  The guys set the whirlpool tub, set the toliet, installed the shower fixtures and plumbed the sink (Lucinda Single Sink Console from Pottery Barn) in the Master Bathroom.  (The tub faucet is just laying there waiting to be drilled into the side of the tub if you were wondering why it looked tippy.)

We also got the sink plumbed in the Girls' Bedroom.  Isn't this a darling sink? It is the Parisian Pedistal Single Sink Console from Pottery Barn.  Faucets are on the way. Remember that this bedroom originally was plumbed for a sink, so we restored this feature that we think the girls will find very handy.

while I was away.

 While I was providing Baby Eleanor care in Dallas, Matt Anderson of Matt's Plumbing & Heating finished installing the copper pipes to hook up the radiators.  You can see from the top photo that we have the radiant heat set up in three zones.  I am sure that Mike would love to tell you more about this!  (Remember that on our trip to Cancun in January 2011 Mike's beach reading was the page turner Hydronic Radiant Heating.)

Mike also put up the drywall in our "extra room" in the basement.  We are having lots of fun thinking of all the possibilities for this little gem of a space. We continue to be thankful for the deep windows in our very spacious basement for the beautiful natural lighting that they provide.

mike's deluxe attic insulation.

There has never been a question that Mike does jobs well - and thoroughly.  This is truly the case with the care & detail that Mike has done with insulating our new casa.  Over a year ago ago we had the dirty century old insulation "vacuumed out" and Mike began the work of insulating this space.  He started by putting in R-21 batts between the ceiling rafters and then overlaid R-38 on top of the rafters, as seen in the photos above. Of course, the vents are double insulated.  The R-38 "topping" was the finishing touch that Mike completed while I as in Dallas.

the general contractor is back.

I love all the different hats that I get to wear in my life, but "Grandma Bunny" is a really good one and I like the fit.  I am thankful that I got to help bring Eleanor Grace Freeman home from the hospital, and also help take care of daughter Emily and Eleanor for almost a week.

But I am back from Dallas and my General Contractor hat is officially back on. On the drive home I picked up more paint for the basement and tracked down our missing sink fixtures.  We have Renz Plumbing and Electric working the end of last week and beginning of this one to wrap up the upstairs work.  We have Jens Andersen Flooring scheduled for the end of this week to apply the finish coat on the upstairs floors and start the downstairs bathroom floors.  And hopefully we are on track to have Dave Grimm & Sons Carpentry back by the end of March to start setting the kitchen cabinets.  Larry Shelly and Two Guys Painting are scheduled to come back mid-April to paint every yet-unpainted surface.

We decided that our mantra right now is: "So close... yet so far away."