House Progress

We have ice! 2-13-08

2008-02-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

I figured I would check in to my sad dejected blog!

This is what I found outside today:

I hope the weather where you are is better!!!

Sydney wanted me to share her new haircut!

2007-06-20T09:01:00.001-07:00

The doggies got groomed yesterday - and she went from this:

To this:

She looks so little and innocent and almost puppyish!

Murray was groomed as well - but not shaving for him - his coat is really nice and fine - unlike Sydney's curly mess! He was feeling kind of bashful though - and wouldn't look at me.

An update from the Gastley's!

2007-06-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all. I don't even know if anyone checks this blog anymore....but I figured I would toss up a new post!

We got some new neighbors - look what moved in across the street.

So now we have a sheep farm next to us and lots and lots of cows across the street. Needless to say, both of our dogs would love a job at either farm - and they should really start earning their keep!

Speaking of the dogs - I get comments all of the time about Murray being mean. He is one of the most loving dogs every. He loves hugs and literally will come in just for a hug from me or Russell. Well I caught these two images of the dogs - I guess if I saw that - I would think mean too. Little do people know - Sydney (the redhead) is totally food motivated - so if you have food - you can do whatever you want. Murray (the blackboy) not so food motivated - and I do think would totally protect us or Syndey if he felt he needed to.

The summer storms have started. I went out and got these shots the other night. That cloud over our house was UNREAL!

Thanks for checking in with us. We have a busy summer. We went to the beach last weekend (Bethany Beach in Delware). We are heading to Ohio to hit Cedar Point at the end of June. I am going to a photography convention in Atlantic City in July. And Russell doesn't know it yet - but we are going Busch Gardens in August. Labor Day weekend we are heading to Deep Creek Lake with some friends. Phew! Then it will be fall. In November we are going on a cruise over my birthday - it can't get here soon enough!! We hit some cool spots on that cruise - San Juan, St. Kitts, Aruba, Grenada, Bonaire, and St. Thomas. We have been to St. Thomas and San Juan before - but the other stops are new to us!!

I should have taken a few pics of the new trees in the backyard - but really there isn't much to see - we planted a pink dogwood and a red oak in the backyard - someday they will give the doggies more shade :) I also put a baby pool in the backyard for the dogs to wade in - but it hasn't been much of a hit as of yet...maybe they will catch on!

Thanks for checking in -

Kerry

2-14-07

2007-02-14T07:02:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a while since I posted.

Be sure to check my other blog as there are some house images posted today.

We had the first official storm of 2007 - and are covered in a sheet of ice!!

http://kandrphotography.blogspot.com/2007/02/ice-storm-22407.html

5-10-06 - We have trees!

2006-05-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

We planted 11 trees along our driveway....
They are called Thundercloud Plums or something like that.

Taken from the porch looking towards the road

A close up of the trees; It is only purple - the green you see at the top is the tree int he neighbors yard across the street.

A dark pic from across the road:

Another view from across the road:

I think i took this one from the edge of our yard?:

From across the road:

The dogs: Murray and Sydney making sure we plant the trees correctly!

Thank you Lorne and Arbor Landscaping for getting us a killer deal on these trees!!!

I owe some pictures

2006-05-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

I owe pictures of the yard (we sodded before we moved in)
and pictures of the bedroom set.

I haven't taken them yet :(

I will soon I promise!!

3-31-06 MOVE IN!

2006-05-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

We finally moved into our new home on March 31st!!

The is a shot in the Master Bathroom:

The living Room: and dining room:

The new dining room set and chandelier (the chairs need to still be delivered):

The kitchen: I have extended my collection of Blenko Glass as you can see above the cabinets!

The guest bathroom:

The nook in the kitchen:

More to come :)

we are still awaiting our master bedroom suit and the desk for the office.

2-17-06

2006-02-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

We had loads of wind today, and this picture shows our shingles FLAPPING in the wind getting ready to blow off the house. Well we didnt' lose anymore shingles, though the ones that came off before are still off. We really need it to get warm so the tar paper will melt and latch onto those shingles!!

This picture is taken from the front of the house lookign towards the back, showing the living and dining room.

From the side showing the living room.

This is the front bedroom, we originally were going to make this the spare bedroom, but think it will now become the office, since I will have clients coming to the house.

This is the door to the garage, the empty place will be tiled.

I am not sure where this is :) just a picture of the installed flooring.

Front door - the empty space will be tile.

U. Johnny walking in the hallway toward the living room.

Thanks for checking in :)

2-15-06

2006-02-18T05:13:00.000-08:00

OUr bathroom floor has been installed.

and a close-up -
there is a loose piece laying overtop - the pattern is lined up correctly....

laundry floor

spare bathroom floor

our tile - again to be installed in each entry way.

another shot of the trim.

2-13-06

2006-02-18T05:12:00.000-08:00

OUR HOUSE IS SOLD!!

We settle on March 31st!

HUGE WEIGHT LIFTED OFF OUR SHOULDERS!!!

Stats: It took exactly 3 weeks to the day! We had 2 different couples come to look at the house and we had exactly 2 offers! Those are pretty good odds!!

Pictures from 2-9-06

2006-02-18T05:09:00.000-08:00

our floors. These will be in all rooms, except the bathrooms. There will be tile at the two entry ways (front door and garage door). This is Armstrong Laminate called Black Walnut

All the doors and windows will be this wood trim - we had it stained this color.

Our doors.

more trim and moldings - showing the color of the trim.

Our house is on the market

2006-01-25T14:19:00.000-08:00

check it out :

http://homes.longandfoster.com/Buy_Home/Search/Property_Details.aspx?coId=2&mlsNum=JF5511910

Taken today!

2006-01-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

Well they have started drywalling!!

This shows the spare bedroom which will be the "office"

Another view of the spare bedroom "office"

This is our bedroom

This is the guest bathroom
This is teh drywall that will eventually be in the kitchen (well it is in the kitchen now too)

us in front of the fireplace.

Thanks for checking in.

These pictures taken 1-22-06

2006-01-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

While it seems all production inside has halted. The outside is getting closer and closer to completion!

Concrete was poured
This is the pad outside teh side door in the garage.

These are the steps off of the covered porch on the back.

Grading is being completed!

Shutters have been hung! This is the rear view.

And just because I love it - our view :)

Keep checking in - We still need railings on the porches, but otherwise as far as I can tell the outside is nearly complete.

Thanks for checking in.

These were taken 1-17-06

2006-01-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

The soffit is up (how do you spell soffit?) and the shutters are up!!

It really looks PRETTY!

A close up of the soffit.

These pictures were taken 1-15-08

2006-01-17T14:45:00.000-08:00

We had a storm and we already have damage!! UGH We lost quite a few shingles. A. Sharon took these pictures with her spiffy new camera that I helped her pick out. I really like it and it takes great pictures!!

Here she is at dusk - look at the little moon there :)
The insulation is being installed.

These are the pictures taken 1-10-06

2006-01-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

The bricks are all finished :)

These are from our current house taken 12-16

2005-12-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

We had a major ice storm here in West Virginia.

I may have to blow this one up and frame it for our new house.

Murray adores eating ice. So he discovered those ice cicles hanging off the deck. He enjoyed the buffet!

Russell's new truck all encrusted in ice!

This is our neighbors tree:

Pictures from 12-26

2005-12-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

They have started bricking the house!

2005-12-28T10:07:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken Friday 12-23

The Fireplace was installed as well :)

Pictures from 11/15/05

2005-11-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

This is where they are at!!

The front - they still have to pour the front porch.

The Right side - That is the fireplace tha tyou can kind of see there - and you can see the back covered porch.- which still needs to be poured. And you can see the door to the basement.

They fixed the mistake they had made to these steps - these steps will go up to the covered porch in the back.

Back view. That is a sliding door there on the left.

Now let's go inside:

This picture is standing in the living room looking towards the kitchen. That archway is above the kitchen sink and will remain open - to see into the living room. You can also kind of see how the "floating wall" will be. The top of the archway - is where the wall will end - though ti will be cathedral ceilings above it. Kind of strange - hopefully we wil like it.

The Bay window in the living room.

Our oh so yummy tub!

From the kitchen looking towards the lving room

Blueprints

Thanks for checking in with us!!

11/8/05

2005-11-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

They have started putting up the interior walls. I am standing in the garage looking into our bedroom in this picture

FALL!!! I just had to shoot a shot of the mountain!

Russell is standing in our bathroom in this shot!

if you look closely in the crane top you can see how relaxed this guy is in his job - leaning back and feet up!!

Thanks for checking in with us!!

Friday 11/4 Walls are up

2005-11-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

These pictures are really dark...but you get the idea!!

Thanks for checking in!!

We are starting to have WALLS!!!

2005-11-04T04:52:00.000-08:00

Russell and I went up last night and found this:

Approaching th ehouse from Russell's aunt and uncle's. The is the left side. The wall closest to you is the garage wall.

Us in the bay window

A quick shot of the view! The trees are all starting to turn!

From the right side of thehouse looking to the left.

From the front yard

The basement

I don't know why that cracked me up - but our name is written on every piece of wood in that house!

Russell's uncle hates to get his picture taken - as it appears in these three pics - I guess he thinks - if he can't see the camera is can't see him!!

That's all folks.

They are to finish the exterior walls today, and should have it under roof by the end of next week.

We'll see!

Thanks for looking!

Well I guess you want an update.

2005-10-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

THINGS ARE MOVING S-L-O-W-L-Y and I mean slowly!!

I took these pictures on 10-12-05 and nothing has been done since. as you can tell we are a bit attitudinal about that fact. Supposedly the carpenters can't be scheduled due to hunting season!

This is a shot through the walkout basement door. looking in...

From the front looking back. In the far right you can see the walk in basement steps. This is where the dogs will enter the house during the day when we aren't home.

View - Side back - looking to the front/side of the house. YOu can see the plumbing pipes that are there and all crooked since they didn't stabilize them when they poured the floor - Russell was not happy.

We stuck a 2005 penny and our initials in the corner of the basement.

This is the basement view front looking back. Garage is on the left.

Thanks for checking in with us!

The basement is completed!!

2005-09-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

We went up on Friday 9/23 and this is what we saw!!! They are really making lots of fun progress!!

This picture is a close up of the back covered porch. They have made a mistake with the steps that they will be fixing - but regardless - that is what you are seeing here.

This picture shows the front right corner of the house. You can see the bay window...and in front of the bay is another covered porch...

This is a full view. They haven't done the garage yet (at this point) Where the stack of blocks is in the front - is where the garage is.

This is a view of the side (right side if you are facing the house). This will be out "walkout" basement door. I say "walkout" because we will have a couple steps there - walking up to ground level - unfortunately walkout wasn't really an option due to the grading.

This is inside - you can see the bay window...

Another bigger view: This is the front left corner of the house - really where the garage is going to be. You can see the footer to the garage in the bottom of the picture.

This is the rear of the house. You can see the full window that we added to the basement. That will be on the finished side of the basement. There are a couple of those other half windows that tilt open - the full window is normal - and will open normally. In this picture you can also see the mistake they made to the back steps. There will be steps to ground level coming from the covered porch and they built the wall up too much - it isn't supposed to be like that....hard to explain!

Thanks for checking in :) and check back soon!!

We have what is starting to look like a BASEMENT!!

2005-09-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

Well after a week of no real progress (other than loads of block being dropped off and the cement getting deliverd) - we got LOTS of progress today. We went to see the lot tonight after work and this is what we found!!

U. John and A. Sharon said they started bright and early at 6 am!!

Russell and U. Johnny checking everything out!

We count that on the walls that they have worked on they are 7 blocks up - they will be 12 blocks up. If they work TUesday like they did on Monday - they should be finished hopefully!!

We will try to get there again tonight to check if they finished today.

Thanks for checking in with us!!

The footers have been poured!

2005-09-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

The footers were poured on 9/8/05

Russell and U. Johnny inspecting!

Here we are!

Here is another inspector: A. Sharon

The inspectors posed for me :) U. Johnny and Russell

This picture shows the posts that will be in the basement to support it. 4 will be in the unfinished part of the basement and 2 will be hidden in the wall.

Hopefully they will start blocking the foundation next week and then we will be doing well as we prepare for winter!!

Thanks for checking in with us.

No House update - but thought you may want to see the puppies!

2005-09-08T05:48:00.000-07:00

Here are Sydney and Murray. Sydney is 7 and Murray is 2.

Sydney is the red tri adn Murray is the black tri. They are both Australian Shepherds and want some sheep to herd!

I was at a garden recently taking some engagement pictures and there was a dog there who "worked" there. His job was to keep the geese away. I thought - oh my goodness would my dogs love that!! I wonder how to get them a gig like that.

Check back tomorrow - we should be able to get some pictures this evening!

More Progress - 9/6/05

2005-09-07T05:29:00.000-07:00

Well we went up after work to find they are ready to pour the footers!! Yeah!!!

Russell is already fiddling with things :)

We will go up again Wednesday after work (maybe just Russell - I have a lot of pictures to edit from this past weekend) since we think they will have poured the footers!

Thanks for checking in :)

Progress still :) The hole is in!

2005-08-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

Russell and I again went up to the lot last night (8/29/05). We got there kind of late so the pictures are a bit on the darker side.

Russell walking in our future basement!

I am starting to get a hang of this blogger thing - hopefully I will get better and better!

This shot shows another view of the hole

a close up of the different layers of dirt i don't know why i htought it was so cool- but i did.

They aren't working today at last check (8/30/2005) I guess due to impending bad weather. All in all we are pleased with the progress...they have worked 2 and a half days- and the foundation is ready to go in.

Thanks for checking in with us!!

Progress!!!

2005-08-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

We went up Friday afternoon 8/26/05 and took these pics!!

They are really moving!

Pre-Pictures!

2005-08-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

Russell and I went up to the lot to take some starter pics!!!

This picture is from across the street.

Russell decided to climb his Aunt and Uncles roof - and take a shot from up there:

One of our views!

Hello there!

2005-08-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Russell and I wanted to create a blog so everyone can keep track of our progress with our house. As you all know we finally got our building permit on August 11th!! (Happy birthday mom!!). A. Sharon and U. John really pulled through and went into the county and fought them on issuing our permit. Well she knew the right buttons to push! My first call from Russell updating me on the situation and the progress was - "we should have a permit in 4 weeks". He called a bit later "she has them down to 2 weeks". A little later I got a call- "next week". Then the final call - "by noon TOMORROW!!!" WHOOHOO we are in business!!