It is Finished

It's been a very long haul, but the kitchen project is now complete.

View from the entry, same viewpoint as many previous posts.

Looking back the other way.

View from the living room.

Our furniture and other belongings were only delivered to us from storage about 10 days ago, so we're still unpacking and getting settled. But no more construction dust, noise, or intrusions now, so we can begin to make this home.

Harper Elizabeth Lucas

I'm a bit behind on blogging. The last week has been a bit hectic. We were in Virginia to celebrate the birth of our first grandchild. Our daughter, Sarah, gave birth to a little girl on Monday, Oct. 15, at 6:05 Eastern Time, 8 lbs. 10 oz. 20.25" at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, VA. 

The following day she was named Harper Elizabeth (sharing the middle name with her Mommy). Mother, daughter, and Dad, too, are all doing very well.

On Wednesday she came home to meet the other family member, the red dog named Copper, who was anxious to sniff her and figure out what she was all about.

There is little more to say other than that we are delighted!

Welcome to the world, Harper.

Cupboards

This is beginning to look like a kitchen now, with the cupboards and cabinets installed.

Here is the installation in progress. The floor is covered to protect the new wood.

And here is the complete installation. Lights are still bare bulbs, so the electrician needs to return to install the lights, switches, and outlets. Counter-tops are being cut, and won't arrive for another 10 days or so. Then plumbers will install the sink. Add appliances, and all will be complete.

The floor is in

The drywall work is finally finished and the new floor has been installed.

The floor is Minnesota red oak, grown and processed locally.

With one coat of lacquer applied -- one more coat to go. This weekend we paint. Cupboards will be installed next week. Appliances and counter-tops won't come until later in the month, so there's still a few weeks to go before our furniture comes out of storage and we are REALLY moved in. 

Kitchen Update

The big, open support truss has been removed from the kitchen ceiling and replaced by a much less obtrusive beam.

The beam has been sheet-rocked and will blend in later by matching the walls. Sheet rock is all hung, but we are waiting for it all to be taped and mudded.

Preliminary electrical work has been completed. New cabinets are stacked in our living room, awaiting installation when the time is right. The only bad news so far -- we had to get a new hot water heater. $$$

We're still camped out in the basement, doing painting and a few other chores in other parts of the house. It's looking as though we may be able to move our furniture in sometime mid-October.

A bit of remodeling

We're living in our new home in Decorah now, but we haven't moved our furniture and most of our worldly goods out of storage yet. We're doing a bit of remodeling and hope to let the sawdust settle a bit before we move everything in. Meanwhile, we're busy getting ready to do some painting, etc. Here are a couple of "before and after" shots to show what's going on:

Living Room BEFORE (with previous owners' furniture). You can't quite see the wall that begins to the left of the stairs up to the dining area.

AFTER: The new kitchen and dining area will be much more open to the living room. The stairs will also be wider.

Kitchen BEFORE with a wall separating it from the dining area.

Kitchen AFTER with no wall. The beam in the ceiling will go next. Openness is the theme.

Stay tuned for more updates on the new kitchen project. It will be at least another month before all is complete.

Celebration

My dad will turn 90 years old this week -- a rather exceptional accomplishment. In addition, my mom will turn 85 next month, which also isn't too shabby. In honor of these two singular occasions, we threw a bit of a party.

Birthday honorees

My dad has been a church organist for about 75 years. It wasn't his day job, but it's been his passion. Our daughter is a young composer, looking for commissions. So we coupled the two by commissioning her to write an organ piece for his birthday.

The cake baker and the cake

Sunday afternoon we had the premiere of the new composition as part of a brief recital. Then we topped it off with a reception. Our other daughter bakes cakes as a hobby, so we commissioned her to take care of that.

Family shot

There was quite a crowd (more than we expected), including lots of my parents' friends, and a bunch of my cousins I hadn't seen in decades. It was a good celebration