So, this is probably the last blog before next October when we return to finish the house. We have left Hawaii and are now on the mainland working our way up from San Diego where we landed to Spokane and Priest Lake. It's been a very productive 5 and one half months. We are on schedule and no big surprises. We planned on finishing the outside and sheet rocking the inside before we left and we are probably a little ahead. The garage is painted, the walls are all primed and the ceilings are painted. The tile is bought for the bathrooms and the cabinet maker is working on our cabinets while we are gone as is the quartz guy for our counter tops. We don't have a front door yet, but it's in the process and Monty will put it in while we are gone.
Before we left we had a meet and greet party with the neighbors at Tony's and although we met most of them already, it was a good opportunity to really have a chat rather than just wave as they drove by. We also had a big barbecue with Monty and his crew at the house to thank them for their work. They were very conscientious.
So now it's the inside game and it looks like our two year plan to finish the house will be on schedule. We could be done by as early as Christmas but probably the end of January. Here's what it looks like.
Guest bedroom one
Guest bedroom two
Master bedroom with bath on left and walk in closet on right
Kitchen on right, Living room on left, study is doorway and slider that leads to the lanai on left.
looking from the slider to the lanai to living room kitchen and front hallway. The ladder is where the refrigerator, wall oven and pantry go. down the hallway to the left is the laundry room and garage.
The garage all painted and ready to go. It's got a side mount motor and is very quiet.
The house with the driveway finished and re landscaped. The grass will be grown in by the time we get back.
So we took a little hiatus from the house to visit cousins and tour a little in Western Australia, Perth, Fremantle, Bunbury, etc. Had a great time and it was wonderful connecting with family. Meanwhile, things didn't stop at the house. While we were gone, the insulation went in, the drywall went up and it was mud and taped by the time we got back. The lanai cement and sidewalk and porch were poured and the tongue and groove ceiling for the porch and lanai were put up and stained. And the big thing was the garage door. So now the painting begins. I finished the trim on the outside and have started to work on the inside. Walls and ceilings need priming and Crissie has to pick out colors. Hopefully we will get a lot of painting done before we leave for the mainland in ten days. Monty is finishing putting the forms up for cement on the driveway and the garage will be poured Wednesday. We are rushing to get the last minute things done before we leave next week.
Our bedroom
Tongue and groove ceiling under the lanai
Looking out the front door porch roof and overhang
Front of the house with the garage door. Forms are up for the driveway. Front door will be wood with two side panels
We're not sure about painting the garage door. Any suggestions?
This is the last blog before we leave for Australia for 2.5 weeks. We'll try and blog from there but it won't be about the house.
So, most of the work on the house has been going on inside. The plumber came and did all his work. It was inspected and passed. We have a water spigot on the side of the house that works, but until we get all our plumbing fixtures for him to put in, he's finished. So that will be next fall. The electrician has been coming and after our walkthrough, we have 34 canned lights to put in. He does the wiring and we do the buying of the lights. And he puts them in, so that won't be until next fall. But we do have some power available. Tony and I put in the support box and roof flange for the wood stove. While we're gone, it should be insulated and sheet rocked, which means we're coming close to the end of Monty's work. It's been very enjoyable working with him. I spent most of this weekend painting the trim around the windows and corners of the house. Got mostly one coat on and will have to do a second, hopefully before we leave.
Here's an update on our cherry blossom tree. It doesn't take much to have a green thumb here. Things just grow, so we didn't screw it up. The tree is blossoming and the leaves will be out by the time we get back.
So, what are Saturday mornings like around here? About the same as most everywhere else. Soccer games, tee ball, little league. They do have old timers softball. It's big here and I'm going to join as soon as we get the house done. You have to bat, but somebody can run for you. I went out in the yard and practiced catch with Tony and I think I can still play. Yay! But the one major difference here on Saturday kids' sports day is Keiki Rodeo! Keiki is Hawaiian for children and I must say there are a lot of budding cowboys here in Hawaii. So we went to the Keiki rodeo for a while and watched some little kids on man size horses do some barrel racing and break away roping.
This is the Parker ranch rodeo arena.
Int barrel racing the idea is you can't lose your hat before you enter the arena or it's a deduction. You can't allow the horse to stop or reverse. You must keep it going. The first two barrels are done in a figure eight, then you high tail it to the third barrel, circle it and go gangbusters back over the finish line.
In break away calf roping, the calf gets a head start and the rider has so many seconds to lasso him and let the rope go. If the contestant tries but still hasn't lost the rope, he/she can keep trying until time runs out, but if the rope falls and the calf isn't lassoed, then it's a miss. The kids are still a little small to actually dismount and wrap the calf's legs with the rope. This video is a little hard to see, but the kid actually lassos the calf and you can see the rope trailing on the ground. A success.
So here's a couple pics of the house with some of the trim done. you can see in the top picture the sidewalk forms are in place to go from the front door to the lanai. Gary of Gary's Custom Cabinets is going to do a 40 inch wood front door with two sidelights. The red trim is the color of Waimea barns and represents the red dirt. That's why we wanted that color. It goes on bright but dries dull like you see on the roof trim.
This is the back of the house. That's the dining room window. The small one is the guest bathroom and the last is a guest bedroom window.
So things are moving along more rapidly. As you can see from the picture, the windows are in, the siding is up and the battens are going in place. Some of the trim is around the windows. That trim will be painted red like the trim under the roof. The roof is a hunter green which goes pretty well with the siding and trim. The siding comes from Missoula and it is prepainted. We didn't have much choice in the color since there was a ton in stock and we didn't have to pay for shipping. But the color works well.
In addition to the outside, the plumber has piped the inside and put in the tub and surround walls in the guest bathroom and the shower tray in the master bedroom. The dehumidifying system is also in. It's so easy to do all this when it's unfinished. Next week the electrician comes, then the inside is ready for insulation and drywall.
We also have the septic dug and beginning to be put in place and this is what it looks like uncovered.
The pee and poop hole.
Just a little something we found while cutting the hedge.
This was at the local butcher shop. It's a sanctuary butcher shop.
And finally as the sun sets in the west, we'll bid adieu until the next blog.
So since I last blogged, we have put up the roof sheathing and have started to roof. In addition, Mike the painter came and painted the underside eaves and roof trim. We decided to go with a brick red trim that simulates the Waimea dirt and the red barns that are around here. It was a busy day today with the electrician, plumber, and dehumidifier system guy. Most of the plumbing is done. Siding and windows go on next. Well, I'll let the pictures do the talking.
One other thing. As we were at the house making decisions about the kitchen, a man walked up and introduced himself. He was from Minnesota and was moving here, so he wanted to meet Monty. Looks loos. Just like the lake. Monty gets most of his business from word of mouth and doesn't have to advertise. He says a few people have stopped by to notice things like the roof line etc. He's definitely a good builder. We got the right one.
So this is the panorama of the house. Garage on left. Entry to the right. Study next to that. Then the lanai.
We are going with hunter green shingles. We think it matches pretty well.
An inside look of the kitchen to the left, dining area by the back window and living room in the foreground. That long pony wall is our peninsula. Lots of seating. Now that the roof is papered and about to be shingled, we'll have no more water on the slab.
A look into the master bedroom with the bathroom on the left and walk in closet on the right.
Well the trusses went up this week and now the house is starting to take shape. Putting them up with a boom truck was a lot easier than putting them up at the cabin with come alongs and ladders. Now we have to close it in with siding, roofing, windows, and trim. Then we can go to the inside. We really like the roof line. It's different from the other houses on the street so it won't look like a tract housing project on Nohomalu.
That's Monty up there running around on the trusses like a monkeyman. Notice the vaulted truss.
The great room, kitchen, and living room will have a vaulted ceiling.
Front view
Garage and guest bedrooms side. They had to put up one piece of siding so we could get the electric meter on and power.
Back view of the house. Guest bedroom window on right. Great room windows in the middle &
master bedroom on the far end.
Side view of the master bedroom and lanai in front.
So Monty says that tomorrow (Monday) rain or shine the trusses will go up. More on that later. But meanwhile work needs to be done and one of the biggest jobs is trimming the Mock Olive hedges on our properties to a reasonable height. Do not, I repeat, do not let them grow for a couple years because this is what you get. A really tall, close to twenty feet high hedge that has to come down or it
will turn into a tree. So Tony let his and ours get too tall, so this weekend we attacked them and literally gave them a buzz cut. But don't worry. This is Hawaii and they'll grow back, but after all that work, I'm never going to let them get that high.
You can see to the right where Tony has cut them almost down to stumps.
Here's a broad view of the cut hedge and in the background what needs to be cut. Notice the piles on the left. Yes, we're renting a chipper next week.
Now while some parts of our hedge were tall most of it wasn't as tall as Tony's, so we got it down to a reasonable height around eight feet for a little privacy from the neighbors. The platform we made makes it perfect to stand and cut the top of the hedge. One person drives the truck and the other cuts.
So this is what ours looked like when we finished. Still a lot of shrubbery to chip, not counting what was on the other side of the hedge at my neighbor's. So now you see Hawaii isn't all fun and games, but I definitely prefer this to ice and snow, Look how I'm dressed.
On a tamer note, we planted our first tree. Crissie wanted a Cherry Blossom because she loves the pinkish flowers when it blooms and it was Cherry Blossom Festival in Waimea this weekend. We didn't make it but we've seen it before and will definitely blog it next year. Marilyn says if you want good luck to plant trees in odd numbers, so we started with one. If we do another it will have to be two more.
You can see the brown dirt of Waimea. Very rich, but then you hit lava rock eight inches down.
Hard to dig.
But we got it in and we'll see if we have a green thumb or not.
