Plumbing

Today was the day for the plumber to come through and fix all the plumbing issues inside the house. He had come out on Monday and made a check list of what needed to be done. Today he took care of all the leaky faucets, pipes, the outside faucet that wasn't working, new seals on everything, etc etc.

Those were issues mentioned in the inspector's report and now we can check that off. The items have all been fixed and our guests don't have to take a shower in our bathroom any more. They can actually use one of the other two bathrooms.

The second guest room that was full of boxes is now almost cleared out. Just a few more things here and I'll be able to set up the day bed.

Tomorrow we have an HVAC guy coming because although the inspector's report said the heater was working we feel like it's not working as it should.

Friday a designer from a construction/remodeling company will be coming to show us what he's come up with. We had visited the office last week and he came out to take a look and get measurements. I'm excited to see his ideas.

Slowly but surely...!

Lots Of Locks

Our chore for today was to replace all the locks.

The bank had removed all the original locks and replaced them with cheap locks, but fortunately left the originals in a drawer. One of the requirements on our contract was to have the locks replaced when we moved in. Obviously that's a good idea anyway. Who knows how many old keys are out there?

Yesterday we brought all the good locks to a locksmith to be rekeyed.

These are all the locks we removed.

After a few false starts and a threat to call the locksmith out to finish the installation we finally managed to get all the doors done.

Here's the newly installed lock on the outside of the front door.

And here it is on the inside.

We saved a lot of money by doing it this way. The locksmith told us he charges $55 just to come out to the house. And then buy repurposing the original locks we probably saved several hundred dollars. The locksmith told us these were very expensive door sets. **I just looked them up and while they weren't as costly as he estimated we did save over $1,000 by not buying brand new of this same brand.

I love saving money.

That means I can spend it on something else!

Joining The Smart World

Today I joined the Smart World.

I always balked at the idea of getting a $400 smart phone on top of the extra cost per month to be able to operate it.

But now that the latest and greatest I-phone is out I was able to pick this cutie up for $.99. Yes, that's right. Ninety-nine cents! It's a 3G, not a 4G which is why it was so inexpensive. Now I just have to learn how to use it.

And because we've had our AT&T plan since it was Cingular we were able update, change, and rearrange so we're only paying $5/month more than we normally pay. I can live with that. Of course I didn't opt for the unlimited plan, but like I said, I can live with that.

My husband's phone was actually still a Cingular phone. So now that has been donated to the recycle box and he has my old phone. Next February we will be eligible for an upgrade so he can then buy a phone of his choice. Just for the record he is not interested in a "smart" phone.

You may have noticed that my phone (for photo-op purposes) is resting against our mixer. That is because one of the things we did today besides getting a new phone was we went to World Market. I'm attempting to make a French loaf to go with...

...the fondue we got. We got two different brands so we can see which we like better.

I hope the dough rises. Does yeast go bad?
Well, even if it doesn't we have a back up plan...

Regis

Today started out as a laundry and college football day. Often on days like this I don't even bother getting out of my pajamas! We often call those "pajama days".

No worries, though. We did actually get dressed. And while it looked like it might be one of those slothly sofa times when Oregon started walking over Oregon State we thought maybe we'd better do something around the house.

We moved a couple of items out of the garage and into the big shop. And then there were some things that were in the garage that needed to be moved into the house.

And so today we got a few more boxes unpacked and a few more things put away. I also managed to do quite a bit of laundry.

When we started moving about we looked out the window and saw this stately creature resting.

They do blend in quite well, don't they. Take a closer look at his head.
He finally got up and moved down the road.


Could this be next years' venison roast, chops, jerky, etc? Or a pet? I shall call him "Regis"!

A Change From The Boxes

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! We did. The only thing I forgot to do was make the rolls (the Pillsbury tube kind) so I made them this morning and had one with an egg. They sure are hard to beat.

Today we decided to take a break from the boxes and do some other work.

My husband got out his new torch and started clearing the driveway of tumbleweeds.

It took a lot longer than I thought, but he got most of it done.

While he was doing that I was putting some shelves together. These were the shelves that used to hold all the boxes of tiles I used for mosaic-ing.

I was done with my chore a lot sooner than he was done with his.
Now they are ready to be put to good use!

The Rest Of The New House

This is from the far end of the play room that is over the garage. There is lots of room for a pool table, shuffle board, etc. Of course we don't have those things so the room may be empty for a while. Right now the only thing up there is the treadmill.

There is a full bar with sink and microwave. I already have a little fridge that should fit. I need to clean it first. I also would (eventually) like to set up another little sitting area that has a fold out sofa in case we are overrun with guests. That would be fun!

The deck looking west.
Deck looking north.
Deck looking east.

The garage. The door in the middle leads to the house. The little door next to it leads to a small storage area. Then the double doors lead to an area behind the garage that could be a huge storage area or even a work area.

There are two double doors leading to that area behind the garage.

This is the area I was talking about. Notice the electrical outlets a couple feet above ground level. This is what leads me to believe it was intended as a work area. The room in the back has the water heater, hvac, etc.

Here's a view of the house and shop. If you look between the buildings you can see a tie rack.

This is the ginormous shop. The appraisal papers said it was 2400 square feet. I'll have to find something to fill it with!

This is that area between the houses I mentioned. There is a one foot pit with a stone foundation. I don't know what the original intention of this was but I plan on building a tack room on there.

So that is the house.

We continue to make slow and steady progress on the boxes. Even if some of them are just shifted to other rooms, at least they are closer to where they are supposed to be.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope they taste as good as they look.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

More New House...

The guest bathroom. Tub and toilet behind the wall.

Guest bathroom. You can see the first guest bedroom connecting door in the mirror.

Now in the guest bedroom looking at the closet and through the pocket door into the bathroom.

The guest bedroom opposite the closet. The shop is seen through the window in the background.

The hall from the master bedroom door. To the left is the linen closet, straight ahead is the first guest bedroom we just looked at.

Master bedroom.
Other side of the master bedroom looking at the master bathroom door.

Master bathroom. Double sinks, humongous soaking tub behind, and shower next to that.

The master throne. (The wall on the right is the wall on the left in the above photo.)

On through to granddaughter's room. Just kidding! Our walk-in closet. I don't think we have enough clothes to fill this up!

Now back to the laundry room. You can see the entry porch through the window. The door on the right leads to the garage.

The other side of the laundry room. Nice clothes folding area. One odd thing I noticed after we moved in... The wash machine goes in this corner so obviously there are no cabinet doors. The odd thing is when you open the middle cabinet it does not open to that entire corner cabinet. Maybe there is a secret passage door to a hidden treasure?? Haven't found it yet...

Up the stairs to the office area, another bathroom, and play area.
My "office area". At least this is where I have my desk now.
And on the other side is the upstairs bathroom.

As you can see in the above photo there are some little things that need fixing (the faucet handle isn't secure). I'm also not crazy about the eggplant or maroon or whatever it is color on the walls.

All in good time...

Photos Of Our New House

This will be a series of photos of our new house. There were so many and I just HAD to post most of them so this has turned into a three day post!

Here is the "garage/entry" side of the house. The play room is above the garage. The windows on the first floor are where the kitchen sink is. The entry door is in that corner under the overhang. BTW for some reason I didn't get my own shot of this angle. This photo is taken from the internet from the FIZBER.com site.

Entry door.
Inside the entry looking out.
Kitchen.
The windows over the sink.
Pantry. We've never had a real pantry before!
Dining area.
Kitchen from the dining area.

Living room from the dining area. The stairs go to the play room, office area, and a bathroom. At the base of the stairs is a closet and a door to the laundry room and garage. The hall goes to the bedrooms and other bathrooms.

View just opposite from the above photo...looking back at the dining area. Living room to the left, kitchen to the right, corner of the pantry sticking out at extreme right. If you were to follow that wall you'd be looking at the entry door.

The photo tour will continue with 15 more photos tomorrow!