Moved In!

We are moved in and out of the townhouse! All we have to do now is empty out our 2 storage units. There will probably be a few trips to the Goodwill or Habitat stores to donate items but it will be good to get all our stuff back. The first night it was just us, the dogs, and the cats. Our little kitty, Miss Chaghi, was NOT a happy camper! We put her and Mookie into the laundry room with a covered litter box, their food and water dishes (filled), closed the door and left them to get familiar with their space while we unpacked the car. When we came back later on and opened the door - only one kitty! ?? We at first thought that Chaghi had crawled into the duct for the dryer but found her curled into a ball in the litter box. She stayed there until Mookie decided, since she couldn’t use her litter box, to use our new bed instead. NOT HAPPY! Needless to say, I carried Chaghi out of the litter box and she made a beeline under the now cleaned up bed.

After being here for a week I can honestly say I LOVE this house! The Southern Traditions team has been a dream builder and are a class act all the way! It was a real pleasure working with them! Rob Carter’s vision for our house surpassed our wildest expectations. From how the house was sited on the property to the finishing touches, this house is a dream come true. Peter and I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone building their new home.

 First day of Spring? Snow greeted us on the first weekend in our new home (we never get snow in March!)

 Our first prepared meal in our new kitchen. Those are home made buttermilk biscuits in the oven and Peter was making steak with bourbon mushroom sauce on the stove.

 Ming has made himself right at home.

 Ming and Yang trying out the laundry sink. Much easier bathing them here than hunched over a bath tub!

I will keep updating the blog with pictures as I decorate each room - which will be a long, slow process, so stay tuned!

Modified!

The house is ours! (O.K., ours and the banks). Finally! We are homeowners again! Yes! Some people may not like the responsibility of home ownership but we really missed having a place to call our own. And, yes, we missed all the yardwork and projects that go along with it.

The carpet people will be installing the carpet runner today. And, yes, the railing outside was finally installed.This evening, we will move us and the critters in to spend our first night in our new home. Tomorrow we will be moving the furniture and big stuff in. We have been moving stuff in all week and unpacking as we go, so most of the glassware and dishes are already in the cabinets.

 Me toasting our new house.

Yang and Ming making themselves at home on the new bed.

Walk Through Complete!

We have completed our walk through and the house is beautiful! The only drama we had was the front porch railing was not installed due to an unaccountable subcontractor. This resulted in our builder having to get a temporary certificate of occupancy. The railing is suppose to be installed today so we will see. There were a number of very minor punch list items that the Southern Traditions team is already hard at work on. We also have to install a retaining wall opposite the garage within the next few months due to EPA regulations. And we started to landscape the front - as I said previously, we have ALOT of landscaping to do! Our lock-in got extended now we have to go through all the hoops of modifying the loan - hopefully next week!? If all goes well (and it will!) we plan on moving in next weekend! YES! Oh, and the mattress showed up yesterday morning!

 The plants looked really big in Lowes! Actually, it’s better not to over plant since they will grow big in no time. I planted boxwood in the back and azaleas in front of them.

 The car is in its new home!

 If you look to the left of the picture you can see where we have to install a retaining wall opposite the garage.

 A surprise gift from our builder! Thanks, Rob!

 Can’t wait to try this out!

Where’s my rocking chair! Oh, that’s right, it’s in storage.

Waiting on the Carpet

Our walk through has been postponed until Monday due to the carpet installation being delayed because of snow (where the carpet place is - we didn’t get any). The grading has been done and it looks great! We will definitely have ALOT of landscaping and yard work to do. We may need a riding lawnmower. Either that or we will be getting a great workout! The carpet is supposed to be installed today and, aside from installing the master shower door and some minor things, the house will be finished! I cannot wait to move in! I ordered a new king size bed from Overstock.com and the frame has already arrived at the new house. So much for UPS not finding the place (the road is not on any GPS yet). This is a case of hoping the bed doesn’t arrive too soon, like on the 15th when the final coat of poly is put on the hardwood floors. Now the nail biting time has come as we have to modify the loan before the 15th. Will this happen? Stay tuned!

 If you click on the photos you can see the back splash better.

Countdown to Final Walkthrough!

Our final walk through is this coming Friday! The final inspections will happen this week, then the carpet will be installed (we can’t have the inspectors getting their muddy feet on our new carpet now can we?). The kitchen is almost finished - I love the exhaust hood! Still need to install the backsplash behind the stove. The stairway is also finished - LOVE IT!
Today we spent the day cleaning out the woods behind the house of all the dead trees. Pete gave his chainsaw a workout while I played with my new toy, a lopper, to clear a path to the lake. We also had to remove the debris from all this work to the dumpster while it was available. Tomorrow is the final grading and seeding and the dumpster will go away. Before we left for the day, the siding guys came to finish off those little bits in the front and along the deck - oh yeah, the deck is installed and they did a great job! The guys also showed up to install the shower door in the master bath. I can’t wait to be able to use that whirlpool tub - I sure could use it after all that yard work today!

Don't forget to click on any photo to enlarge.