Well…… what a day

Loving my loft!

It has been an eventful couple of weeks, but unfortunately, that has not translated into much progress on the house. Over the past three weeks, each of my 93-year-old grandparents have had significant health issues. They have each spent a week in the hospital and are now in different assisted living facilities at the moment. The house was nearly put on hold again while my Dad continues to improve health wise and we tend to my grandparents. Days and nights spent at the hospital are not conducive for building a house. Needless to say, 2017 will be a summer to remember for all the wrong reasons.

 

A couple of weeks ago I did purchase my appliances. Lowe’s was having their annual Labor Day sale with some significant discounts. My Dad was also concerned that the hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida would cause some of the appliances to be hard to find. I ended up going with Samsung appliances for my refrigerator, oven, microwave, washer, and dryer. I decided to go with a Bosch dish washer. I can’t wait to have all the appliances in my home. We are scheduled for a late October delivery.

 

We have done more on the house in the past two days than the past two months. Friday my parents spent the day at the house working. I tried to convince my mother to stay home and relax, but she said after sitting in hospitals and nursing homes for nearly three weeks she wanted to do something productive.

 

Friday, they were able to get the back wall in the loft insulated and almost completely boarded in. We were able to finish it up on Saturday morning. We were also able to get the loft cleaned up and the staging taken down. It’s really starting to look like a home.

 

After lunch, we decided that we were going to insulate and work on boarding the spare bedroom. As we were working, I heard a truck outside. I said I wondered who was here and my Dad looked out the window and it was the truck to drill the well.

 

I know that the well is one of the last big expenses. I’ve kind of been dreading it because of that fact, but water is not optional. You pay a certain flat rate and then it is so much per foot. Needless to say, I was hoping that they’d hit water at about 100 feet. My Dad felt the need to spend the afternoon outside watching, while my Mom and I were putting tongue and groove on the walls.

 

My Dad would come in and report every once in a while. The reports were getting more and more discouraging. No water at 100 feet, 125 feet, 150 feet, 175 feet. They finally hit water at 180 feet. They were not completely satisfied with the quantity of water they were getting so they are probably going to end up drilling another 40 feet. They said I might be ok at 180 feet, but if we went to 220 feet I should never have to worry about water one bit. I’d much rather be safe than sorry.

 

We have made some significant progress in the last two days. The more it looks like a house, the more excited that I become!  Sometimes just for kicks I will look back at blog entries for exactly a year ago. Exactly one year ago this weekend, we were cutting the rafters in preparation to put them up in early October. I guess we are making a lot of progress!

Laura Reed

About Laura Reed

After 15 years in college athletics, the last seven as an assistant athletics director, I was burned out with 70-hour work weeks and extensive travel. I resigned my position and accepted a position in marketing at a small, vibrant college in my hometown of Unity, Maine. In the process I wanted to go back to my childhood where we raised polled Herefords, had a Christmas Tree Farm and spent many hours outside. I decided I wanted to build my own home on beautiful farmland that my family owns. With help from my Dad, the most talented person I’ve ever met, we are building my home together. I have decided to blog my experience – the ups and downs, the joys and frustrations. What was once an open field will one day be my home! The dream in my head is becoming reality. I can just see the lambs frolicking in the field, chickens in the barnyard and going running with my Alaskan Malamute!