The Artisans Arrive In The Nick Of Time

July 28th to August 17th, 2009

"Work cautiously, in relation to the result you desire; not time, or money, or someone else's opinion of what your work should be." ~ James Krenov

Our cousins, David and Rick arrived from Illinois to be here for two weeks. They brought the furniture for the new room that they made and wood for the beams and inside trim. The beams were made with walnut that was reclaimed from a farm in Illinois and cut in Ricks shop. The trim around the windows is red oak. The fir cross beam was so beautiful, they decided to simply add a bottom layer of walnut and leave it two-toned. At the very tip top of the cupola is a point. David started playing around with the extra walnut pieces and before we knew it, he came up with the most beautiful three dimensional maltese cross with an inverted pyramid in the center. It is spectacular and a great finishing touch. All the inside trim was simply clear coated and over the years the colors will change... some will lighten and others will deepen, even further complementing each other.

The inside trim and beams took the first week. Then they started on the trellis... my trellis.... for my wisteria. Stephen helped them paint it... he wanted to really dig in and work on his own project. Then they did the skirting on the deck. David chose the paint and it turned out beautifully... everything is starting to come together.... finally.

The electricians came back and put up all the lights and the ceiling fan. The fan has both a light on the bottom as well as hidden lights that shine up... both on a dimmer. The uplighting is fabulous at night. We still had a bit to go and I was hoping we could get the hot tub up and running before Stephen left, but that was not to be.

David and Rick drove a U-haul down here and were going to fly back. But, Mom and Dad decided to get a new Honda van this summer and all they were offered for their "clunker" was $1000. I guess their Dodge Caravan got better gas mileage than required for the "great" (much sarcasm) Cash for Clunkers plan. Since it would cost about $1000 to fly them both home... Dad decided to just let them have the old car. So, they loaded it up and took it back to Illinois with them. From what I've heard, that van has been to Texas and back and doing well.

I bet you're glad we are finally in the home stretch.... I know I was.

(end of post)