It's slow going...

Last week the interior doors started going up at Anam Cara as well as floor, window, and door trim.  All the tile is grouted except for the master shower which I understand is a slow, tedious process.  After that, we're down to the kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, book shelves, all counter tops and the fireplace stone.  The deck, landscaping, and concrete work will have to wait until spring at this point, but at least we'll have a functional place by the end of the year!  I'm trying so hard to be patient...not one of my strong suits!  Everything looks absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to begin having retreat guests!

We have tile at Anam Cara!

The tilers were busy this past week!  About 95% of the tile is laid in the basement retreat space and the upstairs bathrooms.  Grouting still needs to be done and then they can get busy on floor trim and interior doors.  The plan is to be able to celebrate Christmas at Anam Cara, so Mark and I have been busy doing some preview shopping online for bunk beds and simple furniture for the basement. This first picture is a view of the basement fellowship hall looking towards the retreat kitchen with a propane fireplace in the left corner.

This second picture is the fellowship hall looking from the retreat kitchen towards the bunk rooms.  There are two bunk rooms which we hope will each hold at least 3 bunk beds.  There is a bathroom for each bunk room and two large storage closets in the hallway.  The windows have a beautiful view of the woods behind the house.  Right now it's a solid wall of cedar trees, but we're hoping to thin those out a bit giving room for the hardwoods to flourish and adding backyard space.

Picture number 3 is a close up view of the retreat kitchen. The right hand side will have a cooking area and the left hand side will have a large plank table.  We also hope to purchase a few round folding tables and chairs that can be set up in the fellowship hall for quilters, scrap book fans, or other retreat guests.  After Benjamin and Samohya's wedding and the Thanksgiving holidays we'll be investigating what it will take to set up a 501C3!

Things are moving along!

Trail entrance to Eagle Creek.

   

     As you can see, I had a hard time just selecting a couple of pictures for the blog this week!  Things are really moving along.  I want to be out at Anam Cara all the time, yet it's so exciting to come back after a week and see all the changes!  The lawn is seeded and the drive has gravel, which means...you guessed it...time to start shopping for that John Deer tractor!

Fellowship Hall retreat space

Stone inset in foyer.  There will be hardwood around it.

Deck view from Master bedroom

The next steps will be to stain the hardwood floors and begin installing the tile in the bathrooms and the basement.  After that, they'll be ready to put in the trim and interior doors.  There are still a few more light fixtures to install and all the plumbing fixtures still need to be installed as well.  The cabinet maker is working on the kitchen cupboards and bathroom cabinets and we still need to make counter top decisions, but all in all, the major decisions are done!

Flooring next?

Our contractor said things will really begin to move now!  The hard wood flooring is all stacked in the garage ready to be laid, the tile for the bathrooms has been ordered, and the electrician is finally getting the light fixtures installed.  Mark and I can't wait for the deck to be done so we can sit out and enjoy the fall weather!  We still need to clear out some of the cedar trees behind the house, partly to give us a bit more space and partly to give the hardwoods a chance to flourish.  It will make a huge difference in our backyard landscaping as well.  I'm hoping this Friday we'll be able to see some major progress!

Time for trim!

Family and friends have been asking about paint colors, so I attempted to take a few pictures with my phone. It's a bit tough since the lights aren't energized yet, but I think you can at least get an idea of how things are looking. This is a view from the eating area of the kitchen towards the great room fireplace. The windows and doors on the left are to the upper deck. The primary color throughout the main part of the upper level is called"Sea Sand."

This is in the foyer looking into the dining room.  The cut out on the right is mirrored on the opposite side

I'm standing in the doorway of our master bath.  The first door on the left is a large walk-in shower.  The second doorway is to a water closet and in the rear is our closet/laundry area.

Amazing Colors...Quiet Listening

After stressing for weeks about colors for Anam Cara, Mark finally convinced me to contact an interior designer.  I'm so glad I listened!  Jean Kemper chose wall colors I never would have dreamed of and it looks absolutely beautiful!  Everything is painted except the ceiling of the master bedroom and the bedroom walls still need one more coat.  It feels warm, welcoming, and...well...earthy!  Wild Sage, Sweet Pea, Sea Sand, and Smoky Blue are names of several of the colors and, I imagine, gives you a sense of the "earthy" feel I mentioned.  We also purchased our last lighting fixture and finished all the plumbing decisions.  Now it's on to flooring and cabinets!

Last night Mark and I lazily sat in lounge chairs in the great room dreaming of being in our new home.  At one point Mark quietly said, "Listen."  I looked over and his eyes were closed.  I knew he was listening to wood sounds...crickets, birds, the wind brushing through the trees....  I couldn't help but smile, and after a few seconds joined him in this new listening.  I don't know if Mark realized it at the time or not, but "listening" is exactly what I've envisioned for Anam Cara; a place for people to listen...to the crickets, and birds, and the wind...and the voice of God that speaks to the soul when one is willing to slow down enough to hear what it is that God has to say.  Life is good.  God is great!

The drywall is done!

The dry wall went up so fast!  They put it up over two days and did the taping and mudding the next.  Tomorrow we're going to see what the final mudding looks like and try painting small swaths of paint on the walls from samples I purchased (Thanks for the idea, Erin!).  

Everything looks so different now that we can't see through walls!  It's so much easier to dream how furniture will look and anticipate how the retreat space might be used in the basement.  It will be so hard to stay away once it's complete!  What am I saying...it's hard to stay away now!

I'm trying to talk a local youth group into helping me haul stones excavated from the construction and possibly build a labyrinth or use them to line the pathway to the river.  We have lots of cool slabs of rock and the possibilities are endless!

Covered By Scripture...

We're done writing scripture verses above the doorways!  Here's a list:

UPSTAIRS
Joshua 4:15	Front Door
2 Corinthians 4:7	Dining Room
Philippians 4:8	Library/Music Room
John 14:1	Kitchen
Romans 15:13	Guest Room 1
1 Samuel 12:24	Guest Room 2
Matthew 16:18	Garage
John 3:16	Doors to Deck
Psalm 139:1	Master Bedroom
Psalm 139:13-14	Master Bath
Psalm 95:2	Doorway from hallway to kitchen
Deuteronomy 6:9	Entrance from Great Room to Foyer
Matthew 22:39	Entrance from Foyer to Great Room

BASEMENT
Isaiah 40:31	Kitchen
Psalm 25:4-5	Garden Garage
Matthew 7:24	Office/Guest Laundry
Jeremiah 29:11	Fellowship Hall/Patio Door
Micah 6:8	Bunk Room 1
1 John 2:1	Bunk Room 2
Psalm 51:2	Bath 1
1 John 2:6	Bath 2
2 Corinthians 5:17	Hallway
Psalm 27:5	Door to Storage Area
Numbers 6:24-26	Door from Fellowship Hall to Bunk Rm Hallway

Thank you to everyone who shared their favorite Bible passages with us!  

We may not be moving in yet, but the contract crew is!

Time to begin inside work! The central vac guy was in today and is already done!  He put the neatest contraption in for me...a kick plate below the counter, in front of the sink, that connects to the central vac system.  When I'm done sweeping the kitchen floor, all I have to do is tap the kick plate with my toe and it will suck up everything I've swept in front of it!  Neato!  

I spent the afternoon with color swatches trying to make decisions about paint.  I have it pretty well settled in my mind: a sort of taupe color called "Portland" for the central color in the foyer, greatroom, basement fellowship hall, and as a theme color throughout the house.  The dining room and library/music room will be a shade of mauve on a wall with the "Portland" predominant.  The guest rooms will be a shade of greenish blue called "Cool Vista", and the kitchen, hallway to the guest rooms, and the mudroom will be a pale shade of yellow called "Gelato in the Park."  The "Gelato" will be in the basement kitchen as well.  One of the bunk rooms will be a pale blue called "Morning Jog" and the other bunk room will be "Cool Vista" again.  

I'll be on retreat at Red Bird Mission in eastern Kentucky next week following an interview with the Board of Ordained Ministry on Monday afternoon which means I'll see phenomenal changes in Anam Cara when I return!   I have a couple more scripture verses I want to get on the beams before dry walling begins on Monday, so Mark and I will make a Sunday afternoon trip to finish.  I don't want the beams covered before I get the Shema written!  The construction guys seem to get a kick out of finding the different passages I have written above each doorway.  One guy said, "They're all going to be covered up." And I said, "Yep! But I'll know they're there (smile)!"  I've put a list together so I remember which verses are where.  I'll include them in a separate post for everyone to see.  

Our newest projected finish date has been moved back toward the end of November.  Hopefully, it will all be completed by the holidays.  We can't wait for our first guests to come and enjoy the quiet of Anam Cara, to rest in the hospitality of our home and to listen for the heartbeat of God amid the surrounding woods and streams.

Blessings to all!

Judy

The "inside" scoop...

Brick work is completely done, and the crew spent about a week cleaning up what was beginning to look like "ground zero" of a war zone! We couldn't be more pleased with the brick, and what was initially a disappointment with the front door has turned to satisfaction. We are now in the insulation phase which is incredibly brief with the techniques they now have. Almost every outside wall now has the insulation blown in as well as the vaulted areas of the ceiling. The insulation will be allowed to settled and dry for about a week and then the dry walling begins. Plumbing fixtures have all been chosen, first floor light fixture decisions have been made... We're down to diligently checking off those seemingly countless little, but hardly insignificant,decisions that go into building a home! It's hard to believe that in one more week we will no longer be able to walk through walls!

Retaining wall

The retaining wall is done! We were amazed at how the brick layers rounded the corner at the end. Their work has been top notch all the way around. They did a great job on the turn as well. Now we need to decide what to do along the top edge. We had originally thought about putting up a fence to keep people from walking over the edge...it's quite a drop! The wall is so pretty, though, we may just do a wide elevated flower bed. If you have any ideas, send them our way!

First major disappointment...

The front door was finally installed yesterday, and when Mark stopped by to check it out it turned out not to be the door we ordered...at least not the transom (window above the door)!  We had requested an arched transom above the front door, but apparently the roof design doesn't allow enough room for an arch.  Oh well...not really a huge deal in the scheme of things, but I was hoping for an arch above the door to match the arched windows.  We did get a rectangular transom which still allows lots of wonderful natural light into the foyer, my intention for a transom in the first place!  The only brick work left to do is around the front door and then it's all inside stuff!  Things are really moving along!

Brick work is almost done!

The brick work is almost done!  We're just waiting on the front door to arrive and be installed so the bricklayers can finish the front porch area.  All that's left are some places under windows and the edges of the retaining wall.

The detail work in the brick is amazing!  Can you see the outline of the cross between the two windows?  I can't wait to put a small garden here with maybe a solar powered fountain!

This is the stepping stone stream right behind our house that Mark and I call "Anam Cara Creek".  It's hard to believe the creek was 30 feet wide at this spot during spring flooding!  Now it just looks like we excavated an old road bed...the bottom is a smooth layer of stone!

Our amazing brick layers!

BRICKS!

Our contractor sent me a text last night to say the brick layers would begin today!  He said they should have it done in about 5 days which absolutely floors me.  Apparently, they have a large crew that works fast and long hours.  It's going to drive me batty to not be there each day.  Mark will be driving by to take photos, so hopefully we'll have a couple of pics posted soon.

Moving along...

May 30, 2011
We met with our contractor this past Friday and finalized a few more decisions, primarily indoor trim and inside doors.  We did a walk-through of the house focusing on the lay-out of the kitchen upstairs and down, as well as a couple of vents that need to be moved.  The best news of the day happened just before we were getting ready to leave.  I made the comment that the only thing I would change about our plans so far is the fact that we only designed one bathroom in the basement for retreat guests. Casey said, "I'm pretty sure we can turn this area into a bathroom with a shower."  I almost hugged him!  It was a huge storage closet that wasn't really needed and is close to the guest bedrooms.  If the plumber is able to pull it off it will give us a men's and a women's restroom in the retreat area allowing us to handle a more diverse crowd of people.  I'm so excited!  About three more weeks will be needed to finish plumbing, heating/cooling, and electrical, and then they will be ready to drywall.  Brick will start going up in about 4 weeks!   Sometime soon I need to make decisions on plumbing fixtures,electrical fixtures, and paint colors!

All the windows are in!

The stairs are in, all the windows are installed, and the guys have begun installing the duct work for the heating and cooling system. The patio doors and garden garage door are also installed. The front door has been ordered and we finally came to a concensus on brick. I never knew there could be so many options just on mortar alone! It's crazy! We spent 1/2 hour just trying to decide which garden tub to get for the master bath, and another 2 hours with an electrician this afternoon walking through the main level of the house to decide where we wanted canned lighting versus hanging or flush lighting, where to put extra outlets (there's never too many in my book!), and so on. Next week, we'll work on lighting for the retreat space in the basement. My head was spinning by the time we left and we're just warming up as far as decisions go!

Our stream is back to normal.

This is the little Anam Cara Creek where Jason, Erin, and I are standing in last week's blog.  It's amazing how quickly the waters receded.  

    

We looked for this fallen tree last week in order to cross over to our property, 

but it had been completely covered by water!

 

This shows where our little Anam Cara Creek (left & foreground) flows into Eagle Creek (right & background).  The water was above this huge 10-12 foot embankment on either side and then over another plateau and 6-8 foot embankment on our side of the creek. 

April showers bring...FLOODS!

Erin and Jason were on their way to Midway to join us for Easter, so we decided to meet them halfway at Anam Cara to check out how all the rain affected our little run-off stream and the areas we want to develop for the retreat.  I don't think any of us were prepared for the extent of the flooding!  

Judy, Jason, and Erin at Anam Cara Creek

This is our "little" stepping stone stream we dubbed "Anam Cara Creek".  It typically has such a small amount of water in it that you can step across on stones without getting your feet wet!  There literally was no way to cross!  As we got closer to  Eagle Creek, the stream just continued to widen out.  We are exceedingly grateful that we built the house on a high knoll!

Our planned outdoor chapel area

The deer stand you see in the background (looks like a ladder leaned against the tree) is...was!...going to be the location of the labyrinth.  The area in front of the stand with all the water was going to be the location of our outdoor chapel/fire pit.  For a frame of reference, this area is at least 12-15 feet above the usual water line of Eagle Creek.  Anam Cara Creek flows into Eagle Creek and this is the point of merger.  There is about a 6 foot bank next to the creek, a plateau of land, and then at least another 6-8 foot high bank and plateau where this pic is taken.  We knew the first plateau flooded, but never dreamed this 2nd plateau would flood this badly!  Time to reassess our plans!

EAGLE CREEK

With more severe storms predicted for the middle of this week, it will probably be a while before we're able to get back there and develop a new plan.  Mark is already brainstorming some bridge ideas for Anam Cara Creek so that we are able to get across during flood season, but we'll definitely have to come up with an alternative trail then the one we had developed before all this rain.  Our current trail is completely under water!

Windows!

The windows are starting to go in and it has made such a difference in the appearance of the house!  Almost all of the smaller windows are in place and the two larger windows in the front of the house should go in sometime this week.  Next, the stairs to the fellowship area in the basement will be built.  Framing is already underway for the bathrooms delineating water closet and shower areas.  Once the stairs are in, we'll do a walk-through with the electrician to decide where we want lights.  The time is drawing near when all those overwhelming decisions have to be made: front door, light fixtures, bathroom fixtures, flooring, paint colors, ...  Egad!  I'm trying to keep ahead of the game, but oh my goodness!  We're pretty set on our flooring and finally made a decision on the master bath tile.  Casey also gave us a great site where we can "practice" designing our front door (thermatru), so I guess things are rolling along about as well as they could.  It won't be long before we're ready to consult with our personal John Deer representative, Erin's dad Jerry Muck, to outfit the garden garage!  Can't wait!

The roof is done!

After church on Palm Sunday, Mark, Claire and I went hiking.  Claire had a ball in the little stream, and if Mark and I would have had a hammock or porch swing I don't think we ever would have left our spot along Eagle Creek!

The little creek has been transformed from all the rain.  It's probably Claire's favorite spot...just shallow enough to wade across with little pools big enough to splash around!

The roof is completed and the windows are suppose to arrive on Monday.  

I'm going to have a hard time staying away until Friday!

Look who has figured out how to jump up!

The night before we had Claire in a little play yard and she did a vertical jump straight up and over! Her next feat was to jump up on this daybed. I had stripped off the quilt to wash it and she loved the nice cushy tempurpedic pad! So much for barriers! Thankfully, she hasn't tried to jump the gates we have blocking access to the rooms with carpeting. Hopefully, by then she'll have progressed enough on obedience training that it won't be an issue! Good thing she's so cute! :o)

Pre-dawn view of the moon

View of the moon early in the morning of March 22, 2011

Base roof is done!

Front view of roof line

What a difference a roof line makes! It's so neat to walk through the rooms now and visualize how everything is going to look! Grass is trying to grow on the hillside, and I can already envision what it will look like with an actual lawn and Bartlet pears lining the driveway! Once the roof is completely done and the windows are in things will really begin to fly! I'm already overwhelmed with the decisions we'll have to make! I'm hoping we won't have to decide too much until after Easter so I have time to visit a Home Depot, Lowe's, and The Tile Store!

Rear view

Each week gets more exciting!

The trail from the back of house to Eagle Creek has been cut thanks to our landscaper, Dave. He did a wonderful job keeping mature trees yet giving us a path wide enough for a gator to haul people back who may not be able to handle the hike. The roof is almost complete and the rooms are all framed out. The huge truck out front is a geo-thermal drilling rig which will supply our heating and cooling system. Mark and I spent the morning hiking the new trail with Dave, walking through the house admiring our gorgeous views, and dreaming of what it will be like to be there 365!

Roof and Trails

Mark drove by Anam Cara yesterday and said the roof tresses are about 90 percent done!  The roof should be complete by the end of the week.  He also met with the landscaper and he has formed the trails through the woods that will lead back to future cabin sites, outdoor chapel, and prayer stations.  We'll walk the trail with the landscaper on Saturday and make some final decisions!  Can't wait!!!!!            

Roof comes next week!

We now have rooms on the first floor!  All that is left is to frame out the master suite.  The roof joists will arrive next week, and if the weather cooperates the framer said he'd have it done in just a couple of days.  Casey, our contractor, said it's time to start making decisions where we want lights.  Once the roof is on, we'll do a walk-through with the electrician and finalize lighting.  Then, it's flooring, paint colors, .....  Oh my goodness!  Help!

We have a 1st floor!

Nothing happened for the longest time, and then, KAZOWIE!  We have a 1st floor! Rain will slow things down for a couple of days, but maybe we'll get to see framed rooms by the end of the week. 

This is a view of the back of the house showing the walkout basement and the main floor.

Mark is looking out the front of the house at our beautiful western view.  To his right will be the main entrance and he is standing in what will be the music/library room.  

CLAIRE

This is our new little girl from a rescue group in Cincinnati.  She's part golden retriever and part who-know's-what!  Claire has a beautiful brindle coat with a white chest and paws and the sweetest disposition.  We've had her for a couple of weeks now and she's already put on about 7 lbs.!  After a look at her feet, the vet predicts an adult weight of 70 lbs.  We're working on some obedience commands at home, but I'm hoping to get her into former classes so that we can eventually qualify as a therapy team.  My goal is to be able to take Claire with me on hospital and home visits as well as other ministry opportunities that may arise.  Mark and I have both fallen head over heels in love her our Claire-Bear!

No Changes...

The weather has frustrated efforts to do any further building on Anam Cara.  We're hoping that after this week of rainy weather warmer temperatures will start to settle in allowing framing to be finished.  If it's not raining, I'm driving out there on Friday whether anything has been done or not!  I need an Anam Cara fix! Just walking around the site is a time of spiritual renewal and I want to take Claire, our new puppy, for her first hike around the property. It's probably not wise to take a 30 lb. pup to a virtual landscape of mud, but that's what outdoor hoses are for...right?!

I've been grabbing paint swatches trying to decide on colors for the inside, and have also started looking at lighting fixtures.  So many decisions to make!  I want to get as many of those pesky details out of the way as I possibly can, so that we're not overwhelmed with an infinite number of decisions all at once.  A friend suggested taking a permanent marker and writing scripture verses on the beams of each room before it's finished off.  What a wonderful idea!  If any one has suggestions, drop us a line.  I imagine Mark and I will try to write the verses in the next couple of weeks.

May God bless you all to be a blessing!

Stallons Christmas

We took a bunch of the Stallons family on a field trip to Anam Cara over the Christmas holidays. A little bit of framing had started on the basement, but the highlight was a hike back to Eagle Creek! We had a ball!

It also gave me a chance to spend a bit more time with a new dear friend, Helen, who had to head back to Australia.