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!