inside finished!

with walls now finished, time to relax and enjoy, soaking in deep tub

shower completed, tiles stained dark resemble brick, successful design

brush completely gone, from porch clear view through woods, for watching wildlife

once a huge brush pile, dragging out trees and branches, has made it smaller

tanks hidden by dirt, more visually pleasing, yard still needs much work

shady path through trees, leading to future garden, smooth stones to walk on

yes, the goal we have been working for has finally been accomplished.  the inside of the house is finished!  (save a few very small decorating details.)  we finished last night with the plumbing fixtures in the showers.  our plumber (who has been avoiding us) left us with quite a mess to deal with.  however, we figured out a way to get the faucets working with the awkward pipe hook ups he left.  i still need to make myself a shower curtain out of natural linen.  i’ll save that project for a dreary, rainy day.

now the action moves outside.  just in time for the hottest part of summer…ugghh.  i foresee us visiting my parents (and their pool) more often these coming days!  we have several brush piles we need to move out of the way.  last week my Dad came out to help us tackle some of those piles.  we got a lot cleared, and the yard looks so much better now.  there are still quite a few left, but no more as big as the one that was behind the house.  it's the one you see in the photo...we cleared a little over half of it.  my Dad had to use a tractor and chain to pull out several trees that were all tangled up inside.  clearing out brush is hard work!

we’ve also been playing in the dirt these days.  Jason got the septic tanks covered.  the field lines and pipes leading from the tanks to the field lines have also been covered.  now we’re working on spreading some of our dirt piles (left over from the earlier bulldozing days) into the yard.  i got a start on the stone path to my future garden spot.  i’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but i couldn’t resist!  i plan on using all the rocks we’ve had to dig up and sort out.  i’ve got ideas for stone walkways, retaining walls, flower beds, and even a sanctuary for the lizards.  i will be busy for months and months!