Backstory Blueprints Photo Archive January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 Current Blog

Saturday, December 3, 2005 Matt and Stan placed lower cabinets in the bonus bar, downstairs bathroom and laundry room while Joy and I hovered over them, amazed that they were actually there, not wanting them to leave our sights in case their actual presence was a figment of our over-active imaginations. In advance of Millennium Stone coming Tuesday to measure these cabinets for the setting of the last of the slab material, Matt spent today placing cabinets and will return Monday to apply plywood tops and cut for the various undermount sinks. He has us expecting him to be done around mid-month with Steve following on his heels to finish the great-room wainscoting, Marcel returning to give the hardwood a sanding and a protective coat, and then Gary and crew spending a number of weeks to do the wood staining. We may be over the hump finally this month. If you've been following this project you may recall around May 19th we reported someone had gone to a lot of trouble to steal the middle of three installed windows on the south side of the great room. We discovered the missing window today fifty feet down the hill in the vines leaning against some shrubs, unbroken except for around the perimeter of the outside frame where nails had pulled through the hard plastic edges. The mystery is why someone would put so much effort into removing it and then leave it behind like that. Saturday, December 10, 2005 Steve returned to work on wainscotting for the living room. Joy smoothed out the wall texture in the hallway leading from the master bedroom to the master bath so that wallpaper wouldn't show the bumps. Matt delivered but hadn't hung some upper cabinets in the basement. He should be bringing more the beginning of the week, dodging Gary's stainers who'll be masking things off. Friday, December 16, 2005 Manuel and crew focused on everything upstairs and in the upper stairwell this week, masking, sanding, conditioning the wood and staining it a warm, dark shade just light enough to still show off the grain. Matt and Stan somehow worked their way in between the paper and cans of stain to get the uppers in the laundry and master bath placed just before Manuel made those part of his work. Matt also placed the cherry tub front with access doors to be able to get to the spa hardware. Joy and I showed up Friday night to check out Manuel's stain work and came upon the end-of-the-week tradition of workers kicking back with a few beers. Matt and Stan were leaving after just delivering the kitchen upper cabinets. He's staying ahead of Manuel who'll be moving to the main level next week. Monday, December 19, 2005 Matt and Stan set the kitchen upper cabinets today. The lowers had been placed back on August 25th, four short months ago. To say we've been anticipating this day would be an understatement. Joy and I went to the house after work, pulled up a couple chairs and just sat and stared at the completed kitchen for a good hour, wondering which drawer would hold the forks, knives and spoons. Meanwhile, Manuel did his thing to the upstairs woodwork. After conditioning and staining on Friday, today he and his crew varnished and sanded, varnished and sanded, and varnished once more. I think I've got the order right. Anyway, three coats of varnish makes the wood jump out at you and it feels really smooth too. Pictures don't do it justice. Thursday, December 22, 2005 Most of the cabinets for the downstairs entertainment center were set today. Matt and Stan still have work to do over the fireplace and in the opposite corner where a computer desk will be placed. We had our doubts about the opening where the TV will go being large enough, but after measuring it's more than high and wide enough. The depth is another issue. It may be a few inches too skinny so that the TV will project out from the cabinets a minimum of three inches and we're not sure if this should bother us. There may be a way for Matt to trim around the TV or it might be better to just live with it. We'll find out Friday. He also got the bar cabinet and downstairs bathroom uppers installed. Manuel and crew continued the massive task of taping and papering everything off on the main level in preparation for shooting stain. Wednesday, December 28, 2005 Manuel's arm is tired. Two solid days of rubbing stain into all the woodwork on the main level of the house has taken its toll. The slight dullness will shine when he goes through the normal sanding and varnishing process. Continue on to January

Backstory Blueprints Photo Archive January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 Current Blog