Demolition Derby

It's a busy day in our little neck of the woods. In addition to the construction of the main house, we are replacing the septic system on our other house across the street (where we are living), so we have heavy machinery going in both locations. Our neighbors are probably not very happy with us today!

The demo has been going very well, although it entailed more than we originally thought (more about that later). The house is now officially a "see through" with walls on two sides gone. We just hope that the two story portion that is apparently supported only by a two by four stays up until they can put more sufficient support under it!

Birds of a Feather

Two different birds, but both beautiful nonetheless.

Every year the Osprey leave for the summer in early July and return in early to mid November (hurricane season). We have a pair in a tree in our neighbor's yard. They generally do not leave or return together. One of them is back, waiting patiently for the other. I always get a bit anxious hoping that nothing happened to the other one. I look forward to photographing them together soon.

One of the first things we did as we started construction was to transplant our Birds of Paradise plant. We have a huge one that was growing right where the master bedroom will be. They trimmed and moved it away from all of the action with the thought that we would move it to it's final spot once construction is finished and we finalize the landscaping plan. There was one last bloom on it that I cut to enjoy inside - they keep for weeks. This one was special as it was a dual bloom.

Day Three - progress report

Considering that there was not a lot of activity yesterday (something about hunting, probation officers and Universal Studios - don't ask) there was quite a lot of activity today. Below are some progress photos.

We have decided to take photos every day from the same locations so we can view the progress. We will share them with you - probably not every single day, but when there is enough progress that it is noticeable.

We should have taken a photo of the porto-potty that was right at the street and then moved back about 15 feet after we pointed out that it wasn't the best location - especially after we witnessed a passerby stopping and using it (ewwwww).

WE HAVE LIFTOFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, for those who placed bets on when (actually IF) this remodel would ever start - today is the day. Mark it down - November 17. The new bets can be on when we will be finished. The contractor says 6 to 8 months, so we are thinking 9 to 12. Mid summer hopefully - during rainy season.

It is ironic that there was a shuttle launch yesterday since I planned to use a shuttle launch photo for the official lift off. This photo is not of yesterday's launch, but one earlier in the year. It was taken from Kennedy Space Center. We can see the shuttle from our backyard, but nothing quite like the photo.

Oh well, I digress. As of 9 am, there were 7 pickup trucks and two heavy duty trucks at the house. The number of trucks is a sign of how much work is going on. Several larger trucks along with a huge back hoe showed up later. All were gone by noon......... hummmmmm.

They pulled the back porch area off and part of the roof above it. Just with that little part gone, the view to the lake is significantly better. The final product will have the great room about 5 feet higher than the previous elevation, so the view will really be fabulous. We will have windows across the entire back of the house. Can't wait!

There will be more frequent posts and lots of photos so you can follow on with the progress and, what is sure to be lots of drama. We already have our first change order - we just have to laugh about it - nothing else to do at this point. More about that detail later.

Thanks for tuning in!

Musings on Moving

It is easier to move across the country than it is across the street! The reason is that a cross country move forces you to pack everything and move all at once. If you have no specific deadline because you are waiting for permits, then moving can take quite a while - over a month for us, and still counting. Now that we finally have our permits, we have to get everything out, and that means everything! We opened the hall closet yesterday thinking that it was empty since we moved the coats, but NO - there was a vacuum cleaner, gloves, hats and things we never use in the warm Florida winters. Oh, man, it's never going to end!

The funniest thing was that I really wanted to leave our television and the various cable boxes connected when we moved those items since it usually takes several trips for the cable company to get our TIVO box hooked up correctly. I do have everything labeled as well as photos, but the thought was if we could just keep it together, life would be simpler. So, creative Guy figured out that we could use the wheelbarrow. What???? It worked perfectly. We put the boxes in the bottom and the TV across the top. Unorthodox, but so is he! We were laughing as we wheeled it down the street under the cover of darkness. Here we are, the Beverly Hillbillies, moving our worldly goods down the street! The only bummer is that it was dark and there are no street lights, thus no photo as my flash is not powerful enough. It would have been a great photo, but use your imagination. Hilarious!

Permits Finally Received!!

We received word this morning that the County has approved our permit application and issued the permit to begin construction. YEA! We have waited a long time for this. Construction updates will be forthcoming!