Before leaving on yet another trip (which will be highlighted in my next post), John and I went by the farm to see the power path and other progress last Saturday.
The path that Travis cut for the power poles looks great and even if that isn’t the way we ultimately get our power, it will be a fun and easy path to get to the far east side of our property.
The barn is really coming along! The windows and doors (except for the big garage doors) are all in and the walls of the apartment are up. I think the living room will be a really nice size and I love the view off the private barn porch.
I also really like how the colors of the barn complement the colors of the house. I freaked a little, worrying that the barn is too close to the house, but John assures me that it will be very convenient for him as he works in his man cave, errr, I mean, barn.
Other progress included the drywall being installed on the ceilings and some of the walls. I didn’t stay in the house very much while they worked (seriously, these people should wear face masks with all that drywall dust), but I did see that the cement board is also installed around all of the shower/tub areas of the house as well.
It will be exciting to get back from this trip (which will cover John’s birthday and Valentine’s Day) and see the progress and other goodies that are getting delivered (I’m lookin’ at you, cast iron tub!). Until then, thanks for stopping by!
The framers are finishing the siding and porch ceilings, which is great – but it means that it’s time to choose our home’s exterior colors.
Private master bedroom porch
We have already chosen the colors for the barn. That was easy because there are far fewer choices for the metal building and we are NOT painting that bad boy.
Metal samples for the barn -the body will be the creamy beige and the sage green will be the accent color
We would like the house to go with the barn, but not necessarily match. We are also cognizant of our home on the hill sticking out when it is seen from the valley. I want it to be in harmony with the natural, wooded setting and with the cedar posts and other stained wood accents. So with that in mind, we are considering painting the house a shade of green with creamy beige trim – basically the opposite of the barn combination. We selected 4 color samples last week, but decided that they were all too light…
Original set of colors, 1-4
Round two colors were labeled A, B, C, D.
I immediately determined that color A from round two is too dark. So that leaves us with B, C, and D.
The standing seam metal roof will go on after the house is painted
What is your vote? They will start painting in the next week, so I’d love to hear your opinion! As always, thanks for stopping by! Hugs, Libby
We are back in Texas and today John and I walked through the house and marked on the wall studs where we want switches to control certain lights or fans. It’s really all about the user experience. How do you turn on enough lights to get safely to the kitchen in a darkened house, for example? Do you want to be able to turn on hall lights from both ends of the hall? Yes, by the way. I’m hoping our preparations will make the electrical walk through Thursday morning go much faster.
Looking into the kitchen
The front porch now has its ceiling done and the cedar posts are in place. The batten is also being installed on our Hardie board and the chimneys have been stuccoed.
Living room chimney
Loving the stained wood ceiling
We are also beginning to look at exterior house colors. I’ve painted a few swatches on the siding and we are debating looking at more color options.
Tonight we are looking forward to walking to a local restaurant and bar for a fun New Years Eve. Our ability to walk to restaurants, shops, and a local grocery store is one of our favorite things about living in our rental home in Smithville, Texas. We will definitely miss that when we move into our forever home on 43.5 acres, because, yikes, that would be a long walk.
Celebrating New Years Eve at the Front Room Wine Bar at their black and white party.
On our drive down to Texas (it takes 16 hours), John and I reflected on 2019 and looked forward to 2020. It was a good exercise in mindfulness and conscious living. I think of it as a way to slow down, reminisce about our favorite moments, make sure we take the time to appreciate all the little and big things that were a part of our lives in the past year, and also to draw some conclusions about which kinds of things make us happy and which don’t. My goal was to start seeing more clearly and confidently what are our goals & intentions for 2020.
John looking dapper on NYE. I think this should be his new LinkedIn picture.
Maybe some of these questions will be a fun conversation starter for you and your family too.
Reflecting on 2019
What 3 words would you use to describe 2019?
What was your favorite destination in 2019?
What was your biggest lesson of the year?
What are you most proud of from 2019?
What was your favorite compliment from this year?
What worry turned out to be completely unnecessary?
What or who had the biggest positive impact on your life this year?
Looking forward to 2020
What do you want the overarching theme of 2020 to be?
What are your biggest goals for 2020?
What skills do you want to learn, improve or master?
Which personal quality do you want to develop or strengthen?
What do you want your everyday life to be like?
What do you want to achieve with your career?
How do you want to remember the year 2020 when you look back on it 10/20/50 years from now?
Me in my vintage fur stole
I hope that you and your family have a wonderful start to the new year and new decade. Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!
