We don't know yet

Well, yes, the appraiser came - the day after my last post. No, he didn't exclaim over how beautiful it was - no taste, I think. He was, after all, the helper. He only took pictures, notes and measurements and took it all to the real appraiser. This gentleman called Mike to verify and clarify some things, but as of now, we STILL DON'T KNOW how high he appraised it. HOWEVER, the bank must feel OK about it because we are set up to sign papers on Wednesday. In the meantime, I'm still painting. I was discouraged at the speed - or lack of it - on the window painting UNTIL I realized that each window has 24 panes to paint around! I'll be at this a while. While I went off to a birthday party Saturday Mike connected our kitchen sink and dishwasher. I have few pots and dishes, so I'm hand washing, but I COOKED TONIGHT!

It's just chili and cornbread - well like a cornbread pancake - but it sorta feels good!

Look closely - you can see some water! It's soooo nice.

So THIS is what he'll see

So you now have the newest view of what the appraiser will see - since he was delayed. While the weather kept the brick guys away, Bill put in a mighty good day!

All dressed up and . . .

We worked until midnight, got up at 5:30 and worked more - this time with the rain pouring down - and feel like we finished for the appraisal. Today, with lots of rain coming all day, the appraiser said he couldn't come; it's not good for pictures. So, here's what he would have seen today.

Rental kitchen - toward living room

Rental kitchen - toward the parking area.

View from the entrance of rental side

Our kitchen

Our kitchen door - NO raw wood, Vik!

Rental bath - left side

Rental bath -right side as seen in the mirror -take 47 or so

Closet of rental small bedroom

Appraisal tomorrow

Not so many photos, but I'll take some tomorrow. Other than putting away a few boxes and sweeping a bit tomorrow morning, I think we're ready for the appraisal man. Mike worked on the driveway and plumbing and electrical stuff, and Bill worked on the stair rail, and I painted and cleaned.

On 3 or 4 fronts!

Today we worked on 3 fronts - or maybe 4. Courtney and Elijah worked on bricks - and got more delivered. Bill worked the stairs. Mike worked the rental kitchen and then the bath. I did a bit of painting - between running errands and remembering that I had to go back to work today. So it was productive. I now think that if I can stay here and not run around, I'll get my part done. And if Bill makes it to work on the stairs - and Mike can work some with him and some on the rental bath plumbing. And C&E plan to be here for at least some of the day tomorrow. So, when the appraisal man comes on Monday, hopefully we will be ready enough for him. Keep in mind that these things connected to water (dishwasher, sinks, etc.) are NOT, yet, and won't be for the appraisal. But we're a lot closer than I thought we'd be. Have a look.

We decided to use barge-board posts. Tommorow, more.

Shine first because otherwise we won't be able to get to the whole step.

Niiice vents, huh?

One side of the rental kitchen.

The other side of the rental kitchen. Pretty nice, huh?

Getting to be fun!

This week has been a productive one, though I don't have some of it on film. I don't have the fact that Courtney, Elijah and Mike all spent time under the house. And I took no pics of the trim work done by Bill or the bricks in the chain wall. None of that is really exciting to see, but it's really important. However, with Fran's help, we did have some fun developments - see below.

These storage boxes went away!

Mike hung my pot rack.

The sink is in - will be connected this week, in sha allah.

With the pickling done, Fran helped get all the rental kitchen cabinets finished.

She's a fiend at painting baseboards - left me in the dust!

Sinks in rental were set - now to finish plumbing them!

Test

This is for my subscribe now link

MY kitchen!!

Yesterday I worked on cabinets for the rental side - and no, they aren't finished yet. Today, my countertops came at the same time that Elijah & Courtney gave us solid floors. I debated long and hard about spending the money on the countertop I wanted, but I am sooo pleased. These brothers who did the countertops also drilled some holes in the granite of the rental side for us. And E&C were crawling around under our house ALL DAY, in and out of the rain, keeping our side of the floor from sagging.

The sink isn't installed yet so I still don't cook. That will come soon!

It's the blue that drew me to this. The island is a cabinet we faced in some of the barge board from the house. I just hated to lose all of those original boards that we weren't using in the construction, and I really wanted to be able to see some of them in their rough state. I think this goes really well - the rough against the smooth, shiny man-made stone.

My turn

Well, all the time I spent complaining about having to just watch while others worked has caught up with me. I now have 3 projects - at least - waiting for me, and I'm enlisting help next week to work on at least one of them. FRAN, I'm ready!! In the meantime, Mike has been crawling under the house, shoring up the floor - with help from an unbelievably giving friend. Bill has worked on trim and Elijah has worked on bricks. And I have been working on pickling the rental kitchen cabinets. I didn't get more brick pictures, nor ones of Bill (they'd just look like more wood) nor of Mike & Courtney under the house (let THEM deal with the bugs and the nasty smells). Mike did take some of the cabinets - while I was still working on them today. And hopefully tomorrow I will have more to share.

Running up and down

YAY! We have stairs whose treads don't tumble down on our heels. No, it's not finished - still need a few pieces before we even work on the spindles and rails - but today was a red letter day! It makes me feel so confident.

Both sides of the house

Today we made some progress on both the rental side and our side. Some sweet friends from long ago came and brought cabinets. He, along with a new friend, made them for the rental unit and I just love them! I now want to just drop everything and put on stain and poly - though I can't. Also, though Bill spent half his day working with the cabinet installation, he got some of the stairs finished today!! Have a look.

Looking good, huh?

More to go - but soon!

Part of the cabinets

I'm trying the "pickled" look

Another good Saturday

We still have no stairs because Bill has been sick all week, but today was a productive day. Mike took on the biggest job of all: cleaning out the rented storage shed. He got most of the tools moved into his little storage shed and did a massive amount of cleanout. It was a job that I should be able to do well, but he had to look at all the little bits and pieces because I could not tell treasure from trash. No pictures of that job, but it was a major one. He then hung the microwave!! I no longer have to get down on the floor to put stuff in it. Then he came to join me at the job I'd been doing all day - and would not have finished without his help. We got all of the bricks laid for the back patio. Well, we have all the small corner pieces to do yet, but all else is laid. Though we finished after dark, most of these are shots from this morning. Now for chairs and coffee and the paper!!

Big day!

Other than making 3 trips to the dump, a couple of Home Depot/lumber yard runs, and a little bit of painting, I spent most of my time running back and forth between the back yard and our living room going, "Wow!" or "That's great!"

The day began like this in the back yard and the living room stairs:

But Jake came with plants and a plan

After much discussion there was a meeting of the minds on how to do the stairs.

And the yard/patio began to be REAL!! We have a bit more brick to lay, and there are some potted camelias to sit around the A.C.s but there was huge progress made. AND, though I didn't get any finished shots - and the stairs won't be finished before Tuesday - the stringers are in place; the stairs will be "to code" and they look like they're going to be really good.

Three incredible guys doing huge amounts of work! It was a really big day!