The first month

Well apparently folks still check the blog even though the construction is done...so here are some photos of us settling in during the first month. I think almost all of the boxes upstairs are empty or hidden away in closets, so that's progress!

Spending continues... Furniture is coming along. The TV and Blue Ray player were the first purchases...although we haven't figured out satellite or cable yet. We decided on bar stools and those seem to go well with the kitchen and are actually comfortable.We went to a leather store in Phoenix and picked out a sofa design. It's called a conversation sofa, the end seats curve in at about a 150 degrees, so the overall shape is a little more open than a typical L shaped sectional. The green sofa in the photo is our old sofa. The felt cut out on the ground is from the furniture store...pretty neat way for customers to see what they are ordering! So we ordered that sofa in brown leather. It's made in Phoenix and should be ready in about 2 months.

The new bar stools

 The fireplace doors are on and the mantle is decorated (for now at least)

 

The list of projects still to do is massive of course. We did succeed in getting one car in the garage for a few days! The dilemma is, do we move everything into the shop and get the garage set up, or wait and leave the garage a mess and do the epoxy floor in the shop first? I think we came to the realization that we need to go ahead and pour the concrete slab in the unfinished space. It feels really damp in there and the red cinders are annoying as they get tracked all over the place. So that might escalate to project number one. My motivation for getting that done is so that the dog can have a palatial suite in that part of the downstairs with a dog door that's only a few feet in the air and a nice dog run along that side of the house. So that means waiting a little longer for a dog, but at least they will have a nice kennel and run area!

 Still a few boxes in the game room to deal with!

Landscaping is looking great! A few more trees and a bunch of plants to add color. I planted some seeds in the garden last weekend, so we'll see what actually grows with irrigation around here!

 

 The raised vegetable garden

The landscaper planted various flowers in the backyard to soften up the rock walls and planters. I hope the irises bloom!

 The little planter below the master window which I decided will be for herbs

 Hosta below the front stair...we'll see if it's shady enough! They still need to add gravel or mulch around the plants.

 A pretty lavender lilac bush out back.

 The tulips from Amy and Pat's wedding grew! Only two have flowered (someone enjoyed the other blossoms as a tasty snack) and they were both yellow.

 

Columbine

Well the projects continue... We have been getting out for bike rides, walks and runs from the house though. It's great to have trails in pretty much all directions so it's been fun to explore!