day 351: full house

Dad + Mom are mostly moved into the new house, and they waste no time enjoying their TV + WiFi.


We spent some time filling the living room shelves with books and treasures, at least as a starting point. It will take some time to arrange everything to their liking. They plan to get a large ottoman and maybe put a small recliner where the Christmas tree is right now. and Mom promised to reupholster the furniture after they settle in.

the kitchen island will have some counter stools eventually. otherwise it seems to perform nicely. the giant pantry is probably the best feature.


ikea kitchen cabinets with Samsung quartz countertops and Maytag appliances.


the 48" x 88" kitchen island looking into the dining and sitting areas.


i forgot to lower the dining room chandelier before i flew back to new york.


the fireplace heats the entire public area of this floor. it is a very warm house!

day 350: early morning

Homer Lane on an overcast morning.


view of the house from the upper field. further back you can't see the house at all.


the east side, early morning. see the Christmas tree in the living room?


from the southeast


northeast


northwest


south. landscaping will have to wait until the spring.


mom admiring her new house.


mom buries her food scraps in the area she wants to plant a garden.

Merry Christmas + Happy New Year

Merry Christmas from Homer Lane Farms

day 330: unpacking

Eric, who installed the mantle and stone upstairs, came and installed this old barn beam in the family room while mom and dad were away in Wisconsin. i think there is a lot of steel behind that wood to hold this on the wall. it's heavy! and you can see that they are starting to unpack and place things around the house. This will take some time, but stay tuned for some pictures. or visit.

day 328: driveway

Bob Reese from Tri-State extended the driveway over to the house while they were away in Wisconsin packing for the move.


This part of the driveway was laid using recycled blacktop asphalt and a topping of small-scale limestone. No more getting stuck in the mud.

day 324: moving day

Dad and Mom drove from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania, Dad in the moving truck with all their stuff and mom in the minivan with the pets. Moving day finally came on day 324. congrats!

day 323: packing + loading

mom and dad went back to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving and are packing up the house.


Mom said she tried to bring a lot of the boxes to the first floor to help make loading day a little easier.


Our long-time friend and professional truck-packer, Eddie Horvat, came to make sure every square inch of the truck was utilized on loading day.


Almost full. Here's a note from Dad about loading day:
"Josh the move was incredible! Eddie Horvat said in the middle of the move that it couldn't all go and to start to pick and choose. We then filled the dining room with stuff to leave. Well Eddie started to call for more things and more things and more things and when we were done the dining room was almost empty. Toward the end of the move i stuck in that big painting of Jesus so we decided He enlarged the truck and it was our bread and fish moment."


A huge thank you to everyone who came out on Saturday to help load the moving truck. Mom wishes she had taken more pictures because it was quite a sight to see. There were enough people that they formed a "bucket brigade" line from the house to the truck and just passed boxes from person to person. Here are some of the guys posing for a photo with Dad.

day 308: grills

the air registers were installed in the slate floors


... and in the wood floors. it was either white or this color. and apparently the design on these hasn;t changed since i saw them as a little kid.


mom+dad bought the "surprise artful toilet seat" for the guest bathroom. haha!

day 306: towel bars

two days of mopping in the family room downstairs.


towel bars master bath.


towel bar guest bath.

day 305: sink

downstairs bathroom vanity installed. foyer.

day 304: vanity top

the master bathroom vanity countertop was installed today with two under-mount sinks.

day 302: guest rooms

Bedroom 3, the non-yellow room


Bedroom 3 98% complete


Bedroom 2 closets


Bedroom 2


Bedroom 2

day 301: snow

first snow of the season


fireplace stone still drying


driveway

day 300: bookshelves

Kevin delivered the living room bookcases. they are 7'-6" high to align with the light shelf.


they just need the baseboard and the outlets installed. and now Stevie can install the baseboards in the room.

day 299: lots of progress

the pocket door to the pantry is finished now that it has a door pull, and the Steves trimmed out the kitchen window, which might have been the last window. The countertops on order won't be installed for quite a while, so they opted to put in some OSB temporary counters and get the sink hooked up.


Overall kitchen view with temporary plywood counters and completed toekicks and cabinets. Looks like it just needs a few pulls installed.


Most of the trim work is complete, so the Steves started outfitting the closets. (Left) the linen closet in the 2nd bathroom, and (Right) a coat closet in the entry foyer.


Progress continues on the fireplace stone and mantel.


the excavator laid out a parking lot and brought in some ground-up blacktop to give everything a solid base.


dad painting the rooflet and the built-up driveway


smoothed out lower yard


the door at the back of the garage now has a stoop. this is one of the unearthed concrete slabs.