january 4

there's a little bit of snow in fairfield now. steve had to shovel out the driveway when he got there, and here he is working on the walkway to the front door.

this is the pile at the end of the street. can only assume it will get REALLY big over the winter.

the snow was fairly crusty, but every once in a while the dogs would posthole. the snowshoes worked quite well for me. the dogs did figure out that if they walked in the snowmobile tracks they didn't sink as often.

here's the sunset from the master bedroom window. very pretty, isn't it? snowmobile tracks all over the field behind us- and sleds going through with some regularity.

the brew pub was open, so we ate there for a change of pace. it was really good- a good selection of beer & wine, yummy gorgonzola chicken pasta, and a great salad. john had ribs which he liked a lot. john and kathleen bought some really warm winter hats made out of yak yarn & lined with fleece there too- a very handy place all in all!

it's starting to feel more like a house & less like a camp. john found us the stove & the fridge on craig's list. both work just fine and were good deals.

the stackable washer & dryer also came from craig's list, also very reasonable, and both with warranty left on them....

and we have a bed! (yep, you guessed it- craig's list). mattress & box springs were still in the plastic, it had been used as a guest bed. a little soft, but not bad. the headboard is also just fine. and now we have the inflatable mini queen mattress and the foam pads for guests and helpers...

we have a shower! still need to work on the handle, but the paint is done & it all looks good. one small issue is that the electricians put in a fan without a light- the only light in the bathroom is the sconce above where the mirror will be. would be too dark even with lighter wall color. so we'll be buying a fan/light combo- which is what we have in the master bath.

there are some other wiring questions, but i guess we'll figure it out- or have electricians come back in & make it the way we want at some point.

this is the color that steve finally settled on for the downstairs. it looks very different depending on the light and time of day.
we made good painting progress. most of the ceilings are done, got spots touched up in the bathrooms on the ceilings and i got most of the edging painted.

found the handiest edging tool- since i do not have the rock steady hand of my friend carolyn. it has a pad that you put the paint on and then you roll the guides along the edge. it works like a charm!
steve also got a coat hook & key hanger up, and we brought the couch in the house. steve's kids have been great- jake & tina gave us the upstairs bathtub and the couch; john has done a lot of work- a lot of the texturing and he got most of the lights hung for us today. kathleen helped paint today. john keeps finding great deals on craig's list (the fridge & oven for example). this trip, they brought up a rocking chair and pots & pans & glasses that their roommate was going to toss out. it's really nice of all of them, and i hope they will enjoy the house in the future.

in the meantime, echo thinks the couch is just dandy! :)