So Close...

We're coming down to those last few steps to completion.  You know...the waiting and that "Oh Crap!" moment when something comes up that was overlooked while planning a thousand other things.  Nothing that can't be overcome, but you still get sinking feeling that your dreams might never be the same.

Originally Tracy told us that we'd be in the house by the middle of September.  Not picking on him, but that was VERY optimistic.  A tropical storm and a hurricane later, Neta said she'd be happy to be in by Halloween.  Hello and goodbye to that!  Maybe by my birthday in November.  Nope!  Thanksgiving?  Maybe...  Well...that's come and gone too, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's bright...very bright!

First a few things that were done recently.  How about a new (refinished) bathtub?  Don't know if you remember the old one, but this will refresh your memory.

Definitely Before

She sure cleans up nice!

For the guest bathroom, Neta refinished an old chest from the original house, leaving the mirror in its original state and hanging it on the wall.

Neta breathed new life into an old piece.

We had a farmhouse (of course) sink installed in the kitchen.

This is as much of a reveal of the kitchen as you're going to get for now.

Now then...all those plumbing fixtures won't do us much good without water.   Even though the well had been installed about 10 years ago, Tracy wanted to run new plumbing and electrical.  We were fine with that.

So far, so good.

The plumbers were about to start trenching and asked where the tie-in was for the water main into the house.  I wasn't sure, so I asked Tracy.  He and I walked around for a bit before stopping next to the little concrete porch we added off the kitchen.  He turned and gave me a funny look and just shook his head.

A while back, after the main slab was poured, framing was completed and the house was "dried in", we'd asked Tracy to add on a concrete pad outside of the kitchen as an add on to our carport/porch area.  Guess where the water main was?  Oops!

It's about 4 feet in, directly under the spigot at the top of the picture.

Luckily it was deep enough under the pad that the concrete wasn't blocking the pipe.  The poor plumber had to tunnel about 4 feet in to find it and tie in.  But at least we now we have running water!!!  He did fill the hole back in, by the way.

Only one major step left...the propane tank being delivered and hooked up.  The rest are just minor electrical fixtures, some moulding around the kitchen island and the trim carpenter installing some items, including the porch swing.

This is the latest item he installed for us.

Our range hood and backsplash (same bricks as we used on the fireplace).

The painters came back and did touch ups everywhere and put the final coating on the stairs.

They're almost too pretty to step on.

This weekend we moved in the remaining appliances including the refrigerator.  The fridge was nearly an all day project as we had to remove all of the doors to get it into the house, then reassemble it.

With the propane coming either Monday or Wednesday, Tracy told us yesterday that he would get the final inspection for the Certificate of Occupancy as soon as the gas is hooked up.  When asked if we could schedule movers for this coming Friday (Dec 2), he gave us the go ahead to do it.  WOO HOO!!!

Hey everybody...we're moving!  I hope my next blog entry isn't titled "Not So Fast!"

Coming into the Home Stretch

Now that our 15 minutes of "bear" fame and being front-page news has faded away, it's time to get back to the real work at hand and update everyone on the house progress.  I'll warn you now...this isn't going to show everything.  We've got to hold a few things back for the "Big Reveal" at the end.  So this will just be a taste.  And sorry for the terrible colors in the pictures.  It was evening when I took most of these.

When we last left off we had new cabinetry.  The only way to top that is with...new countertops!

Lights!  Cabinets!  Countertops!

It's hard to show in a picture, but we chose white quartz countertops with a hint of green (and sparkles) in them.  Neta and I loved how the stone looked in the showroom when we picked it out.  Seeing it installed against the cabinets - in person - really brings out the highlights in the quartz.  Neta's eye for design and color is even better than she imagined.

There are other countertops to show, but that's for another blog entry.  Around the corner from the kitchen is our walk-in pantry.  It's empty at the moment, but we can show you the doors.

Color balance could use some correction.

Here's a better look at our floors.

A dark hickory (engineered hardwood - works better on concrete slabs)

The fireplace.

We'll show the whole thing, mantel and all, in a future blog post.

And the master bathroom...

New tile (vinyl) floor, ceiling fan and a corner of the quartz (marble look) countertop

The upstairs got carpet.

The smaller of the two upstairs bedrooms.

Finally, here is the front porch with new lights and the "haint blue" ceiling.

We're ready to sit on the glider and sip our lemonade...or sangria.

As you can see, we've had a lot of new stuff going on.  We're just a few weeks away from moving in.  According to our contractor, Tracy, he's shooting for getting our Certificate of Occupancy just before Thanksgiving, which doesn't leave us enough time to put on a holiday spread.  Looks like we'll be enjoying a Turkey sub from Subway and a Pumpkin Pie Latte from Dunkin Donuts.  First world problems.

Once the plumbing fixtures are installed and the few remaining electrical items are taken care of, it'll come down to touch-up painting which can be done after we move in.

One final item... While the workers have been busy getting the house ready, I've been cutting lots and lots of pecan wood from all the downed trees and limbs from the hurricane.  This is the fruit of my chain-sawing labor...all the wood that Neta and I stacked.

Who needs some pecan wood for their BBQ smoker?

Coming up... New plumbing fixtures, appliances and much, much more!!!  Stay tuned!!!

Well That Didn't Take Long

Our not so long local nightmare is over.  After a tire-popping, cooler-pilfering couple of days, our bear has been caught.  Emily heard the "clang" of justice about 10:30 last night as the door of the trap slammed shut on this bear's life of crime...the crime of...well...just being a bear.  Neta was also looking out the window about the same time, shining a flashlight at the cage and could see the many reflectors on it moving around.  It was official...we had a captured and caged bear on our hands.  Whew!

Book him, Danno!

He turned out to be bigger than we thought...

I called the DNR Ranger who'd dropped off the trap earlier that day to let him know that the bear was caught.  He told me he'd be on his way shortly but it would be a few hours as he was coming up from Waycross.  He said we didn't need to stay up (Are you kidding me?) as he could just hook up the trailer and drive off, but I was not about to miss seeing this bear ride off into the sunset...metaphorically speaking.

...and not happy.
I wonder if it would brighten his day to know the Cubs won the World Series?

As expected (and as you can see), in this world of social media, we had to get some pictures.  It's not "official" until you have pictures and someone else sees them.  Our contractor, Tracy, had texted me earlier in the evening and asked if the bear had been captured yet, so I let him know when it happened.  He and his family drove over to take a look.  The bear scratched, clawed, groaned, huffed, grunted and even lunged at us a few times.  Needless to say, we were quite pleased and impressed with the overall construction of the cage, despite how powerful the bear seemed to be.

He looks defeated.
I've gotta give Neta credit for taking this really cool picture.

The ranger showed up just before 2am.  He said the bear was much bigger than he was expecting.  We chatted for a few mins while I helped him hook up the trailer.  The bear continued huffing and grunting, even breathing/blowing his nose at us as we cranked up the stabilizers on each side.

Happy Trails!

So it looks as if our 15 minutes of local fame is quickly coming to an end.  We made the front page of the local paper (how did Trump get top billing?) and I'll be calling the reporter back to let her know that the bear has been caught, after which we'll fade into the oblivion of the paper's archives...somewhat happily and bear- free.

Front page!  And a pun no less!!!

Remember 11/02/16 as a 50/50 day in the ursine world.  The Cubbies won, but the Bear lost.  There was "panda"monium for both events.  We're just happy that our bear was taken alive and did not meet a grizzly end.  Sorry...are these puns unbearable?  I wanted to work in a political joke but did not want to "polar"ize our readers.

Until the next post...

Bear Visit - Confirmed

(Borrowing parts and paraphrasing from Neta's Facebook post)

While we only had chewed tires and some paw prints as evidence, we figured there were some doubters out there, ourselves included from time to time.  It didn't take long for our suspicions to be confirmed.  We got the proof we were hoping for, but it was a classic case of be careful what you wish for...the bear came back.  Nothing like a second visit from an unwanted visitor.

The excitement of seeing a bear in your yard isn't conducive to clear photos.

Neta had just gotten out of the shower and was putting lotion on (this is relevant) when she heard something outside the window. The blinds were open about 6 inches and she started to look out when she simultaneously heard the noise again AND realized it was claws against the side of the house. Mr. Bear was back!  He probably got a good laugh as she was trying to turn the doorknob with lotion-covered hands! It's funny now but not so much for her at the time.

I grabbed the shotgun and flashlight and went outside, where I found the bear had retreated to a nearby tree. He was huffing and clearly unhappy with me disturbing him. Neta called the Bulloch County Sheriff's office before coming outside to maneuver her car to shine its headlights on the bear so we could see it better.  We were at a safe distance, trust me.

Hello, Mr. Bear.  Not so nice to meet you, but glad you confirmed our suspicions.

He came down the tree, so I fired a shot in the air to deter him from coming in our direction.  He ran off, but apparently didn't go far. When the deputies arrived they were able to spot him about 100 yards away. Not much they can do, as bears are a protected species, nor do we want to see it harmed unnecessarily.

Paw prints under the bathroom window

The Bulloch County Deputies contacted DNR who said they'd come by today and set up a bear trap.  True to their word they showed up with this in tow:

Baited and ready!

Full of yummy (for a bear I guess) sardines and Little Debbie snacks

The DNR Rangers were really taken with all of the paw marks and smudges on my car.

This is the hood of Emily's car from the first night of activity.

Smudging her mirror does not reflect well on that bear's manners.

The trap is set.  So now we wait...

I'll be really disappointed if a raccoon or other smaller animal triggers the trap.

We'll keep you posted.