Have I Ever Mentioned...

that I adore old clocks and coffee pots?  I'm sure it's a "dad" thing.  I remember our house had old clocks that dad had found in abandoned buildings and old coffee pots that I 'inherited' that he had found out in the desert in both Nevada and Idaho while he was working.  They fascinate me.  I don't think I'll ever have enough or too many.  Is it even possible to have too many?

and I remember where I got them all.  It seems once people find out you love something, they just happen to have one or two that they're not attached to and think YOU need to have theirs too.  

The Branding Party...

Today we thanked all the people who helped make this home a reality.  It was great fun and after we ate, we branded our front door with dad's old branding iron - The Walking Box.  It was awesome.  My sister Kate and her husband David and their daughter Anna came from Spokane too.

Joe, Hailey and Kel

Adam's adorable girlfriend Lorry

Allan and Denise - Allan was a HUGE help in finishing this house.

Heating up the branding iron (photo by Kate)

One of many practice brands.

The crowd waits for the branding (photo by Kate)

Adam and Butch

The finished product - I love it!

Kole takes advantage of the fire...

What an amazing day.  Thanks everyone for making it so great.

Jacob Springs, Day 125...

Yesterday I went to Jacob Springs and started the final cleaning in the rooms that were done.  Today Linda, Adam and I will help Tad with some of the final things in order to hopefully get our order of occupancy so I can schedule the movers for later today or at least tomorrow.

It was such a beautiful day that Linda and I searched for things to do outside.  Since Ival is hunting until Saturday, I want to surprise him by having as much done around the house as humanly possible.  I remembered that we needed to get a mailbox up so we hit the junk pile looking for the perfect piece.  We thought about using an old cast iron headboard, we have several, but chose this 1925 air compressor instead.  When we lived on Schicks, a landscaper stopped by the house one day and said he noticed all the "old stuff" we had in our yard.  He asked if we wanted this old air compressor and dropped it by the next day.

The landscapers were working yesterday and had to come over to inspect what we were doing.  They had lots of great ideas that involved cutting torches, a sawzall and various other loud tools, but we had none of those - just some junk lumber, a screwdriver, and a few other things we found lying around.  So, Linda got to work and I took pictures.

There we have it.  Good use for the 1925 air compressor and we now have a mailbox!  I love the junk pile!

A Country Affair...

Yesterday we took the kids up to Garden Valley to a new fall event called A Country Affair.  It was great fun for the smaller kids and I'm sure that it will grow each year and become bigger and better!

Obviously, no matter how old I get, Garden Valley will always be 'home' to me. I have the next 2 weeks off and will be heading back up to take pictures on one of those days. It was great to be back and to spend time with the grandkids.    I realized this morning, I didn't think about the house or what I should have been doing instead even once!  I have such a wonderful family.

Jacob Springs - Almost Time...

I'll know this afternoon if we'll have our certificate of occupancy on Jacob Springs today.  That's what our builder is working for.  The electrical was inspected yesterday (with a few minor things that were fixed last night) and should pass today.  The plumbing was all finished today and will be inspected this morning.  Hopefully later today, we'll have the ok to move in!  I can't believe this day is finally here.

I got off work yesterday and went up to find that my sister Linda and our friend Nancy had gotten a huge start on cleanup inside.  A huge task with all the fine wood dust that covered the walls, doors, floors and ceiling.  There's still more to do.

Ival is leaving today for a week-long, much-deserved elk hunting trip.  It makes me happy to know that he can leave, relax, have fun with the guys, and when he gets home he'll be living in the house he's worked so hard on.

We'll be spending a girls weekend finishing the cleaning, having some drinks, and making it as much fun as we can when you're doing chores to finish the yucky part before moving in.  Then, if the inspections pass today, I'll have the movers get the stuff out of storage, out of the garage and house we're in now and take it to Jacob Springs.  I've taken the next 2 weeks off work and plan to have most everything in order by the time Ival gets home next Saturday.

Today I'm heading to my home town of Garden Valley with my daughter, daughter-in-law and all the grandkids to spend a few hours at a pumpkin patch, hayrides, and just having some fun.  When I get home I'll get back to work on some cleaning - and taking some pictures.

It's a beautiful home and I'm so incredibly grateful to all the people who helped make it a reality.  I'll do a post about them later tonight - with pictures!

Jacob Springs, Day 116

Today - sod finished, granite installed, appliances delivered, trees delivered, soffit 1/2 way done.  I'm exhausted and I didn't even do the physical labor!

 

Shopping on an Unlimited Budget...

Ival called me a few days ago with a question about the house.

"I just got the bill from Robertsons.  What does a $700 faucet look like?"

"I don't know.  Why?"

"Well, you picked out a $130 faucet for the kitchen then changed your mind and picked out one for $700."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope."

"Shit.  Well, dammit you never gave me a budget when I went to look for plumbing.  You should have given me a budget you know.  I didn't even ask prices, just picked out what I liked.  I guess I have good taste."

I swear I don't remember doing that.  I also found out that my wonderful apron sink was $1,300.  Ival (thankfully) has worked with Robertson Supply for many years and they always give us a price break, but my sink ended up costing $500.  I never would have spent that much money on a sink!

So, the faucet was of course, a special order.  It's half the cost of the item to send it back and then the cost of the new faucet would only save us about $100.  So, I have a lovely super-expensive kitchen faucet.  I know that hubby will remind me of it every time he turns it on.

Because the faucet cost us $700, I wonder what the ACTUAL cost was?  That's what he gets for sending me shopping without a budget.

I will of course post pictures of the faucet once it's installed.  I hope it's guilded with Swarovski crystals.  I love them.  To be honest, I don't remember what this wonderful faucet looks like, but I'm sure I'll love it again!

Moving...

Ival will be taking a well-deserved break on October 12th to go hunting with his brother Joe and a couple of other guys.  He told me about a month ago that he thought he'd cancel because of the house.  After some 'discussion' I told him that there was no way he was cancelling, he needed to go.

So, Adam and I may be doing the moving.  I know there's no way I can wait a week to move if it's possible to do it sooner.  It would also be great fun to have it ALL done when Ival gets home.  We're actually planning on hiring the movers who moved all our stuff to storage in April to bring everything to the house so we just have to unpack and find proper homes for everything.   I keep remembering how once we bought Jacob Springs he spent every night up there for 2 years, planting things, hauling buckets of water to keep them alive, sleeping in the tent and just loving the fact that SOMEDAY we would be living there.

So do you think we can get moved AND build a yard fence all in one week before he gets home?

Jacob Springs, Day 112...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!

and a completed roof.