French drain

On Friday they buried the pipes for the French drain.

This is about where the bathroom attached to the smaller bedroom will be.

They filled and leveled between the footings.  The plan is to set the forms for the basement walls on Monday and pour them on Tuesday.

Brad walking through what will be the living room downstairs.

Its a little easier to tell how big the rocks are with Brad walking on them. 

Pouring the footings

Brad's working at Baxter today and tomorrow which turned out to be perfect timing.  They started pouring the footings today.  I wanted to be out there to get some pics of them actually doing it but I stopped by Shay's to look at appliances and that took two and a half hours!  By the time I got back out to Coppercreek, they were finished.  

The giant pump truck drove all the way from Jonesboro for about two hours of work.  It was still there when I got there, but I didn't get a pic of it.  But it resembled the one below (which is just a random pic I found online).

The small square in the bottom left is going to be the safe room in the basement and part of our bathroom on the main level. (I'm standing at the front left corner of the house.)

 The long rectangle is the mechanical room in the basement and the long part of the front porch on the main floor.  The mechanical room will be "safe" also since the porch is concrete.  (I'm standing at the front right corner in this one.)

From the safe room front corner.  I like the waves in the concrete.

I'm not completely sure what's going on here.  I thought I heard Paul say this was the footing for the retaining wall but I think the kitchen, office, laundry room and sunroom will all basically be to the left of this long wall.

At first, I thought the master suite was going to be the part that wasn't on top of the basement.  But now I think its the kitchen side that isn't.

I think the pic above is a good representation of how the house sets in relation to the road.

This is looking through the woods at where the back patio/porches will be when the house is finished.

I'm NOT getting my hopes up, but Paul said today that he expects to be finishing close to July.  And here I've had my fingers crossed that we'd just be in it by Christmas next year!

The poor driveway....this is what it looked like after the pump truck came and left.  He has to come back another day so no telling what it will look like after that.  AND they cut down several branches so that it could get through the trees.  I really wanted to go gather them up because it looks ratty with them all over but I decided against it.  I wasn't dressed for it and with the driveway looking so bad, who cares about the limbs?  I'm afraid its going to look a lot worse than this by the time its all said and done.  We're probably going to be back to parking the car at the end and walking or taking the truck for a while.

NEW BOOTS!  Its really muddy out there so Brad suggested that I go buy a pair of cheap rubber boots so that I didn't ruin my shoes/jeans.  I'm glad he's so smart!  These were well worth the $15 I spent on them at WalMart (I'm glad I can wear boys sizes-they're cheaper).

Bigger hole!

Brad had to work in Mountain Home the first part of this week so we got to see the that the hole had gotten bigger.  It didn't seem very deep until Brad walked in it.  

We were worried about how much rock they would hit.  It seems like a lot to me.

I wish rocks were worth something.  We'd be rich if they were!  Instead we are going to use this to fill around the house so that the yard right around the house will be a little more level than the area is now.  We'll still have to haul in a bunch of topsoil, but the stuff they're digging out is free and will work for underneath the topsoil.

I guess this rock buster thing really does the job!  The word dynamite had been thrown around early on so I'm glad we didn't have to go that route.

Digging - Finally!

A couple weekends ago, Paul told us that the basement people had started to scratch the dirt so we drove up to check it out.

He was right!  They had all of their equipment there and had started to dig.  Its exciting now that we can see some actual progress toward the house....even if it is just a little!

All along Brad knew he wanted Murphy Basement from Ravenden to do the basement.

We were happy to see they were actually able to dig this far without hitting solid rock!

We had to lose another tree and there is still one more big one that has to go.  

This has nothing to do with the progress, but it's still the best part!

We can't wait to go back and see what they've accomplished since this!  It's hard to not just drive up there if we have a day off, but the drive from Little Rock to Mountain Home is HORRIBLE so we just have to wait until Brad is scheduled to work up there again to see what's going on.

Wish List-Mailbox

I wish this mailbox and the post that its on could be mine!

Another big score at the Outlet!

We recently made a trip to the Pottery Barn Outlet and didn't find a whole lot, but we did get one of the bathroom sink and consoles pictured below!

I don't know if this would have been my first choice if I was paying full price, but I really like it and think it will look great in one of the bathrooms in the basement.  Brad and I both love the really wide sink and were so happy to get this for a little more than 70% off.  There are a couple of scratches on the back of it but that will be against the wall anyway.

I also got a nice king size blanket for about $40.  We will have 2 king size beds in the new house but only have queen beds now, so I don't have any blankets (or sheets, or anything for that matter) so I was happy to get one for such a great price.

New tractor

Brad decided it was time to buy a tractor when he drove by Coppercreek a few weeks ago and saw that we were the only one with tall grass.

We had to go up there to meet the builder last weekend to decide where we wanted the house placed so we went ahead and did some work while we were there.

I got to burn two brush piles.  It was beautiful weather and the fire made it smell like a perfect fall day.

This was the big cedar tree that Loren had pushed over this summer and I was glad to get rid of it.  You can see it out by the road in the first picture above.

I'll still have to carry off some of it, but it looks way better.

Before.

After.

Brad really liked his new tractor. :)  Not only did he get the bush hogging finished, but he also filled in a huge hole that was dug for the perc test.   I think that was his favorite part of the day.  

Pyromania

We were in Mountain Home a couple weeks ago and were finally able to burn the huge pile that sits exactly in the center of where the house will be.

Since I LOVE to burn so much, I had been looking forward to this for some time.

We had tried to burn it a couple of weeks prior but it was too wet....we didn't have any trouble this time!

When we left, it was still burning so I'm sure there isn't even this much left.  It looked a lot better from the road but I didn't get a picture. 

While we were there, two different neighbors came by.  The couple who lives to the right of us came and I was glad to meet them.  Her name was Donna but I don't remember his name.

Good things come to those who are forced to wait

Remember this post?  The Pottery Barn catalog girl told me to check in August, so for the last two months, I have checked every. single. day.

Well, last night it became available so first thing this morning, I went by the store to order it!  It won't ship until sometime in February but that's fine.  I have one coming to me and that's all that matters.  I'm so excited!  I'm going to use it in the office to organize/display all of my note cards.  

Happenings

We went to Coppercreek this week to see what's been going on since last time and I have to say, not much is happening in that part of our world.

I like this guy's marketing plan....just find what appears to be a building site and nail your card to a tree on the property.  If we hadn't almost narrowed down our list of potential builders, we might have been interested.

The first day we ever worked at Coppercreek, I came prepared to kill some snakes.  I brought a BB gun, a .22, and a hoe.  But we didn't see one single snake!  Not one!!  I can't tell you how disappointed I was.   Well, this week Brad moved a piece of wood and there was our first snake.  At first we thought he was already dead since he just laid there for pictures.  But Brad got him stirred up and he started moving. Fast!

Wouldn't you know we were up there with ZERO weapons this time so Brad had to kill him with a rock.  This guy was every bit the size of a #2 pencil so I can only imagine what would have happened if he had gotten away.  He was a Ringneck snake and we learned online afterwards that he is harmless to humans and likes to kill other snakes.  He and his family are probably the reason we haven't seen any other snakes around.   On the other hand, have you ever noticed that "they" always say a certain snake kills other snakes?  Herpetologists would probably say that about a King Cobra just so we'd be fooled and think they're good to have around.

And just for the record, I do know that it is illegal to kill snakes in AR but this one did pose a reasonable threat to humans, so that makes it legal.  

If you were to ask Brad what he likes most about Coppercreek, I believe he would say it's the deer that made these tracks.  It had rained on Sunday so there were tracks everywhere in the soft dirt.  We even saw a few deer while we were walking toward the back of the property but I didn't have my camera with me then.  Always prepared, that's us!!!

The Jackpot

We went to the Pottery Barn outlet yesterday and got some of the best bargains we've ever gotten!

I knew I wanted a king size bed for the big guest bedroom but didn't really know what I wanted. I had thought about an iron bed because I don't want wood.  I didn't even have a bed on my mind when we decided to go but Brad found the Mendocino king size stuck way in the back for an AWESOME price.  We both really liked it and the price was even better.  We got it for 80% off and it is in perfect condition.

The online description is "An heirloom-quality piece that can be passed on from 

generation to generation, the Mendocino bed is constructed completely by hand."  Sounds good to me!

One thing I did have on my mind was the Calais chair that I mentioned in this post.  On my second walk through, I saw it!  It was also in perfect condition and I got it for right at 83% off!!!  

We were in the car which really doesn't have room for anything, but we shoved it in the back seat and it was fine.

I also got a white coverlet for our bed for pretty cheap and some cute Halloween plates, along with a lot of other stuff that isn't even worth mentioning but we had to have.  It was definitely worth the drive over there.  And the drive back to pick up the bed! (If I'm being honest, I would say it almost wasn't worth the drive back!)  It feels good to mark some things off the list of needs especially when we spent a fraction of what we budgeted for.

Razorback painting

I had seen the painting below on IO Metro's website and really liked it so we went to the store today to look around and I thought I'd see if they had it.  I couldn't find it (but found other things I liked!) so I asked about it.

Turns out they are taking orders right now for 50 of these that they have been promised by the artist (who is from Fayetteville) and there were 20 left!  So we ordered one.  It is 48"x 36" and a really good price for that size.  I think it will look good in a couple places but will more than likely end up in the basement.

Mail

I got this cute canvas and leather mail bucket at Pottery Barn this weekend.  I have the PB credit card so I got it for FREE with rewards from that!!  I'm going to put it in the office and actually use it for mail. 

Now, if I can just get that photo caddy from my previous post, the office will be perfect!

Wish List-The Biggest Wish of All Wishes

I want this floor-standing photo caddy from Pottery Barn SO bad but it's been sold out for months.  I was told by a girl at catalog in June to check in August but it's still sold out.  And I've checked every single day.  I have a very specific place and use in mind for this in the office and can't imagine anything else working.  I found something similar in an antique store once, but truthfully, it didn't really compare to this one.

West Elm Part 2

I went ahead and ordered the bedding from West Elm and already received the duvet.  The shams are on back order.

It's probably not as dark gray as it looks in this picture but I think it will go well with the bed I want from Pottery Barn.

I want this in Metal Gray Washed Linen Cotton which is just a couple shades darker than the bedding.  I think with white sheets, a white coverlet, and maybe some linen thrown in (for color!!) that it will be just the look I want.   Although, the dark legs might be a problem.

West Elm

My fabulous friends, Dawn and Karey, gave me a Pottery Barn gift card for my birthday and I used it today at West Elm online.  I wouldn't call myself a fan of West Elm because my style is much more traditional than contemporary and modern.  BUT I found several things I really wanted over the weekend and I'm not really one to let a gift card get too attached to my wallet, so it was perfect timing!

I have been complaining that Pottery Barn hasn't gotten on board with gray yet (It's THE color this year) so I was excited to see all the gray items at West Elm!  I wish I didn't have to pay shipping, but whatever...it was all free because I had a gift card.

I liked these towels for the master bath.  I think the tasseled fringe will take some getting used to but I love the stripes.  

If I had thought there was any way I could get away with it, I would have ordered two of this rug in each size.  That's how much I love it!!  But I thought that might lead to the house at Coppercreek being referred to as the house with the gray striped rugs.  And that would be a decorating failure.

I HAD to have these rugs for the master bath! I love the chevron pattern and the color!!

I found some bedding I really wanted also and since the striped rug is on back order until November 22, I probably need to go ahead and order the bedding before it's too late.

Thank you so much, Karey and Dawn!  You guys are wonderful friends and I can't wait for you to see your gift in place when you come stay for weeks at a time with us at Coppercreek!!!!

Yes, I said weeks at a time.