September 25th - Nothing to report.

No photos today - we were going down after the men finished work, but it is raining and dreary. When I drove by mid-afternoon, the windows were being installed in the study. I'm going there tomorrow morning to make my final, final decisions about paint colors, so there should be both am & pm photos. 

Jeff had the walk-through with the electrician today. He said everything went so well, and he really liked the electrician. They will work in the house until it's time to sheetrock and stop there until we return from France. 

While we're gone, Phil will take photos and keep the blog rolling (he doesn't know this yet, so do not tell him!).

"Rain, rain go away so they can brick!"

Slow day on the site. Nothing happened on the outside - more rough plumbing on the inside. Again we got to the house after 6, and the HVAC guys were on the job. I finalized the lighting choices today, the pulls and knobs yesterday, and, hopefully, will make the final paint decisions tomorrow.

Jeff meets with the electrician at 9:30 tomorrow morning for a 'walk through'. After that, things will halt until we return from France. We especially don't want them to sheetrock until we get back and Jeff can verify that everything is where it should be. Knowing it is at a standstill will make our trip much more pleasant.

Giant Silver worms have invaded our house!

We're not sure what happened, but it seems to be repaired.

The base of our shower - although it's in the wrong room.

???????

Maybe they'll brick the lanai (aka screened porch) tomorrow?

September 23rd - Raining - nice day for ducks and also for duct work!

Ok - here's some non- housebuilding talk - 

Well, it has been quite a day. We are 'supposed' to leave for France on Monday. What we didn't know is that Air France's pilots are on strike - yes, on strike -until the 30th - (as my friend, Barb, says, "Who knows when a strike will be over?" but apparently they do, or think they do) Originally it was to be over the 26th, then the 28th. Plus they aren't informing passengers until 24 hours before the flight.  Long story short - after almost three hours on the phone, we are now leaving on Sunday instead of Monday, on Delta instead of Air France - and on and on and on. So if we seem frazzled, we have an excuse.

Because of the rainy weather, not much happened today (Tuesday). Below is the kitchen island 'boxed in', and, of course, Jeff checking all of the measurements (note: he's in his Doctor outfit).

We arrived at the house about 6, and the HVAC men were working - as they were when we left an hour later.

You'll see more of this in tomorrow's blog.

Can't resist the next photos of the pets -

Jeff and his buddies

Mad Max

Rosie Greer

Marcus Alan

Rosie & Marcus

Edgar Alan & Marcus Alan

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

September 22nd - Bricks, Sliders and a Roof

Yesterday we painted samples because Kelly -my Motts' conscience - needs all of our choices. She is pretty and funny and beyond understanding and pushes in just the best way. Yesterday in the kitchen - Sherry asks Jeff, "Is this white whiter than the last one?". Jeff - "Oh, dearest darling, whatever color you choose will make me the happiest man on earth". Sure!

We met with Kelly this morning, and, for the most part, confirmed our choices (tile, cabinets, flooring, etc,etc). We did change some paint colors - and I have to ask her tomorrow what we chose! It is so hard to decide on a color when we can't even guess how the lighting will be in a particular room. Jeff is philosophical and says we'll just repaint/paper/whatever if necessary.

Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of the two "Bea's Blueberry Coffee Cakes" I took to the site. A little bribery can't hurt. 

So - tah dah - here are today's photos - we have a roof shingles, more bricks, sliders from the "Great Room" and Dining Room plus a lot of rough plumbing. It is amazing how fast they work. These men are so serious about their jobs.

Two or three garage lanterns/lights? 

 Dining Room in front and the slider to the porch on the right

 Another view

 Dining room slider to the right and Great Room slider to the left. This was taken from the "back yard".

Dining Room slider again from the "Lanai"

Something happening in our shower????

The to-be coffered ceiling in the main room

The garage - two lantern type lights - one on either side of the garage doors or three with one in the middle??? (Refer back to first photos)

Opinions welcome.

Another stroke of good luck - it started to rain just as the roofers were getting ready to leave. Some interior wood got wet in early September, but that's been 'it' for rain since then. 

September 20th - Wow!

First, Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to 
Lauren Elisabeth Elias - our doll-baby granddaughter who turns 13 today!!!!! Woo Hoo Lauren!

Back at 6221 Motts Village Road ..................

We missed going there yesterday - another time when life and our hectic social schedule (gag) got in the way. The men must have worked over, overtime, and then today -

The men are so nice and so happy for photo-ops. 

Definitely another blueberry coffee cake for Monday!

Here are a few interior shots

The garage windows. 

That fantastic big window laying against the back doesn't belong to us. Damn!

The pantry door to outside.

The dining room windows and - on the left - the window over the kitchen sink.

\

The door on the left goes into the lanai (aka screened in porch), and the door on the right is from our bedroom to the porch).

Our bedroom windows.

The center support in the garage. We don't think it will fall down!

We can only imagine that they will be done with the bricks either Monday or Tuesday. As Phil said tonight, "It's beginning to look like a real house". He is so right. We have a few concerns - we picked out a garage door that is a dark color. We didn't think we picked out an actual front door color and style, but it seems that we did. We'll clarify that on Monday. Everyone has been so beyond nice that we doubt there will be a problem. 

One week and two days until we leave for France. We spent a lot of today plotting and planning lights and receptacles if that is to be done while we're gone. I admit to needing more and more light to see clearly. Oddly, Jeff is just the opposite. Viva la differénce I guess! If we don't meet with the lighting people before we go away, the contractor will halt work until we get back (October 21st to Wilmington). Again, we are so lucky to live so close to the new house and not have a set timetable. We can only imagine what it would be like if we were in a rental apartment with the dogs, cats, and our earthly belongings...

"Sherry. Meet you on the courthouse steps on Monday - divorce Tuesday".

Thanks for reading this - again, we accept any and all suggestions and criticisms! (although we cry easily)

Hugs, 

J & S

Thursday, September 18th - Day 14 (starting with the slab pouring)

Yeah - a good, sunny day. We often wish for rain for our plants, but, right now, we're wishing for good weather for the new house. 

We took the pups to Halyburton Park - their first time. Very funny. Every time someone either ran or jogged by them, they sat down and stared at the person. Obviously they don't see us doing that.

Guess what? We have bricks, sand and mortar - I know, bricks and mortar! Neighbors were walking by during our evening inspection and said that the shingles will go on before the bricks. No roof shingles were in evidence.

It looks like a home already with the black paper on the roof. They've started the trey ceiling in the dining room, but my phone doesn't have a bright enough flash, so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow. Ahhhhhh! Oh, that's the sand pile in front - lots of sand around here for sure. 

If you have any questions, or things you would like to see, just let us know! ON the right you can sign up for email notifications and somewhere, I think, you can leave comments!

Thank you for reading our 'blog" - (does anyone else think that is an unpleasant sounding word???)

How it all started .......

"Once upon a time ......". "In the beginning"....... 

This first post will be a very long one - just to get everyone "up to speed". 

About two years ago we decided to make a "move". We loved our condo and love our home "in the forest", but decided it was time to consolidate and move somewhere with less land and less upkeep.

An aside - You may remember that I followed an ambulance with Jeff inside when he and his ladder fell out of a tree. Mr. "I Can Do Everything Myself" was never going to hire someone to do the things he did, by himself, 20 years ago!

 I (Sherry) wanted to move to the mountains, and Jeff felt that would be too isolated. The other consideration is how much he loves to fly. He has the best partner, Rob Henihan, two good planes (well, one good one, N4595X and one other, Starduster! Links to the "other" can be found to the right), and a wonderful, safe flying environment here at the coast. That made staying around here, and renting in the mountains the only choice. Originally we thought about building a house on our own. We saw a property we liked a lot, so we began going to "Open Houses" in the area to get ideas. Truly 'Over the river and through the woods' - everywhere from Leland, north and south. At some point we went to see a model house in Motts Landing. This development is just south of Monkey Junction (or Myrtle Grove if you want to sound like a visitor!).

We liked the model (below) and the area -

Here are our plans - most of the modifications are included -

  it's close to the Cape Fear River, 15 minutes from the beach and about the same to our home on Blackbrook Lane. Everyone we met was very friendly, the price was right, etc., etc. The big question for us was if we wanted to be in a planned community - something we never expected to like. Motts had just opened an area called "Pamela's Place" in memory of the developer's wife, Pamela, who died young.

 Our granddaughter, Lauren with Pamela's statue.

 It's a wooded area and was very appealing. So the decision was made. (little did we know that good friends of ours from the beach, Barb & Denny Clouse, also bought a lot in the same area). After a lot of soul searching, walking through the woods, and debate, we decided to buy lot 172.

The closing was to be April 16th, 2013. On the 14th Jeff said we should go to the lot and plot out the house. Guess what? Oops! It didn't fit - well, it did but without any yard. The mix-up was because we wanted a bigger garage, and that wasn't figured in the plans. So instead of closing, we went lot looking again and decided on Lot 169. This time we had a winner!

So off we went for two months in Valdez armed with kitchen magazines, house design apps, rulers, graph paper, etc. determined to have the house all planned by the time we returned home. 

*****  If you're interested in our 2013 adventure in Valdez, on the right is a "Link It" heading with our trip blog link. If you want the abbreviated version, there is a link to that slide show below called Alaska 2013.

When we got back from Alaska, life took precedence over building a house. This Spring we put our dear Kure Beach condo on the market, sold it, and began the process? adventure? nightmare? (not really!) challenge of making a million and one decisions. Luckily Jeff is not only a frustrated architect, but also practical and knowledgeable about construction. He slaved and worried and designed and redesigned and then re-redesigned this house. He tracked my motions in the kitchen to be sure there was a place for everything and .... He then measured and remeasured and then re-remeasured 'just to be sure' it was perfect (including moving the kitchen island 6" after construction started - that he saw the mistake is amazing to me).

Brick choices, tile choices, floor choices, lighting choices, cabinet choices for style, color, etc., roof style choices, window placement, fireplace design, bathroom fixtures, etc. etc. etc. That's just for starters! 

Then in July the builder staked out the house, and we marked the trees to be saved. Next came the lot clearing -

Then in August we had our second lot clearing - when we marked the trees the first time, we forgot to allow for getting out of the back of the house! Trees were literally up to the foundation. The poor puppies wouldn't have any yard!

                                                  Edgar Alan

Rosie Greer & Marcus Alan

So, the summer goes on. We visited Bren and the kids in Vermont, and then went on a short cruise to Grand Turks with Jeff's brother, Tom, and wife, Lorraine. We got home September 3rd and on the 4th ...... we have a slab! Hard to imagine being this excited about concrete! As you can see, Mr. Inspector is on the job!

September 4th

To bring you up to the present - the last photo is from tonight around 7 PM. The building crew works so hard and are so very nice. I think we make them a little crazy with all the photos - or maybe they don't quite know what to 'make" of us?? We're using homemade blueberry cakes, aka Bea's Blueberry Cake, and cold drinks to woo them!

September 5th

September 5th

then came the rain and a few days off.

September 9th

September 10th

September 11th

September 12th

September 12th

September 12th

Look below - we have trusses - the roof kind! Odd to be excited about wood instead of concrete!

September 15th

September 15th

September 15th

                                                                                 

September 16th

 September 16th

September 17th

 September 17th

September 17th

September 17th

September 17th

Well, you're up to date. We're in the part of the process when things go quickly. I guess that by the end of the week we'll be 'closed in'. Please stay tuned for "The Construction Trials and Tribulations of Jeff & Sherry LaCroix"!

Huge Hugs,

S

**** As another aside - one of the things we love about this community is that we have been included in all of their parties, luncheons, homeowners meetings, etc. since the day we bought the lot. Everyone has been gracious and so sharing with the things they did wrong, did right and/or wish they'd done differently. We learned so much and will always be grateful for their willingness and eagerness to share their experiences. Also, I'm now part of the UkeLadies - 5 of us are taking ukelele lessons. It is a blast. Here we are and also a few photos of the community.

Sadly I had to exchange my gree ukelele for a regular one in concert size. My fingers with "Arthur-itis" need more space between frets. However, the green one looked great for the photo-op!

The clubhouse

They have a nice, big pool - Jeff has laps in his future!

The band is "Blue Rock" - if you get a chance to hear them, do so. 

They are terrific. 

Thank you for reading this and being part of our building party.

Hugs,

J & S