I believe the end is in sight.

The house part of our homestead project is starting to feel like we will actually get to move in sooner rather than later.  Jim makes about 2-3 trips a day over to see the progress.  I usually make a pilgrimage every couple of days unless major work has been done.

On Friday we met with a construction company about building the barn.  That concrete pad seems to be more of a problem than we bargained for... it is definitely a factor in the engineering of the new structure.  We are waiting for their bid.  We learned from the landscape designer that in order to get the 4 acres of pasture in good condition we will need to put weed killer on it... no surprise there.... but then Tia can't be on the grass AT ALL for 6 MONTHS.  :-(  In all likelihood that means that she will stay where she is with my friend, Karen, until the grass is safe and then we will bring her to her new home.  At the rate we are going with that part of the project it will be next spring before we can watch her out the windows.  

We are excited to have Jim's family in town this week for Michelle and Miles' Texas reception.  Jim can hardly wait to take everyone out to see the house.  Our project manager said he would make sure everything is cleaned up!  Considering the mess that is over there now, that will be no small feat.

This huge pile of drywall scraps sits just off the back porch

the back porch is almost done except for around the windows, which have to be replaced because they are not the right windows.  I believe they put the new ones in today.

taping up the drywall in the family room.  I don't think these workers are afraid of heights.

View from back stairs looking toward foyer and guest room

Venetian troweling.  We're using this "specialty texture" in a few areas.  So few that we are actually under budget on that allowance.  Take note... that doesn't happen very often.

Foyer showing staircase.  Guest room under stairs.

Kitchen dome.  This is such a crazy feature in the house.  We really had no idea what it would actually look like in real life.  We love it!  We just have to figure out how to do it justice with some paint.

One of two smaller domes.  Almost looks painted already!

Covering up all the nail holes in the master bedroom.

All of the precast concrete is here!  It will go around the front windows and doors.

Groin vault ready for paint

Foyer

The last couple of weekends we have been buying furniture.  Robert scored a new bedroom set!  Since he is gaining inches rapidly we realized that the twin bed he's had since he was 2 is no longer going to work.  Here's his new bed:  (minus the orange bedding and artwork.)

We have sat on many couches and recliners.  Here's the winner for the media room:

(If you can see Jim's expression you can see that he is making the "how can I embarrass my teenager" face.)

Today I picked up 3 canvas prints at Costco that I had made for the reception this weekend.  They turned out great.  Someday I'd like to be able to take such great photos.  Here are three that were taken by Motif Motion and Stills for Michelle and Miles' bridal shoot (They are not the ones I ordered because those are a surprise):

The rest of this week is going to be swamped with getting ready for company and the reception!  We have our trim walk-through on Wednesday morning and then I am looking forward to a bit of a diversion from all of the house stuff.