Winter arrives....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all had enjoyable times with family and friends...and some turkey!  My mother visited for a week, so we headed down to Lake Anna to see what was going on and to try some late season winery touring.  Visited Cooper Vineyards, a humble winery but with a lengthy tasting list, recommend the Coopertages!  Then off to Barboursville Vineyard for the first time.  A much more established winery, featuring the ruins of the mid-1800 Governor Barbour's mansion, designed by Thomas Jefferson.  A great behind-the-scenes winery tour, and a cracking fire in the tasting hall, as we left in the midst of a golden sunset.  I was surprised to see that they turned loose several Black Angus cows in the vineyard to mow the grass between the vine rows, I thought there would be danger of them munching on the 10 year old vines, but there they grazed.

With the holidays, just a few notes on recent additions:

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Biggest change is the roof on the screened porch, to the right of the mudroom extension.  Should be a nice space about the size of our current screened porch 

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View of the screened porch, towards the mudroom side entrance... work in progress.

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View of the screened porch from the front porch entrance, good views. 

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Checking out the dock with Mom.  It's been about a year since we saw the property for the first time and decided to go for it.  Time flies when you are having fun, and staying busy!

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This is the frame of the basement "barn door" in a symbolic fit-up.  Jenny and I made some good progress on the door this weekend, should have the first door done next weekend.  One down, three to go!

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Mom and I survey the lake on a clear, crisp November morning.  Good winds for sailing but the water was a bit nippy.

 Next up, big push until the Xmas holidays...

Into the beehive...

So, Miss Sandy passed us by lady-like.  I noticed a few smaller trees had split and fallen, but with 10 acres of hardwoods, one doesn't say "Oh God" but, "Oh good, some firewood for next season".  The house was none the worse for her wear, and Matt had the men back in the crosstrees with a renewed enthusiasm this week!

Visiting today was like walking into a beehive of activity.  The 3 or 4 electricians worked in a blur, nailing in switch and fixture boxes, drilling through studs, and running cable and wire.  A couple of plumbers worked high and low on hot & cold water supply lines, the main drains complete in their transit throughout the walls.  The HVAC guy, a jolly old soul, mostly walked around and admired the works in progress.  The attic furnace and upstairs venting are all in place, and the beginnings of the first floor venting are seen.  Basement furnace (2 zone) has yet to arrive, but the basement plumbers are enjoying the freedom of the open overhead.  So, on to what we saw:

Driving up, all the trucks alluded to the busy-bee environment we were to walk into.  The endless roof appears almost done, if an endless roof can be such.  One of the shinglers takes in the late autumn view from our good ship's peak.

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Screened porch underway, but the two carpenters are drawn in four directions: finishing the last of the interior walls so the electricians can wire them (yes, we threw a couple change-orders at 'em), finishing the roof shingling, setting the stairs, and completing the deck.  Good weather though, 75 degrees in mid-November?

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Finished main-to-second floor stairs delivered and ready to go, but I think Matt is saving them till after all the rough-in work, since we have "working scrap" stairs in place currently.

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An example of the frantic HVAC and lighting work in progress.  This is the masterbath tub & shower area, two recessed-can lights over the tub on the right, two recessed-can lights over the shower area to the left, a ventilation supply duct, and (hard to see) the rain-shower head pipe in the overhead (up high, just to the left of the second stud from the left).  Nice light from the porthole, eh!

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Some more details, plumbing and electrical fixtures in the master bathroom, master closet beyond.

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More plumbing and electrical work:  2nd floor Guest Bath from upstairs landing

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For the Mechanical Engineers, the attic furnace/heatpump unit and ducting.

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Down in the basement, in the utility extension.  The main drains converge here to pass through the foundation wall on the way to the septic tank.  The 10 ft ceilings allow easy passage and maintenance of all the plumbing, something I learned was important as a Naval Officer.

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Jenny in the living room, working the trades to get back on schedule and under budget.

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Stairs in place down to the basement.  Some more stud walls to be placed.  This will be the equivalent of a three-car-garage in area, but with just two large bays either side of the stairs.  Initial thoughts are wood shop, boat storage, general storage, and recreation area.

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View from the north-west, the screened porch roof will fair under the extension roof in the end.

Up next, ... finish rough-in utilities and the screened porch...start septic and well...