Christmas in Missouri

Merry Christmas!  Christmas in Missouri was full of firsts.  Our first Christmas tree in 28-years.  The first Christmas in 40-years that we woke up in our own bed.  No airports, kennels or rental cars.  More time with family. 

We spent most of the afternoon with the family at the farm.  I'm glad we've kept the tradition of returning to the farm as a family alive all these years.

My last post was over 2 weeks ago. Lots of things have happened since then.  The week of 12/16 brought snow and ice.  Sun and temperature changes combined to turn the driveway into an icy mess surrounded by a muddy yard.  Only a few ruts, no one fell down - except me.  By the end of the week things were much better.

Our first real snow of the season.  So pretty!

 

And, so much fun to play in!

Oh come on, play with me . . .

Looking east.

 All the windows are trimmed out on the first and second floors.  They look wonderful.  Jay and Greg have done a great job.  We're starting to get a good picture of what each room is going to look like when it's all done.  The interior doors arrived on December 20th.  We were a little worried that the truck driver would have trouble backing into the driveway, but he made it without too much trouble.

Jay working on the windows in the guest room.

The garage is filled with doors and trim.

 

And the kitchen is the staging area for the finished woodwork.

The doors are beautiful.  I can't wait to see them finished and in place.  Greg and Jay hung a couple of them this past Friday (12/27) and plan to have the rest hung by next weekend.

 

One of the yoga room doors.

The stain really brings out the woodgrain.

We had a raised tile platform built in the living room for the woodstove.  After the platform was in place, we had the company that did the stone on the outside of the house put the same stone on the wall above the platform.  We then had the stove installer come in and set up the stove.  Unfortunately, he couldn't complete the outside work since there was ice and snow on the roof.

 

Our geo-thermal furnace is operational.  No more temporary furnace!  They're still completing some of the ductwork and need to install the humidifier and the ERV (energy recovery ventilation) system.  It's so quiet.

Ductwork waiting to be put in place.

Our geo-thermal monster.

Tile floors are done in the bathrooms and mudroom.  The bathtub is in place, as is the granite top for the shower bench in the master bath.

Master bath tile and granite bench.  The green stuff on the wall is waterproofing.

Warmer weather allowed the deck boards to be put on.  The railing is being made by a local steel fabricator.  Work also started on the railing and screens for the porch. 

Door location on screen porch.

We haven't taken the dogs out to the house lately because of all the mud.  But, they love running around in the fields.  They are both becoming more comfortable inside, especially crazy Nissa, who was trying to get Chris's attention.



 

Wood flooring will be delivered next week - cabinets will be ready soon.

Happy New Year . . .