Sunday, September 14, 2008



This photo of the granite is the best of the four I took at Genese Cut Stone and it still falls short of the beauty of the stone but does give a better view than I can do with words. The dominant color is a dark, almost black green background, the stones are as varied and lovely as any you would see on a Lake Superior beach.



Here you have a view from one of the bedrooms in the basement looking out at the egress well and the new stairs. Building code requires the egress and it has the added advantage of bringing natural light into the bedrooms and the bath. There will be a picket fence around the top of the well and maybe a potted plant or two on the steps for color.



Looking east out the dining room windows, notice windows on three sides, wonderful light, looks out over the apple trees and towards the barn.

58 Windows











The new windows are in, they are beautiful. they tilt in for easy cleaning, and there are lots of them, fifty eight including the basement and garage and workshop. These windows will give us good cross ventilation during warmer weather and more daylight during the long dark winter days and every window looks out onto an idyllic landscape. And, I will never be at a loss for what to do as there will always be windows to wash which fits in with my new exercise plan of keeping fit by keeping house.

The electricians and plumbers have been working off and on for the last two weeks and will be calling for first inspections next week and then come the insulation people. The masons will start the chimney and fireplace surround Monday.
Siding is on order as are the garage doors and exterior doors for the house and Monday the material for exterior trim will be delivered. Craig says he and the carpenters plan to make and install the trim and then the carpenters will put up the siding.


Last week Pete and I drove down to Flint to visit Genese Cut Stone & Marble Co. to pick out granite for the kitchen counter and island and marble for the master bath. We chose Green Marinace for the kitchen, this is granite that once was part of an ancient stream bed with stones of various sizes and colors and for the master bath we chose Quetzal Green marble.


With these choices made we placed the order for kitchen cabinets and cabinets for the first floor guest bathroom and the upstairs master bathroom from Schwalbach Kitchens, a local company with an excellent reputation for service and not just at the time of purchase. We heard a story of a kitchen remodel gone very wrong with crown molding that was too tall for the space left after the cabinets were installed and a stove that was too wide for the space available and a vent hood with no room to vent to the outside and Schwalbach's coming to the rescue with no questions asked.