A cottage is born!

Before...

(Click to enlarge.)

...after.

Front porch/living room turned into temporary bedroom.

Mama bird on nest from kitchen door.
That looks like 391+ fire logs!

Another really big day at the farm today!

Kathy was at the farm early and did a few things before Brandt arrived from Community Development for our final inspection. Rex had arrived even earlier to tidy up a few things prior to inspection. While waiting for the inspector, Kathy and Rex finished putting the gas fireplace together - arranging the logs and such.

Kathy brought a shower curtain, some soap, towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc., and got the bathroom ready for weekend use if we sleep over. Rex tightened a part under the bathroom sink and that took care of that minor leak.

The cottage passed inspection without a hiccup, Kathy got rid of the moldy building permit, and we are ready to pick up our deck permit when next we are in Huntington.

Kathy called Denny to see if the trip to Ft. Wayne was off since it was raining. (There was even a little thunder and lightning thrown in.) Denny said that since it wasn't going to be his things getting wet, he was still up for the trip. So off went the twosome.

Arriving at The Fort, Kathy let Denny direct the show, deciding what order to put things in his van. We ended up taking Bonnie's futon and its matching table; 4 dining room chairs; our small fridge; and one of our flat screen TVs with a DVD player, antenna, converter box, etc.

Denny refused an invite to lunch, so back to the farm we went after a short stop at Meijer so Kathy could purchase some outdoor halogen bulbs for the motion light at the walk-out. She also purchased a second chemical applicator tank so she could have a perfectly clean one for the 50 million nematodes for the vineyard that should be arriving soon. Beware Japanese Beetles! Your days are numbered!

Back at the cottage, everything was unloaded from the van. This was when the items got a little wet. Denny had been able to back right up to Kathy's garage in The Fort, allowing things to stay dry when being loaded. Denny was able to unload most of the things at the cottage without help while Kathy received them, dried them off, and distributed them throughout the cottage. When the heavier things were in place, Denny took off for home, refusing even money for gas. Kathy had left her car at Denny's house, so she rode along and got to visit with Barbara a little when she picked up her car. What a fun time! It is so wonderful to have such delightful neighbors who are the same age and remember the 50s and 60s and Howdy Doody!

Upon her return to the cottage, Kathy put all the things that were brought from The Fort and that weren't already in the right rooms, where they belonged. She hooked up the TV without a hitch and checked the reception. It was excellent with only indoor rabbit ears! What a nice surprise. Bonnie will have to search for more channels over the weekend and maybe adjust the color a little and we will be good to go.

Kathy left the futon in its bed position so that the mattress could dry out better. It didn't get very wet, but she felt it needed to be open to dry out better.

The cork flooring is by far Kathy's favorite flooring in the cottage. Today she swept it, then dusted it, wiping up some heavier dirt with a damp cloth. It will be gorgeous when Bonnie cleans it and seals it.

The ceramic tile is a breeze to clean. The grout color is not consistent throughout and does not look like what we chose. It is light here and dark there, and when dirt gets on it, it will not clean up and leaves a stain. We are already discussing coloring it darker and resealing it.

The bamboo flooring has been a challenge to clean. Though we now like the darker color, it may be the hardest of the three flooring materials we chose to keep looking nice. We will have a better idea after it has been completely cleaned.

As nice as it was to pass final inspection and be given the green light to move in, there is still a list of things that need to be completed. Most of the things won't take long, but they will still need to be done before we can complete our move and begin living at the cottage fulltime.

A big thank-you to Denny for his help today (and always), and to Barbara for lending him to us.

Thanks also to Rex for getting us through the inspection. We are excited about everything you have done so far and look forward to the other things you are finishing up for us!