Crunch time

The railing is installed up to and around the sleeping loft.

Part of the loft railing.

Dutch door between country kitchen and front porch/living room.

It is crunch time at Blossom Ridge Farm and, as the work is being completed, the money is also coming to an end. With several variables still unknown (Rex's and Rick Bauer's final bills and the cost of the gutters and downspouts) we have had to temporarily halt plans to finish drywalling the basement and a few other things. Once we have all the facts and figures and have a final resolution on the camper, we can have Mike come back and do some of these things. For now he has left a few things for us to do to try to help us save a little money.

Last night we drove to the cottage to see the railings. How wonderful it looked, both up the stairs and across the sleeping loft! The spindles were larger than the 3 of us realized and, perhaps, that gives the impression that the main part of the cottage is smaller, but it really looked great. Bonnie feels very secure now when in the loft with the nice, sturdy railing. Mike had to re-figure where the stairway railing would go after there was an issue with the glass cabinets over the bar. This he did beautifully. He also added an extra touch with the spindles, taking the ends that were cut straight across and adding an attractive angle to them. Very nicely done!

The bathroom was done and looked great. When we say done, we mean Mike's job...walls, trim, etc. Rex still has plumbing and electrical work to do.

The Dutch door was up and Mike will be making the shelf that goes on the top of the lower section. Kathy wanted it 6", backed it down to 5", then agreed to 4", finally telling Mike to do whatever he thought would look good. He hasn't led us astray yet. The other interior doors were also up. The pocket door to the bathroom was at the cottage but not yet installed.

We will most likely clean the floors this weekend...or at least the cork flooring upstairs.

We are still happy with all of our paint colors (Bonnie still isn't 100% satisfied with the lighter of the two greens she chose for in the bathroom), and even the darker bamboo flooring is beginning to grow on us. Kathy still wasn't happy with it after it was laid (too dark), and even Bonnie said she wished we had chosen a lighter shade.

Bonnie pointed out that once we had furniture in the cottage, it would really look small. (Yes, she said small and not cozy.)