Almost there!

I've finished painting the alcove doors and door frames. As soon as I clean a wee bit of paint off the hinges, the doors can go up! (Although we may vacuum out the alcoves first - there's some debris left over from the insulation installation).

The closet door frames are nearly done. The center part, where the door actually closes, is a rougher wood and needs 3 coats of paint. But that will be pretty fast. Then I do the doors - which I'm sure will need either 1 coat of primer and 3 of paint or 2 of each - and upstairs is done!! After all these years... Sorry we didn't get it done while you lived here, K!

Last night we met our contractor at Gertens and dug around in the rock. Well, actually, Mike did most of the digging. He was better dressed for it, as we had both come straight from work. He figured that we, like him, would like to pick out particular rocks, as opposed to whatever was on top. We're very glad we did. There's a lot of variation in the stone we picked, ranging from gold to red to blue tones. We leaned toward the red, given our brick. We got stones for two paths (one going to the patio, the other through the garden on its far side) and a HUGE stone for under the shed door. It was a darn good thing the pile that one came off of was about the same height as the bed of the pickup, as I'm not sure if the guys could really have lifted it. But it will look fabulous. Joe and I will go back soon and pick up smaller stones to replace the ones in the big garden. We didn't know how to install them, plus they weren't thick enough, so they're either covered up or broken. So Mike will install them for us - but not by digging down 9" like he will for our big path. I'm not sure exactly how he'll do this, but I'm sure it will be great. Of course, so many of the plants there are so big I'm not sure how well you'll be able to see the new stones! The big work starts a week from today. That gives the roofers the time they need plus a day for weather. The roofers sure don't need to work around piles of rock or a big hole in the ground, and Mike doesn't need roofers tossing debris off the roof at him!

Oh, we picked up a little fountain last night, too. It will sit on a small table on the patio and burble nicely - loud enough to be heard, but not overpowering. Tuesday we went and got our table and chairs. We opted for one with a table top that looks like tile, but I'm not sure what it really is. I just know it isn't glass or wood and should stand up to just about anything. The chairs are that fabric that gives a bit as it's stretched over the frame, but not cushions. We don't want to have to worry about stuff getting wet, and these chairs can take the rain and then dry quickly.

We don't know when the pergola will come, but it turns out we can just mount it using construction adhesive - we don't need to put in footings. It's so light that the adhesive should work just fine. That's easier for everyone (and cheaper for us!).

Man, I'm so excited I can hardly wait!