Tile, tile everywhere

Gotta love that tile.. The roof is such an important part of this house, it being the first thing you see. Even more important- Wishing all of you Peace on Earth and Merry Christmas from both of us here in beautiful Santa Barbara...

Decorating the Dome

Wow!!

Scratching the House

This house is getting more solid by the minute. Lots of stuff going on right now. It seems as if we're always a little behind. It's all the stuff that you put off until later and now later is here! Today, the scratch coat, tomorrow, the insulation and then on to the drywall. The great thing is, these guys are never fazed. They just keep going...

Fall

Sunset is such a pleasure this time of year. With a week of rain forecast, this gives us something to remember...

Thanksgiving Weekend

With 4 days of turkey under my belt (barely) I'm ready to move on. The weather was spectacular and the company was great. We enjoyed having Kristian's family with us and got to cook our turkey on the Weber grill. It doesn't get any better than that! Now it's back to working and working out for everyone.... We're moving towards getting the house "dried in" and so far the weather gods have been kind to us.

Waking up to a Dome Setting

The boys were a little tired this morning, it being a Sunday and all. You're not supposed to get up at 6:30 on Sunday morning! Never the less, they did a great job and were able to go on to other things by 8:00. They're the best.

Putting a lid on it

On Friday the roofers showed up and papered the roof. They laid out the wire to tie the tile. It gives you an idea of what it's going to look like because the felt is red, like the tile will be. Today the dome is being set. That's a job for Stan and the boys. Hey , if they can do it with the beam, they can do it with the dome...

Rafters

It's a good day when you get rafters on your house....

Taking it to the Top

The boys had a beautiful day in Santa Barbara, perfect for setting the beam.

looking south

I'm contemplating the view from our future kitchen window...

Old house, New house

Kristian's dad, Murray has been here for the past week, helping us build. He had pics of our house taken 4 years ago. We have very few photos of the original house. It's fun to compare. We have an amazing crew! The house is changing from morning to night...

Raising Walls

Sunday saw 5 guys and a dog, raising walls at 75 W. Mntn Dr. It was a beautiful sight.

A jam packed day

Lay 3200 ft of sod, work in the yard, clean up the building site, celebrate a nephew's first birthday and dance the night away. Tired but it feels good.

The Boys, Hard at Work

These guys grow up but they never get over playing in the mud.....

Wow!

Everybody's tired...

We finally got those pesky stem walls poured last Tuesday. Getting the first truck at 1:00 made for a very tiring,long day. It was a difficult pour, but it came out really well, due to our excellent crew!! Greg Vendrame was in town and came up to help out Stan, Sean and Kristian. We have great friends. Ben spent his Saturday helping strip the forms. This process seems endless, but I love the new look.

Another blow out

After putting in a full day, Stan still had the energy to blow out the candles on his birthday cake. A good time was had by all. We are expecting to pour tomorrow and hopefully I'm telling the truth about that! I think we're ready......

Reminds me of Legos

It's fun watching this stuff go together...

Working our way out of the Ground

Another step out of the way as of Friday, when we poured grade beams. Things went really well. It feels really good to get that much farther out of the ground....

Lots to do

There's a whole lotta rebar here. It should help to hold the house up.

Soon to be grade beams

Believe it or not, this will be a tower some day...

Woohoo, the caissons are in!!!!

A pretty exciting day for us at 75 W. Mountain. Aside from a few minor misshaps (late concrete, not enough hose for the pump, CRUSHING my plants, etc) all went well and the caissons are in. It's incredible how under built we were last time around (according to our county fathers)! That being said, we are VERY happy and glad to be in the game. Next up- footings...

Oh happy day!!

We are happy to announce that we got our building permit today. All systems are go.... we'll probably be totally overwhelmed with decision making by tonight. Isn't it great?

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Things to do while you wait for your building permit: Take pictures of the view from your porch.....

Finally!!

Yay, yay, yay, We finally got our plans into plan check last week. It seemed like it was a long time coming!! Hopefully we won't have too many corrections and our permit will be forthcoming. Life is..... moving along nicely.

Getting Out the Last of It

This was a pretty radical sight. There goes the hot tub, the patios, the slab and all the underground. The excavator is almost as big as the area!! Hopefully soon, the new foundation will be going in.

Not Again

It's so hard to believe. Three major fires in Santa Barbara in less than a year.

Catching Up

Stan catches up with the news while Kiwi waits patiently.

Always more

The fire department has an annual program where they come around and chip all the brush that you have stacked on the roadside. As hard as it is to believe this year, there is ALWAYS more brush. We spent two and a half days with a crew of 5, taking out all the burned out leftovers. The only plants left are the ones we want to be there. Until next year, that is.....

Easter Sunday

Enjoying life in Santa Barbara on Easter Sunday

The Amgen Tour

Last week Stan and I took off and went up to Solvang to watch the time trials. These super atheletes are incredible. Their concentration as they raced by us to the finish line was total, regardless of all of us screaming fans. Can you imagine racing 15 miles on a bicycle over rolling hills and completing the course in about 30 to 35 minutes? I was exhausted!!!!! Lots of fun.....