**note** - two blog posts today, so make sure to see them both!

Since we left, KC has been doing all of the finishing-up. As of mid-May, the inside is 99% DONE. A few little details left and a major cleaning, but all we can say is WOW.

The ceiling beams are now wrapped. We had to add the beams because when you stood on the floor upstairs, the entire kitchen and dining room ceiling bowed!!! ack!!! can you imagine a bunch of kids jumping around upstairs??!! KC did an amazing job of matching all of this trim. Because much of the house was added on in fits and starts over the last 80 years, there was all kinds of crazy, mis-matched trim. We used all of the original fir first, then KC spent HOURS playing around with stains to try to match (much less expensive) pine to the original fir.

Got the micro cabinet in!

We decided not to spend the money to refinish the stair treads, so KC planed and routed them, put a few coats of clearcoat on them, and they turned out super.

We also added the skirtboards to the stairs. That angled wall was full height when we started. It's a lot nicer with it open to the downstairs.

Below is the enclosed porch off the kitchen. We had a really hard time deciding what to put down for flooring. We finally decided to use the porch material, and it turned out great. Now there's a place for muddy boots!
And work has begun on the last big outside projects. We decided to add a new septic system. We got stuck waiting until spring to make the decision because of the weather. The design is complete and if the health department gets back to us in the next couple of days, we'll get it all done before our trip out for Memorial Day weekend. PLEASE let it be done!!!!

As the contractors started to frame the front porch, they had all sorts of problems getting the new frame to stick to the old concrete. They tried epoxy, screws and everything else they could think of. They realized that the concrete was just crumbling, and gave it a few whacks with a sledge hammer. Turned out to be easier (read faster and cheaper) to get rid of the old concrete and start over!

The last post is now set. Whew.

Last project is the roof. If the weather holds, it will be done by the time we get there next week.

More pictures when we get back. Now I need to go rent the U-Haul so we can take over some furniture!