Okay, so the true posting of this data is 11/11/08 and I am trying feaverishly to catch everyone up to speed on what is happening on Polley Road -- in so many ways. It is with a heavy heart and optimistic spirit that I share that Sean and I are now divorced. It has been a difficult couple of months for us and for Madeleine, and I hope that time will heal us all. My thanks go out to Sean and his family for helping me get this project off the ground; kind of bittersweet in a way that it began in one way and will finish in another, but again, time will heal and I know the future holds great things for all of us. So, now that I am able to tackle all of this again, away we go!

I can't tell you the exact date the well was drilled, but it got done - loudly and messy, those things are for sure. It had been an amazingly dry end of summer gearing up for fall, and they day they showed up to drill the well it had already been raining for hours. So, as you can imagine the whole show was muddy and dirty -- I went over to the neighbors to survey the damage from their vantage point; not pretty from any angle! They completed it within one day and capped it off until they are ready to tap into it and shut down the existing well.

The next phase was adding the new trusses to raise the roof pitch, provide vaulted ceilings in the new spaces and get this project under roof! I didn't realize they would have to cut holes into the house in order to secure the new trusses to the structure, so needless to say I didn't cover anything up that day they came to begin the process. Though they did offer to clean up the mess, I was too shocked to even let them in to do it. There were chuncks of wood laying inside the house nestled into the piles of sawdust that also were laying inside the house, on the furniture, on the stove, and inside lots of nooks and crannies I didn't even know existed. It was a sight! One of those sights that you have to laugh at because crying would be a waste of time and you have to use your time wisely when you are cleaning up a mess of this magnitude. Yes, birds did find the time to explore their new "bird house", but I am happy to report that each time I heard one of my new friends enter the house, they did exit just as quickly and I didn't have to chase them around or clean up after them, either. Sigh....

Last week was the week of the plumber and this week we thought would bring the digging of the new well, but it was a surprise when we pulled up to the house on Monday night. They poured the floors of the front and rear additions and buried the plumbers work right into the slab.

The week of 8/18/08 was the week of the Plumber. We have had a very dry August, and this week was no exception - and it was hot, too. He worked almost every day onsite to get the bathroom roughed in, the laundry roughed in and the gas lines in place before they came out to pour the slab floors in the living room extension and back hallway addition. You can see the gas line sticking up from the back living room addition where the gas log fireplace will be located.

The well was going to be relocated during this week, but it was pushed back so that the concrete trucks could pour the floor with ease and not disturb the new well location. The existing well has to be moved b/c it needs to be further from the structure. We have never had a problem with our well over the past nine years, but getting a new one will be a nice addition to update the property. It will be located only about 10ft away from the existing well in the backyard.

We took a break from the action August 6-10, 2008. Sean, Madeleine and I visited Ontario Canada to continue our vacation tradition of renting a house on the water. This time we found a wonderful cottage in Amhurstburg along the Detriot River, where all we could hear was the movement of the water and the whisper of the willow tree -- needless to say, it was a welcomed change from the jackhammering and bulldozing!

When we arrived at dusk at home, I didn't notice any changes. Sean continued to point out that the huge piles of excavated earth had been backfilled back in and the landscape around the foundation was somewhat level. The ducts have all been laid in the new living spaces and the vents are installed and capped where they will lay.

This week they are getting bids for drilling a new well. Originally, the architect felt the existing well may be able to stay, but the health department wants it moved. So.....that is the first part of the project that is an "additional item", per say - not a part of the original plan. Ok, so we are hoping that everything else stays on track and that we don't rack up a bunch of additional items cuz you know they don't come free ;)

It is fun to watch Madeleine's reaction each time she visits, about every other weekend, because something is always missing or added and makes for great conversations when she is in town. She even likes to look at the plans!

Lots of earth moved during the last week of July 2008. Huge piles of excavated material formed at the front and the rear of the yard. We thought about harvesting the stones that were revealed, but Sean's Dad pointed out that they were frail and not suitable to last even in landscape design or interior effect.

The top pic is very dark, but if you look closely to the right of the washing machine you can see a guy with his shirt off who is digging a trench at the back of the garage. He spent most of the morning digging the trenches - just when we thought they were done with that part, they dug them even deeper.

The week of July 28, 2008 included the full demolition of the shed slab floor and the completion of digging the trenches in the garage to prepare for installation of the ductwork so the HVAC professionals can begin their work.

Also this week, the doors and windows were ordered and well-drillers are sought out to install a new well. The existing well is too close to the new structures, so a new one will be installed. They are going to include a hook up that will lay dormant JUST IN CASE we are ever offered to hook up to public water -- though free water is just fine for now!