We have mirrors! And shelves!

It's been a long time coming, but we now have mirrors in our master bathroom! We had to special order the one for over my sink/vanity area, but it finally arrived. DH made frames for them to match the frames on the cabinet doors...

Here is DH's mirror - we'll have to put some artwork up on the blank wall...
DH also built me 2 more shelves in the utility closet across from the powder room. He installed 2 outlets so I can plug in phone/GPS chargers and my sweeper vac.
I managed to get a lot of my house decorating done. The goal was to get it done in time for the church women's dinner party that I hosted last night. I had everything done except for the tree, and it (for us) is still a tad too early to get the tree. I think we'll probably get the tree this weekend. Here is the fireplace with my new wreath over the mantel...
I hung greens around the border of the great room on the valance. I had to get up and down off the ladder every loop in order to move the ladder - it was a good thigh workout! In order to get the swags even, I laid out each section on the floor next to a tape measure and connected a wire ornament hanger to the greens every 3 feet. Then I just had to make sure the bottom of the swag hit the bottom of the valance and there was no need to measure where to hang each hook.
The Santa/Reindeer quilt and nativity are in the entryway...
Underneath the table I put all kinds of stuffed animals and toys, most of them belonging to our kids over the years (and some that even belong to DH and I when we were little).
The stairs were adorned with lights and more greenery...
We set up the tables for my dinner party on Sunday night and I set them and decorated them on Monday. I was expecting 15 guests (plus me) for the third year in a row. There must be something about the number 16 and our women's dinner - they are not the same exact women every year either. Interesting...
Here are the Santa napkins on the table settings - no one wanted to use the napkins for fear of ruining them!
And other place setting...
So, some of the next projects on the list are to find tiles for the backsplash of the beverage area, and to find floor tile for the floor at the bottom of the basement stairs (that we can see when we look down over the stair railing). Here is the beverage area that we want to tile...
I'm thinking I'd like to bring in some of the red color from the adjoining family room. Here is one with very narrow tiles (1/4") in shades of red...
This one has several colors in it which would pull in the colors of the cabinets, counter, and the red from the other room. It seems a little dark to me though, so I'm just not sure. I also have samples of smaller red squares in colors similar to the above tile. Maybe we can combine this tile with some of the red squares, or something...
And in the continuing saga of our hunter...He has never returned - his blind is still down in back of the house, collapsed from the wind. It's very strange...

Golf balls and outlets and deer, oh my!

I saw a couple of deer down behind the house today. When I walked back from the mailbox, there were two deer (not sure if they were the same 2) at the end of the driveway. One ran but I was able to get within about 10 feet of the other one before he ran off. (Click on the photo to see them better.)
There were only 2 guys working on the patio today. They only worked on the travertine tile and are almost finished. It will take about another half day to finish, I think. Here is what they have done...
And here is what they have left to do...
So, my sewing studio is almost done. Here is the closet...
It still looks messy, but I only have a couple of boxes left to empty, plus these 5-6 boxes that need to be carried down to the basement. The two on the right are packed with things for next year's rummage sale at church...

This pile in the corner will stay in boxes for a while. DH's grandfather built a corner cabinet years ago from trees on his property. The cabinet needs some TLC before it can be put to use in my sewing studio. DH's list of things to do is very long, so I'm guessing it will be a while before he gets around to working on the cabinet. Most of the items that will go in the cabinet are crafting supplies that I don't use all that often, so it's OK for them to sit in boxes for now.
Here is the photo of my sewing studio chair that I promised to post...
And I also said I would post a photo of the black outlet covers in the kitchen. They blend in with the granite much better than the white ones that used to be there.
This last photo collage is for DD. She has been collecting golf balls from the property ever since we bought it last year. Here are 4 more for her collection, but she has to find them herself when she gets home on school break. :-D (Hint: they are all along the driveway...)

Wow! Lots of progress today!

We said goodbye to the POD today - DS was not sorry to see it go. He's done a lot of hauling of boxes and furniture this summer...
My backsplash is finally finished! The granite guys replaced the backsplash behind the cooktop (it had a very jagged cut in it and was not done well) and finally installed the backsplash behind the sink. Now we just need to get some dark outlet and switch plates so they don't stick out so badly...

The fireplace guys were also working with granite today as they installed the verde butterfly granite pieces to cover the firebox in the fireplace. Once the grout dries and lightens up, it should blend in well...
Here is a close-up shot of the granite. Now we need some doors and I think we'll be all set.
The landscapers poured the concrete this morning in the patio area. This concrete will be the base for the travertine pavers that we are putting in.
Gravel was brought in and packed down around the pool, and leveled. DH decided to hire the electrician who worked on our house to do the pool wiring. DH could do the wiring, but wasn't able to buy the small amounts of wires and other things he would need to do it, whereas the electrician probably already has the right materials for the job. The inspector is coming on Thursday to inspect the electrical and will come back later to inspect the deck, and the fence and security system for the pool.
I love it when we make progress!

Can I just tell them all to go away?

What a day yesterday was! Every time I turned around the doorbell rang! We started out with the landscaper and his guys arriving with the backhoe to dig the pool hole a bit deeper. The pool guys also reappeared and stayed all day.

After the hole was dug deeper, the pool guys spread gravel on the bottom...
A trench was also dug off of one corner of the deep end of the pool and filled with gravel and dirt, as a drain for water that might be under the pool.
After the hole was prepared, the pool guys drove the pool up the driveway and between the trees and the end of the garage.
There is a 3' deep trench right near the right-side tires of this truck as he is driving through there. The pool guy who was guiding the driver thought the driver was going to cause the side of the trench to collapse and that the truck was going to end up falling into the trench - that would have been very, very bad. Thankfully, he made it safely through...
The sky started to darken while they were moving the pool to the back of the house. I was certain we were in for a storm...
Once the pool was around back (well, actually it's on the side of our house, not the back), the crane was attached and the pool was turned right-side up...


And there it is!
Now the sky is getting really dark - I'm afraid we're in for a downpour...
The rain held off and the pool was attached to the crane on both sides now...
And lifted into place... And then the rains came pouring down and we all ran for cover!
Five minutes later, the sky was clear again...
After many adjustments, the pool was finally in place!
While all that was happening with the pool, the kitchen backsplash people were here again to try to get the backsplash installed behind the sink - still no go. The right-hand end of the sink piece doesn't abut to the left-hand end of the cooktop backsplash and they aren't quite sure what to do about it. Our KD said he would get the general manager of the granite place involved and get them to resolve it. The granite guys were here all morning and into the early afternoon.

The glass people arrived to correct the door on our shower which was hinged on the wrong side. They were probably here for an hour in mid-afternoon.

I had package deliveries from UPS, FedEx, and the mailman. Someone showed up on a large truck with a delivery of wood. I decided it must be for the deck in the patio area and had to figure out where to have him dump it off his truck, as it couldn't go near the patio because of the pool install.

And then our dear neighbor dropped by on his lawn tractor for a chat. I saw him again last night after I walked down to the road to get our mail. He asked me if I wanted to go for a ride in his car around his golf course while he took his dog on orientation (which, I guess, gets the dog used to knowing where he can go on the property once he is let off his leash). He pointed out the different trees on the golf course and told me which ones are also on our property and that we shouldn't cut them down, or accidently mow over the plants that are there. Prior to our property becoming a golf course, it was a tree and plant nursery. I asked him if there were any hickory nut trees and he drove me over to see this huge hickory tree and said I was welcome to any hickory nuts that I wanted. Yum...

I was actually able to get the guest room in order while all these things were going on in and out of my house yesterday! It was the only room on the first floor that still needed to be arranged (except for DH's office, which he gets to arrange) and with all the people ringing the doorbell I didn't want to be upstairs. I did run up to do a couple of loads of laundry, however, and I really love my new washer and dryer. They are both high efficiency and they hold huge loads of clothes. The dryer keeps turning on for a few seconds every couple of minutes to keep clothes from getting wrinkled in case you can't get to the dryer right away to remove them.

And before the night ended, DH had to play with the Bobcat before it goes back to the rental company...
Today, the landscaping guys are working on the patio area. I think (I hope) that is all that is going on, other than the bobcat getting picked up by the rental company. I need a vacation!

The ant hill came alive!

What a flurry of activity at the house today! I stopped by for a quick peek because I was in the area. There were about 10 trucks there and at least 15 guys working on all sorts of things.

I didn't get any photos, but the front porch was being finished, the kitchen details were coming along, the electrician was there to wire the rest of the house, the septic guys were digging more trenches, the plumber was installing the fixtures in the powder room, there was a guy in the master bathroom caulking the trim around the window, and there were a few other guys around that I didn't have time to figure out what they were doing.

The great room floor had been cleaned up and there was blue tape up across the doors to keep people out. There are 2 more coats of finish that need to be applied to the hardwood.

I'm struggling with what tiles to use on the backsplash in the beverage area in the kitchen. There will be a 2" backsplash of the granite along the counter and I'm leaning toward glass tiles of some kind to go above the granite to under the cabinets. I'd love to add some more color to the kitchen in the backsplash. Any thoughts?

Countdown to move day: 11 days and counting!