Farewell to the spiky balled Sweet Gum...

I have to say, I am very sad and worried to see this tree plowed over, I always liked having a big tree in front of the house. Everybody tells me it will die soon, and the grading is problematic if we leave it in place, so it is going. I thought the kids might enjoy watching the bulldozer push it over, but I now know they are very sad for the tree. "How would you feel if you were that tree," is what I am hearing. Today we saw a bird land in the tree and that nearly put Ryan over the edge. We scrutinized the entire tree, searching for nests and luckily, the birds seem to have steered clear of it and it is not the home to anybody or anything major. Phew.

However, now that this tree is going, we must decide what to trees and shrubs to put in front of the house. Nicholas says that if we just had a weeping willow, he would have a place to sit and read (under it). That kid knows how to manipulate me.... so a weeping willow somewhere in the landscaping plan is a must!

We are also thinking a small little herb garden in this little half circle outside the kitchen would be great.

In the rear yard, we would like to plant a garden --- we think it would be great to plant some more "orchard like" trees to go with our Pear tree. Ryan would like to get Papa to come visit and help him plant a vegetable garden. Actually, to use his exact words, he would prefer to plant a "meat garden" instead of all veggies. We have several black raspberry bushes and Ryan loves to pick them on visits, so we are thinking about some veggies, but also some melons and berries... with a side of "meat."

On the interior, the painters keep going.... and going... and going..... what a job. Can't believe how long the painting takes! It is getting close though. The big lights came in also, so they are all in. The keeping room lights are up.... here is a shot with them:

You can also see the completed little backsplash. Think they did a great job! The floors are all covered up. I was so surprised to go out this week and see a cleaning service in the house. Seemed early, since we've got weeks to go until completion, but I guess they clean out all the vents, etc. before turning on all the hvac? In the picture you can see they installed the fridge and freezer in the wrong places --- so the handles look off. They are already fixed today though.

The stair light is in too --- it is a cool light, but it takes some adjusting to have anything there at all!

The last details are being completed, and the basement floors will be stained at the end of next week. I like a golden wheat color, but Joeren the Eurofloor staining expert thinks another golden color will be too much. He is recommending a darker cola-ish stain, or other combo. We are going to do some cool circles in the wine room to create a border around the round table. I think that will be neat. He'll have stain samples in by Tuesday and they'll start the install while we are off to Provence. I think we should come back to a pretty much move in ready house... yikes! We really really need to get crackin' on the landscaping....