Christmas at the Manor

We were thrilled to celebrate our first Christmas at the new Manor, complete with my first real Christmas tree in 19 years. We had a lovely 8 foot Douglas fir. It was interesting getting it upstairs, but well worth it.




We hosted a lovely cooperative family dinner with my sister and her family- Prime Rib, AuGratin potatoes with Artichokes, String Beans Almondine and Yorkshire Pudding-- followed by our traditional English Christmas Cake. Table settings were a gift from our good friend, Judith H.

Thanksgiving at the Manor

The kitchen passed the test... 5 cooks working in the kitchen without stepping or bumping into each other. We had 13 guests for dinner and all went well... pictures to be posted soon.

Starting to look like a real home

We now have furniture in all the rooms, and have even had our first overnight house guests! We still have lots of interior finish work to do, but we can do that at our leisure. (hopefully not TOO leisurely...)


I love my new kitchen!



and dining area... took the dining table out of storage after 3 years. Still working on the dining chairs. They didn't survive the teenage years...

and purchased new living room furniture-- the first sofa I have bought since 1984 (for real)

Goodbye to the "old" Manor

We are saying goodbye to the "old" Manor today-- RIP.

occupancy permit

We had an inspection today and received our occupancy permit. We are now cleared to move in!!! Let the moving begin!

Almost there

Finishing touches accomplished--calling for inspection to get occupancy this week!!

Fireplace facade and insert placed in and connected.

Washer and dryer platform constructed and both are operational--tested them out this morning!

Getting closer

Worked hard this weekend. The Habers helped to put the fireplace insert in place. It still needs to be connected. Ken worked on building a frame for the box over the future island. I finished oiling the windows and installed most of the interior door knobs. I even hung some curtains in the bedroom on the window that faces the house next door!

Fireplace facade finished!

Adam placing one of the last stones. I'm sure he is relieved that this is done! He did a wonderful job.


We are very pleased with the results. See for yourself. Now all we have to do is slide in the pellet stove insert and hook it up. I've always wanted a stone fireplace... this will be a "showcase" in our living room.

Lots more rock!

The fireplace is almost done... I had to make an unscheduled trip to the mainland to get some more rocks. The stone yard we are using was so accommodating. I called on Sat. afternoon and told them of my need. They were closing before I could get there. The salesman said that I could come in after hours and take what I needed and to call him on Monday to tell him how many pounds I took.

My mistake was not looking at the scale before I put the over 200 pounds of stone in my car. The scale was a vehicle scale. If I had weighed my car first, then I could have loaded it up, weighed again and done the math. I loaded my car with the stone, discovered the scale, and had to take the stone out again and weigh it. Then I had to put it all back. I then drove home and carried all the stones from my car up to the second floor of the house. I think that means I moved about 600 pounds of rock myself that day! Look at the pictures though-- worth it!!!

Nitty gritty work

Behind the scenes work continues...

Ken has successfully installed the auxiliary water heater in the master bath, giving us instant hot water since the bath is quite a distance from the water heater.

The master bath is operational now-- sinks, shower and toilets are all installed and working!

I have been working on finishing the windows, doors and stairs with tung oil. It will take several coats to get the proper finish.

Ken has installed the outside electrical outlets and covered the wires that eventually will be outlets on the yet to be constructed window seat in the living room. (The window seat is not needed for an occupancy permit-- but loose wires are frowned upon.)

Floor plans

I just realized that I never included the floor plans in the blog.



Second floor-- all living areas up to maximize the view. Click to enlarge picture.



First Floor-- entry. The bedrooms will be used as our offices. Click to enlarge picture

Fireplace progress

Adam has worked so hard that he now has some back problems. Hope he heals soon. We are loving the look of the fireplace so far.

Stonework on fireplace begun

Adam started working on putting the puzzle pieces together to place the stone on the fireplace front.

Moving the "rock"

Today was a feat of super-human strength. We had to move the big birthday "rock" (hearth stone) from the garage to the second floor fireplace. To do that required 4 strong men, a "custom" wood gurney and two supervisors (Ken and me) to watch out for corners and walls. There was a lot of red-faced grunting and groaning, but the deed was done, and the hearthstone is in place.

Up and over the banister!














The gurney... like carrying Cleopatra.




















The hearth stone in place. This rock is NOT going anywhere now.

More behind the scenes work

I have been working on the woodwork, applying Tung Oil to the fir that has not been previously treated. Not much to see yet... and Ken has been working on installing floor electrical outlets and the fixtures in the guest bathroom. Will post pictures when finished.

More progess on fireplace

After a day of Adam and me carrying stones up to the second floor, Adam started preparing the "scratch coat" to the fireplace before applying the stonework.

Deck railing

Bob H. installed temporary deck railings, which are required for occupancy as a safety feature. We expect the decking material to be delivered some time next week, but the flooring does not need to be installed for occupancy.

Hot Water!!!

Again with some behind the scenes, less glamorous work, Ken has successfully installed the hot water heater--complete with Seismic straps and an expansion tank. We now have hot water!!

Fireplace mantel

We were fortunate to find out about a local mill works and found a beautiful piece of local fir for our mantel. Bob H. cut, sanded and installed in the framed fireplace. We even have enough left over for a bench.

Master Bath-- vanity
Adam finished the stone work (travertine tiles) in late March and Ken has installed the faucets. Water connection is coming soon...

Getting stones ready

Adam and I carried the stones up to the second floor deck. Took us most of the day, loading them into milk crates and carrying them upstairs, but now we are ready. There are 100 square feet of stone and 20 linear feet of corners.

Behind the scenes

Ken has been working on some less glamorous tasks towards completing the project. The water softener is now installed in the laundry room and working properly.

Lots and lots of rock

On Saturday, we took our island truck to Cascade Stone Supply in Burlington and picked up the stone veneer for the fireplace-- another almost ton of rock. This old Silverado has served us well- despite the little inconvenience with the battery episode on Tuesday.

Fireplace progress

Bob H. worked on the framing for the fireplace, so now it is ready for adding the stone face to it.

We made another trip today to get the stone veneer for the fireplace. The island truck served us quite well this time.

We now have 100 square feet of rock and 20 linear feet of corner stones in the back of the truck. They were put in with a forklift. Our job now is to figure out how to get them out of the truckbed. :)

Below is a sample of the stone and how we envision it on the fireplace.

Fireplace materials

Ken and I went on a journey in our island truck to purchase a big "rock" for my birthday present-- a large piece of blue stone for the fireplace hearth. We had quite an adventure... driving over 100 miles to find a piece. The truck started acting sluggish when starting up, so we were afraid to turn off the motor. We had a birthday lunch/dinner at Burger King, where I got my birthday crown. We ate in the truck with the engine running.

Then we drove to another location about 50 miles away (at least it was on the route home) and picked up two additional pieces of blue stone to go around the fireplace opening.

We did a couple additional chores and then headed back to the ferry, stopping to fuel up about 10 miles from the ferry. That was when the truck gave up the ghost and wouldn't start. We were stranded at the fuel pump and the gas station had no jumper cables. We called AAA who said they would be there in an hour-- which would cause us to miss the last ferry to Lopez. Luckily one of the next customers had cables and we were able to start the truck, but we still missed the last ferry of the evening. We ended up staying in a lovely little motel, the Anaco Inn, in Anacortes that night, and arrived home the next morning, the proud owners of two new batteries and a truck that starts easily.

Kitchen progress

The kitchen is almost complete now.

The cooktop is installed and operational. I am anxious to try it out.



The main sink now has drains and a faucet-- and cold running water.

Ken is loving his new toy--a Kohler articulated faucet, complete with its own joystick.

I am planning to check out the appliances and bake a carrot cake using the new oven, stovetop and my KitchenAid mixer that is still in the box. (I bought it over a year ago and have been patiently waiting for the opportunity to open and use it.)

Counter backsplash

The next step was the backsplash, made of the soapstone, which ended up being a bigger project than we anticipated. We are pleased with the results.

Counter installation

The counter pieces are laid, pieced together with epoxy and attached to the cabinets. Everything is looking great!