Demo is ongoing at new house

We had a quiet trip to Cancun December 10th to 17th with Rick & Carol.  It is strange being so far away from them after being 2 hours away for over 12 years. We took a ferry ride one day and were very sad to see the changes to Isla Mujeres, which have happened in just the past couple of years.  When we stayed there before it was a sleepy little island with no traffic.  Now it was packed and is looking more and more like Cozumel - too many tourists!!!  We had considered going there next fall for an extended stay but have cancelled those plans.

Since our return, the house has been our total focus.   Mike is on site daily to oversee the crews working there and has begun to clear out some of the landscaping.  We spent Christmas Eve making two trips to the dump/landfill to throw out some of our overgrown shrubs and trees.

Last week all of the popcorn ceilings were taken down and the existing tile flooring jack hammered up.  The a grinder and sander smoothed out the mastic which the jack hammer did not remove.  This week the 2 layers of lino in the kitchen were scraped up and electrical pulled in for ceiling fans in every room.  Next week the new electrical runs for the kitchen will be pulled in and I'll have more holes in my walls and ceilings.



Living room with no popcorn ceiling or floor covering, just concrete pad



Yesterday Mike measured out and marked the placement of our cabinets and appliances in the new kitchen.  I was finally able to picture it in my mind.  We are getting Holace style KraftMaid cabinets in a painted mushroom (light taupe) finish.  The left side of the kitchen with the sink will have all glass upper doors and the right side with my new 36 inch Blue Star gas range will have standard wood doors.  We will be installing a nice stainless 36 inch range hood and side by side stand alone fridge and freezer so I'll have over 18 cubic feet of fridge and freezer both!!

 

This is the range side of the kitchen.  Higher blue stripe is where bottom of range hood will be placed

 

 

Our homeowner's association approved plans for our sunroom addition so we are now just waiting for Pima County to issue our permit.  Once we have the permit the footer for the exterior wall can be poured.  I am impatient to move in but I want it done right as this will be my forever home.  Excited!!



Desert Living

I don't know about you but I always thought living in the desert would be like the Sahara - all sand.  I just cannot get over all the wildlife and vegetation here in Green Valley.  Frankly, I haven't seen this many butterflies since I was a little girl hanging out in Grandma Burnett's garden.  We have a huge butterfly bush in the front yard and there might be up to 10 different species on it at any one time.

There is a roadrunner who passes through our back yard occasionally.  We think he is the cause of the disappearance of the lizard that was living in our new house's utility room.  And I think that darn roadrunner also goes up the hill in front of our house to stir up the quail.  We have about 30 quail who wander through daily as well.  The largest male stands guard while all the others help themselves to the bird seed our neighbors set out.  Those quail quarrel and chatter like nobody's business.  They are VERY noisy birds.  I miss watching them.

 

We've settled quite well into our rental in Tubac AZ, an artist colony south of Green Valley.  We planned to spend the winter here and it has worked out well since the house will be under construction for the winter months.  I really didn't want to live through  another remodel.

We have been doing little projects at the house, mostly painting.  It was great to find out that our local Ace Hardware has a record of all of the approved paint colors for our homeowner's association.  I made the mistake of buying dark walnut stain instead of the paint we actually needed for our beams after we removed the horrid metal security screen door on the front porch.  Hopefully our new kitchen window will be delivered this week as well.

Now it is time to head off to Mexico for a little vacation with Rick & Carol.  Can't wait to dip my toes in the ocean!