I Spy With My Little Eye

4th Week of September

The little details.  There are so many of them.  I do this for a living, and yet I am still overwhelmed by all the little decisions and details that have to be made, almost on a daily basis.  As the construction progresses I am not only starting to see the results of those details, but also reminded of how important such small decisions can be.

I am reminded of the picture game "I spy with my little eye .  .  ."  If you were to compare two pictures of the house taken in the span of just one week, at a glance there doesn't appear to be much difference.  But, if you look closely you will find many differences.  Take the west side of the house.

West view, 19 September 2013

We almost always approach the house through the path that connects our rental house to our back yard. So the first thing we see is the west side of the house.  This is rather ironic, because when we move into our new house and live in it, we will rarely find ourselves walking around this side of the house.  It is the farthest away from the driveway!

West view, 25 September 2013

So compare the two pictures above.  How many differences can you find?

Do you see them?

Okay, I'll tell you.  The trim around the basement windows is done.  The siding around the chimney is done. The red backhoe has been used to dig the foundations for the rear patio and retaining wall, and the front stoop and steps.  The pile of siding materials has dwindled.  (It was such a small pile to begin with, I am amazed there is anything left!)  And a pile of cement, for the stone mortar, has arrived.  Oh, and the basement door that was leaning against the house a week ago has now been installed.

View from the Buddha, 25 September 2013

Another thing that has changed is that the pile of dirt in the rear yard has also dwindled.  For the past couple of months I couldn't take a good picture of the house from the Buddha, because of the large pile of dirt in the way.  The contractor has used almost all of it to regrade immediately around the house.  By the time the house is done, that dirt pile should have been all used!