We got back from six days in the Olympia condo this afternoon. It was sure nice to get away to a clean, quiet, non-construction zone place for a few days -- we are lucky to have it as an escape pod. However, we missed Seattle, the dogs, and wondered what was going on and kept pestering Robert via e-mail. So it was good to get back and see the progress.

And boy did they make progress. As you can see, the garage is all framed and roofed in -- it passed the framing inspection by the city, so the next step is to put the siding and shingles up.

The garage is going to be nice and roomy -- and the windows and high vaulted ceiling will make for a very nice, light, and bright work space. We'll install the old kitchen cabinets and make them into a work bench, and have tons of room to boot.
The contractors have stored much of their tools in there, and we'll be able to put the new kitchen cabinets that get delivered on Monday in there as well.

They also were able to install the new A/C unit and a big new powerful, and very quiet furnace.

It's a good thing we have the new furnace, because the house is toxic with the fumes from the hardwood finish. The floors are gorgeous, but we've had to open all the windows and doors to air the place out (as it is we are both getting slightly high), and the furnance has been running to keep the place warm. It's so quiet that we didn't even know it was running!
Of course with a new furnace comes a new thermostat -- and this one, with the A/C, is a complicated bugger with lots of settings for coming and going and temperatures and the like -- so we'll have to learn how the thing works.

The hardwoods are gorgeous -- we didn't stain them at all, it's just got three coats of polyurathane finish. They look brand new and we are reluctant to walk on them. The pictures on here just don't do them justice.

It's going to be a busy but short week with the holiday. The cabinets are expected to arrive on Monday, so they'll start installing them on Tuesday. They'll also start the siding on the garage -- and they'll have to swap windows. The workers on Friday when the windows came thought the new fancy one with the awning opening was for the garage, rather than the standard, non-opening one that Robert gave us from a remodel job they didn't need it for. They mistakingly installed it in the garage and left the other one out. Fortunately the siding isn't up so it should be no problem to swap them out. They'll take Thursday and Friday off, and then finish the cabinets the next week and install the appliances.

Still no sign of the bathroom fixtures and shower pan -- so the kitchen might beat the bathroom to finish!