Well, since the last posting - we have finished up the remodel. The soap dish and mirror for the shower were installed and with that - the project that we started with a conversation with Robert and Bill in August of 2006 has now come to a close.

Gary and I spent some time placing our collection of Big Sky Bears in the new living room. For years, these bears have been a fixture in our TV Room, but now they really fit in this room. As you can kinda tell from this picture (if you click on it to enlarge it) - we have a bear climbing up the window to get a better view of the room, a bear trying to climb up to the mantle, a bear relaxing on the mantle, a couple of bears on the hearth and then in the foreground is another bear welcoming you into the living room.

Outside - we contracted a couple of guys who did some landscaping work for our neighbor to clean up the yard (as we have months of construction, rolled up ivy and left over rocks and asphalt scattered throughout. They are currently working on carving a new pathway from Kim and Mark's yard up to our driveway. This time around, I have had them lay landscaping bricks to act as steps up the hill. This will be safer for the neighbors as we often are traveling from one house to another down this pathway called "Barbary Lane".

Additionally, they have built two small landscaping walls to provide separation in the steep front yard. They have laid some topsoil down, and I think I am going to have them put a layer of bark mulch over it. Finally, they will prune up some of our oak trees and clean up the yard. This should all be done this week.

After this - we have two projects left that we will be working on. A new patio/deck just outside the front door and then painting and building up the workbench in the new garage. Once we find some new furniture for the living room, we will be having an Open House for all our friends to see the house.

See you soon!