Isn't it cute?

Our tractor garage is almost done.  We think "cute" is an appropriate adjective.

The kitchen continues to come together by leaps and bounds.  We had no way of knowing, based on a 4" square sample of the flooring, how good it would look next to the cabinets.  This pic was taken while standing in the pantry.  As promised, the wood floor was done yesterday.

A little additional flair was needed, so we picked these cabinet pulls instead of knobs or straight pulls.

 And, of course, we like to post a bonus forest walk photo.  Below is not a shaggy elephant leg in the snow, but rather a fabulous yellow birch.  We've really gained deep appreciation for this lovely species.

Hardwood inside and out

A significant chunk of the wood floor has been installed.  We really like the darkness and character of each plank.  Hickory, a glorious species, would be worthy of joining its hardwood companions on our property, but it's probably a bit too cold for them.  Nonetheless, the wood makes spectacular flooring.

We also like the transitions between wood floor, tile, and trim.

These shelves are in the entry hallway.

Today's somewhat sunny forest walk brought us this bonus photo, which should please all those fans of the peeling bark that's a main feature of our state tree.

Rushing Bellows has arrived

The wood floor was delivered yesterday morning.  A total of 54 boxes at 30.5 square feet a box.  There's a lot of work to get that all installed.

The floor is from Anderson.  It's a dark-stained hickory called Rushing Bellows.  Each plank is 5" wide.  Here's a plank put up against the tile (sorry about the dust) for some comparison.

Planks are individually handcrafted, which makes each one unique.  The character of the wood is evident, even with the dark stain.

Trim work on the doors has come along nicely.  Doors will be stained to match.

Here's a bonus picture, a panoramic shot.  Some bur oak acorns and yellow birch seeds were planted here last fall.  We'll see how they come up this summer.  Yes, summer will eventually arrive!

Coloring our world

Lots of painting was done last week.  We post four photos below that show:

1.  The violet dusk in the dining room and into the great room area.

2.  The great window frame staining and mauve mist in the guest bedroom

3.  Violet dusk (great room) contrasted with central mauve (master bedroom), and

4.  Central mauve on the bathroom wall with a vanity and sink.

More trim and finishing work next week.  And something we've really been waiting for:  Delivery of the wood floor!

Transformation inside and out

Wood floor delivery will wait for next week.  Nonetheless, things are changing rapidly these days, both in the house and the woods.

The track light pictured below, just installed, will illuminate the kitchen countertop that faces the dining room.

The crew was about to put the wall oven in place.  The fabulous painter and radiant floor guys were also busy this a.m.

French doors for the library went up this week, as well.  Cloudy today, so the pic is a bit dark, especially against the library's red walls.

Outside, you can find a delightful change in some of our young birches.  The bark is brown, smooth, and does not peel for a birch's first 10 years or so.  While walking earlier today (again, following moose tracks for a while), I found this yellow birch in transition stage.  The lovely, peeling, golden bark can be seen over the young bark about to go away.

Brake for moose

Before we get to the moose, here are some interior updates.  The first shows the unstained guest room doors.  The great room walls have been painted, as seen in the second picture.  The library can be seen on the left.

On the way back to the apartment, we saw a moose (in plenty of time to stop, fortunately!).  We watched it knell down and take a sip of water from the salty road before turning around and heading into the trees.

A walk before Nemo

Today we're getting more snow, thanks to Winter Storm Nemo.  Southern New England will get much more than us, but Hardwood Hermitage is expected to see about 6 to 10 inches.

Yesterday was cold but clear.  A nice day for another walk! A good part of yesterday's three hour trek took place in what we call "The Jut."  It's a five-acre piece of the property that extends to the east.  It's a very pretty area, with a great variety of trees -- well worth the 4/10ths of a mile walk to get there from the house.

The pictures below showcase some of the great hardwood species found in the Jut.  Temps were in the single digits, but the crisp air was terrific.

On the right of the first picture, you find a young red oak.  From a favored type of trees, quercus rubra is Northern New England's only common oak.  Two huge trees can be seen in the middle, with a cute little paper birch on the left.

Ah, the great yellow birch.  The tree pictured below starts as one trunk on the ground.  After about a foot, three trunks decided to shoot out in various directions.  Wow!

Red maple often gets a bad rap in the forestry world.  It's not as economically valuable as sugar maple, but it's still a great tree.  Winter flowers, uncommon in most trees, can be seen in red maples.  True to the name, the flowers are red.  Excellent red leaves can be expected this fall.

A treasured tree that faces great peril, white ash (fraxinus americana) , pictured below, has some of the neatest bark around.  The diamond-shaped ridges are a wonderful aesthetic feature.  Unfortunately, the emerald ash borer has killed tens of millions of ash trees in the U.S.  No sign of them in our area yet.  Let's keep hoping for cold, snowy winters to keep them at bay!  White ash foliage can be purple in the fall.  A truly amazing sight to behold.

Look for house update photos -- and perhaps a few snowy forest pics -- by the end of the weekend!

Lighting Installation and Cabinet Preview

WOW!!  There has been a tremendous amount of interior progress just since Sunday.  Almost all of the lights are installed, the hearth is tiled and the kitchen cabinets are starting to be installed.

We have this ceiling fan in the bedrooms and dining room to help out on warmer days (no air conditioning since it isn't usually needed up here).

The kitchen cabinets are made of Pecan in a Nutmeg finish.  We have purchased drawer pulls which will be installed in a couple of weeks.

 My favorite lights in the house are these canning jar lights from Conant Metal and Light (www.conantmetalandlight.com) in Burlington VT.  These are vintage canning jars with the bottoms cut off and smoothed.

All lights in the house are either CFL or LED (remember...focus is on Energy Star!!)

The hearth is tiled but not yet grouted.

Paint and tile

We were looking for a strong color for the library, and think we found it with Benjamin Moore's Pottery Red.  This was the first room the painter tackled.  The pic shows part of two walls and some of the white ceiling.

Like the painter, our tile guy has done excellent work.  Although grouting is still in progress, he did wonders with our shower.

Rumor has it that cabinet installation begins tomorrow.

Temps and sun made for a nice forest walk today, but the camera didn't make it into the backpack.

Stilt roots

Tree species with shallow roots, such as the conifers and birches, will often germinate on an old tree stump.  When the new tree starts to grow, the roots will try to get around the stump to find soil.  These interesting trees have what are called stilt roots.  The first pictured here is a conifer, while a stilt rooted paper birch can be seen in the second photograph.  

Here are some bonus photos from today's walk.  A big red oak greets you in the first picture, while the joy of yellow and paper birch are obvious in the second and third.

Sneak peeks at cabinets, tile

On Thursday we got our first look at the kitchen cabinets, which were delivered earlier in the week.  Although still in boxes, they look better than we imagined.  We're sure they'll be wonderful once installed!

They are made of pecan, with a nutmeg finish.

Excellent progress has been made on floor tile installation.  Grout is not done yet, but here's a view of the work in the master bath, looking into the laundry area.

The painter has been quite busy.  Look for updates later this weekend.