Harvest, home

Ate a strawberry today! They are predicting a hard freeze if the clouds clear, or frost if they stick around. So I picked ripening tomatoes, ripe cherry tomatoes, and volunteer lettuce -- I knew it was a good idea to let them go to seed. And there was one lovely, almost fully ripe strawberry. Yum.

Meanwhile, the house proceeds apace. Yesterday the vents went in for AIR CONDITIONING. Also the siding was delivered, to be installed Monday. Insulation Tues or Wed, fireplace by the end of the week, I believe, and drywall soon -- maybe next week? I showed Eric the color I was thinking of for the front door, and he suggested that I upgrade from steel to wood-grain fiberglass, which won't show dents so readily, at an extra $100. I said okay.

I took a vacation day; Lori Winder came out and inspected the place, then we went to Sutliff for lunch. She is really nice. She got to meet Eric in person, as he had come out to clean. She liked him, and said later that I looked really happy. She also mentioned, in this context, that she is often asked for recommendations. I can't praise him enough, and do so even when talking to people who can't send him much work!

Eric is very proud/pleased, both for me and for himself, I think. He said today, admiringly, that the siding would last for 30 years, the roof that long, the geo of course -- everything is no-maintenance. He sat on the ledge before the fireplace and said that he was going to borrow my idea (for the ledge) for his own future house. He really is fun. I can't wait to meet his wife and kids, and his parents -- I hope they will all come to the open house, if not sooner. Since I can't really imagine yet when the open house will be, if I am to paint and furnish.

The electricians worked Monday through Wednesday. I haven't been keeping up on this as I had intended, because I am exhausted. It is very difficult to sleep on that ancient saggy mattress, in a room with the wrong solar orientation (which I need to get used to), and with the alarm clock in another room down the hall. But there are no outlets in this room, and using the outlet in the hall would expose the alarm clock cord to rainfall. Only about 6 more weeks...