tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56430009831986890262024-02-07T06:43:04.565-06:00City Mouse Marries Country MouseThese are the adventures of Gretchen (City Mouse) and Steve (Country Mouse) as they travel the road of life together. Gretchen grew up in the city and Steve grew up in the country. Together, they are building the house of their dreams ... in rural Minnesota.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-35792623894123378572016-01-27T15:06:00.002-06:002016-01-27T15:07:29.393-06:00Whoa! Lots to catch up on!Friends! I'm sorry it's been so long. Over two months, to be exact. The holidays took over our lives and this year was especially crazy with Steve being at the house almost every night and weekend. And, the busiest three weeks of the year at work for me are in December. Oh, and between the four of us, we had pink-eye, a double ear infection, a tooth infection and a terrible cold. Let's just say Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-70078311307174716002015-11-07T22:54:00.001-06:002015-11-07T22:54:17.121-06:00The "Shed"
Last Fall, we intended to put up a large "shed" before winter, so we could start to move some things out to the property. You know, country living kind of stuff: tractor, bush hog, a mower (or two), reclaimed lumber, etc., etc. However, due to building permit regulations, we pretty much had to do the "shed" and the house at the same time. (There are time limitations to constructing a building Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-76421449680687102562015-11-04T22:41:00.000-06:002015-11-04T22:41:16.681-06:00Pieces of the puzzleLOTS has happened since my last post, almost a month ago. It's amazing how fast this house is going up. The weather has been on our side, and these 60 degree days in November are truly a gift. All of the pieces are coming together and the reality of moving into this house sinks in a little more each day. I'm not going to write too much in the intro, because I have a ton of pictures to share and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-76191049526987464382015-10-08T15:44:00.002-05:002015-10-08T15:44:49.116-05:00It looks like a house!I have been meaning to post for about the past 10 days, but things have been SO busy for us at work, home and with the kids. We are like ships passing in the night (or day, for that matter). We high-five each other as one is coming home and the other is leaving, usually to go and take care of something for the house -- where the list of "to-dos" is never-ending. But, I am not complaining. For Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-25727418590477723682015-09-26T22:52:00.003-05:002015-09-26T22:52:38.048-05:00Framing: Video Walk-through
The framers have been working on the house all week. I haven't been out to the property for five days. The last time I saw it, they were just starting the basement. I thought it would be fun to videotape my reaction to the progress and my first walk through what is there.
The video is about five minutes long. Enjoy!
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-58216697948958852732015-09-21T16:55:00.000-05:002015-09-21T16:56:00.370-05:00Backfill, geothermal and framingThere is a lot happening out at the house site. In my last post, the cement walls for the basement were poured. Since then, the cement forms have been removed, backfill has been put in, the tubing for the geothermal was laid, radon rock was spread in the basement, the cement walls have been waterproofed and drain tile was installed.
We were told that the framing would start on Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-56638038208218652592015-09-09T20:01:00.003-05:002015-09-09T20:04:03.179-05:00Brace yourself. We have foundation walls!
While many of you were at your cabins or the State Fair over the weekend, the cement guys were out at our property Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Labor Day), sweating their a$$es off, preparing the forms for the poured cement foundation. Remember Saturday and Sunday? Hot. Humid. Really humid. If I ever say I'm tired from work, or that I worked really hard, slap me. These guys WORKED. HARD. Wow.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-60628556599820598692015-09-04T19:00:00.000-05:002015-09-04T19:52:10.348-05:00So, what's this thing gonna look like?Many of you have asked for a picture of what the house will look like when it's complete. Below is the architect's drawing of the house (Bruce Eason, New South Classics). We purchased plans for the house you see below and subsequently made many alterations to get to the house we are now building, including expanding the kitchen, enlarging the upstairs bathroom and removal of the 3-season porch Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-49499989302125806422015-09-03T22:06:00.001-05:002015-09-03T22:06:35.124-05:00Fancy Footwork
Today, it was mostly sunny and the temps topped out at 84 degrees with 78% humidity. As our local weather forecasters like to say, it was "oppressive." To beat the heat, the girls and I went swimming. We had to get one last outside swim in before school starts next week. I feel bad for the people working outside today, BUT it is better than January! And, you can't dig a hole when it's -40.
TheAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-37740231971535008322015-09-02T10:44:00.001-05:002015-09-02T10:44:35.165-05:00There's a hole!Monday was a super exciting day for us. The excavators came and started digging our foundation. Our soil is super sandy, so the excavator was able to work pretty quickly. Luckily, there weren't any surprises down there, other than confirming what we already suspected: very little topsoil. So we'll probably have to bring in some dirt for certain areas of the "yard."
Today is Wednesday, and last Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643000983198689026.post-67722015630918069062015-08-29T20:55:00.000-05:002015-09-03T20:15:15.647-05:00City Mouse Starts a BlogHi, and welcome to my new blog, City Mouse Marries Country Mouse!
Almost everyone who knows me has heard me joke about how my husband, Steve, and I are like City Mouse and Country Mouse. I grew up in the city of Milwaukee, and he grew up about 30 minutes north of Minneapolis, in what used to be considered "country." (Now, I guess some would say it's a suburb.) I grew up with literally Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15256661595852468391noreply@blogger.com0