Fourteenth Week And The End Is In Sight

Ninety-seven days ago, Lot 62 was a blank canvas of dirt on a high spot at the cul-de-sac end of a street in a quaint residential area just outside of Covington, Louisiana.  It didn't even have an official address, just Lot 62 on a plot plan the developer drew up almost two decades before.

In a few more days, perhaps two weeks, it will be Home.

Not only that, but it will be yet another adventure for us.  And the new adventure will be in a pretty cool small town among a lot of really friendly people who actually love living here.

Meanwhile, I've been photographing the day by day construction in order to document and chronicle Lot 62's becoming a home - our home.

Here are a few photos from Week fourteen.


Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday 

Thursday 

Friday 

Saturday

And you know your neighbors are anxious for you to move in when they start to clean the construction mud from the street...

It was a good week...

Week Thirteen Was Yet Another Exciting Week

Wow!  What a week!

First of all, on Monday they finally formed up to pour the driveway, walkway, uncovered patio (aka New Coop), A/C condensing unit pad, and footings for the brick walls.  Equally important, they did it exactly as I wanted after many hours worrying that they would forget something.  But they did a great job with the forms and finished pouring the last area late Friday.  It turned out perfect.

Monday

Tuesday                                                           Nothing Happened


Wednesday

Thursday 

Friday  

Meanwhile, the power company switched the meter from the Temporary Service Pole to the house.  But the only evidence that we had power was the little red light on the meter.  The electrical contractor still has some lights to install, but I think by Monday we will have lights and fans working where there are lights and fans.

Then there was an on-site accident.  A worker was closing up the garage door at the end of the day and pinched the tips of his fingers when he apparently used the hinged section to pull the door down manually.  Fortunately, there was another worker to lift the door and, hopefully, take the worker to the emergency room.  Although we were not there when it happened, and only learned about it Saturday from neighbors down the street who heard the worker's scream, we dutifully notified the Project Manager.  Clearly, it was painful, and he may have lost some of his fingers, because it did this to the door panel.  We really hope he didn't lose his fingers.  He's a good worker.

Finally, on the 89th day of construction, nothing got done because we prepared for 'Nate," a potential Category II Hurricane that had its sights on hitting New Orleans, then us.  But as luck would have it, most of its fury was reduced and redirected toward Biloxi, reducing our impact to one very brief burst of wind, and maybe a half hour of heavy rain.  We didn't even lose power. 

In spite of the 'interruptions' we expect to be going into next week ready for some serious progress.  

We can't wait.....

Twelth Week - The End is in Sight

A lot more obvious 'finishing touches' stuff happened this week, but only during the first three days.  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were 'nothing happening' days.  Well, except for seeing some neighbors decorating for Halloween, and the delivery of some lumber, drain-pipe and re-bar to prepare the driveway for pouring.  And the appliances were delivered, hopefully for a Monday install.

Yes!  It's time to pour the driveway!  That's a big deal.  And its a big driveway.  But more important, it will finally cover up that nasty looking area in front of the house.

We're not sure if the long sidewalk and uncovered patio slab will be poured at the same time.  If they do, they will have a lot to pour because we're adding a few feet to the size of the uncovered patio (aka outdoor kitchen floor), and adding a sidewalk around the rear of the house.

Ha... by the time we get through pouring concrete, we will have more concrete outside than inside.

And as Martha would say, "That's a good thing."

Not to worry though.  There's plenty of room left for whatever greenery we want to plant, including a tree or two if we can make up our minds as to what kind of trees.  They must be able to grow fast (for obvious reasons) and hopefully, make the landscaping look even nicer.

Meanwhile, the developer of Phase III, has sold the property to a large, nationwide developer and they are already preparing the land next to us for what appears to be some very nice homes.

They will not have the "55 and older" requirement that our subdivision has.  That's a good thing, because our residents like being old LOL.  Well, it's more like we enjoy it without the constant reminder that younger people tend to have children.  And children can become very loud when they get excited with their play.  (Yes, like we all did a half century or more ago)

But the wide buffer line between us and them is a tree-filled area that will eventually be made even thicker with fast growing bushes that will pretty much make them invisible to us, and us to them.

So their sudden appearance after 15 years of inactivity on the site is somewhat of a surprise, but definitely not a game-changer for us.  We love where we are.

Heck, we're even enjoying watching the huge earth-moving equipment re-shape land that was virtually untouched for a million or so years.

Finally, we used the slow days to look around town some more.  And we found what promises to be the best fish market in the area.  And to sweeten the expectations, they also sell Poboy's.  We will likely spend a lot of time and money there.

We also visited the Covington Farmers Market that we had been hearing about ever since we arrived.  It's perfect for us.  Not too large or complicated.  And it's only a few minutes from Lot 62, or as will soon be called, 294 Lourdes Lane.

I took a few photos of the Farmers Market and made a little video.  Here's the link:

Covington Farmers Market

There are only a few photos worth sharing of the house's progress, and a few of Terra Mariae itself, but here they are.


Monday

Tuesday  

Wednesday 

Thursday

Friday