Big rocks

Two Moon Brothers rock stacking geniuses have been here 10 hr days, 4 days a week since last Monday.  Last week was cool but was 87 here today, less pleasant for pitching rock and the poor guys are now working in the sun all day.  Last week while working on the back wall the sun didn't hit them until it came over the house about noon.  Last week started muddy but it's all dry now.  They have finished the window well.  It is large and pitched back so lots of light gets into the basement.  The back wall has 2 levels to direct water away from the house.  The front wall is about half height now and is wide open to allow easy access to the basement door.  There are 4 pallets left.  Each wall has 3'-4' of 2A and 2rc rock behind it, covered with landscape fabric and a heavy plastic netting to help keep rocks and soil in place.  There's a 4" diameter perforated pipe connected to our drainage system.

Adrian continues to work on the heat pump and air exchanger.  Dwayne and helper were also wiring in the circuits for the emergency generator.  That generator will handle a few critical circuits (well pump, heat pump, food freezer, and a couple of other electrical outlets for convenience sake).

John, Chris, and Bill have essentially finished with the loft wood trim work and have moved to the main floor and the basement.  Doors are now up in the master bath, master bedroom and the powder room.  In the basement the two windows and the exterior door now have extension jams installed prior to trimming with window and door frames. They found that the upstairs guest bath door had to be "Hobbitized" in the upper right corner or it wouldn't open all the way.  No problem for these problem solving artisans.
We visited Kohlhepps to view stones that would be suitable for our 300 sq ft wall faces in the 2 retaining walls for the basement walkout.  We think we found a suitable type of rock (Bald Eagle Blend) but we are going to check with our landscaper, Tim Mauer with Moon Brothers, to make sure we have selected the right kind of rock.  Otherwise we could have some 24 tons (16 pallets) of the stuff sitting around waiting to be used for some other purpose.
Gambol and Buddy have recuperated from their vacation, although Gambol's voice is still a bit raw and squeaky.  Buddy is slowly getting the hang of "coming around" when he pulls too hard on the leash.  We make him circle back to us, breaking his focus on some distant movement or smell that makes him forget what he's supposed to do on leash walks.  On the early morning walk I can take 3 or 4 steps before I have to stop and have him come around.  In the evening he seems to be able to take a few more.  It's a long process. Both dogs have a great "tricks for treats" routine with Paul in the evening.  First Buddy shakes, paw, high five right then left, touch nose to hand and ends with a short crawl.  Then Gambol does the same thing but ends with a roll-over then a crawl.
Buddy can learn:  he automatically goes to his kennel when we sit down to eat.  He goes to bed on command, especially useful when we get up in the middle of the night.  He comes back inside on his own when he gets too nervous about the view of the chickens from the deck, a huge improvement.  He know how to "upstairs, all the way" when we want to sneak outside without him.  He certainly knows which side of Paul's computer chair to sit on to get a piece of breakfast bagel.  He knows the sound of the refrigerator opening.  He also tolerates getting his nails trimmed although he doesn't like brushing much.  His learning is just better done inside.

Trenching and PVC pipe has been installed. Good thing that Tim Mauer was able to stop by and get the trench moved over. As it turned out, the French drain going around the foundation is right at the basement door and there is now an elbow to connect that drain to the gutter outflow. Yesterday's trench would not have reached down low enough to get to the French drain. Whew!

 First they dig a hole, then they cover it up.

Gutter piping finished.  Water well hook up and electrical to the pump all re-hosted in the new house.

 More window and some door trim going up.  Tile up behind the wood stove.  Seat set in the shower.

Doug, Chris, and Cody finished off the left dormer, so now the entire front of the house has siding.  Cody also applied the concrete treatment to the front and rear of the house this week, so all that is left is the left wall.
Chris applied flashing to the bottom of the left wall so that it is ready for the first course of siding on Monday
Jason is virtually finished with the loft side walls and he has started in on the master bedroom..

Toby and Cameron were at work in the shed and the warm weather helped dry the finish quickly so they got some of the interior doors finished today.

Scott, Jesse, and Julian have all the tile work in the entryways completed. They also installed the fiber board underlayment for the hearth.  Jesse applied grout to the upstairs bathroom. 
Tim Mauer stopped by to estimate the volume of dirt that will be needed once the initial grading is finished (that will be after the water line and gutter downspout lines are excavated, installed, and covered back up.
At the end of the day I got a call from John Zook at Glicks Custom Kitchens asking how we liked the cabinets.  I told him we were very pleased with all of the cabinets and island.  Also we were pleased with the installers, Dave and young Dave.  I explained we were a few weeks away from getting the granite tops installed, so John said to call when we are ready and they will be out to finish off the cabinets (toe kicks, and any adjustments needed.
Vigilant Security will be out to run lines from the garage to the house on May 10, Kohlhepps will be out to measure the countertops on May 11.

Landscape architect

We met with Tim Maurer from Moon Brothers Landscaping this afternoon and he is all set to do up a landscape design. He will probably revisit our site to take some measurements next week although we sent him home with lots of maps and a drawing that Michael did.
One design item that Tim suggested was to move the basement exit from the back of the left side wall to the front of the left side wall--this would help in the development of the swale to move the water from the back of the house out to daylight and would make it easier to keep the water away from the house. It may cut down the requirement to build a concrete head wall to protect the entry. Also with the natural slope of the site, moving it towards the front of the house would give us an additional drop so the steps up from the basement level would be less than with the basement exit at the rear of the side wall. He talked about a swale on the top of the back hill in the forest a bit to help move water away from the house before it even gets close.
He understood my request for PA natives while allowing daffodils for Mom Kitty and Lilies of the Valley for Mom Mac and some lavender for us. He'll use some of the local fieldstone but help us with a flagstone patio in front of the greatroom.
We liked Tim's approach and it looks like we will be able to work with him on our plan.