Night shots

Here are a few of the same shots taken at twilight with the lights on.  The Christmas tree is still up on the Evita Porch and the ice-cycle lights are on the step railing.

Finished house outside

Here are a few pictures of the exterior of the house during the daytime.  These are all looking toward the front of the house.  It's hard to get a picture of the back, and there's not much to see back there anyway.

This is the front door.

The front porch from the west side.
The front of the house standing at the bottom of the steps (garage level).  You can see that we've planted camellias in the big bed just below the steps.
The front of the house from the street.

Fence and side yard

This is the new fence going in.  This will enclose the back yard for the dogs.

This is a funny shot that won't mean much, but I was trying to get a picture of the side yard at night after we spread the pine straw that you can see in the next picture.  The fog was rolling in, and with the flash that's about all you can see.




Here's that same view taken without the flash.  This is the yard that's on the east side of the house.  We had a couple of guys here today working to clean it up, and it looks so much better!  The fence to the right is the new privacy fence between us and our neighbors to the east.  The fence in the back is the shorter one going across the back yard.  It's done in what they call a shadowbox style to match the style of the house.  Our fountain will go into this part of the yard as well as a concrete table and benches.  The grill will live out here, too, and once we get it bricked (the next phase) it will be a sort of outdoor kitchen.
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A night shot of the steps leading up to the house with lights on the railing.  That concrete bench will stay there for visitors to rest at the top of the stairs.

This is the front of the house with more pine straw.  We're having to cover everything with it at this stage just to try to keep down the mud and sand being tracked into the house.  It also looks a lot better than just plain dirt.

Christmas is here, and we've decorated the upstairs balcony as well as the stairway up to the house.  Here's the tree on the balcony taken from below.

Here it is from the balcony.


A night shot of the house with Christmas lights.

Kitchen

Here are a few shots of the mostly finished kitchen.  This one just shows the lower cabinets with the white sink on the right.  The cooktop is straight ahead just above the four drawers.  The main reason I took this one was to show the new handles for the drawers and doors.  They were installed just this past Saturday, and we've been so excited to have a good way to open things that we had to go around and pull on every one of them.  Multiple times!  Up until this point we had to claw at the edges of any drawer or door that we wanted to open.

Another view, this time more from the dining area.  The cooktop in the previous picture is now just under the microwave.

Just look at those handles!!  I don't know when I've liked anything more.  These cabinets -- and new handles -- are not only in the kitchen, but also in the lounge upstairs as well as in the master bathroom.
Another view from the dining area.  Notice the three hanging bar lights which are also new.  The door to the right leads out onto the east porch where we'll have an outdoor table and chairs.  You can see Matt's dog house through the glass in the door.

One small area of the front porch that's set up for sitting.  The front door is just to the right.  The blue chair to the left will not stay there.  The croton is from Pop's funeral, and I'm struggling to keep it alive.



The living area.  The furniture is mostly in place where it will stay.  Front door is to the left.



The dining area taken from the living room area.  Kitchen is to the left.  Rug in the foreground won't stay there, and artwork will go on the walls.  We still haven't decided about what kind of window coverings we'll use.  I want shutters, but they may be too expensive for now.

Moving in

Moving day finally arrived on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 after almost exactly 4 years and 2 months after Hurricane Ivan destroyed the original house at 926 E. Avery St. in Pensacola.  Here is the van making its way up the driveway to unload.  We were afraid that it might not make it all the way up the hill and the heavy items would then have to be carried up, but it made it and they were able to unload directly onto the west porch.

The living room with just a couple of items in place.  The washing machine is sitting in the doorway to the bedroom and laundry room waiting for a new "pigtail" to connect it to the electrical outlet.

The living room later in the day.


Kitchen.  What a mess!


Dining room (other end of the living room) later that evening.  Where will all this stuff go?

Lights!!

I just happened to be at the house this afternoon when the Gulf Power truck pulled up and the technician said he was there to hook up the lights!!  Woohoo!!  He said he was about to build a house himself, so I gave him the downstairs tour.  He "oohed and ahhed" appropriately over everything.  I had to leave to go to two handbell rehearsals and a choir rehearsal, so afterwards Joe and I met over there and got to switch everything on for the first time.  This is a picture taken from the street with all the lights blazing!

Here's another one taken in a different way that shows some of the color.

The porch with lights a-blazing and fans a-whirring.



The kitchen.  Refrigerator will go in the empty spot to the left in the picture.






The master bath walk-in shower.  It's in kind of a dark corner, so this is the first time we've really been able to see the tile.  The Gulf Power guy went crazy over this!