Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Friday, March 09, 2007


At 4 PM today we finally got the OK from the county to have our coveted Occupancy Certificate in hand stating that we could finally move into our newly constructed home. This was the date our builder told us to plan on about four weeks ago. Of course, anything could have happened to postpone the date, but he jumped through many hoops to get it approved today, bless him! So first thing Saturday morning, we will be taking our short U-Haul move across town for the last time! Our driveway was/is ice and snow free so our PODS units were delivered without a hitch! Just last week we had quite a bit of snow accumulated that just finished melting within the past few days. Next week hopefully I can be back with an official home tour. Thanks for all the support, encouragement, and prayers for a successful move.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007





Down to the wire. Busy bees are we. (WE as in ME!) Tomorrow I'll give dh a load of stuff to take care of when he arrives around noon. Here are a few recent pictures.


Photos: Newly installed banister, foyer, and a shot showing the foyer on the right and the kitchen on the left from great room. Shot taken from back entrance to kitchen (with stove still out of place) looking into the green dining room.

Thursday, March 01, 2007



Dh arrives a week from today! The new home is busy with workers til the late hours of the day. Last night I thought I'd take a little drive out there about 9:30 PM ... in my bright blue robe and jammies to walk around without all the workers in the way ... what do I find??? but workers still working! Needless to say I turned around and drove back to my rental home (hee, hee). This week my clawfoot tub got installed (still waiting to get the plumbing hooked up) ... all of the lights are working now, and more of the interior trim work got painted. Today the front steps were built leading up to the covered porch. Over the weekend a cleaning lady will begin the first phase of the clean up. She'll come back once again right before we move in. The carpet will be the last thing to get installed.

Photos: bonus/guest room above garage, foyer with new lights installed