Not Quite a Standstill

Marc is once again in North Dakota for a couple of weeks but managed enough time at home to get the final details of our home build all in order. The final loan papers are signed and recorded, all the sub-contractors lined up with bids, application for and completion of the building permit, final “final” plans drawn by Blenker. The appraisal came in Wednesday; it’s short by $16,000 but we’ll just have to work with what we have; it will mean Marc needs to do more of the work himself. The market here is still soft and there really weren’t a lot of recent comparable sales, none of which were new construction. The appraiser was comparing our new build to homes up to 20 years old, which provides a very poor comparable! We are somewhat hampered in value by the fact that we are building a two bedroom, one and a half bath home but that’s what we can afford, what will work best for us, and in reality with a full basement of 1230 square feet there’s no reason an additional bedroom or two and a full bath couldn’t be added downstairs. We prefer to keep property taxes as low as possible and have no need for additional bedrooms.

Central Wisconsin has been pretty rainy this past week; Waupaca got over four inches of rain in one day and had localized flooding. We are hoping to break ground next week starting with the basement excavation but it is weather dependent—a big hole filled with water isn’t something we need, even though the soil in our area is very sandy and water absorbs quickly.

I’ve been catching up on dental work, continuing my volunteer work with the shelter, and making my projects. I finally made two fabric bowls and although they are simple to make, there is a definite art to it, which I don’t have control over as yet! The angle the coil is held determines the bowl shape and it must be held the same throughout the process or it throws off the shape. My first bowl came out large and shallow; the second took a tighter turn of its own volition and turned out narrower and much taller!

Even though I had Marc’s help in making my coffee table into an ottoman I was unhappy with the results of the way the covered foam looks and not sure I will keep it as is. It may become just a coffee table after all but to now remove the foam and adhesive will require a lot of sanding!

Our new boy Jerry is settling in and making himself at home, even becoming the lap kitty I wanted. Rocket is still not in the least impressed however and says he wants to move out! They don’t outright fight but Rocket is frequently heard growling and snarling. Jerry’s above it all and doesn’t even react. Munchkin tries to stay out of the middle of it and gets along well with both of them.