I went with my parents to the cabin yesterday. I had to drop off a light fixture Lowe's in Fort Payne didn't have and a bathroom sink that was sent to me instead of to the builder. Several things have been done this week -- toilets and some light fixtures installed, some baseboards and other interior woodwork, the front door is up -- but at this point, the things that aren't done are more obvious.

The house has to be finished by Friday in order to meet the extended closing date of March 31. I don't see it happening. Here's what still has to be done: Installation of a permanent power line, to be buried under the driveway, which currently looks like a small pond; a generator and propane tank installed; cleanup of site and final grading; remaining exterior and interior staining and painting; kitchen counters and sink/faucet installation in kitchen and baths; two sets of French doors; rock surround on fireplace; testing of the water pump (which can't be done without permanent power); septic tank hookup; hot tub installation; another door and window in the basement; remaining light fixtures installed; front stairs built; railings and screen for side porch; wood flooring on stairs; transom windows in the living room; and probably more things I'm not thinking of now.

Randy says it can be done. I'm sure it could -- with a small army Scott doesn't have.

Here are the pictures I took -- bad quality, I know, because I forgot my camera (but ironically remembered batteries for it) and had to use my phone:

I found this Craftsman-style door at Southern Accents, an architectural salvage store in Cullman.

This porcelain kitchen sink came out of a house built around 1910 or 1920, according to the girl who sold it to me at the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Northport.

Light fixture that will hang over the kitchen table



Downstairs bathroom light fixure

Stairway light

Toilet in master bath

The showerhead and rod were installed in the master bath.

Master bath vanity and light

Master bath light

We went to Fort Payne this weekend to pick out appliances for the kitchen. I think we got a pretty good deal at Gary's Warehouse: Frigidaire-brand microwave, range, dishwasher and refrigerator for around $2,100. The finish is called "stainless look." Gary was going to put together a scratch-and-dent package (dents are usually on the side, where you don't see them, or so minor they're not noticeable) of real stainless-steel appliances for about the same price, but they showed fingerprints so easily I decided against it. I don't want the appliances to be high maintenance while we're renting the cabin. I decided not to go with antique appliances for the same reason, although I think that would be nice at some point.

The kitchen cabinets have been set and so has one of the claw-foot tubs. I picked out lighting fixtures last week, and those should be in sometime soon.

The cabinets are painted a greenish-blue

(They were supposed to be more of an olive green,

but oh well. They still look nice) and have

a distressed finish.

You can't really tell in this picture, but the drawer pulls look antique.

The doors on the left lead to a pantry and downstairs.

The plumbing lines have been installed for this tub in the master bath.

Living room; the window on the left goes into the upstairs bedroom.

Flooring in the living room. We went with 3/4-inch

heart pine flooring from Lumber Liquidators

throughout the house. I wanted to use salvaged

wood flooring, but the cheapest I could find it was

$7 per square foot, which was way out of budget.

The fireplace surround will have a stone facing.

View out upstairs french doors.

These doors were installed last week.

Randy went to the cabin and took some pictures Wednesday after flying into Birmingham from a business trip. Most of the interior walls had been stained, several interior doors were installed and two exterior doors were up. Scott said he's going to install the flooring and hvac units next week.

Framing for the screened side porch; it's not going

to look as nice, but I've asked Scott to put rails on

the lower portion because the porch is so high. I'm

afraid a kid could fall through the screen.

The fireplace will have a stone veneer.

Living room ceiling

Hall between living room and downstairs bedroom

Stairs to master suite

Master bedroom balcony

Stairs to the basement

This area by the front door will house built-in bookshelves.

Coat closet door

You can see the difference in the stained and unstained paneling here.

An installed interior door

Interior walls

A lot of work was done on the cabin last week. Randy and I went up there Thursday to meet with Scott and the cabinet builder. About 10 people were working in the house; it looked like he'd raided a high school to find workers. I had a hard time finding a place to stand so I wouldn't be in the way while I waited on Scott.

When Randy went back Friday and took pictures, the wood paneling was in place in both bedrooms and most of the living room. All the sheetrock was installed in the kitchen -- the only room with sheetrock walls.

Randy and I didn't know until we got there that there was snow on Lookout Mountain Thursday. The tree branches were coated in ice, and snow was on roofs and in patches on the ground. The ground had been covered, but the snow was melting by the time we got there at 10:30.

Between checking on the house and transporting the claw-foot tubs, which we'd been storing at my parents' house, Randy managed a trip to the George Dickel Distillery near Tullahoma, Tenn. Tours of the distillery, which is less than a two-hour drive from the cabin, are free.

The completion date for the cabin is now March 1 instead of Jan. 30. Randy and I met with Scott and some people from the bank the week before last to discuss options since the house wasn't going to be finished by the original deadline. We're going to have to convert to another loan type, which is going to be a pain. Scott brought a schedule showing what he was going to do each week and so far he's following it. We were worried he wouldn't be able to finish the house, and we knew we couldn't get anyone else to finish it for the amount of money left out, so that's a relief.

Randy brought up the claw-foot tubs so Scott can

figure out where the plumbing lines need to go.

The back of the house; workers framed the windows this week.

The master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling. Ron (left), Scott's brother, leads the construction crew.

A worker cutting paneling in the living room.

View out kitchen windows

Sheetrock completed in kitchen

Even though the chimney isn't enclosed, the workers have been building fires in the fireplace to keep warm. I don't blame them.

The interior doors are supposed to be installed next week.

Randy's sister, Sonja, and his brother-in-law, Eddie, went with him to the George Dickel Distillery.

Windows installed

Not much has happened with the cabin since Thanksgiving. Most of the windows and some insulation were installed last week. The flooring and interior walls should be going in soon. The house is supposed to be finished by Jan. 31.

Front door and dormer

Kitchen

I've been working on getting things ready for the inside of the cabin. Since we can't afford to buy all new furniture or expensive antiques I've been buying things at thrift stores and yard sales and refinishing some of them. I'm giving everything a distressed finish to go with the old look of the cabin. My grandmother is making quilts for the two twin beds that will be in the downstairs bedroom. That will be the kids' bedroom when we're there, so I'm going with a primary color theme since it works for a boy or girl.

My grandmother is making quilts like these from

Pottery Barn.

I painted the yellow antique desk and toy box

to go in the kids' room. The blue desk was

given to us awhile back. I had meant to refinish

it, but I'm glad I didn't since it matches

the quilts.

I bought this nightstand at a yard sale.



Here's the nightstand after I painted it,

distressed the finish and changed

the drawer pulls.

I had to make an emergency trip to the cabin yesterday to check out the siding color. Randy said he was getting "bad vibes" about it from the builder. He was on a business trip and kept calling me, wanting me to mourn the house with him. We'd killed the cabin by staining it, he said.

I was worried, too. Scott said the color looked silvery gray -- not good seeing how the roof is silver. Scott had brushed some stain on a board for us to look at before putting it on the house, but I figured tinted stain could be like paint, never turning out exactly the shade you thought it would be. And what if it were too opaque and the wood grain didn't show through? What if it looked like we'd painted the house silver?

Still, it was done. So I didn't see the sense in panicking. If it looked horrible, it just did. There was nothing we could do about it. But I was curious, so I went, even though we hadn't planned to go this weekend. I asked Randy to stay home with the kids so they wouldn't be in the car all day -- again -- and because having them in the house without railings on the porches is nerve-wracking.

Mom and Dad went with me. I think Mom was worried I'd fall on the stairs; they've just been built and some are boards only a few inches wide. If you fall through, you fall all the way to the concrete floor in the basement.

I like the siding color. When the whole house is done, I think it will look weathered. Scott said he wanted us to look at it before he stained the porches. That was another comment that worried us. I think the railings and posts definitely need to be the same color. If they're not, it won't look like the wood naturally weathered. Here are more photos:

I think there's enough contrast between

the house color and roof color.

Some of the railings were built this week.

View from the master bedroom balcony

This is lattice for plants to grow on. I didn't know

it was in the plans and am not sure it looks cabin-like,

but Mom and Dad and Randy like it, so maybe it's OK.