Colorful

"Buggs" (because he's got really long bug's legs, I'm told) applying the American Clay plaster finish to a wall in — I think — my bedroom.

The advantages of this product are several:

• Aesthetic -- it gives the walls more depth and earthiness than paint would
• Environmental -- natural, no VOCs
• Comfort -- soaks up humidity (it doesn't "set) and releases it over time.

Permanent Stairway to Work

The temporary staircase to the loft/office is now gone (there's a story there you'll have to ask me about), replaced by the permanent and very cool steel staircase fabricated by the fine local Monroe, WI craftsmen at — er, I forget. I'm sure someone will remind me.

The treads are made from leftover ceiling joist remnants. Like everything else in the house, it's "stout."

"The Meter Must Be Broken"

That's what the meter reader said, when he saw a negative 800 or so kilowatts for this month's consumption, and the panels pumping out 700 watts on a cloudy day. He wants to replace the meter.

Knock yourself out, buddy, it's not going to help. We're coming into peak solar production season, and since the house is still under construction, the electrical load is minimal — a table saw here and there, a compressor once in a while.

Bit by Bit

Barry the Builder has now trimmed out the loft area and the office very nicely, with maple.

Finishing Touches, Part One

Barry the Builder has been in fine woodworking mode, fabricating the wood trim that make the transition from wall to ceiling, in this case, in the office/loft.

As Ted the Architect said, "this thing is built like a watch."

Floor on the Ceiling

First look at the maple ceiling for the section under the loft, looking from the South toward the North closet (straight ahead), stairway up to the office and guest wing terrace, and the kitchen.

Sweetness!

Expensive House on the Prairie

The grass is growing nicely, and it won't be long before it's knee high. The exterior is almost complete, and once we get the very cool steel/wood staircase installed, we'll be able to do a little landscaping outside the curtain wall.

New View

View from the Southeast — I'm still in love with the combination of the galvalume roof, cedar siding, black steel and the concrete.

You can tell that there was a bit of camera shake between the three shots needed to bracket the exposure -- the resulting image is a little fuzzy. Something to work on.

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Saturday was the first sunny day in what seems like weeks, so a good time to visit and shoot some fotos. This is the view from the deck above the guest wing. I went for a more naturalistic, and possibly over-exposed, look this time.

Aluminum, Concrete and Cedar

View from the terrace on top of the guest wing.

In the left foreground is the master bedroom and in the middle, the living/dining room. Note that the MBR is separated from the LR/DR to let me me shut it off from the rest of the house and allow friends to have the run of the place without finding my "etchings." ["joke only", as they say in the Philippines].

I'm diggin' this High Dynamic Range photography stuff...