9.2 lbs, 22 inches long - 10-11-08
Lucas Richard Petersheim has arrived. Bare assed and happy, his big feet didn't even fit onto the footprint certification (you know what they say about big feet!).
Right after birth...
From the baby room to Lisa's 'suite'.
His first road trip.
Crazy Ruby in the baby thing.
And with his official Catskill Farms onesy.
Houses We Build
The Cottage at Highland Farms. Big Windows.
Double barn doors in the office.
Very cool black tile with white for the fireplace.
Since I am going to be out of commission for a few days or so while we bring a little baby boy into this cruel and confused world, I thought I'd do a post so you all don't forget about me.
I love this house - Cottage 7 - and the more it sits there aging gracefully, the better it looks to me. Grass growing in, red door, leaves falling on the walkways and drives.
And here is Cottage 15, now that we slapped on the green tone ('thicket') paint. On the inside we are just finishing the sheetrock.
And here's the roof installation of Cottage 13. That will be finished today. Dean the owner plans a trip for this weekend to check it out.
And a nice autumn picture of Bella Drive. Amazingly, this project was only getting started last year, and now the four houses are complete, and the owners moved in.
And Cottage 9, the next house on the schedule to close. Hopefully by Thanksgiving. Painting inside and out, and the floor staining begins next week.
Cottage 14 is moving right along, with the blue roof, windows in, electric and plumbing done and the insulation starting today.
Interior is lofty and open.
This cathedral space is the kitchen, which should make for some heavenly dinners.
Baloney
I say baloney. I say that the finanical panic and crash has very little to do with real life. I say all the headlines, media, gov't officials and the like scaring the bejesus out of us are mostly wrong, and all us normal people not dealing in commerical paper, financial ponzi schemes, get rich schemes, and short term bonus' for longterm disaster schemes are actually not too bad off. This past week I borrowed a bunch of money from my bank to continue building the 6 homes we have in contract, looked into buying a new truck ($7500 off sticker, with incentives) and received a credit line increase from Bank of America. Banks are lending, don't be fooled. Just the rules have changed - you got be qualified, you got to have good credit, and a steady job doesn't hurt. What I haven't seen is a denial of credit, a reduction of my line of credit, non-existent auto loans, etc... Forbes has an article out stating more bank to consumer lending occurred in Sept '08 than Sept '07. So what gives - the statistics don't even show we are in a recession. We definitely live in the era of hysteria and catastrophe. It's what sells, it's the new 'sex' (playing off the old adage that sex sells). Hysteria and catastrophe is the quickest way to the bank for many industries. So what does this mean to me, and my customers - I'm smart, and they are smart, and with our team of good attorneys, good banks, houses full of value, adequate comps, and well-qualified homeowners - I only have one thing to say to all the end of worlders - Eat my shorts. Life goes on. And if you got the dough, its a great time to buy something, or build something, because all the cocky salespeople and customer service reps are working harder than ever to make sure your process and purchase is satisfactory, and to anyone who has consumed or purchased anything over the past 24 months, it's a great change. The world has righted itself -
Early Morning In October
It's October and last night Lisa and turned on the heat for the first time this year - in fact, it's the first the heating system has been turned on, period, since it's a new system. And boy were we warm. The house heated up quick, and most impressively, stayed warm without the boiler circling back on every 5 minutes. That's impressive for a 140 yr old lady with single pane windows. We done good. Our construction show is ongoing, all the time, and today - Saturday - is no exception. Roofs, painting, siding, trim carpentry, porch building. I actually had to reprogram the default setting on my construction software so it included Saturday's without asking - since for the most part, we are always working on the weekends. Charcoal black roof going on at Farmhouse #10. Black trim, white siding, black roof will really set this house apart. Everyone loves this design. It's truly quintessential and a big hit.
As I mentioned and posted previously, we are building a barn with this house. And for those dedicated followers, it will be clear this barn did not exist 4 days ago. It's going to be completely conditioned - electric, heat, etc...- and will serve as a little music studio. it's also going to be green as can be - with radiant heat, solar panels, sun-heated hot water and heat water, maybe some engineered flooring, etc...
Barn and House.
House with big back porch and walkout basement.
House and barn glaring in the morning sun. Those twisty black walnut trees are unusual and pretty cool.
