June 18

It has been raining steadily for three days now–mostly a drizzling kind of rain, with much cooler temperatures and a solid gray sky with wisps of darker gray that hang down menacingly. No thunder or lightning so far, though, so I feel like I’m in England…Bella and Niles really want to GO after staying in yesterday, so we head up to the Misty Mountain. I really do not expect to see much progress, but I could not be more wrong!

technical

The doors have arrived. I can’t believe it. I think there are 22 of them. And each one is standing in its appropriate room. Two are already hinged. I am UN-hinged with excitement.

The regular doors are lovely and they look just as I imagined–raw pine that has been sanded and smoothed to perfection. These doors will get the linseed oil treatment at some point. Then they, along with the other wood in the house, will begin the aging process and in a year or two all of the wood will be the same rich honey color.

The salt cedar doors are even cooler than I hoped! The salt cedar twigs are a deeper red color than I expected and I love the contrast between the twigs and the wood. The salt cedar doors are for the closets, the west end of the hallway, and the kitchen. The plan is to make a few of the kitchen cabinet doors salt cedar, too.

The front door and the three other outside-facing doors will all be stained and varnished a special mesquite wood color. I think Steve is going to “distress” them a bit as well. They will make a strong statement, these doors!

In addition to all of this door excitement, I see that the metal lath wrapping is underway. Once the house is completely wrapped, more materials will be layered on the outside walls, and then the stucco will be applied. And then this house will be done on the outside.

personal

It is too muddy to do much hiking today, but we head out for a bit anyway. After a few minutes, I cannot pick up my feet because my hiking shoes are completely covered in mud! I never thought I would need Wellies here in Far West Texas…