Flying Dogs and More Framing

I barely have time to upload some photos, but I know what you guys are here for: to see the progress of the house! It’s coming along, as you can see.

Funny story: This morning I stopped by the house on my way to the gym (Gym Time =’s Stress Management). To my delight, the crew was standing on the decking for the second floor of our home at 7:20am, starting to frame the second story walls. Also on the second floor with them was one of the guy’s dog (a bulldog of some kind).

The contractor came down and we were standing over a saw-horse and plywood table discussing how to move the east bedroom closet ablove the stairs in order to save space in the bedroom, when we heard the dog moving rapidly on the second floor plywood flooring. Now our house isn’t big; a 750 square foot footprint at the most. And the dog was hustling. And the then we heard it start to skid. My eyes god big and I glanced out the hole in the framing that will be the window above the sink, fully expecting to see the dog flying off of the second floor, across the back yard and into the barbed wire fence! Thankfully, the dog understands his stopping distance, more than I gave him credit for!

But it reminded me of how fun it is to play “chase” with a puppy on hardwood floors. They get all excited and floppy eared and run after you… and then you stop or suddenly change directions and they go sliding by.

“I’m gonna hit the brakes and he’ll fly right by.” “You’re gonna do WHAT.” Man who doesn’t like to end their day with a Top Gun reference. I wonder if DJ would let me name our golden retriever “Maverick”? He he he, golden retriever puppies and our wood floors!

Ok, on to pictures of the house!

The front of the house! It will be two stories, obviously, but we're going with a concrete front porch. The front porch faces south, and I was afraid that a wood porch would get absolutley decimated by the exposure.
The driveway is on the side to the right (east). The garage floor was poured on Wednesday, and I'm sure they'll frame it up soon. The garage is detached.
Looking at the house from the west towards the east. The house to the left (west) of us will be as close as 10 feet, so the window openings in this elevation of the building are high, and used only to let light in and for ventilation. The trick? They're 5'6" off the ground. The top of my head is 5'5" off the ground, so I totally can't see out of them. The contractor offered to lower them, but I'm not sure... thoughts?

Walking in the front door and looking to your left. First the living room, then the dining room (the long window hole is centered in the dining room), then the kitchen where the sawhorse table is.

A more direct view through the house. Unfortunately, the garage will block most of the 1st floor's view of the Bridger Mountain Range. We're only 2 weeks in and I have regrets about that. My only comfort is that the master bedroom is right above the kitchen, and will have kick ass views of the Bridgers!

Back in the living room looking at the area that will be the gas fireplace. It'll be centered on the wall between two windows I can't see out of.

Looking south from the kitchen towards the dining room and living room. The window opening on the left side is super-oversize. We'll get some awesome light into the kitchen in the morning!

So if you'd walked in our front door, you'd be immediatley facing the back door, which will go out to an east-facing side porch and the driveway area and garage. See the column footers in the dirt? Looking south over the garage foundation at the back of the house. The square window opening on the wall is above the kitchen sink, and I'm wondering if I should make it taller... the ceilings in this house are 9', so the cabinets will be a bit taller too... decisions decisions.

This morning at 7:45am.