We worked so hard last week to finish the front of the house.

Tracy put up the siding on the gable on Thursday and I cut soffit for him on Friday and he was able to get that done Friday morning. Then Friday evening he and I stained the front of the garage. I think you can barely make out the walk board still up in front of the garage.
I know what I don't want to do for a living-that walk board is scary when you get up high.
Needless to say we worked fast at the top.

The trees are just starting to change color in these pictures and there is no real way to capture the beauty of our woods. It is a glorious to walk back through them now with all the colorful trees and the leaves that are starting to fall.

The road in front of our house at sunset. There is a red barn to the right of this picture and horses in the field bound by the white fence.

Our sunroom and back gable of the garage still need siding and trim but we are so happy that we have accomplished so much.
The back of the house and the side of the house with the sun room still need to be stained but we will get to it eventually. The house was already stained so it is not a really big deal if it takes a while to get it done-we just have to live in a house of two different colors.

But that is the least of our worries.

The drywall guys should be finished this week or early next week (we hope). They came today and put the first coat of 'mud' on the walls. There are two more coats to come and then sanding.
So, I may be optimistic if I think they will be finished by the beginning of next week.
Then the painting of the interior walls will begin.
We are motivated though and that will be the fun part since we have spent weeks choosing colors for our new rooms.

And, of course, buying lights and choosing carpet is always fun.

The new gas stove Tracy installed a couple of weeks ago.
We love it and it heats the entire great room, kitchen and loft.
We decided against a wood burning stove or fireplace since the girls and I have allergies.

The view from the front porch one afternoon last week.

Those trees that are in the sunlight in this picture are starting to change color right now and it is so much fun to watch the view change from day to day.
The reds and oranges are beautiful this year.
We have four little maple trees along the road that we planted the first year we built the cabin. Two of them have grown a lot but the other two have lagged behind. A couple of years ago they both looked like they were dead or dying but we left them and they have come back and are healthy this year.
They are all orange right now.

I really didn't realize how much I had missed being here in Virginia in the fall. And being able to be near so many things that are alive has been wonderful. Things grow so well here. Tracy had a couple of tomato plants sprout up just from some tomatoes that were thrown out. They just popped up and thrived with no help or care. They even produced fruit!
We have put out 'critter' food and put bird seed in our feeder. There are so many different birds and lots of cute chipmunks, grey squirrels, fox squirrels and even a southern flying squirrel. We haven't seen any deer for a couple of weeks but wild turkey have been spotted and yesterday morning I heard them at about 5 a.m.

I just can't help feeling so close to the Lord, so at peace, and so content here.
Even though there is so much to do.
It gives me joy.

God made the country and man made the town. William Cowper


Edited to add-the pictures for this blog did not load and I just don't want to fix it all so the pictures are in a separate blog.