Window sills; ceilings and walls; shower bases; fixtures on the way. Much to do yet, so shares very much needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

That is the new sill of our kitchen window. They began casing in earnest today, and have sills on most of the living room/dining area windows, too. The southeast and east windows in the living room have very small sills, because they'll be behind bancos (traditional adobe window seats), but the others will be larger, like this one. They also got the ground installed, copper wire and all.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

This is what the upstairs ceilings look like, a texturing technique known as Spanish Drag. It gives the ceilings the appearance of depth, but without adding a bunch of thick plaster to them.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

And this is what it looks like on the walls — a technique called Light Broquette. This is Wings's preferred texture; I'm partial to the Spanish Drag. This was our way of making each other happy. 

Of course, it's all going to be painted over. This is just the sheetrock finish that evens everything out. You can see the taping Ice and his guys did beneath the texturing, which is how they cover the seams between drywall sheets and the nails that are holding them in place. They say they'll be done tomorrow. I'll be doing the painting myself, probably next week or the week after, if things go as projected.

And this:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

And this:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Are the downstairs and upstairs shower bases, respectively. We had originally planned just to buy shower bases outright, but knew we needed to get decent-quality ones; the temperature extremes here affect indoor fixtures, as well. When we went to order them, the guy at Lowe's suggested that, with new construction, the far better method was to have them built out of concrete and vinyl, which essentially means virtually no risk of fracture, ever. I don't know whether their compensation includes commission, but basically, he helped us at the expense of two sales he could've just let go through; instead, he was honest with us (and made a hell of a sale at the end of the day anyway on all the other fixtures). So we asked around, and found out that, yes, he was right, and that is indeed the preferred method, and more cost-effective, too. We found a guy the crew trusts, and he showed up with his own helpers today. We're getting the bases built for less than what it would've cost to buy decent prebuilt ones, and these will be far better quality. That's supposed to be finished tomorrow, too.

But there's so far to go.

Neither of us can afford to dwell on that aspect for too long; we spend parts of each day completely overwhelmed as it is. The information overload is almost too much to take (to say nothing of the cost overload, although we had to kind of expect). And then, if everything comes off as promised, the bathroom fixtures and part of the tile will be delivered sometime Thursday morning. Yes, as in day after tomorrow. It had gotten screwed up, of course, not that we knew that, but they called Wings today to schedule it, and I called them back just to verify that they had everything. They didn't, but they do now, as far as they and we can tell.

But as always, we still need shares, because there is that whole "so far to go" thing:

• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally (some of the lumber and a badly-needed saw were bought today). The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool.

Still, before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

I'm not sleeping much these days, and I still can't seem to get any time to myself to get caught up. But I need to repeat here how profoundly grateful we are to everyone who's helped us get this far, both over the last several months and over the last week or so. I don't really have the words to express the kind of blessing this has been. I also don't really have the words to describe what the last six and a half years have been like in this tin can, but the prospect of having an actual home after so long is something that I still can't get my head around. Seeing how it's coming together now is finally permitting me to envision it, just a little. But as I said, we're realistic about where things currently stand, and as much incredible progress as has been made, there is still such a very, very long way to go to make it habitable. So please continue to share all the links above on a daily basis. 

Thanks, everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.