August 26th. JR Christensen family rented us their backhoe and Chris and his sons Jared and Aaron placed the boulders around the walkout/basement patio. It took ~ two days as I recall.

The roof is on in this photo. The roofers took two days -- and probably would have been finished in one if they had brought more roofing paper. The wind had ripped off the paper in a few places and it had to be replaced before they could shingle.

After debating shingle color for months, we selected Tamko Heritage 30 "Weathered Wood". We considered GAF/Elk's "Cool Color Series" but ultimately decided against. Like many "green" or "energy efficient" ideas we've explored it came down to cost/benefit analysis. They have a higher reflective index than regular asphalt shingles. However, they cost ~50% more than regular shingles, and wouldn't save enough in energy costs to pay for themselves within the lifetime of the shingle. If someone had an unlimited budget, or stricter ideals... but regrettably with us it has to be practical.

August 21st. I don't know how much a semi-full of boulders weigh, but it felt like a small earthquake when he dumped them out. Two loads at $1,300 per...

August something-ish until early October.

Boxes up (often moved, re-sized).
Holes drilled (and re-drilled).
Wire pulled.
Can locations planned. With the multiple angles in the vaults in the great room and master bedroom, we thought it would work best to plot out the lights on the floor, and then use a plumb bob to locate the right location on the ceiling. Which might of worked great except for all of the framing that is the ceiling. In the end the can lights just ended up where the looked "ok".
Can lights mounted (and moved and re-mounted)
Kitchen, bath boxes and wire installed.
Bath fans installed. Decided to install (very quiet Broan) fans in each bath rather than central fan. May still install timers on the fans for fresh air.
Christmas light outlet boxes installed in eaves.
Eave lights placed. No real rhyme or reason to their placement except where they fit. Hope that looks right...
The clerestory sconces and cans took two full days to mount and wire. The first day was mostly me clinging to the top of a twenty foot ladder fearing for death. Not so much actual work accomplished. The problem is one hand is needed to hold the can light while the other hand swings the hammer to nail it in place, which leaves no hands for clinging. That and the clerestory sconces were mounted in a place that was double sheathed on top of triple trusses. Finding where they could all be level and symmetrical (and all 14 feet off the floor) took time. Up and down the ladders I don't know how many times to get the wire threaded around the clerestory. Memories.
Ceiling fan boxes.
Boxes wired.
Switches wired (Sometimes rewired). Really hope I have the 3-way/4-way switches right.
Utility room/blowers wired.
AC, ovens, dryer wired (we're planning for natural gas for the dryer, maybe the ovens, but we wired for the option).
Fire alarms.
Telephone, internet Cat 5e.
RG6 for television.
HDMI, Component for high-def content.
Doorbell.
Garage Door Openers.

1. Met with Patrick to firm up cabinet plan.
2. Started electrical on Thursday. The hardest part is getting started. We bought a full truckload of supplies on Wednesday at Lowes.
3. Garage mostly wired on Friday. Still needs light boxes.
   
4. Basement boxes up Saturday, ran out of boxes on main floor. Richie (Jen's brother came) this afternoon and helped with all my questions. Layne came up and helped drill holes and pull cable in the basement.
   

Hmm, been slacking on pictures lately. Not so many exterior changes. Last week:

1. July 28th: turns out when Chris was saying "blown in" insulation and I was saying "blown in" insulation we were talking about two different things. I thought it was wet blown cellulose and he thought it was fiberglass. With the inside of the roof being tight and complicated in the a major portion of the house, we decided to get a bid on Icynene. Cardall's out of Logan came today and gave us a great bid (35% less than we'd seen before) for sprayed on open-cell insulation that was only a couple thousand more than our bid had been for fiberglass. Hurrah! Definately doing Icynene!
2. Gordon came up from Bill's Comfort Systems. Long story short, installing two AC blowers in the attic -- primarily for good air flow -- and one furnace in the basement. Installing one 4 inch vent to each system to provide fresh air when there is negative pressure in the house. I will install a multi-room vent system that will automatically switch on for so many minutes each hour, tied in with all the bath fans. I ran the numbers for a HRV and even if energy costs triple, I just can't justify an HRV. The amount of energy saved only makes up the cost of the HRV after 30-50 years. Odds are not good that it would last near that long...
3. Plumbers started but then delayed waiting for mechanical (us making up our minds).