A Roof and Windows!

Since last visit (see post) a lot of progress! The roof is fully on:

Windows are going in today; in fact of the many people at work several were actively doing this during our visit. The windows for the front of the house sitting upstairs just prior to placement:

The western front:

The eastern front:

The window for the master bedroom deck just before placement:

We quite like the result of high ceilings and large windows in the great room:

The great room windows as seen from the yard:

This *is* a city home so we had to have at least one window that looks directly sideways at the neighbors.

For bathrooms with tubs the tubs are now in place:

In the master bathroom we're going for two independent shower-heads in a 6'x3' space and an particularly thick glass wall. None of this is in yet.

The joys of working with a high ceiling; plus a view of how the half-wall separates the dining room from the kitchen, breakfast nook, and great room:

The stairs up from the kitchen level to the dining room and entrance are now present:

The ducting and heating is in full swing:

Apparently we should have doors with locks and then garage doors quite soon, at which point it will be somewhat harder for random people to come stroll through. We haven't had any problems but some sites have enough people enthused about visiting they have to hire security.

Almost Married

Posted a bit late but we've been a bit busy ;)

On July 23rd, after the Mindi Party we first ran flower-fetching errands, then had a family dinner to allow the two sides to meet. The biggest arrangements turned out to come in bloody large buckets of water to keep them healthy. We learned this by tipping one slightly and becoming rather wetter.

Anyway, back to the dinner. People are spread out pretty well so this really was the first contact for many. My dad got to hang with his brother for the first time in something like twenty years.

However, brothers will be brothers.

Speaking of brothers, my little bro wore a shirt with a collar! Suffice to say this is not frequent for either of us.

Next up: the wedding itself on the 24th!

Concrete Progress

The changes since the last (see post) set of photos are not too dramatic.

The roofing is starting to go on:

There has also been a good bit of progress in the interior concrete. The garage floor now exists:

The base for the ground floor is also now in, as is the outline of the half-wall between the dining room and the rest of the living area:

The step down towards the bottom of the picture separates the 'breakfast nook' and the great room. The photo above was taken while standing in the great room. Here is the view of the great room from the breakfast nook:

Some areas that will be largely hidden are currently quite exposed. This is under the raised floor on the left of the photo above:

Note that plumbing is starting to go in; you can see a couple of pipes if you look closely. Here's a few more going from downstairs to upstairs:

Windows and drywall coming in the not-too-distant future.

Mindi

On July 22nd, two days before our wedding, a Mindi (henna) party was thrown in Pavan's honor. We had a vague notion a few people were coming by to get henna and were thus quite surprised to see something of a crowd.

Many people got henna but the brides was by far the most elaborate, possibly testing the brides patience during the hours of application.

The men were kept entertained by drinks, samosa, and other fried snacks in the back yard. Pavan then got to sit by a tray of brightly colored things. It means something but we forgot what.

Once all this was setup people took turns coming by and rubbing some sort of goo on her arms and feet. They also tried for the face but the bride wasn't having any of that.

Even some of her brothers got in on it. Am (left) went for the finger-dab; Rick (right) seemed to be applying for a job as deep tissue masseuse.

It was, all in all, quite colorful.

Once sufficient stuff had been smeared the ceremony switch to more practical matters: feeding the hungry. Various people took turns feeding the bride what looked to be a sort of saffron rice. In the meantime a substantial amount of tandoori chicken appeared for the guys. Most of whom were about full.

Feeding complete and dancing children in tow the bride then had to prove she knew how to deliver food appropriately.

White people followed a time honored tradition of their own: being confused about the traditions of non-white people.

After all this the bride finally got to rest while a dance was performed. Much chanting and beating of the ritual stick ensued.

When the dancing completed a full Indian meal was served, much to the dismay of the guys who had been eating essentially all evening already. The highlight of dinner was a rather awesome yellow butter chicken.

And that is what happened at the Mindi party.

Covering up the second storey

The trusses (see previous) are now hidden:

Sadly the roof progress dramatically limits the climbing opportunities.

Inside the main staircase to the second storey is in, though the smaller staircases down from the raised entrance/formal dining room area are still missing:

Upstairs you can see the top of the stairs and the master bedroom and entrance to the upstairs deck:

The deck is actually rather larger than we'd pictured from the floorplan. Nice surprise!

The view of the other sides master bedrooms covered deck:

Looking out off the covered deck with the bad view (the tree on the right interferes slightly; on the other side there is no such blockage):

Hopefully where the secret passage between the units will be:

In the backyard the grass definitely greener on the other side of the fence.

You can see where the downstairs deck will go though it is not yet present:

The place is finally far enough along that Pavan is excited about it!!

Expensive monkeybars

The roof trusses are going up rapidly, allowing the final shape of the structure to show up.

In the back the rear windows and the skeleton of the covered deck can be seen. The deck looked small to us on the plans; the real thing looks quite big!

The stairs are not in yet so to avoid disturbing the workers on the eastern side Rod scaled the wall and went in the upstairs window that will ultimately be above the stairs. The house is basically a really expensive set of monkeybars at this point. It's actually quite fun; once they start closing things in the climbing opportunities will diminish dramatically :(

Climbing up allowed the first glimpse of the master bedroom deck and what the upstairs view will be like.

Roof soon!

L2 Frame

Second story begins!