West of Walsenburg CO
Into the home stretch we go!
You are probably wondering what’s happening up at our new custom home in the foothills west of here…
Right now the electrician is almost finished, and the pine trim is going in around all of the rooms and windows. Mike is busy installing the small stuff like the closet systems, phone and network boxes, etc.
The counters in the kitchen and bath should be done on Monday, with the final plumbing visit on Tuesday and Wednesday. We still need our sinks, faucets, toilets and water heater to start working, and then it’s time to finish up all of the county inspections and MOVE IN!
Words cannot adequately describe what a long and difficult process this has been for both of us. Really only one word describes the step-by-step process of collecting just the right workers at just the right time to complete such a large and complex project. STRESS! Then you add in the phenomenal price of bringing all those experts to this rural area! YIKES!
Another major problem with taking on such a difficult project is we have had all the stress with no real reward for over a year now. We are still left sitting in our dumpy 100-year-old rental in Walsenburg no matter how nice our new home becomes.
Now, the rewards are within reach.
When the county inspector says: “YOU MAY MOVE IN NOW!”
Hang on, it all changes!
The NEW look of our new home in the foothills!
I was up there bright and early today to see the new (and final!) stucco color on our house. What do you think? I LOVE IT!
We plan to paint the white door and maybe even the garage door red. We also will add a red awning over the front door.
Here’s the view from the south-facing side of the house as you walk around it.
And the view from below the house.
These photos don’t portray the adobe color of our home exactly how it looks, but trust me, it looks great sitting up on that hill… and only two weeks to move-in day, yikes!
This is a shot I’ve been trying to get for at least 6 months here in Walsenburg. We have coal trains coming through here 20+ times a day, and we have to drive over the tracks constantly here in town. This shows the Spanish Peaks behind the train as it enters downtown.
The noisy trains are something I will NOT miss about living here in town!
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A day in the life of small town USA
This morning was glorious here in Walsenburg. It was around 60 degrees with a nice cool breeze blowing, so I took a walk. I found a lovely set of hollyhocks a few blocks away…
so nice I had to share them with you. There’s lots of hollyhocks here! They remind me of growing up in a small town in Kansas. Walsenburg is basically very small town and traffic-free except for Main Street and Highway 160 headed west. Most people never get off the main drag and see what a friendly town this can be.
Then we took a drive over to La Veta to visit our friends at Two Fox Cabins. Pat and Doug beautifully maintain this best place in the area to stay! They have a way with wildflowers, and they are constantly improving their place for visitors, so much so that they’re full for most of the rest of the summer.
On the way back from La Veta we stopped off at our almost finished new home in the foothills.
I just had to share the view from our new front door! We now have the first layer of stucco on and on Monday they will finish it with an adobe-colored finish. Can’t wait!
It was looking so glorious up there that I had to take another photo of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the distance.
Inside, my custom bathroom is looking wonderful! I chose white marble tile with mint green walls, with green and purple glass highlights in the shower and on the backsplash. What do you think? This is the first time in my life I got to choose everything myself… What FUN!
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What’s been happening up at our new home?
Big improvements! First we got the first layer of stucco applied and then all the lights and ceiling fans went in! Do you know how stucco is made?
Well, I didn’t until I saw the men applying a special mix of concrete, sand, and who knows what else to the outside of our house.
Then they slap this mixture onto every surface of the house. This is only the first layer. After this dries and cures they’ll come back to add the second coat with the color in it. We have chosen a terra cotta color for the outside of our house. Can’t wait to see it! And speaking of color…
the wildflowers are at their best up there right now! I cannot get over how much of a difference six inches of rain can make!
We have millions of these yellow flowers plus native Lupines, and Indian Paintbrush!
And this mystery flower is a lovely purple, my favorite! Thanks to my botanist friend Jan we now know this is the Showy Four O’Clock, (Mirabilis multiflora). It only blooms in the late afternoon and then all night. I’ll try to get a better photo of the flowers in bloom soon.
In the meantime, here is a great photo of it! Isn’t it amazingly PURPLE?
In the disturbed land around our new home we already have hundreds of volunteers. Lots of sunflowers that will bloom a bit later, etc.
Inside we have most of the tiling done…
Then it’s time to finish the kitchen and baths, and we FINALLY have a move-in date!
The end of July we are out of our rental and into a whole new world up in the foothills. I’m already fantasizing where everything will go in each room.
Now comes the FUN part!
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A New Way Of Cleaning Your Clothes
Please note: I have chosen to participate in a campaign for Proctor and Gamble. I received free samples and will receive a fee for posting here, however the opinions expressed are my own. I am in no way affiliated with P&G, and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.
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Adventures of the NEW??? Old Farts 
