Getting stoned...

It seems like there is a lot of progress on the house in little ways.  We now have steps up to the porch, which means no more jumping up and down. Yeah!  We also have the cedar tongue-in-groove on the ceiling of the porch - plus more progress on the siding.
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The siding is making progress.

 The stone on the house has started.  This has been very enjoyable part of building the house. We love our mason, Acey.  He has let me help every step of the way.   I can now say I helped lay the rock on our house.  I have put up one piece of stone, grouted maybe a whole line, and even used the brush to clean up some grout lines.  I now have some skills and can seek employment as a mason if ever the need arises.

The first area of stone going up - still needs to be grouted. We picked a grey grout after a little trial and error.  We had originally chosen a brown color and didn't like it.

 The stone looks beautiful.  This section is all finished with the grey grout.  Yes, also the part I did in the upper left hand corner.

Because of the cold we have to tent the house and heat that area so the mortar can dry. Honestly, it's the warmest place around.

This deck material is only on the master deck.  I thought this was the finished product, but came back the next day and he had covered it over with a new layer. He must not have liked something about the way it turned out.  We will have to wait until spring to see it completely finished - it should look something like this.

Progress is happening all the time.  Before we know it, the house will be done and we will look back on all of this as a fun, happy (nothing ever went wrong) adventure in home building.  Maybe they will make a movie about it.  Raiders of the Lost Subcontractors.