House exterior

As I mentioned in my last post, excavation is set to start during the first week of June!! The structural engineer signed off on the plans this past week and permits are being pulled.

Poor John is weeping over the coming destruction of the hilltop and the trees that aren't going to make it. He really wanted to try and move a few of the maples. The timing wasn't good for us and there is a good chance they won't make it without any way to water and care for them. I'm not really bothered because nothing huge is coming out and I have extensive plans for new trees and plants to put in once we move.

The big decision before me is choosing the exterior paint and roofing colors. I've been playing in Paint shop hoping I could find a combination that I love but half of the time what I pick looks like a Crayola box exploded all over the house! I know I want the trim all white and no or very little dark colors. I really love the look of a tan roof, white trim and pale yellow. The way the house is laid out there is the opportunity to use several colors for different sections, but I don't know what other colors to add and where. We are painting fiber cement siding so I can choose pretty much any color I'd like. Alas, the limitless choice is paralyzing me. Here are some of my versions of the front and back of the house in situ colored all yellow. The roof is resawn shake but here are other colors I can pick from. What should I change?

The front of the house
The large tree in the forground is staying,
it and one behind it will flank the driveway entrance.

The back of the house
There will be a lot of reshaping of the landscape around
the foundation to give walkouts off the mudroom, master bath, pool and office.

The really cool toilet

We finally made it up north after a couple of trips postponed due to Alex getting sick. We headed up on Mother's Day and took a nice walk on the property. Everything is growing and blooming! The smell from the cherry orchard next door was wonderful. There were lots of bugs and bees buzzing around and we stumbled upon two garter snakes and a mouse in the woods. On Monday we met with the excavator and staked out the house position. Excavation is set to begin on June 2nd!! We also picked out the pool and looked at plumbing. The best thing was this toilet. It is the coolest thing with dual flush, easy clean straight sides and it just looks so cute!

Here are some more pictures: (and yeah, I know Alex really needs a haircut)

Our road in and the cherry orchard next door in full bloom

Staking the excavation site
Finds from the land, clockwise from top left:"the shack" an old deer blind,
yellow violet, serviceberry flowers, apple blossom,
bloodroot leaf, wild strawberry plant

One of the garter snakes