Siding and window progress

We're up north to choose the light fixtures and do a recheck on the electrical placement. When we came into town yesterday we headed to the property despite the chill and gloomy skies. We arrived at 5:30pm and were surprised to see the excavators at work redistributing topsoil. I am extremely pleased with how good our topsoil looks. It is far richer than I expected for this area. I can't wait to start planting! The progress on the house seems great. Almost all of the windows are in place, the shingles are all on and they've started adding siding. There are trenches dug and bricks delivered and the retaining walls should be started tomorrow.

We decided to add a window on the large wall that the breakfast nook looks onto. The hole for the window has been framed and it really improves the view. I can sit in the breakfast nook and see into the pool and even through the pool windows into the east side of the backyard. One glitch is with the windows over the kitchen sink. We had them as four double hung windows to match the rest of the first floor but unfortunately with how far forward the kitchen sink is it's nearly impossible to open them. We decided it was worth the money to swap them out for sliding windows and since we can't return them they'll go into the downstairs hallway. Having windows on that hallway was part of the original plan but was cut to save money. It'll be nice to have the natural light back in that hall.

We're staying two more days and the weather looks to be a lot nicer. I hope to get some pictures of the fall color which is spectacular right now. I also have to plant my morel patch, a quince from Papou's tree and a medlar that my father brought back from a park in Pennsylvania. I'm so excited about how nice the topsoil looks that I just might make John stop at a nursery and pick up a few other things to plant. We do have 16 acres to play with after all! If I have my way it'll be an arboretum with one of every species that can grow in Michigan. Here are some pictures from yesterday:

The south side of the house from the valley
The west side of the house with some siding
The east side of the house with some siding
Alex loved climbing on the freshly spread topsoil.
He had two pounds of it in his boots by the time we left! The living room windows
The kitchen sink windows that will be swapped out with sliders
My improved breakfast nook view
The southern view from the attic with some skylights in place and the colorful maples
The view from the north facing window on the attic level The pool room with windows and some of the skylights in place
The pool room doorwall and windows to the living room Alex in the field where the septic system is buried The master bedroom with windows, I love the views of fall color from here!