Baby's photo opp

Baby girl: "I don't want to know what my parents look like yet!"

House particulars

The carpenters tell me they'll be finished by Tuesday of next week. With. Every. Last. Detail. (Well, mostly. They'll have to come back and install all the cabinet doors once those come in.)

The vent hood is up! I'm pretty sure I squealed when I saw it. The carpenter created it from another sketch. Now I know it's not everyone's taste but man am I in love.

If it's not completely obvious, the overall design vision for the house is a quaint vineyard cottage. Simple. Modest. With careful attention to detail and plenty of (to-be-painted) beadboard. 

The interior doors.

They bring a smile to my face every time.

The painters are on tap next, followed by the return of the plumber and electrician. Six weeks and two days to go. Not that I'm counting.

Greenhouse construction part two

Construction continues on the greenhouse. Nathan is building the end pieces this week inside the barn. Once painted, we'll install the ends on site and drape the mesh plastic.

There will be a door on both the west side and east side, and there's flexibility to add windows as needed for ventilation.

It may not look like much, but we were exhausted by the end of the day. I think we made it all the way to 8:30pm before crashing yesterday.

Snow day

Over the weekend we received three to four inches of snow at BSV. A welcome sight.

Huge brownie points

Not that he needs them, but my superstar of a husband racked up serious brownie points this past weekend. I've been wanting to make bibs for the baby for a while now using this pattern. The only problem is I'm lacking my sea legs. Without my mother sitting beside me, coaching me and cheerleading me, I feel lost on the sewing machine.

Enter Nathan. He learned to sew as a kid watching his mom (thanks, Mama Joan!) and had no problem whipping up the first one.

There's just really nothing that can compare to a man who tames virgin land, hunts feral hogs, cooks superb naan and sews the first baby bib.

My husband is a rock star.

And just in time for Valentine's Day: We found out this morning we're having a girl!

Irrigation system

The vineyard's irrigation system is more complicated than I expected. There are two levels to it: a shallow system for young vines (and drought conditions), and a deeper watering system for mature vines. Both levels are necessary in their own way.

These are the routing valves. They control pounds of water pressure for each strip of underground drip tape. 

And this is Clint--one of the talented vineyard overseers--modeling the latest in farm fashion. The two aren't related, irrigation systems and farm fashion, but good dressers are always welcome.

(Sorry ladies, he's already taken.)

Ice

Cotton's been discovering the fine art of ice recently.

Her water trough keeps freezing over. After watching Nathan break it up, she's learning to do the same. She puts both front paws on the ice until it breaks through, then she laps up the water.

Between her ingenuity and Salty (our cat) learning to drink out of the toilet, we're soon not going to have to fill water bowls any longer for our crew.