We are now proud owners of a floor. For the first time we were able to walk out on what will be the main floor of the house and get a feel for what it will be like and check out the view. 
Neither one of us wanted to try it. We are anxious to walk out and see what the view will be like standing in the living room. The last picture was taken looking out from Robert's media room.
Harvey is pouting because I made him wear jingle bells around his neck. 
After the Choose & Cut we stopped for lunch in Marion. We were looking for a greasy spoon but couldn't believe we couldn't find one in a small southern town. We ended up at a chocolatier that seemed to be the only place in town that served lunch. The decor was very "interesting." It was a mixture of French cafe, 50's diner and small-town southern restaurant. The old tin ceiling was painted pink, there were pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Rock 'n Roll posters along with red-checkered table cloths and family photos on the piano. All this decorated for Christmas complete with a spinning Christmas tree. The cook came out and took our order because the waitress was busy with the other customer. It took a long time for us to pay our bill because they couldn't process our Visa card because one of the employees was on the phone so they couldn't call it in. As we were leaving I spotted an autographed picture of Goober hanging on the wall. 
Tuesday we decided to get a Christmas tree. We drove about an hour or so northeast of Asheville to Linville Falls. That's where most of the Christmas tree farms are except they don't call them Christmas tree farms here, they're known as a "Choose & Cut." Very simple. You choose and a Mexican cuts it down for you. All they have here are Frasier Firs. Aka the Cadillac of Christmas trees. The Frasier Fir trees only grow at high elevations so if you bought a Frasier Fir it probably came from North Carolina. Only they chose AND cut and YOU paid top dollar. Not trying to rub it in or anything but it was really strange going to cut down a Christmas tree and we had the air conditioning on in the car and we were sweatting as we walked around to choose so they could cut. It was over 70 degrees! Last time I went to a Christmas tree farm I nearly froze to death and had to carry Erin around (she was a bit smaller then) and I vowed I would never do it again. Come to think of it, a Mexican guy cut that tree for me, too...
Saturday we went out to check on the house and ran into Tom Lawton, the architect. He's not sure if there will be room for a circle at the top of the driveway for a turn-around so is re-thinking it. I told him I don't care just as long as I don't have to back down the driveway. 
Today the boys helped me put fresh sheets on the bed. It's one of their favorite things to do. 
After visiting the property Tuesday I did a little shopping in Black Mountain. It was chilly, but sunny. I was wearing a vest and no coat. Wednesday I went shopping in downtown Asheville and it was really warm. About 60. People were walking around without coats. Later that day it clouded up and the wind picked up and it rained a bit. This morning I woke up to find heavy frost or snow on my car and on the deck. Today it only went up to about 40 but it was sunny all day. 
Tuesday, I went with Ginger, one of the architects, to look at some custom kitchen cabinets in a B&B in Black Mountain that the architect had designed. After that we went out to the house site so she could see the progress. The lower level is almost finished being framed in and the storage shed on the back of the carport is framed in. 
Here are pictures of Day 3 of the Walls. I couldn't help myself. They got so much more finished in one day. All the rooms on the lower level are framed in and most of the exterior walls are in. You can see on the back exterior wall where the windows and doors are. There will be 3 sets of atrium doors across the back. 
They work fast! It already looks a lot different than yesterday. I won't put pictures up everyday. I'll try to stagger them. 
It's starting to feel more like a house, now that we can look out the "windows" to the view. This is just the lower level. 'Can't wait to see the view once we have an upper level. The room with the red stepladder in the corner is Erin/Bobbie/guest bedroom. 
Last time I went to Linville Falls I successfully completed a difficult hike down into the gorge with Bill & Kent (one to push - one to pull) to view the falls from below. This time we opted to take the high road and view the falls from above. 
