It is time to switch my pictures up a bit. I’m loving dirt and I’m going to share my dirt with you.

This weeks photo theme is celebrations and we have been so happy to finally break ground on our new house build! Let me share a few of the early moments of “us planting new roots”shouse” project.

Excitement and exhaustion is how our summer is going. Progress never seems fast enough yet there are days that are just to short to finish everything that needs to get completed.


We missed the start of excavation and gravel coming in but have been here for the concrete work. It’s a lot of concrete! First in were the perimeter footings, then the 2’ stem walls for the shop (right side) and the pool room (middle narrow space).

After the footings and stem walls it was time for us to install and test our hydronic tubing. I’ve never had radiant floor heat and am looking forward to the warm winter feet experience. It took us a couple of days to put in the vapor barrier, insulation, and hydronic tubing for the shop slab.


I now know who in the world purchases 1000s of zip ties. In case you ever wondered, yes, there is such a thing as “zip-tie finger fatigue” which was one of many sore areas after anchoring all the tube with zip ties.

Both the shop slab and back patio were poured just over a week ago.

Next was the underground sewer lines for the house which were underway in the photo above. This was our first, and hopefully last, failed inspection. Although the rework didn’t cost us any time with the concrete work, it wasn’t fun. Now, it’s completed and re-inspected. The house side of the building now has it’s hydronic tubing installed and is awaiting it’s inspection. We hope to pour the house slab this week.
I suppose it’s hard not to love the dirt you plant your roots into as you ground yourself to a new community. We love our concrete contractor who has gotten us started and is working with Steve to coordinate the plumbing work that needs to be in and under the slab. As the concrete work continues forward, we are ramping up on the next phase.
I hope you enjoyed seeing our new house build underway. With it being a big part of our lives over this next year, I’m sure there’ll be more “shouse” build related posts hitting the blog.

Although there were a few other celebratory moments for us in 2023, what we look forward to the most are those do nothing days. When I find one, I’ll let you know.
It’ll all be worth it in the end.
About the Photo Challenge
A weekly themed photo challenge hosted by Terri. Check out her Blog and come back to visit for more SundayStills and traveling posts!
More Sunday Still Posts
Thanks for visiting our travel blog and I hope you enjoyed finding the #SundayStills Challenge. You can join the weekly challenge by visiting our hosts blog Second Wind Leisure. and checking out Terri’s post for this week, Let’s Celebrate Something.
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That is definitely something to celebrate!!!I couldn’t seem to get a post together for this week but thought I’d visit everyone anyways.
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I’m glad you checked in on my reason for a celebration. I hope to share our progress updates thru the coming months.
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Ooh, how exciting!!! Congratulations on all the accomplishments. That really is a lot of zip ties… 🙂 I hope you do continue to share more of the progress. I look forward to seeing it!
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Yes! It’s exciting and makes the hard work very worthwhile. We finished the other slab of tubing and more zip ties last week. I’ll have to come up with a zip tie count as a fun fact.
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You really have done more than I thought you had! It looks great Cheryl! I’m impressed you are doing a lot yourselves. Enjoy the process–and continue to take pics–it will be rewarding to look back at what you accomplished when it is all done! We are down for any housewarming parties you might throw in the future–we’re practically neighbors 🙂
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Thank you Terri. I keep hoping house guest would show up early and we can put them to work…lol! Progress keeps moving forward with more zip ties and the pool walls going in. I’ll add at minimum monthly updates as a blog post.
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