Chimney

The mason has started the chimney. It'll take something like 10 tons of fieldstone, hand-picked from the property. Artifical stone was not an option. Just doesn't look like real rock. Kind of cool to think that chimney could be there for centuries.

Cayuse Sunrise

View from Lot 28. That splash of color you see on the shop? Yes indeed, that will be the color for the body of the house. Countless hours were spent finding just the right shade of rust red. Credit Josh @ Sherwin Williams (Moses Lake) for splitting that final hair and delivering the perfect color. You know it when you see it.

Hearth Stones

These are slices of basalt fieldstone from the back yard, which the mason cut & polished for the hearth. Nothing fancy, but nicely "organic" in the Craftsman tradition

Flooring

First major screw-up of the process. We had chosen engineered hardwood floors, and when they were partially down we knew we didn't like them, mostly because many of the pieces were very short and also because it was too dark. So we tore it out and switched to white oak - timeless, elegant, classy.

Vineyard Update

The vineyard is really flourishing. This is the fourth season, or "leaf," for most of the plants. Getting them established has not been as easy as in other parts of the state. Mid-winter cold snaps and late-spring frosts are the main challenges. But much of the vineyard is now where it should be, only 1 year later than best-case scenario. The cab franc on the slope is furthest along; ironic, because just 2 years ago I had almost given up on it and was thinking of pulling that area up. Now the cordons are established and canes up on the top wire and loaded with good-looking fruit clusters. Always too much to do this time of year: pruning back vigorous growth & suckers, tying canes to the wires, spraying for powdery mildew, mowing the aisles, and always weeds weeds weeds. It's been a relatively cool spring so far. A good long hot stretch would be perfect. I doon't know if I'll try to market any grapes this year. Probably could have a decent first crop of cab franc, but I might wait until I have the time to put the proper work into it, things like cluster pruning, canopy management, tweaking soil nutrients, etc.