No, the Root River has not wiped us off the face of the planet; we have not been wandering aimlessly in the woods; there is no mystery.

It’s just been a long summer—a very long summer!

October first. Days are noticeably shorter, temperatures cooler, and already the migration is underway. The colors of the valley that surrounds our house are changing daily, and soon enough there will be talk of snow. Inside, meanwhile, we’ve been unpacking, organizing, and settling in.

Between Memorial Day (our most recent post) and the middle of July, our builders and subcontractors alike were hustling and bustling, putting the final touches on everything from siding and lighting, to mounting doors and cabinets, to commissioning the solar system. Ready or not, our movers arrived on July 14th with belongings we’d had in storage for nearly four years. It was chaotic, to say the least, and suddenly the ‘roominess’ of the place felt very crowded!

Outside, the painters worked at finishing the house, garage and trim. We weighed many options for the final color scheme—including shades of yellow and red as shown in the architectural drawings that are seen in the header on our blog. In the end, we settled on colors that draw upon the earthiness of the site…various shades of stone, the prairies, the woods.

There are so many other things that have come together over the summer, from finishing woodwork and completing the garage and shop…

…to landscaping that includes a rain garden/basin; a stone retaining wall; lots of bark mulching providing the framework of where plantings are going this fall; the installation of pavers for the driveway, sidewalks, and just this week the patio.

Now that the sun has slipped south of the equator and another season passes by, phrases like “reap what you have sown…” and “harvest the fruits of your labor…” are not wasted on us. There’s a lot more to do, but we’re ever so thankful for what’s been done!

If you’re among those who have waited patiently for our posts or who have been regularly checking our blog for updates, thank you for not giving up on us! There’s a lot more of the story to be told—four months worth, actually—and we’ll be adding those stories as we mosey through the autumn, the nights get longer, and we have evenings to wrap ourselves up in this extraordinary place that we now call home!

John & Nancy