I spent the entire weekend installing mounting brackets for recessed ceiling light fixtures throughout the River House. It only took about 4 hours for the actual installation. The remaining 12 hours were spent figuring out EXACTLY where I wanted them to go and setting up my laser to locate them precisely. Pictured here is the ceiling of the aviary (Jeanine’s she shed / office). The original lighting plan I developed called for 6 fixtures. I decided to up the total to eight once I was actually in the space. The aviary has the highest ceiling in the house (12 feet at the peak) and light intensity falls off with the square of distance. Therefore the amount of light that falls on a desktop in a 12-foot room is roughly half that you would get in a 9-foot room. In addition to ensuring the proper amount of light, I was obsessed with centering in hallways and with respect to windows and achieving symmetrical ceiling patterns. This is something no one else will ever notice but that will please me ever time I look up at the ceiling.

Every so often I search YouTube to see if there are any new videos that promote the American Amputee Soccer Association. This recent post is more of an advertisement for Veo but does feature some nice game footage and comments by Nicolai.

Today, we were hoping that the last window would be installed in the River House. The specialized crew that is doing the work saved the largest for last. It spans a length of 13 feet, includes a sliding door, and takes 8 people to lift. When I arrived on site after a morning work meeting, I discovered that one corner had been damaged although I never learned just how. The lead installer assured me that this could be fully repaired and that they had done this before on other large windows. We shall see. They are set to return on Monday with the necessary tools and parts to do the work.

I have been so busy with work and the new house that I just noticed this mural in West Concord for the first time. The 24′ x 8′ full-color grand mural designed by Edward Feather and painted by Edward and a team of West Concord artists is located on the side of 30 Beharrell Street facing the Post Office. It celebrates West Concord’s industrial history as a vibrant, multicultural, entrepreneurial factory and mill town. The mural is the third in a planned series of five murals that are or will be displayed throughout West Concord.

This past Sunday, my brother hosted a memorial service for our mother at his home in Minnesota. A more formal service will be held in Schenectady this spring. Angela spent the last few years of her life living in Minnetonka and it is little surprise that she made many friends during that short time. It was important to Mark and his family that they and her local community be given an opportunity to celebrate her life. On display throughout their home were many works of art created by her.

Kyle sent this image of his completed basement floor. The bathroom and kitchen cabinetry and tile work are remaining to be complete as well as the interior doors and trim. At some point, I hope to show some before and after photos. The transformation has been very dramatic.

Working with Tess, we have settled on a design theme for the siding on the River House. We will use a slate-colored vertical board and baton for the principal siding component with horizontal tongue and groove accents in warm red-toned wood material. Not fully illustrated is the masonry foundation at the base of the entire structure which will also cover the entire walkout basement wall. This rendering is missing the east wing roof but conveys the basic color/design scheme. It has been fun experimenting with the various possibilities for blocking and color combinations.

Visiting us from Seattle for the next few days is Tess, one of Jeanine’s dearest friends. We have hired her to help us with the interior design of the River House. She flew in on the red-eye this morning and we spent a good portion of the day selecting materials and reviewing design elements. We feel very fortunate to have someone with her expertise and artistic flair assisting us with the myriad choices to be made at this stage of the project.

Last night temperatures dipped to 10 below zero with high winds driving wind chill down below minus 30. I stopped by the River House this morning to make sure we did not have any downed trees or other damage. Fortunately, there was none but I will have to wait until temps rise above 32 to determine if our temporary water service survived. The Sudbury River was frozen solid except in front of our house where a natural spring enters the river from below. Future grandchildren, should we ever have any, will have to be warned about thin ice in this part of the river. I spent the afternoon with Kyle using a very heavy concrete grinder that we rented. It was necessary to flatten the floor in his basement after the subcontractors he hired to do the flooring installation made a totally unacceptable attempt to level the concrete. It will not be perfect but we were able to address the most egregious problems.

Work on the River House today was canceled because it was too cold. Plummeting temperatures did not stop Maya from her routine of walking to work, however. I am pleased to see that she seems to be dressed for the conditions. There is something about this photo that makes it very clear that it was insanely cold outside.

Ten of twenty-six windows were installed today. The crew doing this work does nothing but European-style window installation. Their experience and expertise were apparent at every turn. I spent half the day installing most of the ceiling boxes for the ventilation system covering both the first and second floors with only the basement remaining to be done. Each box will connect the tubes that carry air to and from the ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator) with the supply and exhaust diffusers that spread air into or remove air from the rooms in which they are installed. During the remainder of the day, I worked on an idea for one of my consulting gigs which is beginning to show great promise. Regrettably, I am not at liberty to disclose any of the details.

Our German-made Schuco windows arrived on site today. Fitted with triple pane glass, even the small ones are extremely heavy. The large ones take four very strong people to move. The largest will probably require at least a dozen workers to install. It took the entire day just to move the windows into the house and to begin positioning them in the rooms to which they belong.