We didn’t know it when we first came to Erie, but this is a popular location for flying balloons. They have a number of events over the summer months and this morning there was a big launch a mile from our house.

So Lisa and I got up at 6am (yes really) and biked over to the local field where all the balloons were located.

There were hundreds of people present, all locals I suspect, there with their families and cameras to enjoy the event. In all we saw 8 balloons get inflated, two apparently decided it was too windy and decided not to fly but we saw the others take off.

I have been in a hot air balloon before (a birthday gift from Lisa 20 years ago) and it’s a wonderful experience, so we were quite jealous of the lucky few to took off today.

It was also a perfect morning for the flight, very sunny and around 65°F (18°C), as I write this now at 9:30 in the morning it’s already up to 85°F (29°C), so I’m sure those in the air and enjoying the experience.

As usual, I took a few pictures to share the event:

I guess after living in Colorado now for 9 months I should have gotten used to the amazing sunsets. From my limited experience the best sunsets (so far) have taken place towards the end of the year, but tonight was just beautiful.

So, I thought I’d share it!

This was taken from outside the front of my house at around 8:40 on an iPhone. The colors were just wonderful, so I quickly took the shot.

If I see more like this I’ll take a picture and upload.

I know it’s been a while since I posted, but we’ve been a little busy.

December obviously was a holiday with family visiting which was great fun, but we were still in our rental so not our perfect first Colorado Christmas.

Then January was great as the progress on the house was fantastic. All the drywall was put up, the cabinets were installed, flooring and paint and appliances etc. Basically, by the end of January the house was almost completed.

February was super hard though; they finished the house by the middle of the month and then we entered a two-week lockout! The builders have this to do any finishing touches and repair any damage caused by workmen coming in and out.

As we had visited the house every day since September, being told you couldn’t go in was torture. Fortunately, we did our two weeks (hardly a big issue really) and signed contracts and took ownership on March 1st.

We signed and paid for the house in the morning, and Lisa flew to San Diego to spend the weekend with Abi in the afternoon, leaving me alone to start the move in process. This was a planned trip for her, and we couldn’t change the dates (it was “Mum’s” weekend at Abi’s college sorority).

So that weekend I moved everything in the rental that we had unpacked. This included all the kitchen, clothes, electronics etc. After around 20 trips (only ½ a mile) I was done and picked up Lisa at the airport (good timing, eh?).

Then the following morning, we moved in officially. All the big furniture and the unpacked boxes we had from Redmond, Washington were moved.

We pretty much unpacked in a week and had the house in great shape.

So why no posting?

Well, I was waiting for the grass in the front to be put in as I wanted a nice picture. That took 2 months and went in this morning.

We now have the house inside pretty much sorted out, we still have to get some new pictures to hang in some rooms, but we have window blinds, rugs, and curtains up where we wanted, and the house really feels like a home. Lisa even had two walls painted to provide a nice accent in a couple of the rooms, so we’ve started making changes already!

I’ve always wanted to install a state-of-the-art electronic system, and I went to town in the new house. We have 9 cameras a security system and an amazing wifi system with a great signal everywhere. I also configured the whole house as a “smart home”. So, blinds open and close and lights automatically turn on and off and the garden irrigation system waters at set times in the day. I did go a little nuts here, but even Lisa likes it. We have electronic locks on doors, and everything can be controlled by voice or our devices, computers and phones and smart watches – oh to be retired eh? Lol

Here’s a picture of the front of the house:

So, what’s next?

Well, our back garden/yard is a mud pit! We’ve learnt there is something special about Colorado mud, it sticks to EVERYTHING and every time Harley goes outside she brings the mud in and we end up playing chase until we can get her in the bath!

Here’s a current pic of the back yard.

We’ve had plans created for the yard and they’ve already been approved by the HOA. We’ve selected a landscaping company, and they start doing all the work at the beginning of June (they are busy in May). The work will take 3 or 4 weeks and includes a paved path with a circular patio and pergola. We’ve got a hot tub going in, some lawns for the dog and LOADS of plants and trees. We can’t wait.

Here’s the plan:

When it’s all finished, I’ll post a load of pictures.

I thought as we are about half-way through our house build, I’d share an update.

We moved to Colorado on September 21st, in time to see them break ground on our new house. Since then, we’ve visited the build every day to watch it grow and capture pictures on progress.

It’s really been amazing to see each stage, we are really enjoying watching the house come along, but in truth we just want it finished now so we can move in.

The projected date of completion is end of February, so we are guessing we will be moving in sometime in March (hopefully).

The phases (up to now) have been:

1. Dig big hole! (the house is two story, but it’s a finished basement and first floor – they call them “patio homes” here).
2. Pour foundations.
3. Add forms and pour sides of basement.
4. Paint basement walls with waterproof “stuff”.
5. Add plumbing that will be below the floating basement floor (and connect to sewer).
6. Add framing for floating floor.
7. Pour floating floor.
8. Frame the house – this includes the first floor, all walls and the roof.
9. Install heating and air-conditioning – this is called HVAC and consists of the furnace and all ducting around the house.
10. Install all plumbing – pipes and waste to all bathrooms and the laundry room.
11. Wrap house – this involves adding a waterproof “wrap” on all the walls the roof.
12. Pour cement driveway, front porch and patio.
13. Install windows and doors.
14. Add siding – this depends on the type of look you purchased, our options were “Colorado”, “Cottage” and “Farmhouse”. I liked Colorado, but Lisa liked Farmhouse, so we got Farmhouse.
15. Install all electrical wiring, this includes 110v’s to all lights and outlets, 220v’s to laundry room and kitchen and garage and all lower voltage cabling for internet (yes there was a LOT of that).
16. Add roof – this was delayed as there is a shortage of roof shingle, but it came in on Monday, they started the roof on Wednesday and finished Friday.

That’s where we are!

The next step is we have a pre-drywall walkthrough (scheduled for Thursday 14th), after that it’s drywall, cabinets, bathrooms, flooring, lighting etc. and of course paint the outside of the house and finish the front with brickwork.

To try and share the progress to date, I created this animated gif. But it’s really big, so give it some time to load (can take a minute to download), if it doesn’t work let me know lol.

So we arrived in Colorado nearly a month ago and have moved into rental accommodation near our new house – that is still being built.

I’m going to capture a load of pictures of the house build and will post some images in the coming month, right now it’s basically a hole in the ground. They are currently working on plumbing and will finish the floor next week and start framing.

Bizarrely, we’ve been told that the house will be finished by the end of February – which is great, for us it can’t come fast enough.

For the last month we’ve spent most of our time learning the area, finding out where the shops are, and testing out a load of restaurants for when visitors come and see us.

So far everything has been fantastic, the weather is amazing (hot) and the sky is pretty much blue with sun every day (nothing like Washington State).

Every now and then we get an amazing sunset, and tonight was one of those moments. We jumped int he car and drove a mile to our new house and took the following picture from what will the front of the house, looking out the Study French doors (basically by our front door and porch).

Now you won’t believe me when I say there is no photoshop here, this is what it looked like – I’ve NEVER seen anything like this and wanted to share the view with everyone, hence the posting tonight.

Enjoy…

And look for more postings in the coming months.