IT'S A DONE DEAL

OK, maybe it's not done until our signatures are on the paper shortly after 4PM tomorrow, but that's just a formality. We've moved lots of stuff into the garage this weekend after getting special permission from the builder, who owns the house until we officially buy it from him tomorrow.

Concrete patio and A/C unit

Concrete slab by the basement door. Mom already plans to put a comfy chair on this little patio so she can take her breaks from sewing and get fresh air

The patio outside the Master bedroom and behind the garage where the hot tub will be placed

Dads Day

For Fathers Day, all Dad wanted to do was cook at home, hey, I would have cooked or taken him out, that was his wish... and then he wanted to go and sit at our house and have a glass of wine on our front porch. So, we did both, here we sit on our porch. As we got up to leave I looked in the kitchen window, and said, "Hey, that's a pretty nice house, maybe someday we can live there!"

This is the last hike we took, only a short one as a it was with a Forrest Service worker who took us up and gave us a took on the ecology and maintenance of the forrest. This was the view from the top, and as we started to come down it began to pour! I was one of the few who had a rain coat, but the rest of the Chix were drenched. It was a story for the future.

15 DAYS TO GO

We found some interesting and beautiful visitors by the front door of our new house when we went by yesterday. The builder keeps the outside lights on all night, which may explain their attraction to our front door.
We have scheduled the closing for June 29, so we are anxiously counting down at this point. The carpet is in and the concrete forms are being laid down for all the outside concrete slabs: driveway, walkway to front door, air conditioner pad, and patios behind the great room and on the side of the master bedroom.

GALENA, A GHOST MINING TOWN

These Black Hills hold a lot of stories, history, and natural beauty. I'm just adding a few bits to the story Mama Linda posted a little while ago. Galena was an old mining town that quickly went from boom to bust between the late 1800's and the early 1900's. Almost 4,000 people lived in this miniscule town at one point, which is in the middle of nowhere in the Black Hillls. They mined minerals and "galenite" a mixture of silver and lead. Proud current residents and families of those residents who lived here back when gather once a year and show off this ghost town, mostly to South Dakotans. One gentleman in his late 50's manning one of the information tables showed us a picture of his mother, a girl of about 5 or 6, in the yard of their home in Galena. The cemetery is located in "Vinegar Hill" in the outskirts of town, but it's an integral part of the annual "walk".

Two members of the Galvin's, an Irish family, are buried here

Hiking, hiking and more hiking.

This cute little fawn was one of our sightings on my last hike with the Chix. Due to mother nature, we have had so much rain, many, many trails are beyond muddy and becoming little rivers. So we chose to stay in the nearby hills and right on the edge of Rapid City. Luckily Rapid City sits in the Black Hills, so hike is just as pretty.

On Saturday, Dad and I decided to go to the little town of "Galena", more like a ghost town, but there are about 25 brave inhabitants. They get together every year, and open the old school house and get local landowners to open up their property so all the visitors can hike and walk around and see all the old mines, old buildings and cemetary. They put signs up all over the town with pictures of what buildings were there, and as much of the history as they can. It was a nice day for a hike, and here are a few of the sights. The best one being this cute guy in the blue jacket who followed me everywhere, and was a good sport even though he has a nasty cold.

This is an old steeple, way up in the woods, they called it the "Methodist Church", but it really wasn't a church, just a social hall.

Aunt Sally was the first non Native American to be buried in the Black Hills, but she was a black woman.

This was a marker they erected at the cemetary, and I got a kick out of it because it is my sisters name. I'll make sure I e-mail it to her.

Some of the gorgeous scenery. :)

I dared him to use it, but he wouldn't.

An outhouse built for two!

Botony Canyon Hike

One of the Chix sent me a few pictures she took, and here are some of the beautiful sights we saw on this 6 mile hike in Botony Canyon. It was a great hike, and if anyone sends me any pictures of the beautiful flowers we saw, I'll post them.

FINAL STRETCH

We are almost there; only things left are carpet, final wood floor finish, pain touch ups and outside concrete. Of course, the fridge and dishwasher have to be brought in from the garage and connected to power and water. We are thrilled with the way this home has turned out; judge for yourselves:

Sink in the laundry room with nice-looking faucet

Central vac-SWEET!

Basement bathroom

Guest bathroom (upstairs)

Great room fan and entrance door light fixture (dining room fixture in background)

Dining room/breakfast nook fixture

Double wall oven-don't worry it's stainless steel-that's protective plastic on the surface

How 'bout that kitchen?

Can you dig that granite; we'll have to do a close-up next time

Can you tell our kitchen is the main attraction for us?

Master bathroom: shower is done and granite countertop looks great. Notice the gorgeous plumbing fixtures chosen by Mama Linda