Weekend in Phoenix/Taliesin West

This weekend we were in Phoenix for my company (Genesis Structures) holiday party. Sweet, I know. While we didn't get any work done on the house, it was a productive weekend anyway.

Since we were in Phoenix, we decided to stop at Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter "camp" where his school of architecture still spends its winters. We also picked up an ornament and some stencils from the gift shop. Here are just some of the pictures we took:
The fountain in the main courtyard, by the current gift shop.

FLW was a fan of Asian art and architecture. Makes a lot of sense, looking at his design styles. It was neat to see of lot of the design elements in our house repeated here. Clean lines = timeless.

Here is one of the other courtyards in the back. The camp was designed to be an oasis out in the middle of the desert.

Apparently, he was also friends with hobbits. Here is the living room with all of his self-designed furniture.

Try to find that one at IKEA.

Here is a shot of the main living quarters with the Camelback Mountains in the background.

Here is a random guy standing in a very cool doorway.

Does this fireplace look familiar? At least they have a screen on the side so it is more functional.

And then there were these creepy-looking Asian opera scenes built into the walls and buildings all over the property. Not all art is good art.

The trip also marked my first visit to an IKEA. Ever. To sum it up in one word: overwhelming. It didn't help that by this time John was having some "intestinal distress." He can fill you in on the details. But I think I found my closet/wardrobe. It will be easier and faster than John building it, and hopefully that means less drywall compound!

This was the view from our hotel room. We were right next to the North Mountain Wildlife Preserve and did a 14 mile trail run with a college friend from Platteville. We were all a little worse for wear after that one. And I have a souvenir sunburn to show for it.

We even made a trip out to Tortilla Flat, an old mining town with a population of 6. But there is a restaurant there and we each had a Sarsaparilla and shared some refried beans while sitting on bar stools that were saddles. If you're going to go kitchy, you might as well go all out.

Bits and Pieces

Saturday morning we ran tenish miles in what snow was left before starting to work on the house. I had been gone to Washington DC most of the week and Sam had been busy at work so the house needed a top to bottom clean. She did lots of cleaning while I wrapped up some nagging little items.

The backsplash in the bathroom has been begging for a second grouting since early December. Grouting around the sink and faucets takes a little time and patience, which I normally don't have.

A little clean up work to go, but it is pretty much finished.

A nice view of the slope in the sink.



I got the trim and birch doors installed above the closet to cover the big hole. The panels still need to be sealed and need some sort of finger slot for opening/closing them. This room is odd, when I upload the pictures the green color becomes much more of a pea green shade. The actual color is lighter and better looking.

This is the entrance to the second bedroom that will eventually be birch paneling. I managed to get the section by the lightswitch fitted. Three more pieces to go. Since the second bedroom will be for visitors, we are going with a more modern theme. Hence the light green walls, blond birch, and a few cool furniture pieces.

Random Pictures

This weekend we ran, ate, drank, and did just a little on the house. The second bedroom needed some minor joint compound and paint, but that takes long to dry with nothing to show. Tonight, John is in DC so I put the last of the paint on the closet door frame and did a little patching near an outlet. Since that's not worth any pictures, here are some random ones.

The bird feeder temporarily is on our patio table. I'm sure it will be the cool place to hang, if you're a bird.

When I came home, it was clear Nera had a busy day. At least there were no mice in the water dish or missing their heads.

Here are two of my Christmas presents - bonsai! They both had a little bit of a trim when I brought them home and now I'm just waiting until spring for new growth. I'm still trying to find a good spot with the right amount of light and no access for cats. So far, no signs of distress but then again, it's only been a few weeks. The first is a Japanese Juniper. Very cool. He won't take much pruning, mostly maintenance.

I'm not sure what this one is yet. It's leaves look similar to rosemary. He's going to need a little more lovin'. I don't think he was well trained before I got him, but his trunk has the start of a nice curve.

Hopefully this weekend we can put the finishing touches on the second bedroom and move our stuff in there. I can almost see the end of the drywall tunnel! From there it's carpet, trim and paint. Hallelujah!

End of a Productive Weekend

So last night a little monkey managed to open the door to the second bedroom and walk through the wet paint. Hmmm, this sounds familiar.

The organizer in the closet.

Closet doors, yippee. Birch sliding doors are going on top.
The bird feeder drying. I should get it mounted this week.

Color, finally

Today we painted the ceiling and walls in the second bedroom. The color is a green with yellow undertones.

Where the built-in desk it going.

It's In My Hair

If the past couple days are any indication, 2009 will be a very productive year. Sam and I both took off today to make some serious progress in the second bedroom. I sanded drywall most of the morning while Sam got Christmas stuff put away. I haven't been that dirty in a long while. Look drywall, smooth drywall.This is a shot from inside the closet back towards the door.
Dust was in my hair, ears, eyes, nose, and everywhere else. The entire house was covered in a fine dust. We needed to clean anyway.

A couple coats of primer later and everything looks uniform enough.

At this point the idea of painting or doing anything that isn't drywall, sounds great.

The weather was great today, 50s and sunny. Sam got some more of her tulip bulbs planted.

The living room seems so big without the Christmas tree.

Tomorrow I heard it will be 58, oh January in KC, pretty nice!

Happy 2009!

After way too many drinks last night and sleeping in way too long this morning, we actually were productive. Breakfast was biscuits and gravy with sausage and eggs, not healthy but a really good way to start the year.

Our big push is to get the second bedroom primed and painted this weekend. Sam and I drywalled and sanded compound most of the afternoon. Tomorrow we should be set to sand the top coat and start priming. I also started building a modern inspired birdfeeder. The cats enjoyed watching the birds when we were back for Christmas, but cool birdfeeders are hard to find.

We went for a run tonight at the park and when Sam started to lag behind the cougar picked her up. That way she gets to run in front at least until the cougar looses interest.