Billie's Folly

As we skid into Christmas, and conclude month nine of building, I'm feeling great about where we are.  My long and arduous planning has finally produced a house.  Because of the imminent rain, they have most of the roof on and have buttoned up as much as possible.  The windows and doors are a couple months out--later than they should be--due to our change to steel. This is the view as you drive up.  There's still a mound of topsoil in front that will be used for back-fill around the base.  The second hole from the right on the lower level is actually a fireplace--not sure why it's cut out.  The cement is a wall around a small patio that will have a built-in barbecue.  The deck is off my bedroom. As you keep driving, you come to the front entry.  You can circle to park in front, or continue around to the right to the garages.  In front of the center opening (which will house the front door) there will be the greenhouse porch.  This...

One of the first photos I took after I purchased the property, was of this handsome fellow.  I rounded the bend of the driveway, and there he was.  Not terribly alarmed, he posed for a while.  Since then I've seen many deer wandering the property and beyond. When it came time to pick a weather vane for the cupola on my cottage, I had many thoughts--and it's astounding how many choices there are!  A horse is a classic subject.  But since I'm not a horse person, it seemed like false appropriation.  The iconic French rooster sounded fun, but then it really isn't relevant to my life either.  Then I thought a beagle would be perfect--after all, one dominates many of my waking hours!  But that didn't seem generic enough.  What if I got a different breed of dog at some point--it would be so unfair!  And the next owners probably wouldn't want a beagle representing their home.  I finally decided this white-tail deer was an appropriate...