I arrived last night late (the 17th trip), and leave the motel (Super8 in Golden Valley) around 6. Daughter Elizabeth kindly left me a big package of baked goods on her porch—where a squirrel almost got them before I got there.   Caleb and I meet at the house.  The interior is gaunt—really stripped out.

The foundation for the addition on the back looks solid enough to support a tank.

The garage is getting a new roof to support a dozen solar panels at the right angle for our northerly latitude.

Then we meet Marc at the SALA office in Nordeast, which I had not yet seen.   We sit in the spare conference room from  9:30 through 3:30—finish up the GreenStar checklist, then address one construction issue after the next—the Andersen window order, the door list, the pending huge lumber order.  All in all, some 20 separate items.  We could have kept going all day and night.

Then Caleb sends me a slew of emails right after our meeting.  These include a construction schedule—17 out of 68 items are done.   And competing bids from landscapers. These are so expensive I ponder the idea of simply doing all the landscaping myself.   Caleb further suggests more tile and appliance suppliers.  I check out a few, mostly in Plymouth.  Linda and I settle upon a few porcelain tile patterns.   But there are some small outfits that hand-make tile.  I would love to see such in our house—like a traditional scallop design.

I return to the house to dig out a second line of hostas for replanting in Fargo, and gladly haul them home.