New to the house: 

a vent leading from the half bath to outside and 

a second vent from underneath the microwave pushes kitchen cooking odors outside 

rather than recirculating it back into the kitchen. 

The drywall takes shape...

I've been looking for a design that would be functional for the back of the house. 

This is what I'm thinking about ... with some modification.

I like the top of this pergola to go on the above deck.

From this...

... to this!

Decided to use foam board insulation along south "pantry" wall. 

Insulating the outside walls of the kitchen but decided to also insulate around the chimney

which shares a wall with the kitchen. 

All outside walls sealed cracks, installed insulation.

Expecting to radically reduce the heating bill next winter as well as hold in cooler conditioned air, 

when I get around to installing central ac.

This entire wall now is sealed; meaning no air leaks! BTW I got the left window in yesterday (replacing the single worst window in the house) with the help of Bob. Looks good, and it works, and no drafts. 

The recessed lights are in. 

New electric outlets in the kitchen. 

FYI: just about the entire house has all new electrical and plumbing.

And... the electrical & cable set up for the HDTV in the kitchen.

Electrical set up for work light over a future island in the kitchen. 

The french patio doors from the inside.

Where the pantry once was, now framing out its replacement. The left of the unit must remain empty

so a future AC duct can run vertical from the basement up through the sleeping porch and into attic.

The right will also be "empty" unless I can figure something out. 

Big problem is trying to not encroach upon the window. 

 All new plumbing, and electrical in the kitchen.

And, of course, the back porch roof is gone. Took about four hours to remove it. Now there's a great view of the pool from the kitchen.

The debris (lathe, plaster, tin ceiling, back porch, etc.) from the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom were removed using TWO medium sized waste containers. Two Saturdays in a row, and many friends, Chris, Greg, Mike and Chris P. and Griff, got rid of the trash!

Once the kitchen cabinets and countertops are in, and everything is completed, 

Abe will come back and stain/seal the floors.

Abe has gone to work on the floors this week. The plan is to extend red oak floors from the living room into the now expanded kitchen so it creates a sense of unity and flow.

Here he has "knitted" together the two floors.

The french patio doors are in! Totally top of the line Anderson doors, very, very heavy!

It took four of us guys to lift it from the front of the house to the back. 

... as Callie stands guard.

The hole in the back of the house. Once the door is in I need to either repair the cedar clapboard siding or replace all of it on the back side of the house. Between the door, and the deck the wood siding has taken a hit. 

The big revelation is that the house used to be stucco before the clapboard siding was put on. The gray area is the stucco. 

The deck took a hit as well (not that I was going to save it). So the project this summer? A new deck.