Day 37: Kitchen remodel

Nada.

Day 36: Kitchen remodel

No change. Waiting for countertops, which go in early next week. Meanwhile, Amy is really ready for it all to be done, as you can read here.

Day 35: Kitchen remodel

No change today.

Day 34: Kitchen remodel

No change the past few days. But they were back today doing some trim work. In particular, the new back door is trimmed out (though still not painted) to match the old, original doors elsewhere throughout the house.

Day 31: Kitchen remodel

No visible change today. Counter templates started, we think. Those are supposed to be installed in 10 days or so.

Day 30: Kitchen remodel

No new pictures today. But the island is now turned the right way, the new windows are installed and the backdoor is in.

Day 29: Kitchen remodel

Not only do we have cabinets, but now we have them in (almost) all the right places rather than a pile in the floor.


The island went in backward. They'll be back tomorrow to flip it so that the bookcase for all of Amy's cookbooks faces the nook. The stove will go in the middle of the island.

Those are trim pieces jutting across the picture, but that opening in the back is where the fridge will go. And it will actually have water running to it.

And the opening here, to the right below the window, is where the dishwasher -- yes, we're FINALLY getting a dishwasher -- will go.

They're also installing the new back door tomorrow in the mudroom. And, if everything stays on schedule, they'll be done three weeks from today.

Day 28: Kitchen remodel

Cabinets -- and lots of them. They're everywhere. Installation should wrap up tomorrow.

Days 22-27: Kitchen remodel

Painting is done, minus some touch-ups, I'd imagine, when everything wraps up.


Wiley is happy to be able to walk around in his kitchen again. And the floor, even after sweeping, is filthy.



Refinished fir on the left. Raw 100-year-old fir on the right. Guess where the original cabinets were? Funny thing is, when we bought the place three-plus years ago and had the linoleum ripped out, the entire floor looked worse than the section on the right.


And this is where one of the floor registers had to be moved to accommodate the new cabinets. Those new inlays will be stained to look similar to the existing stuff.

Cabinet installation starts tomorrow morning! Preliminary countertop work should begin Thursday.

Day 21: Kitchen remodel

The contractors are gone and the week - when we aren't at work - is ours to finish painting. Might post again next weekend, when painting is done and just before cabinets go in.

Day 20: Kitchen remodel

Paint's up, along with wood filler in all the not-quite-perfect spots on baseboards, windowsills and door frames.


Years after moving in, here we are back in the first room we tackled.


This is Amy's "I LOVE PRIMER" face.


Not to mention Wiley, who was thinking, "Damnit, ANOTHER house project?!?


We went with green again, but something darker than we had before. Wanted it to still compliment the purple in the nook.


It's a lot of green now, but there's a whole lot of white cabinets to come.

Day 19: Kitchen remodel

Knocking the drywall dust off and sanding the oh-so-rough baseboards leaves me one dirty dude. Maybe this is what I'll look like when I start going gray.

Days 16-18: Kitchen remodel

Mud... takes... a ... long... time... to... dry... in... a... house... with ... 100-year-old... and... wildly... uneven... walls.

Painting starts this weekend.

Day 15: Kitchen remodel

Mud's up and the walls and ceiling are starting to look like they should.



It's all filthy, and fans are blowing everywhere to help dry the mud sooner so we can get on to painting.

Day 14: Kitchen remodel

Nailing inspection down, taping and mudding under way.

Amy's birthday

To celebrate Amy's birthday, we hit the road Saturday morning for wine country, a secluded hilltop bed-and-breakfast and an escape from the mayhem that is our house lately.

A leisurely drive down involved a few stops for wine tastings along the way before reaching Youngberg Hill.


The view from outside our room this morning, on the wraparound porch overlooking one of the vineyards as the fog burns off.



The birthday girl, as we strolled around the grounds after breakfast.


The pond, from which a brigade of frogs serenaded us all night long. It felt - and sounded - secluded and peaceful and perfect. And they have great wines on site, too. (Which I blame for not seeing the lunar eclipse last night.) Plus, I'm a sucker for staying anywhere that has a remote-controlled fireplace in the bedroom.

All in all, it was a great way to clear our heads from all the chaos around us lately. We got back early this afternoon, picked Wiley up from the boarder, did a little yard work and then had a tasty birthday dinner with the gang at a fun Mexican restaurant Amy likes in Northeast. The weekend was a nice reminder that even when things seem most crazy, we're lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country, to have such a fun, good group of friends and to simply have each other.

As our buddy Erik said once or twice tonight, "Feliz!"

At last, a first

Six or so years after moving to town, and a few months after finally moving - at least temporarily - to working days - I made it to what's known as First Thursday. It's an art-gallery walk in the downtown area that has been so successful various other Thursday night art walks have sprung up elsewhere in town.

Quentin and I met up after work (Amy was at the restaurant late) and headed to Springbox, where a friend, Jim Torson, is showing. Amy and I met Jim and his wife, Sally, on our trip to Morocco. Jim's an artist, and he's created a beautiful collection of paintings from scenes and memories of his travels. In addition to seeing Jim again, I got to catch up with a few of our other Morocco traveling companions.

The show is well worth a look. For me, it brings back lots of wonderful memories of our trip. For others, it's a striking glimpse of what makes Morocco and its people so special. We just might have to find a way to get one of Jim's pieces for our house.

He's showing at Springbox throughout March. After that, his show comes to North Bank, on Vancouver's version of First Thursday in April.

Days 12-13: Kitchen remodel

The end of last week was a little crazy. So to make up for lost posts, here goes:

Good news. Deconstruction is done. Now we're on to putting the room back together. First up, drywall.


And, below, the ceiling with some of the many holes where lights will someday go.


Tomorrow should be the nailing inspection, then on to taping and mudding. Next weekend, if all stays on schedule, we should be painting.