October Flashes By

Big Exhaltation.  Neal turned cabinet installer, and true to form managed it beautifully.

But wait - what am I remembering - is it the discovery that 33"w sink base cabinets are no longer the norm, and the sink we have chosen is too large?

Or that the upper cabinet that was supposed to support the exhaust hood puts it at the perfect height for Jan, but directly in the line of sight for Neal, who happens to do the cooking? Our cabinet supplier hadn't mentioned this detail, and we didn't think of it. So now the replacement cabinet (that we'll have to pay for ) isn't due to arrive until December 5th. And won't line up with the cabinet you see above.

Or that two base cabinets were incorrect (not our fault, and not our responsibility) ... but we had to wait to start the install until one was modified and another was shipped to us...

There are a string of petit desolations for this photo...but I'll desist.

Because in the end, it's coming together.

Interestingly, about half of the people who walk in the kitchen at this stage comment on how small it is.  The others?  "What a big kitchen!"

Next:  the Saga of the Stone begins.
It's one of our big splurges - stone for the countertops.  It was a splurge because it's something we couldn't do ourselves, and so paid others to do.

This is The Pink.  We spotted the remnant during one of our stone runs to Seattle, tucked in the corner of a fabricator's boneyard. It had been there for years, waiting for us.  It is so unusual and delightful that we came home sure that we had to use it somewhere. 

After MUCH deliberation, we decided on a remnant for one bath that was from the same shop as the kitchen stone.  Easy:  they take care of the transport, fabrication, templates, and installation.

The other bath counter, though, was from the same shop as The Pink.  So Neal built this bomber support rack (which the guys admired), and drove to Seattle with the sink and a template that he made.  Uh - drove the night before, since it had to be at the shop at 8am.

Wait.  Wasn't that also when the sink was shipped to Everett when expected, but then sat in a storage room waiting for the Lopez freight truck to make its' twice-a-week-run?  And Pete, the owner, gave Neal the codes to the gate and the storage room, advised taking a headlamp, and let him pick it up and take it with him to Seattle?

 Exhaltation:  the counter made it all the way home.  We love it.

And check out that incredible cabinet that Neal made with Margie.  More Exhaltation.

But wait.  The guys at the shop suggested that because the sink has a rolled edge, we should reduce the size of the cut-out.  Too bad no one thought to hold the sink up to the modified hole.  Drive it all the way back to Seattle to fix?

Enter the guys who are providing the kitchen counters.  These are the templates that they built to take back to their shop.  Which is in Mount Vernon - much closer than Seattle.

Back onto the truck support goes the slab, to be modified and brought back to us by the this crew.

And a few simultaneous projects:

Here's a preview of the travertine for the hearth. Here I've set it, using a grinder for the soft curved edge. 

And the bookcase is in.  Hello - Exhaltation! 

I'm taking perverse pleasure in dedicating such a prominent part of the living room to the soon-to-be-obsolete BOOK.