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.

Exhaltation Desolation Exhaltation Desolation Exhaltation

You get the picture.  It's been a ride since I last wrote on August 31.

"How's the house coming?" people ask.
"I thought we were working hard on it before", starts my most frequent response "but now it has taken over."

A typical day: up early (OK:  early for us),  breakfast, straight into the house.  I'm mainly installing the electrical trim-out, Neal is finishing up the thousands of pieces of wood that have to be cut, planed, sanded, varnished, and installed.  In the afternoon I leave to go to work, he stays in the house.  At the end of the work day I run with the horse, Neal runs with himself, and then we're back in the house.  He leaves to start dinner at 8 or so, and I come in at 8:30 to eat.  I finish washing the dishes by 9:30, and then we collapse on the sofa for a few minutes before bed.  We've become big fans of series reruns like Northern Exposure or Downton Abbey:  one episode to clear our brains, then it's off to bed.

And happily for all, that's all the details I'll give.

Instead, here are some images that illustrate the swings from extreme pleasure (we did it, look at that!) to desolation (one more problem to research, make numerous phone calls about, and take steps to reverse  --  or just learn to live with).

I'll start with September.

Starting with the most difficult tiles - the ones hanging against gravity -

and the shower base.  To be determined:  will it drain correctly?

Limestone wall tiles hung, but not grouted.

 Shower completed and grouted

What a joy, to do the second bathroom!  Not a question of the 'first time' anymore, and I manage installation of the under-floor heating quickly and more precisely.  Will it work?  We'll see.

The travertine remnants we bought for $3.50/square foot laid up beautifully. Now I've done the grouting and the first coat of sealant.  No base in yet.

 Elsewhere, the tinkertoys have changed a bit.  Now we have kitchen components in the living room, trim begun but not completed.  And is that green on the back wall?  Hm, seems to be a different color these days.

 After Neal's stint on San Juan assisting a master cabinet maker in her workshop, here is the first of the components that he installs -  part of the bookcase in the living room.  A big wow for us, to see cabinetry come into the house.

Hack Rabbit

Before I met Neal, if you had asked me - "Rabbit or Turtle?", I'd have known without thinking: Rabbit.

Ha.

Compared with this Aquarian, I'm just a hack.  And he, at this (after dark, after hours) moment, is embodying bunny, bunny of the plaster.  Here's why.

 

Orange plaster in the bedroom?   Blue plaster in the bedroom?  These are early phases.

This was in late July, when two walls were transformed into the final finish -  a custom, sumptuous plaster.  One of the ingredients is melted olive oil soap, which makes a smooth, glass-like texture on the burnished areas. While "chocolate leather" may not remind you of walls, we find it hugely satisfying, and love what he's created.

Then he worked on the flooring, went to Hornby, worked a bit, visited with relatives, and this week took the girls to the mountains for a few days.  On his first day back we had a meeting about Uma's back-to-school, and I came home at 8:30 pm to find this:

A new pile dominating Neal's studio, which is part of our interior door order.

And a midnight plasterer (with his trusty shadow), finishing the bedroom.

In this video, the (just released) Bowie tune perfects the scene.

The photo doesn't begin to show the quality of the plaster...or the amount of sheer intention it takes to mix, lay up and burnish...but Neal pulls it off.

a little B & E in the morning

So, while Neal was back up on Hornby, I was - where? As usual, here on Lopez.  The cat was pleased.

But I did get in some solid tiling sessions.

Because the wood flooring had fresh finish on it, there was only one way to get in the bathroom:  through the window.  So I set up a ladder, and crawled in and out, in and out.  Here's a shot through the window that shows the kickstep for the vanity, and the primer that I painted on the floor.

These are the cardboard dams that I built to contain the floor leveling compound.

And here's why:  we're splurging on heating elements under the tile, for our damp and chilly (9 month long) 'temperate' season.  Here they are, held in place with a glue gun.  I did this on a Saturday morning.  And found out that one of the blue tubes the electricians installed in the wall for the wiring (look to the left in this photo) did not end in the wall box.  Uh-oh.  Now what do I do?

I ended up taping the wire to the wall, and waiting until Monday.  And finding out that the wire exits under the box, not in it.  Well, the upstairs bathroom will be easier.

Then, two bags of leveling compound.  Much easier to use than I expected...how often can we say that??

The travertine floor tile, fully installed (four sessions later) but not grouted.

Here's the shower pan with grouting complete on the left side.  Looks nice with grout!

And here's a photo of the completed floor, grouted and sealed.  The photo looks plain, the actual is fabulous.  We love it.

A BIG (gentle) Step

And why is the frig and bathtub in the entry? 

Time to tape off the doorways to rooms with tile floors.  Neal has finished laying the fir flooring.

 












He rented two sanders, a drum and an orbital.  For three solid days, he followed the things over the floors.  And over, and over.

  

He asked why the orbital didn't come with a bag to catch the dust it generates.  "They were combusting." he was told.  So he hooked the shop vac up to the sander instead.

I took the sanders back to the mainland, and Neal started applying layers of Waterlox, an oil-based finish that we used in the Studio and liked.  Three days and three coats later, we could peer through the windows at the beautiful floors.

The next morning, he left for Hornby.  When he came home, the floors were dry enough to be walked on (gently).

Color Blocking

No, not the summer issue of Vogue!  Our woodstove surround...

After installing the front doors, Neal stapled down the floor lining, and started on the fir flooring.  Notice that the window trim is installed and has finish. What a difference trim makes.

Then, halfway through the living room, he started a series of watercolor sketches.  We held these up in front of our faces and squinted, to make them fill the space behind the woodstove.  We choose our favorite, and then he made a plaster sample (see the panel to the left, on the floor).

Here is the completed fresco.  Now he can finish the ceiling molding and the floor.  In the meanwhile, I'm back on the tile in the downstairs bathroom.

Almost forgot. In the midst of things, we had to meet a semi between 11-2:00 on a street in Anacortes, to pick up our kitchen cabinets.

Not knowing how much volume the cabinets would be, or if it would rain, we rented a UHaul for a day, and borrowed a burly truck.  We drove up literally right after the semi arrived, and easily loaded the cabinets in the UHaul.  So easily, Neal decided to go pick up more fir flooring.

We got home, and then realized we had to unload before dark, to get the truck back in the morning.  Kenny, help!!  And he did.  Ken, thank you thank you.

Here's our kitchen, waiting in the laundry room and mud room for the floors to be completed.  We opened one box to see  -   can't wait to install them.

Where have we been?

I'm getting a sense from Neal (former track guy) that he's sensing the finish line is near.  It's not anything he's said:  it's just that he's ON IT.

If he's not rolling on another coat of paint, he's rustling through the trim pile, or comparing his latest plaster samples.  He comes back on-island with his truck full of wood; fir flooring, bead board, then gorgeous hunks of cedar and fir from Egg Lake Sawmill on San Juan.

Uma's room, with a few paint options on the wall
 (Benjamin Moore now has pints to check color: it's pretty much made for people like us)

And here's her finished room (notice that it's not blue), complete with trim!  It is the last of the alder that we milled from our land.  The live edges on the sills are particularly nice.

Here's the living room, ready for paint.

This is just one of the combinations we've tried.  You'll have to visit to see the final colors.

Neal at his chopping station, working on window trim.

Deenah, checking out the kitchen.  And, June is for the Gemini's!

Mom is first.  She, Dad and I met at the same
beach we've been going to for - how long - almost 50 years?! She showed me an album she's making of our house construction, a well-timed reminder of just how far we've come in the past year.  Thanks, Mom, it's wonderful!

 Uma's next...

then it's my turn.  Happy Birthdays!!