"A Change of Pace....."

The only work done yesterday, was snow shoveling....off the driveway, steps, deck, roof, and a path out to the chicken coop.  Not once, but at least twice by both of us.....and the snow continued falling.  Today will be yet another day of shoveling.....BUT.......the sky is clear and it is colder, so snow (ice?) removal will be a bit harder, although yesterdays was no picnic due to it being wet and heavy.

It is beautiful.......

Rob's poor little Redbud tree took a hit though.......

Here is what we woke up to this morning.....a huge branch ripped from our Maple tree out front, alongside another one that came from a tree across the street.

Rob has already removed the broken limb from his Redbud tree.

This is our Evergreen which spreads its limbs over the driveway.  Notice the limbs hanging almost vertically "into" the driveway?  That is how heavy the snow was/is.......

I'm sure more photos will be taken of our "Winter Wonderland" today.  I'll have to say my mantra while shoveling...."isn't this beautiful....isn't this beautiful.....isn't this beautiful".   ;)

"Next Step in the Kitchen Remodel....."

Yesterday saw the demise of the old exhaust fan/hood.  Our new one is here, but will be hung after the cabinets are refaced.  The soffit needs to be cut back a bit more and the area patched with new drywall once the new exhaust fan bracket has been properly secured to the ceiling/rafters.

It truly is amazing how large and spacious the kitchen seems with the end hanging cabinet and exhaust fan/hood gone.

"North Dakota Toy Maker at it Again!"

I liked the title of this post.......it sounds like a breaking story newspaper headline!   :)  Which, in a way it is.......at least for those of us who know and love seeing the things Jonathan creates out of wood.   :)  This time he used Maple and Walnut.

Our former neighbor, Jonathan, has been making future "family heirlooms" again.  This time he made his son Simon a "flatbed truck".

Jonathans attention to detail is something I really admire.

Of course, the walnut slatted sides are removable, too.........

Depending on the load the truck is carrying.   ;)

Simon now has something that will be treasured for the rest of his life and can be passed along to future generations.

Henry and Simon certainly are proud of their new trucks made by their Dad, Jonathan........they have their own "live in" Master Woodworker!   ;)

"Flooring In and Grouted!"

Mike and AJ arrived early yesterday morning to complete the job of laying our new vinyl floor in the kitchen.

Here is AJ beginning to grout between the tiles as Mike is working in the cooking part of the kitchen laying the rest of the tiles.

I'm sure I drove them crazy with my taking so many photos.....

You can see in these last 2 photos how the grout really helps define each tile compared to the newly laid tiles in this one.

Miracle workers and professionals that Mike and AJ are, they moved the refrigerator back into place after grouting its area.  As you can see, this shows where most of the kitchen "stuff" ended up.  Things would be moved around at the beginning and end of each day because of the tight space.

Some photos of the finished floor.  As you can see, we definitely need to replace the old heat register vents, too.  Ugh!

The new countertop and flooring certainly re-enforce the need for refacing the cabinets!

The spool rack I was given worked perfectly to block entrance into the kitchen.  Poor Copper is not a happy girl with only having access to a few rooms.

The plumber comes today around noon to re-attach the ice maker water line and the gas to the stove.  After that, the furniture can be moved back into place and some sort of "normalcy" will be back into our lives.  The next phase of the remodel is the refacing of the cabinets.  Hopefully, Tim, the cabinet man, will have all of the drawer fronts, doors, and panels (for places as shown in the above photo and around the doors and drawers), ready to go on soon.  Of course, when that part is finished, Rob and Franklin begin their work of painting.  All of this "turmoil" will be SO worth it when it is all complete!

"Going, Going, Gone!"

Mike and AJ, our expert flooring installers, removed the old carpeting and linoleum.

AJ had a less easy time than what Mike did with the carpeting, when removing the metal edging from along the linoleum.

Quite a bit of prep work had to take place prior to the sub-flooring being laid.......

This is where things stood at lunchtime......

This photo shows the "ghost prints" of tile that had been on the kitchen floor prior to the linoleum.

After they got back from lunch, Mike began marking the layout of how the tiles would be installed.

After his lines/markers were set, the sub-flooring that would have tile laid yesterday was covered with glue (seen as the sheen on the sub-flooring in the photo).  After it set for an amount of time, Mike began laying the 16" x 16" tiles and AJ  began cutting/trimming tiles to fit along the edge of the room.

As you can see, Mike was able to lay the whole tiles quicker than AJ could measure and trim the ones along the rooms edge.

By the end of the work day, the whole kitchen was prepped and more than one half of the kitchen had tile laid.

This morning will see the rest of the tile laid and the grout applied to the entire kitchen.  It will become a "NO ADMITTANCE" zone until Thursday morning.  Oh darn.....that means we have to go out for dinner!  Shucks.......   ;)

"Old Flooring........"

Today begins the installation of the new flooring.  Here are the kitchen "before" photos.....

"More Kitchen Work...."

We also decided to have Rob and Franklin remove the upper end kitchen cabinet.  We wanted to let in more natural light.  That happened yesterday, along with finishing the last of the drywall.  The "classic" stove hood will also be replaced, and the soffit removed above both spaces, allowing a more "uncluttered" visual to the room and outside.

As seen in this view from the cooking area.......

It truly is amazing how much larger the room "feels" with the dark paneling and end cabinet gone.  The drywall is up and the first coat of "mud" on. They'll return this AM to put on another coat of mud.

As intrusive as this updating has been, it is worth every inconvenience.  We have to keep our eyes on the prize at the end of it all.  :)

"New Countertops.....INSTALLED!"

As scheduled, the countertop installer, Ed, showed up soon after 8 AM.  He was amazing!  I helped him very little with moving the countertop sections.......he really did most of the carrying himself.  He'd set up his mini workshop outside the back door (thankfully it wasn't raining) and each piece went in and out until he was satisfied with how they fit.

His first plan of action was to remove the sink, pull out the stove, and disassemble the old countertop.  Disassembling meant freeing it from the cabinets, then cutting it into smaller pieces.

He was very good about letting me slip in to take a few photos as the work progressed, too.  Here, all the old is out and the new pieces are about to be lifted up to the cabinet tops so he can begin the final fitting.  Interesting to see the old wallpaper.  At one point, the kitchen must have been gutted, wallpapered, and new cabinets installed.   ;)

The 2 largest sections up on the cabinets.  We made one change from what the old countertop covered and added 10" to the back of the section closest to me in the photo, creating an extension for a "bar or eating" area.

I thought I would point out that not all of the cabinets are original.  The 3 drawer section on the right is new since I moved here in 2005, thus the different drawer hardware and interior.  That spot originally had a trash compacter in it.

The finished installation!  This is also provides a good view of the extra countertop that we'll use for the "bar and/or eating" area.  10" doesn't sound like much, but we tested it and it was perfect.  :)  Now we'll have to find a couple of nice stools.......

I thought I should include a photo that was taken without the camera flash and with the "over the sink" light off, too.   :)

 To add even more happiness to our day, I received a call from our flooring company and the flooring we ordered has arrived.  They'll be delivering it this Thursday so that it can "acclimate" to our house temperature/humidity, and the installation process will begin NEXT TUESDAY!!!!  (process starts with removal of the old floor coverings and then whatever prep is needed before the actual installation of the tiles)

Rob and Franklin will be here this morning to finish hanging the new drywall and begin the mudding/sanding process to prepare the wall for the final finish.  Things certainly are moving along nicely!   :)