wet tiles

someone around here is getting a lot of work done. thank you, santos!

i came home to this lovely, hand-written note, written just for me. he really cares. well, actually, he may be writing these for all the people he does work for. he may actually be carrying this one sign from site to site, for all i know. he may have been using this one for eight years. but no matter, i was very touched when i read it, so i will not step on wet tiles until tomorrow when, apparently, it will be ok. 

today was floor-guys day number 2 and now the floor is almost done. just some grout and then i officially have a new floor. it looks a little like leather. it also looks like steel. will you please make up my mind?

the blue lines are to help me know which tiles are still wet and where i might be able to step. and those little white things are spacers. here, have a closer look:

santos asked me how much space i wanted between the tiles, 1/8" or 1/16"?  so here we have spacers setting the 1/16" gap between tiles. ingenious. 

this is a bug's-eye view of the kitchen. to an ant, my kitchen will seem especially huge and a little intimidating. now i feel bad for being so big. i really would have gotten my money's worth if i was only 2 mm tall. 

perhaps now would be a good time to field some of the many questions sent to me every day. 

Q. my husband loves lemon meringue pies, but every time i make one, the meringue drops. it looks great when i first take it out of the oven, but then it just flattens. what's the secret to a high, fluffy meringue?

A .  don't  you mean insulation? 

click!

Q. can flour explode?

A.  yes.   

click!

Q. when will we have another opportunity to see madly-coiled blue thing?

A.  click!

that's all for now. have a great weekend!

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floored

i had a terrible thought today: what if i don't like it? what if i've made some bad choices that will ruin everything? it is possible. and there's not a lot to be done about it once things are in place. that was my thought. do you get these thoughts?

the floor started going in this morning. suddenly there was a bit of time available, so they started today and will finish tomorrow.  here, have a look:

to cut the tiles, first,  the ceramic saw was planted in the garden outside by the street. then they proceeded to grow lots of noise. tomorrow they will be back to finish the noise they started today. apparently, noise grows like weeds around construction sites. and somehow, this noise is loud enough to cut the tiles. 

i will have to pick a color for the grout. sable brown, tobacco brown or new taupe. what do you think? 

then again, there is practically a crayola-wide spectrum of colors to choose from. can you believe there are so many? i could choose something really wild, like lipstick, but it might ruin my appetite for twizzlers and twinkies. so maybe not. but there are a lot to choose from. do you think the box has a sharpener on the back? 

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for julia

another day, another storage opportunity. 

here we have something tall and thin, like we saw yesterday. except taller and thinner so that it may be too big for spaghetti.  i will have to fill it with something else. any ideas?  if all else fails, i'll just store the refrigerator in there. 

everything is nice and square. this is the first time i'm seeing these panels. the wood is actually quite beautiful. we had to make a choice about which side would be the one to show — each had its appeal. when you finally come over, i think you'll agree, we made the best decision.

the other thing that happened today is this weirdo looking panel that juts out of nowhere. it seems to make no sense now, but just you wait. the sense is coming. all i can say is that it involves a dishwasher and a counter.  that's probably not helpful, bit it's all i got.

since there will be lulls in this blog due to construction down time, i'm wondering what i will do with my time. i've been doing research on things to cook and celebrity chefs and what better way to kick off my project than by studying from the master, Julia Child? here is a favorite video of her making a dinner a la Professor Philip Morrison, scientist and carbon atom enthusiast. i think once you watch it you will understand her ever-lasting allure. be sure to watch it all the way to the end. bon appetite!

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storage

this much trash in the prep room can only be good news. it means that more cabinets have been unwrapped and moved in! the pressure is on to get all the cabinets in place for templating the counter next week. 

as you can see, it is really happening.

did you notice the cabinets down at the far end? they are very special. one is fat and one is thin. it can only mean one thing. 

one is for storing spaghetti. the other will be for the sauce. my kitchen will be perfect in every detail.

here is the pantry. i can't believe i will have a pantry. ed suggests i store twinkies. i think this will be the perfect place for them.  the pantry was going to be 28" wide — wide enough for plenty of twinkies. but since then, i have had to reduce the size to 24." so i will have to squish them. but they will bounce right back! that's one of the fantastic things about artificial food — it behaves in ways totally inappropriate and yet occasionally useful.

 right now someone is busy preparing for my order. she looks like this:

i could take a few pointers from the design of her industrial style kitchen. and the shower cap is something i guess i should consider.

later in the day, joanne and i did a bit more refining of the sink plans and came to this conclusion:

all in all, i think it will be quite nice. the two faucets will reach where they need to reach, without hitting each other. and one will come with a sprayer so you should watch your back when you come to visit. but don't worry, i will supply you with a shower cap of your own.

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imagine

today i found out jetton has assigned me my very own binder. and a drawer!  i worked for an architect years ago, and they always had binders and drawers for clients. to find myself now having the same is really quite mind blowing. i never thought it would be my name on one of these. 

your turn: close your eyes and imagine your very own binder and drawer. dreams do come true!

of course, i guess i could have made my own binder, ten feet tall and red, if i wanted. but it's very different when someone else does it for you. so when you imagine your binder and drawer, make sure you imagine someone else making it for you. that will be better.  

lots of activity around the kitchen today, and a bit in the living room, as the cabinets are gradually migrating from one room to the other.  see?  cabinets are starting to arrive! here we have the north side of the kitchen:

underneath the sink: all the pipes nicely fit. look! no leaks! perfect. i had a spare outlet put in,  just because i could. nothing will be plugged in there. maybe a night light if i get scared. what would you plug in?

the south side of the kitchen. stove flanked by loyal cabinet comrades.

 today we had to do a mock up of the height of the cabinets with the counter. it will be slightly higher than the average counter, so i guess i will have to wear my stilettos while cooking. then we decided how far out the counter will come. it will come out slightly farther than expected, so i will have to be careful not to bump into it while wearing my stilettos. we checked out the floor tile layout to make final decisions on placement. the floor will be ceramic and harder than my old linoleum, so i will have to be careful not to drop any glass on the floor while i'm carefully avoiding the counters in my stilettos.  essentially, i will enter the kitchen at my own risk. wavy gravy has a circus camp which might prove to be a useful activity to consider for the summer. 

since joanne came over to give her expert advice, everything was going well. UNTIL WE GOT TO THE SINK. that's when the panic set in.  it's the wrong size for the faucet. change the faucet? no. change the sink. that's the priority. faucet over sink.  because it's a very special faucet and a less than special sink. so if it's a rock-paper-scissors kind of thing, faucet wins over sink. sink probably wins over something, but it hasn't won yet, so i don't know. maybe plumbing. yes, sink wins over plumbing. but does plumbing win over faucet? no. plumbing springs a leak. plumbing over flooring? yes. but i digress...

so now i'm back to reconsidering sinks and faucet placements and  i had hoped this was all decided but i guess you never really finish up with decisions too early in the game. that much was decided a long time ago. 

here is my gas shut-off valve! did you recognize it? it has a new home, within cabinet "H" next to the stove. nicely hidden in the drawer. 

and i would like to introduce you to a new tool that appeared today. this was it's first day here, so i hope all the other tools were nice to it. the first day is always a little awkward. especially if you are a tool. this is hitachi. it sits next to madly-coiled blue thing and seems a bit menacing. robert deniro in taxi kind of thing. you talkin' to me?  ummm, err, no. 

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the happenings

today had a lot of things happening. plastering is all done, so it was time to put a primer coat on the kitchen. no pictures, since here, white is white and really, who cares? now, i know i'm going to be getting all kinds of letters from white-enthusiasts all across america saying "white matters! we care!" and, though it may be very true, it's just not very exciting to a web site like mine. so get over yourself white lovers! geez! 

anyway, where was i, oh yes, it was a busy day. once beyond the whole white-out in the kitchen, our man, nate, started laying it all out, diagrams and everything.  he seems to have considered all my additional calculations very seriously. i think it is going well. he has the placement of every panel, appliance and cabinet all worked out.  it's quite a process. 

all laid out, and ready for the items!

and right when he was getting things done, appliances arrived! perfect timing. what do you suppose is in this box? i know but i'm not going to ruin the surprise. okay, okay...... it's jack benny! 

hey, madly coiled blue-thing! what are you doing here? this is not in your contract! and you haven't even lifted a coil all day!

let's move on, shall we?...

here we have my new stove! and it has already made friends with side cabinet "G." how nice. i get the feeling they will soon be inseparable. 

the stove has an extra feature i didn't know about. some kind of bar that attaches to the front, which enables you to put HUGE size pots on the stove, allowing them to stick out beyond the front. clearly an italian feature, meant for large feasts and big families. i will have to run out and borrow oversized pots and a large italian family just to try it out.

the stove comes with top burners! how fantastic!

here they are again. still together. what a cute pair they make, from every angle.

here are some color samples. hard to really get a sense of it, but you can see the wood, white concrete, floor tile, back splash, paint and laminate.

hey what's going on in the drawer? 

is that you madly coiled blue-thing? ...

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tools of the trade

since we are still in the plaster stages of this crazy show, i thought i would take a little time to introduce you to more of the tools that have had starring roles around here.

®®®®®

first off, we have "madly coiled blue-thing that sits by the window." never seen it in use, but it takes up a good deal of space so it is likely the biggest star. it probably demanded its own dressing room and sparkling water, but was sadly told to "get your coil out of the clouds" and get real.   hmmfff

then there is broom.  more of a loner-harrison-ford type, it likes to do its own stunts. and it's really pretty good for its age.

coiled blue-thing's contract stipulates that we give it another shot in this third scene, preferably on its good side (there, are you satisfied?):

here we have the dynamic duo, ladder and level. right now they are looking pretty casual, just out having a smoke. but they are actually some of the most skilled and sought after tools around and should be given much higher billing than they are getting here. i think they need a new agent. 

i was going to talk a bit about lights and mysterious hoses here, but as you can see, once again coiled blue-thing has stolen the lime light. it think i will nick name it clinton.

mask. it's a union gig. what more can i say?

floor. not so much a tool, but a necessity. where would we be without you? i would be forced to continually spin the room so everything would stick to the walls. i am so glad i have a floor. 

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