Wine Rack

Though the kitchen project still has another 2 or 3 weeks to go until it is finished, we decided to at least try out the wine rack. I think that this feature will come in handy!

FIRST APPLIANCE WAS BEEN INSTALLED!

I am happy to report that the first appliance has been installed in the kitchen. Specifically, a GE Profile Convection/Microwave Oven Model JVM1790SK01. We used it for the first time this morining to cook a couple of breakfast sandwiches. This oven is nothing short of amazing. There are all kinds of features to it and I will need to study the owner's manual to realize the full potential of this appliance. Truth be told, I did not realize how useful this combination convection/microwave oven is going to be in our new kitchen.

The plan for next week is for tile. Lots and lots of tile. Monday is a holiday, so Jim will be back at it on Tuesday. Once the tile is down, then the rest of the appliances can be installed. With a little luck, we might have a fully functioning kitchen in 10 days or so. Updates to follow as conditions warrant.

Allie

It was a year ago today Allie left us. She was able to spend the last few weeks of her life at her favorite place on Earth: On Lake Michigan running after birds on "her beach" and chasing her Frisbee. There was nothing we would not do for her, but in the end, there was nothing we could do for her, other than kiss her goodbye and make sure that she knew that her last moments with us that she was surrounded by love. She was kind, gentle and a little mischievous, but a better dog you will never know. Allie, we miss you every day, but we know that even now, you are keeping the birds off your beach.


"Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears
but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you...
I loved you so... 'twas Heaven here with you"

Isla Paschal Richardson

Photos

OK, ok, I have been a slacker. After painting and staining and sealing for well over a week, I took a few days off from work and blogging. A lot has happened in the past few days in our kitchen project. Cabinets are now in place, and a few can lights are now in the ceiling. Our craftsman, Jim, is going to hang the microwave tomorrow and next week he will put down the tile. Hopefully, by the end of next week, the appliances will be installed and the kitchen will be functional. The final part of the project will be the installation of the quartz countertops. I have some more priming and painting to do in preparation for Jim's installation of the trim work. The transformation has been amazing.

OK, I am a little behind in my updates...

I will be the first to admit it. The past few days I have spent most of my free time staining and sealing the trim, priming all the new drywall, painting the ceiling, and tonight painting the kitchen. Deirdre took some great photos of the past few days and as soon as i have the energy to get them uploaded with some text.

I will tell you that Jim installed all the base cabinets today. These are the cabinets affixed to the floor. Deb and I painted the walls a color names "Churchill Hotel Wheat," using Valspar paint. The kitchen is now starting to look like, well, a kitchen.

Battle of the Bulge has been won!

Once again, Jim's superb woodworking knowledge and craftmanship shined as bright as ever today. Jim worked to remove the bulge from the ceiling in our kitchen. With a small hydraulic jack, some two by fours and a little brace work in our attic, the bulge was removed.






Jim then spent the rest of the day putting up another coat of mud in the kitchen along dry wall seams and anywhere a fastener was located. Tomorrow he will add a finish coat of mud, sand a little and then Deb and I will be cleared to paint the ceiling over the weekend. Deb also came by and helped me stain the trim as well as a couple of the doors. Tomorrow, we will apply some clear coat polyurethane.

Day 8: Mud, Tape and the Battle of the Bulge

Today much progress was made on the kitchen, though there was a slight set back. First, the good things. Jim taped and mudded a lot of the new dry wall. He also filled in some more dry wall where the pocket door will go. Here are a few photos:











Now for the set back. After Jim installed the dry wall to the ceiling, we noticed that there was a slight bulge along the one of the seams. Upon further investigation, Jim found that a non-load bearing joist in the ceiling needs a little tweeking. Tomorrow, Jim will work to minimize the bulge and then finish taping and mudding the rest of the dry wall. In preparation for next week, I started staining the pocket door with the assistance of our friend Deb. We applied a couple of coast of stain to one side of the door, and tomorrow night we will stain the other side. Once that stain is completely dry, I will apply a couple coats of polyeurothane to give the door a finished look. I will also start staining and sealing the trim over the course of the next few days. Little by little, our new kitchen is starting to take shape.

Drywall

Today was a day when it did not appear much was done. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Jim installed some furring strips along the walls, but the "heavy lifting" was the installation of the drywall on the ceiling. For any of you who have ever hauled, moved or otherwise hung dry wall, you know what I mean.

Tomorrow, Jim will work on the detail dry wall work, patching holes and repairing damage done when the trim was removed. Samson had to take a look at the today's work, too.

Each day brings us a little closer to the finish line.

3 for 13

As I mentioned in a previous post, the past week has been one of reflection for me. I thought about all that had happened in the course of the past year. I reflected on our fortunes of the past year and then it hit me: I have spent more time under the same roof as my spouse in the past 12 months as I had done in the past five years combined. I lived in New Orelans from 2003-2005, and then Chicago from 2005-2007 as a geographic bachelor. Sure, Dee came to visit, but only for a few weeks, total. I then started to think about how long I had been a geographic bachelor prior to my retirement. I became a geographic bachelor in the fall of 1994, so for reference purposes, call it January, 1995. I came home for good in August, 2007. The only time I co-habitated with the spousal unit was from May, 2001-June2003. Thus, in the span of 13 years, from 1995 to 2008, I have only been home for 3 of those years. I hope that this time I will be able to stay home for a bit longer!

Day 6: Appliances, windows and more electrical

Today was a day when little appeared to have been done in our kitchen project. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Jim's major task today was to wrap the four kitchen windows with coated aluminum. True to his persnicketiness, Jim was careful and thorough during his work on the windows. He also discovered that the the frame for one of the old windows was not mechanically attached to the house. The window was held in place by the friction generate between the window and the frame. Needless to say, Jim rectified that problem and affixed the window frame to the house. Yep, we are still finding little gremlins left behind by the previous owners.

Back to what else happened today. At 8AM my cell phone rang and it was the delivery truck from the GE Store. They told me that they would arrive in about 20 minutes to deliver our appliances. True to his word, 20 minutes later the GE truck arrived and they offloaded the fridge, range, dishwasher, beverage fridge and microwave. Our garage is slowly filling up with the appliances that will give our kitchen life. Paul the master electrician returned today, along with his son Matt, to do more work in roughing out the electrical fixtures and switches. There are also yards and yards of electrical wire in stuffed into the overhead of our basement, which Paul & Matt have carefully laid out for when they do the finish work in a week or two. I spoke to Paul about a couple of electrical issues and he seemed pleased with how the job is progressing. He said to me, "This is a large project and I do not want to get behind Jim's work."

Of course, Samson had to check things out during the work today. I took personal day today so I could be here for the delivery of the appliances. To be honest, I could have gone into work this afternoon following the delivery, but I was able to catch up on a few projects that I had been meaning to do for a while. Since I was taking today off, we did not take Samson to doggie daycare. In order to keep him out of the builder's way, Samson will spend the day at Whiskers any day during this project when neither Deirdre or I are home. Today, I kept Samson with me, and I put him in his crate the two times I left the house to run errands. Samson happily went into his crate each time I told him to go there, but the puppy treats helped, too! When I was home Samson had free run of the house and he kept out of the way of Jim and Paul, though he wanted to supervise the work going on in the kitchen. It is just a manifestation of one of his primal GSD instincts: standing guard. Jim and Paul were well supervised as you can see from the photo to the left. It is always good to have a GSD keeping watch on your home.