Friday, November 27

First Shower Since Leveling the Floor

I have not had a shower in my own bathroom since we had some foundation work done and levelled the house. That's when we cracked open the shower pan and tiles but good. I think that was February 2009.
Today is the day after Thanksgiving and I have something to really be thankful for.
John gave me the go ahead to use the new walk-in shower. The grout around the window has been curing for a couple of days and now it is ready.
He may be worried about the grout, but I held my breath as I turned on the shower, focusing all my attention on the drain. It ran perfectly. The water made a clean, smooth, easy departure. Yea!
My old faithful DWP low-flow shower head gives me great coverage and the spray lands well within the "shower footprint". It is comfortable on my head, neck and shoulders and can I ask more than that? The new shower valve is a modern, title 24-compliant, one-handled model. I wish it gave me just a little more pressure, but - really - I'm not complaining.
The Takagi on-demand water heater delivers an endless stream of hot water with a little bit of burner-roar in the service porch. I never have to leave the shower again.

Thursday, November 26

Thanksgiving!

It has been about five days of unpacking, shopping, cleaning and cooking. I can't believe I made it to Thanksgiving with all my hair and fingernails intact. Suffice it to say that there were late nights, lots of dust and oily newsprint residue everywhere. Our recycling bin is packed to the gills with carefully flattened boxes and rolled newspaper.

It was a holiday to try the best of us, but I am surrounded by the best family, so we took it in stride.

Mom got a touch of the flu earlier in the week so she didn't arrive until Turkey Day. That might have been for the best because the shower is not ready yet. Oh, and the kitchen counters have not arrived yet so there is no plumbing. I have a lovely porcelain sink serviced by a five-gallon tank for incoming water and a one-gallon bucket under the drain.  I try to catch most of the water in a basin before it reaches the drain then dispose of it in the toilet. There is running water and a drain at the bathroom vanity so we are not completely roughing it. I owe a HUGE thank you to Janet and John for carrying the bulk of our dinner dishes upstairs to wash in their kitchen.


My brother fetched my Mom from Lindsay (thanks for driving, John!) and then picked up his own family in Newbury Park. Lillie made the vegetable placecards to prove that we were all at dinner on Cashio Street. We enjoyed roast turkey with two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, spinach, roast acorn squash, fresh cranberries, olives, pickles, home-baked crescent rolls, crudite and assorted appetizers and real pumpkin pie.


It was a feast to remember. The leftovers will be yummy, too.

Tuesday, November 24

Moving in

Still waiting for countertops but I've invited my family to Thanksgiving dinner. Justin gave me the go ahead to move into the kitchen so I've taken this holiday week off from work and I'm unpacking and cooking up a storm.
How nice to revisit Barack Obama's inauguration coverage in the boxes with my dishes, cookware and pantry ittems.

Saturday, November 7

What are we waiting for. . .

Glass
The shower head and valves are installed but untested. The floor is beautiful with a nice slope to the ample floor drain.  If only there was glass to seal the wall between the bathroom and the service porch and to contain the shower splash and protect the vanity.  The 5/8ths inch cross-reed 8mm glass I originally selected is not available and will not be available in any predictable time-frame.
So, I selected a different glass called Master Ligne. Now, I'm nervously awaiting the sample and  hope it is not too "revealing".

Flange 3500095
The vanity is installed and finished. The stone counter is almost there - it just needs another polish to clean up some tool marks. The basin is ready to plumb. One faucet valve had to be reset and it is ready to go but . . . one of the flanges was missing from the box and a duplicate of another part was in there instead.  Flange 3500095 is on order.

Stone
The cabinets are installed and the finish is beautifully applied.  The kitchen sink is sitting in its niche awaiting plumbing. The stove has been tested and is standing in its nook awaiting final installation. If only there was a countertop. The Caesarsone guy came out weeks ago and measured. But, the rosemary-colored material I specified was out of stock. Should be available in another week.

Lights
That's on me.  I need to make the final selection of three sconces and four ceiling fixtures.  This weekend for sure.

Knobs and pulls.
Again, that's on me. More decisions.

Monday, November 2

Torture

Before I went to work this morning, I saw my beautiful new range finally set in place (just temporarily as we are still waiting for the Caesarstone counter top). Justin, Jose and I tested the electric oven and the gas cook top. Everything was working.  The clock flashed 12:00AM - 12:00AM - 12:00AM.
So naturally, all the way home, the idea of a pan of hot biscuits danced in my head. Convection baking is supposed to make crisper crusts and lighter biscuits. Mmmmm.
When I arrived home all thought of biscuits was driven from mind by the plastic and paper swaddling the range, range hood and everything else that is not oak cabinetry.  Of course, I would not be baking - the finishers had just started their process.  Day one of three and I have to say it looks beautiful by flashlight.

I hope I'll be baking biscuits by the weekend.