Clouds, Cats, and Continues

The clouds before the storm this morning were beautiful.  The power wires, not so much. The storm missed us, but we still got a show.

 



Here is the great Big Tuna Breath wearing her feathered headdress. Walt Kowalski "tortures" all of them equally.  This was Oreo's turn.

Finally the continues or rather the To Be Continueds.  Updates on several items for those who asked.

1.  The shrubs that one neighbor cut that belong to another neighbor (Drama and Windows) are still laying in the yard.  They haven't moved and are now dry.  No one has even attempted to clean up the pile. 

2.  The ladder is still leaning against the house of the Yellers who live above the Cat Ranch.  8 weeks and counting. 

3.  Big Jim's house next door has got lots of improvements!  They removed the fence in the front yard and put in new plants and mulch.  They got a new roof and new windows and siding are on the list!  Great improvements for the neighborhood.

Bits and Pieces

I hate wasting anything.  It makes me very angry when I lose a vegetable in the fridge and it spoils.  You should see what I do to the toothpaste tube.  When I can't squeeze anymore out, I cut the end off and I can get 2 more weeks of tooth brushing from that tube.

Walt Kowalski just rolls his eyes at me. 

What? There's more inside.  Lotion tubes, peanut butter jars, the crumbs a the bottom of the bag of chips, makeup containers. There is always more product inside that tube or bottle or jar.  It becomes a challenge to get every last drop. 

Just as I think Walt Kowalski is rolling his eyes, he turns out to be a non-waster, too. 

With any project (tile, laminate floor, drywall, paint) there is always some left over.  Sometimes, like paint, it's just extra in the gallon.   A extra paint is never a bad thing.  Sometimes, like tile, it's all the little pieces that were cut off for installation around registers and corners.  Not full pieces, not even half pieces. 

Walt Kowalski saved them all.  And he used them all.  Around the pipes coming from the basement.  There will always be cabinets in the kitchen.  These tile will never be seen unless the cabinets are replaced. Even then, the tile will only be seen momentarily until the new cabinets are installed. 

 
I'll fill in the spaces with extra grout.

 
While Walt Kowalski was using up the tile pieces, I was using up the drywall pieces.  The stairs up to the attic and down to the basement needed drywall.  We left both for last for this exact reason.  the insulation needed covered, but the drywall and plaster didn't need to be perfect like the other walls in the house.  

The laundry room walls were next on our list. 

 

 

Three walls done.  1 ceiling and 1 wall to go. 

 



Floors, Floors, Floors

The kitchen floor to be specific.

First, we screwed the cement board down to the plywood.  This helped removed any bounce from the current plywood floor and prepared the floor for the mortar AND created an additional water barrier. 

 
Then, came the mixing of the mortar.  I'm a good cement mixer. {Insert Italian joke here} I say it's because I'm a good baker.

 Doesn't it look like brownie mix?  Now I'm hungry for brownies.

 
5 minutes of mixing.  Water, cement, water, cement, mix, mix, stir, stir.

The instructions say to wait 5 to 10 minutes after initial mixing. 
 

 
Walt Kowalski said 'You know what you can do in 5 to 10 minutes?'

 
'Don't take my picture!' Walt Kowalski said.  'Fine.  I will wear my pencil mustache disguise. Nobody will know it's me.'  He cracks me up. 

The pencil mustache is also a thinking position as needed. 

 
The placement of the first tile requires a LOT of thinking and measuring. 

Where do we want to start the first full tile? 
Where do we want to start the first full row of tile?
Where will the last cut tile end?  
Where do we want the last cut tile to end?  Here?  Or here? 
What if we adjust this way a bit? 
What if we adjust that way a bit?
Big grout line? Little grout line?  No grout line?
Where is the flow of traffic? 
Where are the cabinets? Where is the door?

Things we have planned and talked about numerous times.  Now it was crunch time.
We got a plan and the first row installed. I mix and smooth the mortar onto the floor, Walt Kowalski uses the concrete trowel (not to be confused with a gardening trowel) to scrape off the excess and get the proper depth. 

We decided on the tiniest grout lines and to alternate the tile pattern in a brick formation so the grout lines are not straight or stacked.  This way we hope to disguise the crookedness of the house.  I already marked the center of the tiles and Walt Kowalski places the tile in the mortar. We do make a good team. 

 

 

 

 

 

That was the end of day one.  We started at the front of the kitchen, at the breakfast nook by wall divider between the nook and the living room. We knew saw we were going to "paint" ourselves into a corner, so we planned ahead and put a ladder at the back door.  This way if we couldn't jump over the finished tile to leave, we would have an escape hatch. 
 
Near the end of Day Two a momentary problem appeared.  The tile were 18 inch by 18 inches, but measured size of 17 5/8 inches by 17 5/8 inches square.  One box of tile was actually 17 1/2 inches by 17 1/2 inches.  An 1/8 of an inch doesn't seem like much, but it created a larger grout line where we did not want a larger grout line.  Luckily we realized this sooner rather than later and were able to adjust. 

We will adjust for this in the laundry and bathroom.  Actually, I'll just measure ALL of the tiles before we start. 

 
We stopped here at the end of day two for several reasons:

 
1. We couldn't do any more without walking on the recently installed tile.
2. We were out of mixed mortar.
3. We were tired.

Walt Kowalski spent the day on his knees, but I needed to be more mobile to bring mortar and tile as needed.  Instead, I spent the day in Downward Facing Dog position.

This is the Downward Facing Dog position of yoga for those who are not familiar:

Needless to say, my quads and calves are strong and tired after several days in this position. 

But with all hard work comes the reward...

A Dilly Bar.  J

Walls, Walls, Walls

We are running out of them!

While Walt Kowalski was working on the walls in the laundry, I was working on the walls in the bathroom. 

 
I enjoy installing and finishing the corner bead.  I know, I'm weird.  It's easier than seams some days.

Today is all about paint, paint, paint.  This weekend will be all about floors, floors, floors. 


FYI: This post was originally scheduled to appear on Friday. Things I have learned: If I don't click "publish" you will never see the post.  *sigh*

Odds and Ends

 

Walt Kowalski was working in the laundry the other day.  He grabbed a handful of drywall screws and the drill to install the box for the washer supply.

 

 

 

Drill drill drill.  Nothing.  Drill drill drill. Nothing.  Why won't this screw work?!?!

 

 

 

Ahhhhh, that's why.  No matter what size box of screws we buy, there is always a surprise inside.  Either a different screw size, different screw type or in this case a one that was ready yet. 

.

.

.

Last week, one morning Walt Kowalski walked out on the patio to look around.  Just to look.  To look at the lush of all the leaves, the growth of the new plants, and the trees that need to be trimmed. 

 

In just the right light, there was a beautiful spider web between the trees.

 

Good Walls and Bad Walls

Not be confused with the good witch and bad witch.

The second niece's bedroom paint.  She didn't want lime and light pink, she wanted PINK and purple.  That is what she will have. 

The ceiling will be purple and the walls pink.  It looked really nice when we finished.

 
What didn't look nice, my walls in the breakfast nook.  Blah.  Two coats of primer and a coat of semi-gloss (very cleanable for the kitchen) and YOU CAN STILL SEE THE SEAMS!!!!!

 
*sigh*  I added a little more plaster to several places to even out the lumps.  I fear I may never be able to make it perfect.  I might just have to stay out of the kitchen and bathroom when we visit. 

 
 
This situation allows the perfect opportunity to use a line from Steel Magnolias:

Shelby: My colors are blush and bashful. I have chosen two shades of pink, one is much deeper than the other.

M'Lynn: But the bridesmaids dresses, they are really beautiful.

Shelby: Ceremony will be too. The walls are banked with sprays of flowers, and my two shades of blush and bashful. Pink carpets especially laid out for my service, and pink silk bunting, draped over anything that would stand still.

M'Lynn: That sanctuary looks like it's been hosed down with Pepto Bismol!

 

Makes me laugh every time.

Washa, Washa

This line of bathtubs has Hawaiian names.  It cracked me up.  Then I started looking at all of the names. Maui, Aloha, Arctic, Villager, Devonshire, Chelsea.  I never knew bathtubs had names.  I knew shoes had names.  They crack me up, too.

Per request of the mama of the house, it's a deep soaking tub.  Lots of room for toys. 

 

As much as it tortured me to do it, we had to cut a hole in the floor to the laundry room below for the pipes.  (Didn't we just cover up all the holes in the floor?)

 

 
Next we needed to build several walls for pipes and such around the tub and some drywall...

 
Holy cow, we've got a bathroom!  It happened that fast.  The funny part was me avoiding that hole in the floor while hanging the drywall. 

Ohhhhh and the tile.

It's all coming together fast.  Yikes!