Week 3 trudges on......

Here we are in Week 3.

Not a whole lot of progress to the eye. There has been digging. Today we got the start of a foundation poured. Photo 2 is an aerial shot out our non functional kitchen door to the start of concrete. I believe that once it goes up we will have more progress that is visible.

So, a few fun things.


How about our grapevine? ( that is looking at our front door in the way background) I have to donate the grapes to my friend Kate for jam making. Was going to do so myself, but this year not so much doing big projects in the kitchen in the next few months.....

We have done eco friendly choices wherever I can. We're opting for all Energy Star appliances. Our dishwasher is made by Asko (super energy efficient European brand) and only uses 4 gallons per wash!! 4 Gallons!!! That is crazy. The national average is 9 gallons!!! Mostly to me it is important that the interior will not be rusty ( it's stainless with a ridiculous warranty) as is our current piece of crap dishwasher this house came with.... I dream of the day we throw that thing out..er...recycle it....

The fridge is Energy Star, by Jenn Air. Really, I just fell in love with the modern handles that look like the ones on Sub-Zero. Yeah, a 5k Sub-Zero fridge was simply not in the budget...
The bottom freezer set up is the most eco friendly arrangement, and it's just pretty....

The counters are fabricated quartz. Very eco friendly and incredibly durable. One review quote was that "short of a blow torch at close range, you can't damage it." We looked at other eco varieties and they were not quite so durable. Part of environmentally friendly design is making choices that last so you consume less. We thought this was worth it - I mean how much wear does a counter get? A whole lot.....plus it is reaaaaaly pretty in a concrete looking way. Oooh, I start to drool......

The wall oven is Dacor. Wolf was the first choice - I am sorry but the interior is cobalt blue and if money were no object I would pay for a cobalt oven interior as it is my fave color....Dacor came up as a top choice in our price range. It's solidly good, so I can live. It looks good, too! Very clean.




Our cooktop is separate from the range. Wolf is the go-to premier brand, but to do both cooktop and wall oven from Wolf would have put a child through college. (okay, maybe just a year at a state school but still!! ) We are doing a Wolf cooktop. Half gas, half induction. Induction is a completely exciting technology that Europe has used for years. It uses the metal of the pot to create electromagnetic energy in contact with the heat element and is the newest thing in cooktops here. It is the most energy efficient way to cook. Very little heat is lost because it all goes right into the pot. When you remove the pot from the heat element, it is vaguely warm - not hot. I had a hard time leaving gas behind, hence the half gas burners....here is a photo of the induction cooktop - which basically looks like electric.