Walls come tumblin' down.....

This week they framed the bay window in the kitchen. Our cooktop will sit in it eventually, where the cutout is. The blocks of grayish substance sitting on the ledge in the window area
are insulation. We are using a cool eco friendly insulation that is made from recycled cotton denim scraps! In person it really looks like denim. (bluer than the photo shows) It's as effective as standard insulation, which is made with awful toxic substances that you don't want to inhale.
Yesterday the wall between the kitchen and dining room came down! This was this morning before I went to work. When I came home, a new beam was in at the top and it the vertical beams were gone. YAY! The flow of space with this change is incredibly different. I seriously got teary eyed walking around and seeing thru from the kitchen to the front door, from the door into the kitchen. I walked around for 10 minutes just seeing things in a new way. It's fantastic. Peter is a bit freaked out about our over-budget-ness at the moment. Still a few weeks left and we've hit the budget ceiling. ( here comes the 20% over they tell you to plan for) I, however, feel today that it is worth every penny as I grin from ear to ear walking through the mess and envisioning the perfection it shall be. This is looking into the dining room - plastic wall to help keep the dust down. I got news for ya. EV-erything is dusty......it's pervasive now......the whole main floor is just a mess. There's Kobe....he's dusty too!



We got all crazy last night and went to a concert on a Tuesday night!?!? We haven't been to a show in a while and a super fun English band "The Kooks" were in town. The hubby took this photo of me with my coworkers. It was a super fun night! We were tiiiiiiiiiiired this morning...

Major progress....and a new obsession.

We've had huge progress. The photo above shows the upstairs bath framed! The electrician has been here, things are moving. Of course, we also had a few huge surprises. Like today, we learned we have to replace our entire electrical panel. Truthfully we anticipated the possibility.

What we DIDN'T anticipate is that there is no way to put a "normal" toilet in the upstairs bath. Something about the necessary drain on the opposite side of the house. Why this came out this far into it...I don't know...The only option is digging a trench that would be horribly costly. So today was spent with some investigation into "macerating" toilets. I really don't want to go into it, it's probably what you think....Although, my investigation shows some ones that seem okay. We're not finishing the bathroom for a while, but we need to have a clue about it while they do the electrical and plumbing.



I posted the start of my silhouette project the other week. Here it is completed! I really like how it came out.


Let's be clear. I am not a video game fan. Just not interested. However, my husband finds himself out to all hours on the occasional weekend night playing "Rock Band"with friends. I recently caved and said we should get Rock Band...which is actually funny because Peter already had bought it and had it hidden in a closet. I wish I had his sheepish admission of that on video tape....Let me tell you, it is about the most fun I have had in ages! We have been playing for a few hours a night and it's just a riot. You have actual (toy) instruments that you play on, you're playing along with real songs by real artists you know, and you get rated, the crowd loves or hates you based on your performance, you get fans, you go on tour. It's just super fun!! !

Igloo.....

The finest plastic available is all that is keeping the elements out. This is RIGHT outside our bedroom, where the bathroom is being added. ( note to JK - so ends the window seat. We never used it. You mused that no one ever uses them when you saw it.) It was 53 degrees today. Overnight it was down to 39. We have the heat off, because we'd only be heating the great outdoors, so why bother. Needless to say, the house is freaking freezing!! The exterior wall is supposed to be up tomorrow, so bye bye plastic - hello heat.

Here's what the kitchen looks like today. Not airtight in here, either....and with a fine layer of dust on everything on our entire first floor.

Really keeping this short as I am coooooold and wish to get under a blanket.

Phone conversation with the husband today:
him - the contractor is framing the bathroom. turns out we only have room for a tub under 5 feet long. 5 feet is standard and the only ones I can find that are smaller are high end super expensive - we are not spending $2500 for a tub.....we may need to reconfigure the room if we can't sort this out.
me - ( getting on google) okay, okay, there has to be something out there
him - ( also clearly googling, now excited) oh - cool - motor homes have small tubs. we can totally get a motor home tub, they're really cheap too!!
me - what??? we are not getting a motor home tub. i hate flimsy plastic tubs, no way....i can find something better than that.
him - you will be the death of me.
me - ( thanks to the google) American Standard makes a 4 1/2 foot tub for a couple hundred bucks. done. I can not believe you were about to bring a motor home bathtub into my house....

Who makes all home goods decisions around here? And for good reason. Now I gotta get under a blanket. My fingers are numb.

It's go time!!

For any other Seinfeld fans out there - it's GO TIME! ( Man-del-baum!) If you don't get this...never mind. The link below will clear up this mystery if you care. I have been living with perhaps the most die hard Seinfeld fan ever for too long.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcFSOnumgZA


This week they started framing! Turns out the lead guy had been sick all week, they didn't want to start with someone else or let the less experienced guys work without him....considering that they removed a big chunk of our house today, I'm glad the lead guy is on the job.....

Oh, yeah....this is the kitchen I was waiting for.....we'll be on microwave dinners, cereal and dinner out now for a bit.....In the center of the photo is our propped up sink on 2 x 4s as an interim fix. I just want to delay rinsing dishes in our bathroom for as long as possible.Thankfully, it's 70 degrees out, as you can see the light shining thru there. This weekend it's going back to 60's and rainy. (There is plastic over those open spaces, don't worry.) I just hope these guys can get a lot done this week. I went to Ikea last weekend and bought oh, 40 drawer pulls. All materials are now purchased - that is a happy place for me.

And now on to something more fun. I finished my silhouette project. The CP silhouette is not done, so that is a white lie. The paper color I wanted was not available so I have to finish this coming week. I did finish the husband and the dog. Here they are for your perusal. Nice, huh??
I backed them with wallpaper samples I'd ordered. Am in a complete wallpaper fetish phase...must wallpaper everything! Must order samples from England! ( the Brits make the best wallpaper for certain...)

Mark your calendars.....

Winter began in Seattle today. Mark it down. Sept 20th. 63 degrees and rainy.
This is what I will look at for the next 7 months. Gray sky. You can't see the rain,
but believe me, it was raining as I took this photo..... Okay, so at least I don't have to water my garden anymore and mother nature will handle that for me....

Not to be so glum.

Nothing is happening on the remodel. We are told framing starts on Monday and from then on it will be fast progress. We have our foundation ready to go. I really don't care so much since we are not really disrupted right now. I pack a little in the kitchen every weekend just to be on top of it. In my years of living and moving the one thing I know is kitchens are a beeee-yatch to pack. It is the room in the house that takes more boxes and more time than any other. In essence, our kitchen needs to be fully packed up by the time we have new cabinets put in, so I'm trying to chip away at it. Really, I do adore the fact that we own 12 beautiful Champagne glasses given as wedding gifts....but those things can get packed up for the next few months! and so it goes with the panini press, cookbooks, vases, the juicer, etc, etc, etc.

Last weekend I had a visit from my friend Col. She's been working on a convention in Seattle for the past few years so it's been great to see her a few times a year. The convention is finally here so she was in town to facilitate. Last trip on the work dime......sad, but she swears she will come back on her own dime soon enough. We had a great night and perhaps a bit too much wine, but that is what happens when one is in the company of an Irishwoman.....Yummy dinner at Tavolata, supreme Italian food in Seattle.

Rainy days = time inside to work on projects!!! I have had a wild hair to do silhouette portraits of my family and have been working on them today. I must admit - I am thrilled with the result. Yes, if you know me you know modesty is not my strong suit, whatever....Intending to play with this idea more, perhaps do paintings instead of the construction paper cut outs you see here, although I do like the cut outs! ( true silhouette making - old school ) Can't decide to frame them individually or matted together? Sorting it out, but really inspired by the initial work. Do they not look just like us???? I made my hair crazy on purpose...that wild curl in the back is intentional.....

Seattle September Sun

We've been enjoying the remains of summer in Seattle this week. Perfect mid 70's sunny days with just a hint of crispness in the air to remind that sweater weather is just around the corner.

Lovely sunsets every night - this tonight from my bedroom. This big guy had a bit of a scare this weekend. On a walk a seemingly like any other, a dog approached while it's owner gave us the okay. Didn't take long after standard dog introductions for the other dog - bigger than my 85 lb Lab - to jump on him with bared teeth and proceed to bite a hole in his ear. ( big dog yelp - what a sad sound!) He seemed okay after we got them apart, aside from the blood on his ear. He rejoined me in our walk as if nothing had happened. I, on the other hand, was shaking with adrenaline and had to sit down to catch my breath.
Last night on our evening walk however, at the approach of every dog the hair on his back stood up. That is completely non standard for Kobe. We're going to have to get him to trust other dogs again....poor guy.



Here's the latest shot of construction. Not a lot seems to be happening. Allegedly they will pour the rest of the foundation tomorrow.I'm really spending too much my time annoyed at this woman. Are people in America really that stupid or should I say uninformed? It's just so unfortunate that the race is about non-issues. Starting to get ugly. The Republicans can't focus on what the policies are because if anyone is to be reminded of who's in power over the mess that is America they would sink. If anyone paid attention to actual record and not her lies, she'd not be nearly as popular. Stop saying you're a reformer, woman!!! You are a freaking game playing politician with a really messy record that is inconsistent with all the things you say you stand for. She is more conservative than Bush, and more scary born again Christian. She and her husband actually own the rights to the business name "Rouge Cou" which is French for redneck. Haven't we had enough of the (fake) redneck in the White House???? Average people should not hold the 2nd highest office in the land. Nothing about this woman is above average, aside from her beauty queen poise. Don't you want someone smarter than you, better than you, making the decisions that affect us all??? I know I do.

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.