O.K. Lets see. Where to start? How about last weekend the 6th of June. Jake and I loaded all the motorized bikes, 2 wheel and one 4 wheel and headed for Farfield on Saturday. Forecast called for lots of rain on Saturday and maybe a scattered shower on Sunday. So the plan was to work Saturday and play on Sunday. Yep, it rained on Saturday and rained some more which made for a good day to work inside. Our misson is to tile the shower in the master bath, so I can get the blasted thing trimmed out and finally call for that final inspection of the plumbing.

We started about 2 p.m. and took a short break about 6 to pop over to the IMI with Tina and the kids for supper. Then back to work. We set it up so that I cut tile outside off of the front deck, until it really started raining and then I moved it up onto the deck. A couple of times I had to wonder if it was wise to be out there cutting tile with an electric tile cutter while it was thundering and zapping lighting about the mountains. But I figured it had to be at least 9 or 10 miles away so I kept at it. Next time if there is a next time it will be at least a six inch tile, not the 4 1/4" that we went with. Me and my bright idea that it being a smaller space, we should use a small tile. I hope to never tile anything again. The only concession is that next time I'll know better what to do. Seems that someone else offered to do this job, but I am unable to operate on their time frame. You see, the plumbing permit only lasts for 6 months and we are on extension number 1. Not sure how many they'll give, so with the jobber unable to commit to a date, I enlisted Jake's help. I also have to say thanks to neighbor Bill for loaning me his tile saw. It would have been impossible without it. Photos? Yeah I have one or two. But they will have to be at the end.

Anyway so we started at 2 and quit at 11:30 that night. Someone didn't get tiles for the outside edge, you know tiles with a finished edge. So someone was the one to set those this weekend.

Sunday dawned with scattered clouds and mostly sunshine, albeit a bit cool. So we ate up our breakfast of pancakes, eggs and sausage, then headed out to the ski area parking lot to go for a ride. It was fine weather and a big adventure for the kids. Grampa might have gotten them in just a little over their heads, but everyone did super and no worse for wear.

Now we're getting current almost. This weekend my jobs are to get the counter top onto the vanity, cut it out, set the sink, and get it plumbed. Got close to doing that. Just short a couple of inches of plumbing for the drain. Wouldn't have been if we hadn't changed our minds after the plumbing was roughed in. Forgot we were going to go with a smaller vanity originally, so the drain is sitting off to the left about 6 inches more than I'd have liked. My cheap cut it down home depot counter top deal works sort of. My cutting went astray, but it'll work and it was only a $40 dollar class so to speak. That's what the counter top cost.

I spent all of Friday night adding the last few pieces of tile and grouting the rest. Had to wait to grout the last rows that I added on Friday.

Now came the worst job I think I have ever had to do. Cleaning the tiles. I hope I never touch another tile when this is finished. Good God I'm sick of looking at tiles. I took as many breaks as I could get away with just to keep sane. Scattered grass seed, moved the sprinkler, read a couple of chapters and stretch my back at the same time. Watch it rain to see how much water is coming down. Look for the mountains, nope socked in. Listen to the thunder. I also learned it is a good idea to get all of the excess grout off of the tiles while it is most pliable, like when you can wipe it off with a sponge. Did I mention I'm sick of tiles?

White vinegar seems to work fairly well in the cleaning, although I read you can use household cleaners? Anyway I finally ran out of vinegar and sanity, so I quit. Next week it will be standing off to one side to see where I missed the grout film that is stuck on all 400 plus tiles. Just one little spot and you have to scrub the skin off of your fingers getting it off. Oh yeah and I need to seal up all those flipping joints. Why didn't I stick with my original idea and go with those ready made plastic like panels? I'd be done with this. Needless to say this is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. Sure it looks better, but then the next owner would have a project to be proud of. I on the other hand am not certain that I'll be proud of this one. A deck outside, now that is a different deal. Outside or inside. I'll take outside any day. Well anyway here come the photos. Not many, as the photo lady has her own version of project fun in yearly planning for the job that really does pay the bills.

And so the sun sets on another episode of Steve's idea of a fun project.
Well sort of.




ps. i'm sorry that this was so painful for steve, but i am REALLY glad we don't have ready made panels in the master bath :)

may 31 2009

first the nature shots. woke up at 6 am, saw the great clouds & headed out to camas marsh with the camera-

here's the back field yesterday before the thunder storms moved through. so green! and the light is great.

here is our mode of transportation in town- along with the jeep.

we rode the bikes to the chamber of commerce breakfast in the park for lily days. they'll also come in handy for trips to the store, and possibly evening cocktails. we better get lights, though.

steve made good progress in the master bath. here he is happily plumbing along.

this is one of the bathroom cabinets that steve got a good deal on from a building outlet that was blowing out overstock. looks good, doesn't it? will fit perfectly with the 3 in spacer once we get the trim around the door. next step is a counter top & sink.

the afermentioned lily days included an art show in the park (6 booths, it was fun). there was a man there with furniture made from old cedar fencing. perfect! so now we have a bench for the porch...

and more kitchen storage.

and that's it for this weekend. close to getting the occupancy, and then we can come up & relax more & work less....... it will be really nice to get to cooler temps when it's in the 100s in town.

memorial day weekend

first, the nature shots. wildflowers starting to bloom behind the house. these are phlox and wild parsley.

not sure what these are...

larkspur & wild parsley.

it's all so green! this is the tree i've been shooting & a currant bush.

and camas- the plant that the county is named for. the indians summered in the wide high valley & gathered camas roots for food. this time of year, fields are literally blue with flowers.

went to camas centennial marsh saturday morning.

the yellow headed blackbirds looked very cool among the blue camas blooms.

on to house progress..... steve and jake got the king mattress upstairs, and we got the overstock.com bedding on it. pretty comfy bed, it is. hoping the microfiber keeps halle hair to a minimum. it is nice having room for all 3 of us :)

also, notice white walls- that was my job this weekend, to primer the master. 3 plus hrs later (even with the power roller) it was done. big room. which is good.

there was one casualty of getting the mattress up the stairs..... good thing we opted for the cheap paintable sconces.

the amoire (craig's list, mexican pine, price we were very happy with) didn't make it upstairs. will take 3 guys. and probably best after the room is painted, to minimize moving. it is a great piece of furniture, though & we'll be glad to have it. steve is reading baxter black and eating breakfast. good thing we didn't catch him laughing.
steve built this storage for the kitchen in boise and he & jake brought it up.

dandy storage/microwave stand until we get cabinets. will have doors on it & become garage storage in its next life.

subfloor for the master bath also on the agenda. here's the workshop.

and the floor.

the bathroom walls that i painted a few weeks ago-

the tile for the tub & shower that jake says he can finish in an afternoon- so we'll pay him to do so. less stress that way.

last fall's tree & shrub purchases survived-

and the grass seed is started.

and that's it for now......pushing for the final, which means completing the master bath. we're close. (i should say steve's close, since that part is pretty much up to him).

anyway- productive weekend!

more yellowstone photos

where we've been

we had a weekend of stuff around the first house (friend in town, christmas tree burning party, the usual) and then the next (long) weekend a trip to yellowstone.


one sad bit of news- our sandhill cranes that were nesting by the highway didn't fare so well. we stopped to check on the way out of town and saw no cranes & an empty nest. looking further, we saw at least one crane carcass. we think maybe the golden eagle we saw across the road got to them, but will never know. major drag.

more of the same lesson in yellowstone, but lots of new life too.
the buffalo calves are so cute, and silly- they'll just take off like little lunatics running in circles, butting heads, jumping sagebrush- and then collapse into a dead sleep with mom watching out for them.

then, the griz.... saw lots this trip. they seem most interested in food (which is usually of the carcass variety). big powerful animals. magnificent. and clearly something you don't want to get too close to (i have a fairly long lens).

black bear- looks really different- i wasn't sure i could tell, until i saw a griz, then no question.

four buffalo were curious about what was going on here and wanted to walk by. the bear finally bluff charged and the buffs moved off. they didn't seem too concerned, tho. bull buffalo seem to do pretty much whatever they want.....

we also saw 2 wolves, and plenty of ungulates, will post more as i sift thru the photos. and, of course, update on house progress.