The kitchen, the desert. And bread.

Well, dear reader, when we last left you we had gotten the kitchen ready for the new cabinets. Once they arrived, I emptied out the cabinet that had to be moved...


... Sam removed one of the doors, and then we slid it over (for once, 'we' really does refer to Sam and me!) ...


... and then we scooted the new cabinets in the gap.


Of course, I say that as if it were easy, but naturally it wasn't. In truth, it took us an entire day. The main reason it took so long is that the original cabinets weren't installed perfectly level and plumb, and so Sam had to figure out all kinds of ingenious ways to make the new cabinets match the off-angles of the old ones! It looks magnificent, though. We've got a big wood shelf on top of the bottom cabinet for now, but eventually it'll have a green granite countertop and black granite tiles on the backsplash, to match the rest of the kitchen.

Next, Sam tackled the other side of the kitchen. Our friend Jerrod was the one who had the ingenious idea of opening up the wall behind the range and putting in a pass-through. Of course I loved the idea because it makes the kitchen so much more open, which means I can "be a part of things" and cook! So Sam started by removing the wine rack and then the range hood...


... and then took a gentle test-whack at the wall.


Pretty soon he was really destroying stuff!




Here you can see the dust swirling in the light. Sam had to remove almost the entire wall up to the ceiling because he has to put in a new header across the top.



Once we got it opened up, we tested what it would look like by holding up the granite piece that had been in the hallway. Doesn't it look neat?



Over the next couple of days, Sam and Dale installed the new header, dealt with the electrical, got some cuts made in the black granite tile, and put up drywall. Sam also made a bunch of phone calls trying to find granite that will match what we already have. He did succeed in finding it- and at a not-too-insane price. Some of the prices we were quoted had been rather discouraging.



I have always loved this kitchen, but I can't express how much more I like it now! It is so open and airy.

Another thing that had been done... umm... well, not as well as Sam would have done it, was how the range hood vented out. Let's just say there was a lot of duct tape involved. Sam improved upon that considerably... (in this photo you're looking up into the ceiling.)


Today Sam was replacing the range hood, which will cut off the view a bit, but will suck up any smoke I make while cooking!

A propos of cooking-- I've been (continuing) to earn all those kitchen improvements! I have become a bread-baking goddess. My 8th loaf came out of the oven last night. But seriously, it's been good since the very beginning...
Loaf one:

Loaf two:

Loaf six:

I encourage anyone and everyone to try it. You can see the recipe here, and read the original article and the follow-up article. I consider myself a cook, not a baker, but this bread turned out brilliantly.

Ok, back to the house.

We have installed the side windows in the bedroom.



So that is our "wall of glass". It'll be something to wake up to that view! We'll be able to take that black plastic down as soon as the deck is finished and waterproofed.


Sam also installed the frame for a pocket door in the master bathroom...


and installed the heating vent in the floor beneath the sink in the master bath. It is located there rather than elsewhere by special kimrequest. I didn't want to lose the floorspace in the corner... and now I look forward to brushing my teeth with warm air blowing on my toes!


All work and no play risks making Sam cranky, so we managed to sneak off for a desert trip this weekend. We had fun, although in some ways it was one of our worst desert trips ever. For starters, the trip also ended up being a fair amount of work for Sam- above and beyond the 'usual' packing and loading. We were merrily driving along, towing the new trailer, when suddenly the engine started sounding rather odd. We pulled over to check it (Sam always travels with the little diagnostic computer!), and it looked like a bad coil. As it happens, Sam had an extra coil (yes, really). So we continued driving (slowly) as far as El Centro, where we knew from past experience (!) there was a Toyota dealership, so that if it turned out to be something other than a coil, we'd have parts handy. Once we arrived there, Sam opened up the hood again.


To make a log story short, it took Sam, and then Sam and Jorge (the mechanic at Toyota) about an hour to unscrew a certain recalcitrant nut, but once they did, Sam replaced the coil within five minutes and all was well. Jorge suggested that we shield the coil from the heat of the turbo, as that might be causing our problems. Lacking other options, we stopped at a local Albertson's, where Sam (a.k.a. "MacGyver") bought some tin foil...


A guy kinda looked at us funny, but it worked!

So a drive that usually takes us 2 1/2 hours actually ended up taking us 5. We pulled into camp just as it was getting dark, but gosh it is pretty out there.


Usually, we camp by the canal. This time, Sam wanted to camp with some friends. I did say "honey, every time we've camped somewhere other than the canal, we turn to each other at some point and say, "we should've camped at the canal". We decided to camp with some friends. At around 11pm, Sam turned to me and said...

yup.

To my credit, I didn't say a thing.
We had fun anyway. We went on what we both agree was the worst ride ever on Sunday morning (all long straightaways, with lots of bumps, and not nearly enough dunes). It was fun anyway. Lots of people asked us about the Eezi-Awn tent.



And Sioux loved playing frisbee, even though she got her nose full of sand.


We packed up and headed home Sunday afternoon, and just as Sam had planned, we were able to back the trailer, with the quads still on it, right onto the lift and put the lift up. That was pretty cool.

Oh, and speaking of lifts, that is another thing that Sam has done: installed the second lift. I don't have pictures of that though- yet.

I also don't have pictures of what is probably one of Sam's finest achievements to date. By becoming friendly with the head inspector, and by writing two eloquent complaint letters, Sam has managed to get the jerk inspector banned from our site. Henceforth, Sam will be dealing only with the head honchos, who appear to be decent, reasonable people. He is so relieved and happy that he won't have to deal with that-other-guy any more. Not only was this guy difficult and nitpicky, he was also a real downer: after he'd left the job site everyone would be too cranky and depressed to get any more work done. But hurray! That wicked witch is dead. Well, to us, anyway.

Yet more has been accomplished that I don't have pictures of- plumbing, venting, stuff like that. But you are now pretty much caught up. More soon(ish!).

Windows, mostly.

Holidays are fun, in part, because you get the opportunity to see people who you don't see often. Our good friend Dee Dee came over to our house for dinner, but first she admired the view from the roof....


As you may have noticed in that last picture, Sam cut his hair! I like it a lot better short :)

We wanted to install some windows, so the other day Sam spent a fair amount of time cutting a bunch of wood at weird angles. As those of you who have seen the plans may recall, several of the small square windows on the side of the house are to be angled out- it's gonna look really cool, but it requires some crazy framing!


Ok, here is the interior of the garage before...


and after the hole is cut in the plywood.


Here are two of the pieces Sam cut, that go up and down the sides of the window (the thicker one towards the back of the house, the smaller one towards the front- you'll see.) Note that the piece on the left has two 90 degree corners, and the one on the right only has one. In other words, these were a major pain in the neck to cut! (Sam's language was a bit more colorful than that! :) )

Once all the wood was cut, it was time to start nailing it around the window hole, making sure that everything was level...


Here you can see that the piece to Sam's right juts out further than that on his left.



Soon the framing for the first window was all done! We thought it looked pretty cool.


So we put up the flashing, installed the window, and nailed it in. We are getting pretty good at this!


We did one more that day, and then admired the sunset. Tomorrow, we wanted to install two more!


So the first one we tackled was the third (last) window in the garage...


Once all three were all installed, we thought it looked pretty neat! And Sam was pleased that the lines all matched up.


The next one we installed was kinda scary. First, I went upstairs to the master bedroom, where I had a chance to admire all the wiring that has been done. Some day not too far away, all this will be covered up, but there is really a jumble of spaghetti up there!




Ok, so see that square hole, at the tippy-top of this next picture? See how high up it is? That, dear reader, is the next window we're going to install.


I had it pretty easy- my job was to stand here, on the inside. Even so, my heart was in my mouth!


Sam caulked the window...


... then went downstairs down the ladder in the back, while I waited ...


... and then he started climbing up. It really is a far way down.


For obvious reasons, I don't have pictures of the next couple of steps. I handed the window to Sam through the hole, and then he held it up while I cranked it open a bit, and then I held it close to the side of the house while he nailed it in. Once the first couple of nails were in, I could let go, and get this picture.


And then we were done! That is all of the square windows, installed!


Other things that have been going on: Sam had bought a stainless steel sink to use in the garage bathroom, but decided that it was too big. Rather than hunt for another one, he made one! Yup, he took a stainless steel bowl that we had and never used (I can't stand the sound it makes!), drilled a hole in the bottom, and installed a drain. Voila'- a sink!

Also, we've been getting ready for the delivery of the new, extra kitchen cabinets, which should happen next week. Sam started out by smashing the tiles to get them out of there...


But after I'd left for school, he discovered a much easier, more efficient, and more fun way... he used his new diamond blade! ( I took pictures when I got home) [Sam says: I was at Dixieline and they had diamond blades for 8 bucks. Didn't need one then but I thought it would be cool to have if I ever needed it...so I bought one and it really came in handy. It bolts right on to my circular saw and you use it like you would a wood blade for plywood. Highly recommended!] [Kim again: hey, check out the fabulous retro linoleum that used to be in the kitchen!]


Anyway.... the diamond blade worked really, really well... cutting super clean lines through the super-hard travertine tile.


Of course, there was one small drawback...


But that cleaned up pretty easily! Sam also installed the drywall, which makes the kitchen feel a lot neater.


Whew! Today, Sam's been interviewing more stucco guys. Things keep happening around here!
Stay tuned....