Fingers To The Bone II

 
 With all the tile down in the laundry/craft room, it was time to break out the grout and begin one of many "favorite" jobs. Ed started with the dog wash because he wanted to get the worst part over first. Me...I usually save the worst for last when I'm tired and crabby anyway.

   Ed smeared the grout in, while my job was to trail behind by about 20 minutes to wipe it down. It didn't take as long as we expected. By the afternoon, we were able to wipe the haze off the tile. Mittens came in to check it out. It's been several weeks since she broke her little foot, and she still holds it up. I say little foot...as you can see, she's polydactal (6 toed) and they are pretty sizable. She limps especially hard if anyone goes near the treat bag. Little beggar..
   In retrospect I probably should have picked a grout that was a little darker I chose "A;mond".  I'll seal it  and hope for the best.

 I began the grout-wiping with nice new latex gloves, a nice new sponge, and a clean bucket of water. By the time we were done with the room, the gloves were full of water and in the trash, the bucket of water had been changed about a hundred times, and I had managed to sand the ends off my fingertips. Just a little note: Never, never peel fresh garlic if you have just sanded off the ends of your fingers. It hurts like the dickens.

   I also managed to finish staining the doors this week. We bought stain grade douglas fir Simpson doors. I didn't anticipate such a variance in grain. I used Minwax pretreat first, then Minwax stain. Still, the doors have a much more rustic look than I had expected. But, we're building a home for friends and family, we're not building a mansion, so maybe rustic is what we want. If we were building a mansion, we'd be paying someone else to do all the work!



 
I've been looking (mostly on-line)  for a few area rugs, and stumbled on a great consignment shop in Astoria. Home Interior Consignments, owned by Kelly Sause, has a great selection of almost-antique furniture and area rugs. The prices are very reasonable so I brought home three.
   For the living room, I found a tribal rug with a very good color match.

  The rug for the family room was made in Nepal. The wool pile is divine, and the center pattern reminds me of southwest Native American pottery designs.

 The rug for the library area is 6' square, give or take a little, and is also a tribal rug.
    The first thing Midnight had to do was inspect the new rugs. This made me a little nervous. Since they weren't new rugs, I was afraid he would smell another cat's scent and decide to assert himself. He walked around them all, sniffed for a few minutes, then settled right in and made himself at home. All's well!
   Ed laughed because he's still in construction mode and I've jumped ahead to moving in. Ok, ok, I'll fold up the rugs and try to be patient.

 

   While I was shopping for rugs, Ed was doing the real work. He tiled the floor of the upstairs guest room. We'll have to wait a few days to grout...probably just about the time my fingers heal.

   Tomorrow, the first of the cabinets will be delivered. Things are really starting to happen in a hurry.