NOAA's Ark or More Showers

        NOAA says we're completing year two of La Nina, and that the weather should return to normal by the first of June. I'm not putting my boat away any time soon. It's Mother's Day and the forecast calls for rain and thunder all day.
   This week, with 32 hours on the books, I finished staining 3,110 linear feet of wood trim. Not varnished, just stained. We were hoping for a couple of clear windless days to take all the boards outside and spray on the finish. But I just don't see that happening any time soon. My guess is that I'll be applying it by hand. Did I mention the interior door jambs and doors need to be done too?

 
 Ed has finished the travertine showers. He's going to wait until the floors are down to grout everything at once. Just a caveat for those cutting travertine for the first time: If you have a piece that needs to be cut-and-fit, be sure to check for natural fracture lines before deciding which edge of the tile to cut. Once in a while, that stuff will break like a saltine cracker.

   He's done the walk-in shower downstairs and the guest bathroom upstairs in walnut travertine. Then he moved on to my favorite, the silver travertine, which is in our bathroom. It's delicious. It also doesn't seem to be quite as loose as walnut. By that I mean it seems to be less fractious. I can hardly wait to see it all done with the floor and grout!

  The wood floor installers will be here next week so Ed is trying to get everything up on the ceiling that needs to be there. He installed the speakers for the sound system, smoke detectors, heat detector, spider detector...just kidding on that one.  I was able to get two ceiling fans at Lowe's, and am waiting for two more.

   We have used CFL bulbs where we can. We noticed something odd in the bathrooms. Those bathrooms that were painted Sensational Sand, previously tan/brown, now looked purple. not a bad purple, but definitely not the color we started with.  We had installed "soft white" CFL bulbs, and will be changing them out to "natural sun" to regain the original color.

 
 Saturday I went to town for groceries and Ed began installing the Steel Partners fixtures for the entryway, kitchen island and dining room. If you buy these lights, consider the size carefully. We ordered the small lights, and they are very substantial. They are beautiful strong statement pieces that will anchor the style of the house. You can see the island light to the left and the dining room light to the right, both still in the process of being installed.

   
 While out and about yesterday I stopped at a rummage sale, and bought four block prints from the 60's. The artist is noted only as "Ken". The style is pure Craftsman. At $1.00 each I could hardly leave them on the table. I'll  mat and frame them. They'll be perfect.

We're Under A Lot Of Pressure

    There are a huge number of cabinets in this house. Bathroom cabinets, kitchen cabinets, craft room cabinets, entertainment and TV cabinets. And bookshelves...kitchen desk, upstairs library bookcases. All I thought about was now nice it will be to have all that lovely storage, and to be able to finally put my books in an orderly, assessable place. I didn't really think about how much all that storage would cost to build. Silly me. The numbers were sobering and have me scrambling to come up with a more reasonable plan. I think we'll stick with the top of the line for the entry, living room and kitchen. We'll go for moderate for bathroom cabinets. I'm still plotting and planning for the rest.
    Ed is scrambling to finish the wiring details. We'd like to get insulation and sheetrock in the first part of February. He wired the doorbell and alarm system this week, and is finishing up the theater wiring. He gets frustrated by that one or two few parts he doesn't have yet that holds up completion, but all of those should be here next week.
   In the meantime MASCO came out on Monday and gave an estimate on insulation that was acceptable, so that we will have that done as soon as possible. Chapter two of this story in a moment.

   Wednesday I drove into Longview to pick up (more) alarm system wire and a few other parts, then up to Chehalis to pick up our light fixtures from Steel Partners Inc. Normally one would buy them from the retailer (plenty of places on-line) and pay the shipping. Well these babies are HEAVY and since the manufacturer was just up the road, I saved myself a bundle on shipping by picking them up myself.
   We bought two chandeliers, one for the entryway and one for over the dining table. We also got a light fixture for over the kitchen island. Let me tell you, these guys filled up the back of my Jeep!
  While I was up that way I drove further north and made a quick run through the antique stores in Centralia. I love these stores, and one of my favorites is the Shady Lady, housed in a former brothel. I found a very nice Belgian cabinet that will make a perfect linen cupboard for our master bath, and a very rustic cabinet that needs some love, but will go in the guest powder room.
   Thursday Simplex Grinnell came out to pressure test the fire sprinkler lines in preparation for our systems inspection prior to insulation and sheet rock. This means they fill the sprinkler lines with water under pressure and check for leaks. As you can imagine, this is very important. You do NOT want to find a leak after the sheet rock is up. The water went in, everyone walked around looking for leaks (there were none) and we were happy. Until.....Ed checked the weather forecast.

   Now the inspector has to check the fire sprinklers under pressure also. That means the water needs to stay in until  Chuck-The-Inspector comes out. Monday is a holiday, and we're gone on Wednesday, so that means Tuesday or Thursday. Nothing is insulated, and there is no heat. If the lines freeze,the fittings will leak and the whole system is garbage.
    Friday night the temperatures were supposed to bottom out at 30*.  Ed turned on the halogen work lights and left them on all night. He probably got up three times during the night, got dressed and went outside and into the house to check the temperatures.We managed to get through it without any damage. Last night was supposed to hit 29*. At 3:00 a.m. it hit 24* outside, although it was warmer inside the house. Ed stole the little heater from the garage where the cats sleep, and anything else he could think of that would generate heat without burning the house down.
   The weather forecast is for freezing temperatures at night all week. Ed and I will drive in and see what kind of space heaters we can find at Home Depot today. Maybe then he can get some sleep.