Monday, October 6, 2014

Tile Work

 
 The floor is done, and the accent stripes are done, now it's time to get on the walls.
Terry is mixing up some thin set...
 
 
 We chose miniature subway tiles.
 
 
 Here we go...
 
 
 Wow, we've spent the entire weekend in this little box...
 

 
The weekend is gone, now it's Monday,
 and after we went grocery shopping,
we tried to get some more work done.

 
 The inset boxes were way more work detail than we bargained for...
 
 
and this masterpiece just looks silly right now,
planted in the middle of a mess of a basement.
 
But it will all come together, eventually.
 
I think we're getting too old for our home remodeling hobby...

Friday, October 3, 2014

Shower Tiling...

 
 I reached two imprtant goals in one day..
I finished this mosaic tile border in the bathroom shower...


and I finished an afghan for Sandy.

 
 The stripes are finished, and for the first time in my mosaic tiling history,
 I actually had enough tiles to finish the job.
I usually come up short and have to order more to finish the job,
but this time, I carefully counted them out. Yea.
 

 
 On to the floor. We just did this tonight.
 
 
 Circling the drain was challenging...
 
 
 
and it looks great !!!
 
We're going to try to do the walls this weekend,
 hmm... we'll see how that turns out...

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Let's Do This


We're doing this...
It is slow, it is sometimes ugly, but it's getting done.
Terry is working on a plumbing issue here.

 
All the backer board is set, and now I can start the tile border.


I'm doing two stripes, using tiles I have on hand.
Sandy bought me a bunch of unique tiles for my birthday,
 and I will be incorporating them into this mosaic border.
Blues, Greens, mirror tiles, and a mix of Black & Whites,
and some opaque tiles. Look who's helping me out...


What the hell is going on here?


This is a tedious process...

 
Terry has all of the backer board up on the outside of the shower now. 
 
We have a surprise wall covering for this basement bathroom, 
 
More on that when we're ready to install...

 
One stripe done, one more to go...

 
The light is finished. We had to have a light in here... too dark without one.

 
The guts.
 
There is still much work to be done.
 Terry is working so hard on all of the elements that bore me...
Plumbing, electrical, cement, and walls...
 
He has to figure out the washing machine plumbing stuff,
laundry tub, lighting, and walls and doors,
and all of that stuff that I take for granted.
He amazes me. 

 
Hard to figure this picture out,
but this will be the toilet (see the hole in the floor?)
 
As soon as I finish the stripes on the walls,
 we have to go up north to borrow a tile saw from brother Bob.
 
Then we can lay the floor and finish the shower walls.
 
Let's do this.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Bathroom Shower Progress

 
There's the new/used car...

 
and here's Nick, taking my baby away.
 I'm so glad he adopted her,
 because I know he is a car lover too,
 and he will fix her up and take good care of her.

 
Back to the basement.
Terry has been working on the plumbing for this shower,
 for a week now. Every night after work,
he goes down there and bangs, and swears, and I try to hide. 

 
So far, only a few bucks have been spent on this budget shower.
He is reusing pipe from the old shower,
and scrimping on other needed supplies.
The wood was cheap, and the mortar was cheap.
 
 
Tonight, we have water !!!

 
Yea! The plumbing is set, and now we
 have to get the rest of the backer board.
 
I think we will be tiling a shower this weekend.
 
My little prayer... Please let me find some cheap tile...
 

Monday, September 8, 2014

The Garden

 
It was such a beautiful September morning,
 I just wandered through the garden and took some pictures...
 
Green onions and chives still coming in.

 
Tarragon, Sage, and Rosemary.
 
Tarragon actually has the prettiest flowers.
 I don't even know what to do with it yet, but it is pretty.

 
Heirloom cherry tomatoes, coming like crazy.

 
Lavender.

 
Lemon Balm.

 
Mexican Oregano.

 
Green beans, waxed beans, and purple beans... a late planted crop.

 
The zinnias love September...

 
and this butterfly was very happy.

 
This is Rose of Sharon, or Althea.
Looks like Hibiscus...

 
The new Crepe Myrtle tree we planted has done very well.
 
This yard has changed so dramatically over the last year.
We have erradicated so many nasty plants and trees,
 and have planted so many new things.
 
It's so nice to walk around the yard and appreciate all of our hard work.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

September Morn...

 
Look at him... He scared the crap out of me this morning.

 
Here's the new car. Brought it home yesterday. It's cute, and in good condition,
 and it will cart alot of stuff from the Home Depot... 

 
Terry's son is going to adopt my baby,
so I spent some time this morning cleaning her up.

 
I also cleaned up my lease car. It was so dirty
 (I don't think I've washed it since I got it 10 months ago).

 
What the heck??? Sandy went to visit her friend
 (who works at a movie theater),
and bought home this giant popcorn pillow.
Needless to say, I've been eating alot of popcorn today.

 
Terry worked on the curb to the basement shower today.
The curb is the threshold that holds excess water in.
The cement has to be molded and squared
over chicken wire that is attached to a wood frame.
He did it, and the floor is ready for tile...

 
We picked out this tile because it was kind of cool, and very cheap,
but I am thinking about returning it. I don't know what I want,
but I think I'll keep thinking on it.
 
Terry has to work out the plumbing before we can tile anyway,
so I have some time to figure out what I really want.
 
Time for Terry to take off his cement mason cap,
and put his plumber's cap back on...

Friday, September 5, 2014

Rainbows and Used Cars?

 
The rainbow was pretty,
 but I can't get over the number of wires running over the street...
 
Ridiculous.

 
Went to buy a new/used car today. What a crappy experience.
I think car salesmaen need classes in how to be human.

 
There he is... He actually wanted to be in my picture. He posed!!!
 
Cute car, we actually want it, but if he doesn't meet my demands, we're walkin'
 
We have to go back tomorow to seal the deal, or crush his dreams.
 
We're still laughing over the fact that for a $6,000 dollar loan,
 they require 3 personal references. Hahahahahaha.

 
Nick wants the Caddy, so he stopped by to dicuss the details,
and brought Perry (the Husky). Too cute.
 
Carry on...