Bocce Ball, Meatfest, and working in the woodshop

Jerry did a great job this past weekend with Meatfest 2006. Chris cooked it all but thanks to Jerry's planning and use of the house, everyone had a great time. We had a fantastic Bocce Ball tournament, 17 people played and in the end Andy cheated me out of a point to take home the trophy. It's all good, I don't think Andy had ever won a trophy in his freakin life,,,,,just kidding. He played some great rounds and really pulled it off. It's all good, there will be a winter tournament and I am confident to whip his butt.

On monday Jerry and I made some nice trim for the kitchen bar tops. We could have gone to the store and bought premaid stuff, but there is just something about making what you want. We ripped some red oak 1x6 boards down, and ran them through the router table. by doing it this way we were able to make it the "just right size". It wasn't hard at all to do this.

The molding went up without a hitch (meaning I made all my cuts right) and really does look good. Now I have yet to paint it but, it has already made a difference. I hope to get the paint and grout done tomorrow or Friday. Here is a pic of the trim installed (unpainted)

On a side note, the SC in-laws have been making an extreme push on their own kitchen. We are talking a total gut, top and bottom, and underneath. I was totally blown away by the amount of progress that they have made down there. While they are just passing the half-way point, where ya start to put things back together. It was very entertaining to walk into someone else's project.

I am pretty glad that we didn't have to cut a hole in our kitchen floor. And Stoked that I didn't have to wear Tyvek to get the project done.

Crikey!

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/yoursay/index.php/theaustralian/comments/the_crocodile_man/

The news from australia - http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

http://media.theaustralian.news.com.au/20060904-irwin1_player.htm

From Australlia- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20355109-601,00.html

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20355589-601,00.html

Sydney - A selection of quotes from television star and wildlife enthusiast Steve Irwin, who died on Monday after being fatally stabbed in the chest by a stingray's barb.

"Crikey!" His catch phrase, exclaimed repeatedly during his television show whenever something interesting happens.

"I get called an adrenaline junkie every other minute, and I'm just fine with that."

"I have no fear of losing my life if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it."

"I bled a lot. I got hit across the face. We couldn't film for seven days. I got hit, whacked, underwater, across the face. I finished the shot, got into the boat and blood started coming out." On one particularly close shave.

"Crikey, mate. You're far safer dealing with crocodiles and western diamondback rattlesnakes than the executives and the producers and all those sharks in the big MGM building." Comparing dealing with deadly animals with show business.

"Crocodiles. I've been catching them since I was nine. No problem."

"Fear helps me from making mistakes, but I make lot of mistakes."

"It is all about perceived danger. In front of that crocodile I was in complete control. Absolute and complete control. That is my profession.

"I would be considered a bad parent if I didn't teach my children to be crocodile savvy because they live here, they live in crocodile territory." On the 2004 controversy in which he was filmed holding his infant son while feeding a snapping crocodile:

"To hear people say that it was a publicity stunt, that I'm just like Michael Jackson, well, it just tears me up. It makes me sick to my stomach to be compared in that way." On the same incident.

Do What you Love, Do it with excitement, Do it with Passion, Do it every chance that you get!

Sometimes things just hit ya

Friday marks the 1 year of being here in this house. It is hard to imagine it, but a full year has gone past. A lot has been done and accomplished, and a few more things need to happen. Most importantly, it feels great to be back over here on the east coast.

Sometimes a little piece of your raising or up-bringing will sneak up on you. Like this evening, over a nice salad and piece of steak, there we were having a really nice conversation. Talking about work, about friends, about us. All at the dinner table. We have never really spent much time at the table for meals because it never really felt like the place to eat. But now it does. The kitchen is tied in to the dinning room, making it feel warm and welcoming. That is how I grew up. I learned and communicated with my family around the table. The table was always where the day was discussed, homework was finished, and weekends were planned. It's a very important part of the house.

Down for the count-

Just my luck. Gauley Season is coming up and I am going to be down for the freakin count for the first couple of weeks. I gave myself a Hernia a week ago and am going in for surgery tomorrow. YEah!

Sandy and I finished putting the tile down for the bar tops today. We went for the basic, bright white, subway tile. It looks really nice with the natural light that comes in and with the overhead cans that shine down. We didn't want flashy, so this is going to be just right.

I hope to get up and running in about 3 weeks or so. There are still a couple of little things that need to happen before we can call it complete and have everyone down / up for thanksgiving!

Slowing it down-

The past couple of weeks have been really slow for us. With the countertops in and the appliances working, we are starting to cook more, work less. We have tiled 1/2 of the bar tops and completed a small portion of the trim work. Eric and Isaac will be coming over next week to finish the trim.

The old house is a lot of fun. It has more character than you could shake a stick at. Here is a pic of our bathroom floor.

The first time I saw that I about fell down. ( Not really, but it is sorta like a 3-d drawing) There are a couple of houses on our street that have something similar. We know of somone up in DC that has the same exact pattern with the gray part in the middle.

Who is Who?

I know that some family is reading this on a regular basis, but is there anyone else out there?

Just curious

I put the polisher away

I fugure that I have spent about 15 hours on the polisher for this kitchen. 900 minutes! Was it worth it? Oh yeah. Every bit worth it. Nick and I had talked about concrete countertops for a while, I had watched that DIY Rocksolid show 3 or 4 times, I had pages in Chengs book marked, the time had come.

Late last week we brought Jefe and his little brother in to dry out. The NC humidity would not allow for it to dry outside. Saturday we seeled it all up. We left the windows open, the fans on and today (sunday) we were able to glue it in place and wax it. It looks great.

Along with getting the final two pieces in, we were able to Prime the old trim, get the bases for the bars installed, the molding that covers the plywood under the countertops nailed in, the weeds in the front yard pullled, two trips to the dump (hey our dump is free! I can't believe it!),
1/4 round for the bases of the cabinets stained, and San-San somehow managed to find the table!

Now we are not going to keep this amazing table in our dinning room for long. We went and purchased a new one yesterday. A grown up table! We are super duper stoked on that! At least 6 of you can come on over and dine. Well make that 4 because I think Adam and Brian will be eatting with us for a while to repay all of the help that they gave.

I hear that some folks in SC have gotten the bug recently and are trying to pass us in our project. Well i know that we will be done before you even get your cabinets! ooooohhhhh yeah...... (just kidding there, we can't wait to see all of the hard work you have done!)

Slurry....mmmmmm slurry!

Jefe---the largest slab of concrete in our kitchen


Slurry---not a ice cream treat from Dairy Queen.


Today I worked Jefe down to the look we like. Pad 1 and 2 took just about 4 hours total to work. The feel of this one is great, not too many bubble holes, and the glass is well balanced. After I get done with pad 2 I apply the non-DQ slurry. The slurry is made of white portland cement and a heavy mix of black pigment. Work that over and over and over the slab, giving it plenty of time to fill the bubble holes.

This picture shows jefe after the slurry was applied.

Tomorrow I will finish up a corner piece that meets up with Jefe. I will work it with the next 5 pads and bring it in to let it dry. The Carolina humidity doesn't allow for the concrete to dry out completely before the sealant is applied. Thursday night, Jefe will become the final piece to polish.

33 years INSIDE West Virginia-

33 years inside WV. Inside, not living in, not working in, rather working INSIDE the mountain state. The picture to the left is the last hole in the ground that my dad worked. The last mine that my dad spent his time in. He retired Wed. afternoon.

Thanks DAD!

WE CAN COOK AND WASH!

Superbowl sunday just got replaced!

We made some great progress today. With the countertops sealed and the wax purchased, it was go time! One thing that we ran into was the beeswax wasn't really usable. We heated it up and tried to apply it, but it really just returned to it's solid state upon contact with the concrete. A quick call to the chemist / jack of all trades (Bill-Sandy's dad) and we were in business. We mixed the wax with mineral spirits to make a really nice paste. The paste dries as the mineral spirits evaporate and leaves a nice shine after a quick buff. Super cool that we are using some local beeswax.

I went ahead and learned how to do basic PVC plumbing. Nothing fancy but a real money saver. Adam wired up the dishwasher at 11pm thursday night, so everything was really easy par cheesey. Did I think it was going to be that easy? NO WAY JOSE! I honestly owe it all to the department manager of plumbing at LOWE'S. No joke, that guy walked me through everything that I was going to need and it was dead on!

I went ahead and hooked up the garbage disposal too. I did make one mistake. I had the powersupply switch in the wrong location and I supplied myself with a little shock. My thumb was the only thing that touched and it is still numb. Oh well...lesson learned!