Fireplace materials

Ken and I went on a journey in our island truck to purchase a big "rock" for my birthday present-- a large piece of blue stone for the fireplace hearth. We had quite an adventure... driving over 100 miles to find a piece. The truck started acting sluggish when starting up, so we were afraid to turn off the motor. We had a birthday lunch/dinner at Burger King, where I got my birthday crown. We ate in the truck with the engine running.

Then we drove to another location about 50 miles away (at least it was on the route home) and picked up two additional pieces of blue stone to go around the fireplace opening.

We did a couple additional chores and then headed back to the ferry, stopping to fuel up about 10 miles from the ferry. That was when the truck gave up the ghost and wouldn't start. We were stranded at the fuel pump and the gas station had no jumper cables. We called AAA who said they would be there in an hour-- which would cause us to miss the last ferry to Lopez. Luckily one of the next customers had cables and we were able to start the truck, but we still missed the last ferry of the evening. We ended up staying in a lovely little motel, the Anaco Inn, in Anacortes that night, and arrived home the next morning, the proud owners of two new batteries and a truck that starts easily.

Kitchen progress

The kitchen is almost complete now.

The cooktop is installed and operational. I am anxious to try it out.



The main sink now has drains and a faucet-- and cold running water.

Ken is loving his new toy--a Kohler articulated faucet, complete with its own joystick.

I am planning to check out the appliances and bake a carrot cake using the new oven, stovetop and my KitchenAid mixer that is still in the box. (I bought it over a year ago and have been patiently waiting for the opportunity to open and use it.)

Counter backsplash

The next step was the backsplash, made of the soapstone, which ended up being a bigger project than we anticipated. We are pleased with the results.

Counter installation

The counter pieces are laid, pieced together with epoxy and attached to the cabinets. Everything is looking great!

Counter installation

The soapstone arrived- all 1700 pounds of it- and Adam created templates and went to work cutting the pieces. Then we hired a boom truck to get the pieces up to the second floor kitchen. It was quite an operation!

Soapstone for kitchen counters

The soapstone for the kitchen counters arrived today-- almost a ton's worth. Neighbor Ken came with a forklift to maneuver the container. The slabs were packed very well; it took quite some time to take apart a side of the packing to take a look at the stone.












This is a close up of the stone-- "Python" from M. Teixteira Denver-- not heavily veined, but some interesting color variations.
http://www.soapstones.com

They also packaged some epoxy for the seams and a quart of mineral oil.

I think I will try it unoiled first and see how I like it.

Master Bath

The bathroom vanity cabinets are now in. Adam will start on the travertine counter tops tomorrow.
There will be rectangular sinks on each end and counter in the middle, lower area with the drawers. We have chosen some rectangular sinks and brushed nickel faucets. We also have a small hot water heater under the right sink to help with getting hot water quickly to the bath.

I can't wait to try out the heated floor in here too! Ken installed an under the tile heating system, thermostatically controlled. Sounds like Heaven in the middle of the night and in the middle of winter.

This is a picture of the sinks we chose for the master bath.