Renovation, Part 2 - Day 6: More Tiling

The contractors came this morning for a few hours and got quite a bit more tiling done.

They are planning to come tomorrow morning, too.

The grout isn't in yet.

The painters will be here on Monday to finish the trim and to put on the baseboards and clean up stuff.

We are really really tired.

Greg's office, all painted and ready to be tiled:

Down the hall to the east:

The closets aren't tiled yet.

The paint is all dry, so we were able to let the cats out to roam.

They were surprisingly calm and have gotten some extra snuggles.

Down the hall to the west:

Look at how beautiful the master bedroom looks!!!

Stephen investigating the tile in the hallway:

We've been spacing out today, though there are some additional reasons why this day was tiring.

One of them is that it was HOT!

Our Spring has been record-breaking in its cool temperatures,

but I think that might be over now.

We ended up spending more time outside in the afternoon than we normally would have, because we loaded up Greg's truck with old carpet and old car

pet pad that he took to be recycled (isn't it great that the city of Chandler recycles it?!)

Another reason it was a draining day is because we discovered an orange cat in our backyard.

Our neighbor, Tia, told told us last weekend that the big orange bully cat that has prowled the neighborhood was really beaten up and sick, and that we should call her if we saw him.

He was lying under a tree in our backyard and looking terrible.  

I won't go into too much detail because I don't want to think about it and I don't want to put visuals in your head that you can't get rid of!  

Tia gave us the number of the Animal Care and Control people who came out to try to catch him last weekend, and I called . . . an hour or so later, they came to catch him.

But until they arrived, we wanted to make sure that we knew where he was because we didn't want him to be in misery and we didn't want him to die in our backyard.

Last time the animal lady came out (last Saturday), the cat was still healthy enough to jump over a wall and get away.  This time, he was lying on our patio and barely had enough energy to try to run.

It was heart-breaking and horrible.

This world is a broken one.

Please consider supporting your local animal shelter or Humane Society.

While I was waiting outside, I watched hummingbirds (we have a baby one!)

I was looking into the master bedroom but saw myself instead of the room!

Then we came in and cooled down and drank a lot of water/tea.

Greg played the guitar for awhile

(we aren't bothering to try to get the dust under control because there will be more tomorrow!)

Now we're watching a bit of funny TV and enjoying the remaining bit of Saturday.

Hope you are, too!

Renovation, Part 2 - Day 5: Tiling and Painting

Wow!

The guys got a LOT done today!

It started out with leveling the concrete and patching cracks and putting

special membrane over the cracks and some more painting.

Before they left around 5 PM, the tilers got most of the master bedroom and most of the hall tiled!

Here's the master bedroom - doesn't it look great?!

The lights got put up in the master bathroom, too!

A view down the hall to the east:

Greg taking a photo down the hall to the west:

Greg photographing the new lights;

They add a very pretty diffuse light.

Bright, but not harsh.

The mirror is back, but BOY, is it dusty!

It got to 102 today outside, so when things quieted down, Juvy came in for a good hour of snuggles.  She was happy!  I got to rub her sweet soft little belly, so I was happy, too.

Workers are coming back tomorrow for a day of stuff . . . 

they are hoping to be done with everything on Monday or Tuesday!

Renovation, Part 2 - Day 4: Painting

We're still living in a bit of a crowded mess,

but it's headed in the right direction -

and the hardest work (for US) is done, so

we can relax a bit.

I'm trying to catch up so my mental faculties grow back!

First, here's the dress I showed you on the hanger the other day.

There are pleats around the waistline and I'm not sold on that now that I 

am wearing the dress today.  

But I like the overall shape, especially the little puff shoulders . . . 

and I can't find the tags to return it anyway!

dress: Nina Ricco
purchased at Ross (of course!)

I'm wearing it with these gray Roxy shoes today

to add some beachy casual-ness.

Close-up of the pattern:

On to house photos . . . 

the tile in the bathrooms was jackhammered out yesterday morning.

They had to take out both toilets to do this, but they rigged this one back up

by the time I got home yesterday afternoon. 

The toilet in the other bathroom is in the bathtub!

Storage in my office:

Greg's office:

The ceiling in Greg's office is all mended and painted!

Master bedroom:

The mirror from over the sink is in the closet so they could replace

the drywall and insulation where the water damage occurred.

We are also having them put in new lights above the sinks . . .

that should happen today!

That's why those wires are sticking out of the wall.

Both bathrooms were under construction yesterday pretty early

(and I did not get going pretty early yesterday after the hard work of moving stuff

and removing carpet, tack strips, etc!),

 so here's how I did my hair and make-up yesterday morning - 

a mirror set on the kitchen counter!

Check in tomorrow for the latest updates!

May you have a lovely and organized Thursday!

Renovation, Part 2 - Day 3: ALL Carpet Gone!

Doesn't it look like we're touring an unfinished house?

Greg's office:

My office:

Down the hall to the west:

Master bedroom:

We did it! 

We (I) only had a few snarky moments and neither of us fell

all the way to pieces through this process.

Today I had a little bobble in my self-control when Greg wisely reminded me

that I needed to ask (instruct) our contractor to please REPLACE the damaged drywall 

rather than just repairing it.  

Insurance paid for REPLACEMENT, and that's what our contract with the company states, so not doing it wastes our money.

The head dude at the company doesn't communicate very well with his sub-contractors, 

so that's left to me . . . 

but I'm flexing my confronting muscles and they will get stronger!

Happy Wednesday!

Renovation, Part 2 - Days 1 & 2

Whew!

We started out in my office (also our guest room) and removed the flooring

on Sunday afternoon.

Then today was a whirlwind - Greg was working from morning until . . . now (10:56 pm!)

I took lots of breaks, but I kept going and did not cry!

We kept pulling things out of the bedrooms into the great room/dining room.

Some of this is just empty boxes (front left of the photo),

and the rest is fairly well organized.

We actually can find what we need still!

Clothes that can be folded are on the big bookshelf in the background.

Clothes that need to be hung are hung on this ladder.

We put our two twin guest beds in the kitchen!

The cats were lying on them, watching birdies out the window.

The last task for Christie last night was hammering up the tack strips in

the master bedroom.

Only one finger hammered and all the strips are now gone!

Allistair is exhausted!

 Here is what the beds looked like before we fell into them last night.

And here's how the kitchen looks this morning

(one bed pushed under the other). 

Nice and tidy!

Pulling out the carpet in Greg's office today

and my job is the tack strips again.

Can we do it?

YES WE CAN!