A Week (and more) Lost

My dad died a week ago this morning.  The Saturday before last, as you saw, he was helping us with the floor in the sunken living room.  We'd had dinner with Mrs. & Jr. that Friday, and stopped by the house late in the evening so Jr. could run around and Mrs. could take the pictures.  He and I worked until about 3pm on Saturday, leveling the subfloor, cutting the panels for the deck, and just enjoying the simple pleasure of working together.  Then he went back to Tucson and we went to our evening engagement.

I will miss him.

He taught me to always use a level, always check square (I didn't always), and to nail straight and cut clean (still working on that).  He was always up for a building project, always patient when I made mistakes (often enough), and always happy to help me fix them right.

He loved Jesus, too.

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."   
(Ephesians 2:1-10)

I will miss him, but I look forward to seeing him again.

 Jr., Mr., and Sr., ca. spring 2012.  It was the best photo I could scrounge from the Mrs.' blog. 

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith." 1 Jn. 5:4

Some progress

The countertops are coming along...

We got them connected where they need to be connected last night.

Also we got a stove and a refrigerator!

2bath is also coming right along, although the green color that I chose looks pretty scary in minimal light.

Mr. and his dad also worked on getting the subfloor laid in our sunken living room.

I am REALLY looking forward to getting lighting done in this house. It will make a huge difference!

Router Wookie

As the Mrs. noted, I did indeed cut the sink hole, and cleaning up the edges with a router was very...um...hirstutular? 

Walnut cuts like a dream, though, with saws, drills, and the router. 

The countertop connector holes went in real easy-like, and I now have the hardware to do the butt joint.

But manipulating that whomping big (10' x 2' x 2") slab of walnut required some engineering - the cradle I laid it on to drill the countertop connector holes is pictured below.  It required flipping it from front to back.  By myself. 

But all is well!  Hoorah.  Fridge and stove came today, and the kitchen window is the next target - then the kitchen might be close to being done-for-done!

For the record, the countertops are beautiful, and we got them from Hardwood Lumber Co. in Ohio, and are finishing them using umpteen coats of Waterlox original, topped with one or two final post-install coats of Waterlox Satin.

The sink

Mr. finally worked up the gumption to cut the hole for the sink...

Behold.

He did a great job. He didn't "butcher" the countertops at all. Haha

Is it not beautiful?

I love it.

Wait until you see the industrial faucet... It's a beautiful thing.

Haiku

When leaving comments
on timesheets my workplace,
why not write haiku?

The Doors

I should take more pictures.  The trouble is, Mrs. has the iPhone, I have a silly Droid (Defy XT + Republic Wireless- great for sand, sun, rain, and affordability - not so hot for pictures).

But, all that said, with help from Mr. Miner Sr., we have two new doors on the house!  The garage and the kitchen both have nice foam-core steel entry doors, hung plumb and level, and very snugly weatherstripped and foamed in.  Huzzah! 

Also, I am hiding from the sink cutting job.  It will be an expensive cut if I botch it.  So I won't botch it.  But I am avoiding it...

We've definitely turned a corner.

Now, after a good day's work, the house looks BETTER, not worse! I think that we are inching toward (first world) livability!

Yesterday was a big day for texturing walls (the female contingent) and priming and painting cabinets and sealing countertops (the male contingent). Another couple generously donated their vacation day and doubled our work.

Now for pictures! Notice the sealed floors and the textured/painted walls; especially the red in the kitchen ;-)

Cabinet painting shop...

Countertops. I love them.

Sink cabinet; big cutout for my awesome apron sink ;-)