12/30/09 - Day 54 - NEW LIGHTS!

I am truly blessed to be part of a talented family. Dad was an Ob/Gyn who brought thousands of babies into the world. Mom was a top principal and talented artist. My sister is an award-winning educator. My grandfather was a pullman porter. My Aunt Reba is almost 103 years old and is sharp as a tack. And my baby brother, Greg, is McGiver - a man who can do anything with anything.  From the time Greg was 5 years of age, he was building things. Before he was 11, he built a 4x8' platform for his train set and constructed a pully system so it was housed just under the ceiling. By 15, he ad built a 5' concrete safe in the garage.  By 18 he had installed a security system in mom's home.  He was a hazardous materials expert for the Fire Department. And then he started a handyman business which turned into a general contracting business.  He can do it all: plumbing, electrical, tile, framing. Everything.

So when my mom died in January 2007 and he fixed up her house so beautifully that it sold in just a few weeks, I decided to have him fix up my house too.  The latest of my manias is completing this kitchen remodel. At our pre-Christmas party on December 11th for my son's family, I asked for his advice on beefing up the electrical service in my kitchen to accommodate new lighting fixtures.  As Always, he came through like a champ!

Greg added another set of sockets and hooked my under-cabinet lights to a new switch that also controlled the new pendant lights over the peninsula.

What a romantic glow.  This setting will be perfect or watching TV.  Just enough light to get water from the refrigerator.

He replaced the dated 4' flourescent lights in the 4x6' recess overhead with a quirky set of unusual track lights.  The eight heads provide quite a bit of light and are turned on by the main kitchen switch from the front room into the kitchen.

The old recessed light was replaced by a 4-headed light in the same style as the overhead track.  The heads may be positioned to that they light under the side cabinets.  They are on a separate switch from the other two zones.  This picture shows this zone only on.

This is what all three zones on look like.

This warm lighting is a huge difference from the sterile, cold flourescent lighting that was there!!!

Love it, love it, love it!!!

12/23/2009 - Day 47 - Customized Tile Backsplash

Within five weeks of beginning the demolition of the old kitchen, we had the first official party.  Everything was done in the kitchen remodel except the lighting and spicing it up with some Kanika color.

I purposely painted the walls a light color, initially thinking that the black countertops would absorb too much of the overhead lighting. But the "light beige" color is actually a light yellow. A pastel yellow. I don't "do" pastels, so I knew that Kanika would eventually make a customized backsplash with vivid, tribal-colored tiles.

On December 23rd, rising from my sick bed like the bad girl that I am, I laid out 12 12x12" squares of 2" tiles on my work surface.  Using a large paint brush, I slathered on turquoise, copper, and red glaze over the tiles, overlaying and mixing them like I like to do (as I was told not to do in clay class!). Over the next few days, I reglazed and refired, adding layers of color to make them more vivid and interesting.

12/11/09 - Day 35 - First Party in the New Kitchen

It's Christmas . . . a couple of weeks early.  I try out my new kitchen on my son, Isaac, his wife, Jameillah, and their daughter, Jazmine, who are visiting from North Carolina.  Jae's mom, Margaret, my brother Greg, sister Carrie, and boyfriend Michael, were also part of the fun.

Breakfast with mommy.

An untraditional Christmas meal of chips and salsa, mixed beans, meatballs, rice, spaghetti squash, colorful salad, strawberry jello, hot apple cider, sparkling cider, pumpkin bread, dark chocolate and orange cake, petit fours, and, of course, Hot Tamale candies on the table.

Jameillah and Michael.

Little Jazmine is dressed in her finery in the clean new kitchen and diningroom space.

Opening presents with daddy.

"One" time Grandma will give into the princess thing:

Isaac and my sister Carrie.

The little sweetie.

Jazmine's grandmothers cherish her visit.

My brother, Greg, son Matthew, and son Isaac.

A special moment with my granddaughter.

My new kitchen was integral to making this family moment a very special one.

12/10/09 - Day 34 - Preparing for the First Party

My son, Isaac, and his wife, Jameillah, and their daughter, Jazmine, were visiting from north Carolina.  Since I would not be able to visit them this Christmas, I decided to have a "Christmas Lunch" on December 11, 2009, with all the trimmings of Christmas.  Well, not exactly a traditional Christmas lunch, but the house was decorated and table set the night before they came.

My family spent the night on Thursday and we all decorated the Christmas trees like we used to. But this time my granddaughter participated in the fun.

Waiting for Santa Claus: Stockings for each of us.

Almost one-year old Jazzy gets warm carrots and apples for dinner.

12/8/09 - Day 32 - New DIningroom Table

My ex-husband and I had purchased all oak furniture in the early 1980s. Sturdy, functional, brown.  With a new bold, kitchen it was time for a bold change. IKEA to the rescue again with a sleek black table and simple and comfortable black chairs.  As all IKEA products, it was relatively simple to build, clean, and (comparatively) inexpensive.

The white padding will be gone in a future project, to be replaced by beautifully-textured African fabric. Spice!

12/7/09 - Day 31 - First Load of Dishes!

After one month and one day after the old kitchen was demolished, we have our dishwasher back and begin washing all dishes, pots and pans.  They are definitely cleaner than before!

12/5/09 - Day 29 - Clean Dishes!

Success! Michael worked until 12:30 AM to hook up everything in the sink cabinet. He got up early to make some adjustments to the toe-kick so the dishwasher door could fully open.

He was anxious to wake me up (earlier than I wanted!) to happily pronounce that he was finished. So, somewhat begrudgingly, I got out of bed at 8:20 and traipsed into the new kitchen.  WOW! It looked great!

I wanted to test out the dishwasher, so we read the instructions for loading the dishes, adding the rinse additive (which I've never done before), and reading the safety precautions.  Then, I took out the entire silverware drawer and began putting in the dinner knifes, alternating the handles up and down as suggested in the user manual, then the forks and small spoons.

Michael, an expert on loading dishwashers, showed me how to properly put in the plates and cups and glasses. I had always had older model dishwashers which were loaded differently than the fancier ones of today.

So . . . press the Start button and close the door. 3, 2, 1. . . the mechanism began. The dishwasher was working. Huzzah!

But 10 minutes later, the water started draining out of the air gap on top of the sink, and spewing over the lip of the sink and onto the countertop . . . toward my new wood cover next to the refrigerator. STOP THE DISHWASHER! I quickly grabbed a towel and mopped up the water before it reached its wooden destination. Michael was not happy.

Now readers, it is important at this moment to reveal that, in my experience, dishwashers have ALWAYS drained out of the top of the air gap - at every house I've ever lived in. But Michael says it should not if the hoses are clear of debris. And certainly our brand new hoses and parts should let the water drain through the disposal.  I had told him a couple of times that when I installed my latest disposal a few years ago that the instructions did say there were two ways to install it - one with and one without a dishwasher - but I decided to install like the old one.  The water spewing out the air gap was nothing new to me and I had checked with my sister, who had always had the same experience too. And Michael called Home Depot to get some advice on how to fix the problem and the first person in the kitchen department he spoke with also seemed to indicate that some water does normally come out of the air gap.

At that point, 9:45 AM, I had to take a shower and get dressed for an 11:00 memorial service in Davis, so I bid him adieu and good luck on solving the problem.

After the memorial service, and on the way to my granddaughter's 1st birthday party, I checked my e-mails and saw one from him labeled "Success!"  Indeed, it seems that after talking with someone in the plumbing department they said that there is a covered hole in the disposal that he should punch out to let the water drain from the dishwasher through the disposal so it does not back up into the air gap.  Michael reran the dishwasher after the punch out and VOILA! SUCCESS!  He was a happy camper and so am I!  I am lucky Michael had the knowledge and stick-to-it-tiveness to see the issue through to completion!

Word to the wise: if your dishwasher used water spews out of your air gap, you should have someone punch out the hole in your disposal so it drains properly.

12/4/09 - Day 28 - Countertops Here

I've always wanted black countertops and a black sink.  Even though we were ready to have the countertops installed a couple of weeks ago, the installation company got waylaid a bit by the Thanksgiving holiday.

But TODAY'S THE DAY!  Unavoidably, I had a medical appointment that fell on the same day as the installation appt.  Michael came to the rescue (again) and volunteered to let the installers in at 9 AM while I was gone. And Matthew graciously volunteered to drive me to and from my appt.

When we returned to the house at 10:30 AM the counters were in!  Michael had taken lots of pictures for us all, as follows:

This covers a 9" bump out in the 48" wide kitchen window

A big piece covers the peninsula unit and pony wall

The stone has a protective wrapping over it

Without the plastic wrapping, the surface is so shiny!

Now for the counter over the sink. I asked for the sink cut out (since I paid for it) and all other remnants that may end up as one of my sculptures.

The sink counter is in place

One backsplash is in

A second backsplash is in place

They lifted the 125-pound sink for us. It fit perfectly.

Doesn't it look beautiful?

I am so happy!

The last counter is in place

Now that the workmen have gone, Michael will go under the sink and install the long-neck faucet.

Once he hooked up the hot and cold water, he tried it out in a plastic bucket. That was an easy project; however, hooking up the disposal and sink posed many logistical fit problems. I made him an apple pie to keep up his resolve to conquer these challenges.

He's going back to Home Depot for the third (fourth?) time today to find plumbing pieces that will fit properly. Thank goodness it's only 3 miles away!