Tag Archives: Chules

Weekend Coffee Share 3/25/17

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If we were having coffee… well, we wouldn’t be able to make it to the kitchen right now, but I’d invite you around back. I’ve got the hose set up, so I can offer you water. I could wash out that cute little flower pot for a mug.

No? Okay, well come around back anyway, and I’ll show you what I’ve been up to.
Remember that little concrete countertop I poured a couple of weeks ago? Well, I worked on grinding and finishing it this week. And now it’s going to be a very shiny stepping stone for the yard somewhere.

Apparently there’s a kind of sweet spot with concrete finishing, right when it gets that nice smooth sheen, and before it begins getting really shiny and starts revealing even more pits than what one has already sanded out. I was going for a shiny look, and managed to polish my way right past that smooth sweet spot.

With proper training, experience and equipment, I suppose there are subtler nuances between finishing stages, but I lack all of the above. Hey, it was fun, though, and I haven’t given up!

Today, I gave it another go ‘round with a pour-in-place top. Same size as the first one, but this time instead of doing all the dirty work in the garage and then bringing it into the house to install, I built the mold right onto the counter surface and poured the concrete directly into its final resting place, doing all the dirty work in the kitchen.

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Hence the inaccessibility. It’s a small space to begin with, but once you’ve pulled both the fridge and the stove away from the walls, and have slopped impromptu concrete speed bumps all over the floor, well… I guess I’ll be going out for my morning coffees this coming week.

I’ll likely remove the forms on Wednesday, and assuming it’s functional, I’ll begin grinding and polishing. This time I’m going for that smooth sheen. Let’s hope I get it right. A girl can only use so many stepping stones.

Have a great week! Maybe I’ll see you at the coffee shop.

P.S. — If you notice that Chules looks a little straggly, it’s because he chose to take on the water hose while I was rinsing off my tools in the back yard. Despite what he tries to claim, I did NOT start a water fight! (I did win it, though. 😉  )

#WeekendCoffeeShare is hosted by Emily at NerdintheBrain.com. Head on over to see what others are sharing this weekend. They probably won’t make you drink from the hose. 

#Weekend Coffee Share 3/19/17

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If we were having coffee, you might notice that the path into my house is ever-so-slightly clearer. As the kitchen makeover progresses, some of the overflow materials, tools, odds and odders are thinning out a bit. Just a bit, though.

Pardon me while I squeeze past the stove that’s been pulled out of place and now sits in the middle of the kitchen, find you a clean coffee mug and try to remember which space of countertop was clear enough to hold the coffee maker this morning.

I poured one of the concrete countertops – just a little one; 24” x 15.5” – and set it in place yesterday to see how I like it. It seems rather thick at two inches, especially for such a small top, but I’ll leave it there for a while to see if I warm up to it. If nothing else, it will make for a good practice piece as I try to get the hang of filling the air holes, polishing and finishing the concrete.

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Painting, more painting, resizing cupboard doors to fit around the new range top vent, ripping up old flooring, pulling staples… it’s slow going for me, but mostly because I’m in no hurry. I spend a lot of time just standing in the middle of the kitchen, surveying my “progress,” and alternating between a sense of pride and a sense of panic as the thought, “What was I thinking when I decided to take this on?” runs through my mind.

It makes my eskie Chules anxious to see me just standing there. He thinks if I’m in the kitchen I should be fetching him a snack, and if I’m not going to feed him I should stop staring at the walls and go play with him. Or at the very least, sit and watch him as he naps.

The sun’s actually out today, a rarity that I should probably take advantage of. I’ll let Chules take me for a walk and then consider doing some yard work.

Thanks for stopping by. I apologize if I bored you with my kitchen update. As the weather moderates I can begin regaling you with stories of my landscaping projects (something about which I am equally clueless as I am with the DIY kitchen project).

I hope you have a great week!

#WeekendCoffeeShare is graciously hosted by Emily at NerdintheBrain.com.

Just Because I Can

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Three Things Thursday is hosted at NerdintheBrain.com. Simple: List three things that make your life awesome.

Easy one today: Pets, Birthdays and Three-year-olds.

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Today is my dog Chules’ third birthday. I don’t have time to write a lengthy post today extolling all his many charms, so I’ll just post a couple of photos. I’ve already posted them on my Facebook page, on the American Eskimo Dog Lovers FB page, and now — just because I can — I’ll share them here as well.

We’ll just count this as Chules’ fifteen minutes of fame.

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And speaking of three-year-olds, here’s my favorite one:

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Weekend Coffee Share 3.4.17

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If we were having coffee, I would invite you in and advise you — as usual — to mind the obstacle course of clutter on our way to the couch. The clutter has rearranged a bit. The long cardboard box holding my new bifold door is gone from where it has lain on the floor in front of the living room window for longer than I care to admit, and the door is now bifolding where I installed it in the kitchen closet doorway.

The two large bags of Goodwill donations that sat on the flat box of wood veneer at the front door entrance have finally been duly donated. The box of veneer panels is still there, but is thinning as the veneer gets cut to size and used to line the newly painted kitchen cabinets.

The saw horse bench in the dining room has been dismantled, mostly because I needed to use the “bench” part to make new shelving for the aforementioned kitchen closet with the aforementioned new bifold door.

The kitchen linoleum sports even more paint splatters, although there is less linoleum to splatter as I have begun ripping it out in anticipation of new flooring.

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As you may have guessed by now, the kitchen remodel is still in progress, albeit a very slow progression. The wheels of remodeling turn slowly in my house. But that’s okay. If I weren’t puttering around with the kitchen, I would likely be sitting around getting bummed by the dreary gray skies and rain that have comprised this winter. I am soooo ready for spring.

I’m also eager for warmer weather so I can attempt the concrete counter top construction. Once poured into the melamine mold I built, the concrete will have to hang out in the (unheated) garage for a week or so to set and cure before I move it into the kitchen. I have no clue as to what I am doing with this, so the whole process will be yet another adventure in my DIY home impairment saga.

My dog Chules doesn’t mind the weather, but he is soooo ready for the kitchen remodel to be over. He doesn’t like the noise of the circular saw and the shop vac, although I think he secretly loves brushing up against the fresh paint and coming away with colorful stripes to adorn his fur.

The coffee has run out, so I guess it’s time to get on with the day. On today’s agenda: moving the cabinet doors into the glass studio and setting up space so I can begin painting them. Chules will be so disappointed that the doors are going to be white. No chance for stripes on his white fur.

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any pointers on making concrete countertops, feel free to comment. Maybe sharing ideas will help cement our friendship. (See what I did there?)

Have a great week!

#WeekendCoffeeShare is graciously hosted by Emily at NerdintheBrain.com.