Tales from the Tile-less House

Week  four and we are still camping amid the mess.  Chase rolled the refrigerator into the almost finished utility room, which means that every time I need something out of it, of course I walk right back into the kitchen where it is supposed to be, thanks to 30 years of habit.  Boxes of  last minute packed  stuff  has gone  into the garage or the utility room, so I wander back and forth between the kitchen, garage and utility room to find what we need for improvised meals or to feed the cats and Mari.  The microwave is on a counter where the cat food usually is so it will  be out of Mari’s reach. The toaster oven, which has been a lifesaver, is on the washing machine. Dishes and random items are scattered about hither and yon. And we are still eating on the shaky card table. The bedrooms seem to be stacking up more and more with last minute items that need shelter from the paint.

And then  Bill and I had to move all the boxes Colten and I had so carefully stacked  to get to a cabinet door that is to be reinstalled which was, of course, at the very back of the storage container. So now it is an obstacle course to walk through there.

    Raygena Barrett and Peaches paint the newly textured wall.

Peaches has been in the middle of the whole thing. She climbs the ladders for a better view. She sits somewhere on  the piles of tools and equipment and paint cans to make sure they are safe. So far I have been able to clean her fur of  the telltale signs that she has been helping with the painting and texturing. Fearless, she hangs around when the nails guns, sanders, and air compressors are on. The other cats hide or rush to the door for comfort outside. One night after everyone had gone and Chase had a space heater running  to dry paint in the kitchen, I found Kitty curled up in a cabinet basking in the quiet and the heat.

But the corbels and capitals are up and look beautiful. The new full-length window by the front door is installed and ready to paint. More surfaces are being painted or stained.

But wait! Look! There is tile on a  floor. Israel and Ishmael started on the patio floor today.

So  the fun just continues.