Finally installed the 2 Laticrete preformed shower pans!  They're made of styrofoam with a waterproof coating and drain embedded. They're set in a mortar bed.  We had to remove the drains that the plumber had installed.   Next will be a waterproof coating around the edges.

Mom was busy cleaning up the mortar, going in and out of the house with the door open.  Osker had been going in and out too; he likes to keep an eye on her!  All of a sudden Mom looked up to find Osker standing in front of her dripping wet mud.  Apparently he ran down the hallway looking for her before he found her in the bathroom.  There was a trail of muddy water on all the "protective" paper lining the floors.  There was muddy water splashed on the walls.  There was muddy water on the wood floor.  He must have sat in a mud puddle.

We're using beadboard for the backsplash in the kitchen.  One wall of the kitchen needed full sheets to go behind a glass door cabinet, bread table, and bookshelf.  Mom cut out the outlet holes and installed the sheets without screwing it up!!!  They're nailed, glued, and painted (same color as the rest of the house...).  Finally picked cabinet stain color.

Dad worked hard on the range hood vent opening and connection.  Beams and joists are in the way of an easy connection. We're having a sheet metal vent transition special-made so it will be properly centered.

Still in various stages of varnish on windows, doors and door jambs.  Dad made Mom a pair of 36" horses for finish work so it's not so hard on her back.

Went off on a little tangent today!   The stick on the pine tree is the bottom of an antenna for a radio in the house.  That's right!!  That's how far away we had to go to put the antenna for reception.  You would not believe how long it took to find that spot! There is a wire running the whole way!  Country living!!  It will be nice to have some tunes to work by!

 We're setting up a door and trim staining area upstairs.  The tester door is done--luckily we like it! Two more have been stained and are ready for varnish.  The varnish is the same as the floor finish.  The windows are in various stages of stain and varnish too!  Now we know why they call them "panes"!  Brushing varnish on those little pieces of wood is a pain!

The 4 inch wall extension has been sheetrocked, "textured", and primed!  Couple coats of paint and we'll be back to where we started, installing the shower pan!

 Why wait to remodel??  Why not do it now??  Something about the shower dimensions in the guest bath have kept Mom awake at night.  She finally decided it was 4" too narrow.  So she ripped off the end of the wall and added 4".   Not sure how that happened during framing.

This is me and Osker begging for apple treats!  He likes Honey Crisp the best;  I like em all!

Mom let us in our new house!!  We've been getting pedicures and reviewing how to sit and stay while our feet get wiped.  We got to sniff around and see what's been going on.  Mom's having a color crisis and is giving up on choosing paint colors.  She wasted money on a gallon of  "baby-shit brown", so the guest room is now the same color as the rest of the house.  The guest bath came out darker than expected, so the master bath is likely to be white!!

Dad is working on re-plumbing the kitchen faucet rough-in to make it a wall mount connection.  He's also installing the stove hood and fan.

Dad caught the skunk in a live trap!!  He put the trap in a plastic bag, inside a dog food bag.  That way you can come up behind it and it can't see you.  He closed up the bags, put the skunk in the bus and took him to a new home a few miles away.  He never sprayed while in the trap!!  We can relax now when we go outside!




Dad snowplows paths for the chickens!  They don't like snow.  The chickens were holed up in the hen house, not laying, until the solstice. The next day they came out, starting walking around, and are laying daily!  What clever girls!

Yesterday all the snow was gone!  Today another 5 inches!  It's hard to find our toys in the yard.

We're being terrorized by a little skunk that has a limp.  He's out during the day.  We've seen him several times.  Today he was down by the chicken coop and when I barked at him he let loose!  Luckily he missed me; chicken coop stinks!

Otherwise just watching the floor dry and shopping for bathroom tiles!