J got sick of the kitchen floor

Since we're going to redo the floor when we vault the ceiling, we just removed the linoleum and painted the ugly ass paperboard that was under it.

I pulled up the tiles, and then sanded the floor.



We had a mistint paint that we were calling "kermit" and decided to use it.



So there's kermit, spread all over the floor.





Whoa.



Next, J forged a star.


Then I stenciled the shape onto the floor, and J did the hard part of painting them.



So, here's what we got.

Fireplace ready to burn

The Chimney Master came by, and told us we can have fires in the fireplace. We've only had one so far, and we didn't get a lot of heat from it. But it sure was fun.

mycologists have more fungi

I have been waiting to use that line since 1994.


I bought a Shitake mushroom block online. Here are the first little mushrooms emerging.






Here they are just a couple of days later:



Mushrooms for dinner next week, for sure.

The block will produce for a couple of weeks, then it goes dormant for a couple of weeks, then it produces again. I think we'll get about 3 months out of that. It will be spring by then. We'll use the rest of the block to innoculate some logs or a tree trunk that we have in the back yard, to get a shitake colony going outside. I'm excited about it.

Your table has arrived, sir

We thought we would never get a better deal...

So, how can you beat a $2000 door for $200? A $1400 door for $75, that is how!

J stopped by Lowes, just to look. She mentioned to me that there was a full light double door, one fixed. Right orientation for the slider that we wanted to replace, and probably the correct dimensions, too.

So we went by and bought it. Exactly the right size, right swing and everything.

Hawt Tub Update!

The new cover arrived. It is in place and seems to work well.

Additionally, J sanded and stained about half of the skirt.

Dishwasher!

So, we're the people with the huge flat panel TV and little else!

Well, we actually don't have any TVs. But we now have a beautiful stainless Bosch dishwasher, and a great range / convection oven in our dingy 1970's kitchen.

J found an excellent deal on a Bosch from someone who upgrade to a Miele. We had it installed pretty quickly, but didn't have the proper interface between the drain hose and the air gap. After a trip to lowe's on the way home from work Monday, and to the market for some dishwasher detergent, we were able to do a load of dishes.