We finished installing and grouting the slate last weekend and this Sunday I started building the surround. Here is a before and in progress shot for you to enjoy. If you want to see the work in progress go to the Photo Gallery and check out “Work on the new house > Living Room”
I’m loving the Droid, this is the first time I have left the Blackberry home and trusted a push device since the iPhone debacle. One of my favorite features is the built in GPS. I put the address in my meeting notifications, when my reminders pop up I simply press the address, it opens Google maps, I press navigate and I’m getting turn by turn directions with spoken street names and real-time traffic info within seconds.
Here is a photo of the Droid and I out for a stroll
The amazon. com application is pretty nuts too. I can check pricing on items just by taking a photo of the box or scanning the bar code. The app reports back the pricing on amazon and saves the item on my amazon.com page. I could also buy it from the phone if I want. I’m going to give her a few more days them probably give up the blackberry, yes I said “Give up the Blackberry”
It’s nice to get back in the swing of a good project and have Ayoe free to help out. So far we have enlarged the hearth to make room for the mantle pillars and set all the tiles in place with thin-set mortar. Today I hope finish cutting the tiles into little pieces and arrange them to cover up the bricks.
Check out the photo gallery in the links at the right >>Go to Work on the new house> Living Room
While dishing out candy to the 6 Trick or treaters we had, my uncle Sal and I wet to work on installing the gasline and getting the fireplace fired up. After 2 trips to home depot to buy 3 of every size and length of gas nipples and elbows “heh I said nipples and elbows”. It took only 2 hours to get the lines installed and tested.
Bleieve it or not it took almost 3 more hours just to arrange the logs just right. The guy at the store was right this was the hardest part. We can now relax in front of a cozy fire, without having to hunt and chop wood. It takes longer to open the glass doors than it does to start up the fire. Still not done getting the fire “just right” but here is a photo for now.
The week before we enjoyed a fun haunted hayride over at Jenny and Jeff’s house, they had Haloween Oreos, I ate so many it made me ill. Olivia Jack and I went on the maiden voyage in the hay mobile.
On Haloween, Jack and Olivia went out in the umbrella modified Radio Flyer to do some Trick or Treating in the rain. For more Haloween fun check out the Photo Gallery link to the right of this page. 2009 photos > October
The chimney sweep took a few weeks due to the bad condition of our Chimney. After removing 5 1/2 dead squirrels and cleaning out countless buckets of debris they needed to re-line the furnace side of the chimney. We had them install a stainless steel liner and cap.
The Fireplace side flue stopped 5 feet below the top, apparently it’s common for builders to do this when they run out of material. Last week we had them finish the liner and fix all the mortar on the outside. We are now officially ready for a fireplace.
I picked up a door from Lowes and installed it this weekend. It was a pain in the @55 because our damper needed an “alternate install” involving drilling through the lentil. After 2 hours it turned out well.
Olivia has dominated our “adult space” so this weekend’s unplanned project consisted of a trip to IKEA for some temporary storage solutions. The IKEA LACK shelving unit on it’s side with 3 sets of bathroom furniture legs. We needed the taller legs to clear the baseboard heating.
It actually turned out nice, and it’s much easier for Olivia to access her toys. We also have additional seating for about 8 people.
Finally time to start using that hole in our living room. We were originally thinking of installing a Mendota Gas insert, but after seeing how compact it looked I was on the fence. We decided on just doing a gas conversion which looks so much better and strangely is less than 1/3 the price. I’m hoping we can get this all done by November so we can enjoy some cozy winter nights by the fire.
Hopefully this will get me going on the Indian slate install, then the mantle and surround project I have been putting off for a year.
We are getting the 5 Burner system that looks like this
Olivia and Baby after a hard day at school. She completely zones out for a good half hour or more sometimes.
Take your chances against My Brute ghtfz.mybrute.com
