Granite is here today

The granite is here today. I think I mentioned that I selected a slab called Tan Brown. Well, there's some red in it too -- that I am excited about. Setting it on the island and the countertop right now. New sink, faucet and backsplash also going in today. The sink I select from Home Depot -- seems like it is their exclusive line called Pegasus. It is a black composite granite sink. I love it. The workers will come back tomorrow to grout the backsplash and the project would be 80% done. New cabinet coming in early September and I think the lights too. Yay!

Phase 1 -- Complete

Phase 1 is done. Cabinets are refinished and they look really nice. Like they are all brand new. Dining room and Kitchen painted and the color is quite soothing and very nice. It always amazes me how the same colored paint could be so different depending on what surface it is on and how the light hits it. The Heirloom Gold color from Benjamin Moore is yellowish at times and greenish some other times. I really like the color. The accent wall color is Suntan Bronze and it really does anchor the other side of the room across from all the cabinets and appliances. Phase 2 is next week and it's the new countertop and backsplash. Need to confirm the installation date. Most likely a two day project -- put in the countertop, hook up the plumbing and then install the backsplash. Day 2 will be grouting. Yay! There's still Phase 3 and Phase 4 but I will keep you posted. No more pictures until the grand reveal.

Day 2 -- Remodeling

Doors . . .
Doors . . . every where.



















Just not where they are suppose to be . . . yet.













So, day 2 started bright and early -- 7:30 to be exact.

More of a repeat of what took place yesterday. The first coat of polyurethane was put on yesterday afternoon before the workmen left. Today, they sanded down the first coat and added the second coat. What I found out today is that they've only done the back of the door and the front of the door hasn't been done yet. Which means more of teh same -- one coat of polyurethane on the front of the cabinet doors, sand them down again and then the final coat.

The workmen also started painting the dining room and the kitchen. The first coat is down on the wall, except the accent wall. I have to say that the Heirloom Gold color is quite pleasing. However, this new coat of paint is showing off a lot of imperfections in the wall. The workmen are doing quite a good job of patching what they can though. We'll have to wait and see when it is all done.

There's stuff all over the place -- I never really knew that I have so much stuff. Maybe it is because they are spread all over the place. I vow to purge when I am putting stuff back.

It's on...

The cabinet doors and drawers came off this morning. The old finish is being stripped right now. Seems like it may take two attempts to remove all the old finish. Let it dry and apply the new finish. Then, when that dries, the doors and drawers will go back on the cabinet. Painting will take place this week as well. The accent wall is a Suntan Bronze color and the rest will be in a Heirloom Gold -- all from Benjamin Moore. Will post pictures when it is done.

Pottery Week 2 and 3

Pottery Week 2 wasn't very productive. I had a lot of trouble centering and building the wall. I only made 2 pieces that week. They have been glazed and are being fired right now. I will post pictures when they are done glazing.

Week 3 was more productive. We started learning the bowl shape and I seems to take to the bowl shape better than the cyclinder shape. The difference between a bowl shape and a cyclinder shape is that the bowl shape has a curved bottom while the cyclinder shape has a hard edge at the bottom. I made 7 pieces that week. The picture on the right shows the pieces in the bisk state. I took the picture before I glazed them. Wonder how they will look after it is done. Again will post picture when they come out of the kiln.

I've also started taking notes on the pieces I make -- taking measurements of the pieces before they are fired and afterwards to keep track of shrinkage. Also keeping notes of the glazes used and the combination to find the one I like. I've been told that clay shrinks a total of about 12% between from start to finish. Right now, the measurements are showing me that from the leather-hard stage to the bisk stage, the pieces shrinks about 0.5 cm. I haven't measured how much it shrinsk from glazing to final. As for glazes, I really like the Whites, Aviva Blue and Red Iron. I saw a really interesting green color the other day but it is out right now and they are mixing another batch. Will try that when it is available.

Pottery Week 1

Week one of First Time Potter is about clay preparation, Hand Building and the basics on Wheel Throwing. The clay has to go through a process called Wedging before they can be used. This, essentially, means you knead the lump of clay to remove air bubbles trapped inside the clay. There is a special way to do this so that you don't end up introducing air into the clay instead. Air expand when heated and any air bubble trapped inside your piece will explode during the firing process and might ruin you piece and all your hard work would go to waste.

Hand Building is taking a piece of wedged clay and making pieces without the wheel. You can use moulds, pinching, coils, etc. etc. So, all the pieces in the picture above is from Hand Bulding. The piece at the 12 o'clock position is a coil pot. What you do with a coil pot is to roll out your piece of clay into a long piece of "snake" and coil it around and around. You can choose to smooth out the sides or leave the lines so you see the coil. These pieces are left to harden to a leather state, the bisk fired, glazed and then fired again. The coil pot was fired in Celadon, (clockwise) the next piece is in a color called Temoku, then Red Iron and the last rectangular one has Aviva Blue on the outside.

Week 1 also saw me trying to center a lump of clay on the wheel. Centering is perhaps the foundation move of any wheel throwing projects. If you can't center your lump of clay, your piece will end up having uneven walls. If the clay wobbles bad enough, you might end up wearing your work. LOL. None of my wheel throwing pieces were presentable from Week One. Ekkk!

There is no light at the end of the tunnel . . .

when it comes to lighting. If you are not getting a standard track lighting kit, the "science" of track lighting would require a PhD in and of itself. Single circuit, 2 circuit, head, canopy, pendant, monorail, transformer, low voltage, line voltage -- the terminology just goes on and on. Thanks to my friend Roger, I have gone to his lighting guy and ask for a consultation. I hope his going to show me the "light" and let me know what my options are. Again, it will probably be a phased approach. The money pit is not a bottomless pit you know!!!! I know I would be interested in some task lighting, a couple of pendants over the island, undercabinet lighting, maybe replace the existing track in the dining room. We'll see. Put on the poker face. Bwahahahaha!