Bustin' out the Drywall

Dateline: Drywallia—Lucy and I had a banner night last night in our evolving kitchen. Gradually, there is becoming less a lack of kitchen, being replaced by a distinct possibility of kitchen. This is due to some serious drywallin', y'all. Here we see Lucy, the drywall saw cham-peen. Thanks to Saint Laura, the wiring is (largely) in, and thanks to Shannon and Jeremy we've got some matching flooring to cover up that plywood that Ms. Points is standing on. Salut!

BUT WAIT! Have you been over to lucyandmick.com lately?

The Joys of the Temporary Kitchen

The Meat Hammer
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey.

I spent a while thinking about those "kitchen meat hammers." I know—they have a more formal name. Um, ah, ... oh yeah—a tenderizer. We say: "We don't need no stinking tenderizers! Not in the Temporary Kitchen!

Our newest benefactors!

Without Shannon and Jeremy, we literally wouldn't have a floor to stand on! Lucy and I have found kindred spirits in fellow kitchen ripper-outers across town on a fabulous street in a fabulous house.

Pictured, Miss Lucy holds a sawed-out sample of their old kitchen pine flooring that we were just sure wouldn't be right in some way shape or form. That's just the way home renovation works, right? Well, guess what? It's totally right. Amazing.

Now the plan is for me to take it up and take it away. Crazy, huh? In fact, it's awesome. We've got patching galore to do, and really needed the extra board. Thanks thanks thanks, Shannon and Jeremy!

David and Sharlot on the case!

Well, we've got more saints in the mix! Uncle Dave and Aunt Sharlot have worked their hardware wonder on the doorknobs, plates and assorted hardware from the house. Just got this picture back of the stuff we boxed up and sent them. How about that? When I first saw this show up on my desktop, I thought why did somebody send me a picture of a gamelan?

This stuff is still bangin', though, right?

Joshua Rocks!

joshua
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey.

I know it's been a while, jeez, it's been a while! We're tearing away on the Campsie Project, believe it or not. Actually, it tends to be a good sign when nothing gets written; it means that I'm actually doing work. Ha!

Yes, we're still looking at a "in-process" kitchen. but there are some other wonderful developments, thanks to handyman Josh.

1. Our fence is complete! Oscar is quite happy, he now has a "sealed-off" backyard from which to bark at innocent passers-by. And we have a glorious and cool Fence By Josh®.
2. We just didn't want to let Josh get away, so for a while he was a fixture around here, fixing—well—fixtures and things.
3. Like, Josh repaired our soffit. Isn't that a weird word? Anyway, the soffit outside of our (lack-of) kitchen was one of the very first things we were instructed to repair, oh, a year ago. Okay, already! Thanks to Josh, it's fixed!
4. Josh also fixed some of the shingling from our new lack-of chimney. The magnificent Laura, of course, facilitated my removal of the chimney, by—oh, I don't know—closing up the resulting hole in our roof? Yes, that's it. But just with tar paper, due to impending darkness, on one Sunday evening. After several hefty rainstorms (and not a drop inside), we decided to count our blessings and begged Josh up onto a ladder to set in some shingles.

As you can see, Josh is the latest soul without whom we'd be lost. He's also, as you can see, a pretty important addition to any decent Mardi Gras parade.