Friday was Grandma's last day at our house.
She knew that she'd be having an evening flight, and that she'd be up pretty late once she got home, just waking up her house, and checking her mail, so she suggested that she have a longer afternoon nap, while I ran errands with Kelly. I had a pretty long list, so I took her up on it.
Andrew (OBC*) had mentioned earlier in the week that he would like to start installing cabinets on Saturday, and that it would be good if the kitchen was primed before that started.
The drywallers had been in the house for much of the week, fixing the walls, and Friday morning was the owner's final inspection of the finished product. I pointed out that there were gaps in the front room where the pony-walls had been removed, so he had one of his minions show up at noon to take care of those patches with quick-setting drywall patch, and then the "magic touch" with their drywall trowels, laying on texture so that you'd never know that the wall hadn't always looked like that.
So, while mom napped, Kelly and I ran off for errands.
First stop was Walgreens, to pick up photos from the excursions that we'd gone on with her. Mom still uses a film camera, but I can see her eyeing what we were able to do with our digitals, and the one-hour stop, where you only buy the shots that you're happy with intrigued her.
Then Kelly and I went off to Home Depot to get 2 gallons of Kilz primer (but not the eye-killingly oil-based one), and a Wagner Paint-Mate roller.
I love those things! Their reservoir handles make painting a breeze. Kelly also managed to get a cactus AND a beautiful african violet while we were there. How did that happen?
Then, seeing as we were close, we popped into the pet food store to check for Veggie Puffs. They're great hand-feeding treats for the hammies, and Kelly was out. Alas, that store didn't carry them, so we were FORCED to go to ANOTHER pet store to look. And this store had beautiful little dwarf hamsters...
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Oh, come on! Don't you think I have ANY restraint? We just looked. And chatted with a sales associate about hamsters, and their habits. He said that Campbells (the kind we have) are indeed so nippy and bite-y and territorial that his colleagues are afraid to reach into the cages, so the fact that Oreo and Souffle are so gentle speaks to Kelly's 'way with animals'. Well! You should've seen her float out of that store... (but not before we bought a new supply of Veggie Puffs and a squeaky wire exercise wheel that's big enough for S'more to fit into. We'll need it for the "Testing the Syrian Hamster' portion of the Science Fair Project.)
Our last stop was at a local granite fabricator. We decided on our countertops, and Ken wanted to make sure that we marked our territory before anyone else bought the slabs out from under us.
I have a big chunk of the countertop granite, but the photo doesn't do it justice.
(this is before I had Cinderella wash the tile, so everything still looks dusty and grey)
I'll take our chunk out into the sunshine later today, and see if I can't get a better shot of it. It's quartz and mica, with dark mossy-green tourmaline needles scattered randomly, AND... it's got garnet sprays in it. And since garnet is the birthstone for Skip and Kelly, we thought it appropriate for our kitchen.
Ken also picked out his marble for the baking center, but my little chunk of that doesn't do anything for me. It's the big picture that's going to be fantastic. The onyx inclusions look like a little slice of Jupiter, and in one corner, there's a bit that looks like the Eiffel Tower (that's what they called the slab, too, because of this one inclusion). But my 'sample piece' doesn't have anything interesting on it. It's just so I can carry it around, and check for colour matching.
We got home from our errands just in time to take mom to the airport, and then we picked up Kelly's BFF on the way home, and I put the girls to work.
Prime for your supper, ladies!
Hey! I fed her, it's not like I'm making her work for FREE or anything.
And while they did the easy stuff, I primed the ceiling... which is now VERY much taller than it was before (back when Ken could touch it with his elbow).
Wowza, you can really tell where I primed, and where I didn't. I was still priming at midnight, and we have no light in the kitchen, except for a weeny little Ikea $10 stick-lamp, so I was kind of guessing a lot. I'll have to do touch-ups this morning.
And there always has to be some insurmountable frustration, doesn't there? And this is it for this painting session: In all my years of painting with a Wagner Paint-Mate, I have never had one that leaks... until last night.
And of COURSE, I was painting the ceiling.
Completely unsuspecting...
Until *PLOP*! A big old blob of primer fell down and hit me SQUARE on my widow's peak. Right at the hairline. Surprised the living daylights out of me, and I shrieked. Kelly came running, and ran and grabbed a paper towel, which she then proceded to rub all over my scalp, trying to get the paint out.
And then she took a step back.
"You know, mom, it kind of blends in. It's hardly noticeable... WITH ALL THAT GREY"
Yes, thank you, compassionate daughter of mine.
I think the white streak makes me look kind of distinguished this morning... just so long as I don't have to run a comb through it.
*Our Beloved Contractor
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