Blog de Puree

It’s Saturday morning and I’m sitting at the island kitchen, on one of our new Asian style stools while I type away over a hot cup of tea. It’s raining out, which I can see out our new kitchen windows and the wonderful new back door. I can hear house sparrows chirping away outside. There’s plenty of comforting natural light coming into the kitchen and this is probably the most pleasant morning experience I’ve had since we started renovating the kitchen. Finally, the chance to enjoy a hot morning beverage in the tranquility of our new kitchen.

I was hoping for a grand finish with an announcement that the kitchen is finished and we can officially move in, but it seems that I’ll be denied. From what’s left to be done, it will be more like a slow, easing in to the new confines as some final, nagging items are completed.

It’s been a whirlwind of activity in the final days of the week. The plumber and electrician were both here and wrapped up most of their work, except for a few items that they’ll finish up next week. The contractor was here fixing and finishing a number of small issues as well.

All the appliances are moved in and functioning–all systems normal.

The door shelves and other removable plastic storage bins that will live in our fridge are sitting on the counter for a proper cleaning with hot water, a sponge and a mild dish detergent–as required by the manual. Of course. Randye has also moved her coffee maker into a temporary spot on the counter, until the electrician can finalize the outlets after he installs an additional circuit box in the basement next week.

We have a number of kitchen things to finish up as well. The transitions that were installed on Thursday need to sanded, painted, and stained. All the woodwork will need between one to three applications of polyurethane depending the location. (High traffic vs. low traffic areas.) The term shellack, although a different compound from the “poly” has made it’s way into our daily lexicon because it’s just fun to say. “You gonna she-llack that there?”

Now that our kitchen project is just about finished, we’ll be cleaning all the rooms around the house and “moving back in” so we can reclaim our lives. As I sit and write at our island, the dining room and living room are taunting me. (The island is situated with a full view of both rooms to give a sense of depth and openness to the entertaining areas of our home.) I know Randye will have me in there dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing, moving and doing anything else that needs to be done. As tedious as it sounds, I’d rather do that then head out into the rain now to remove a rather imposing pile of leaves from our front lawn.

The work never ends…