We took a day off and headed to The Plumbery to look at sinks. Rog really didn’t want a stainless steel sink and I wasn’t wild about porcelain. We found a Blanco sink at The Plumbery made out of granite dust and epoxy. We both loved it and, after researching reviews online, returned to buy it. We are still debating about the faucet, but we won’t be ready for that for a while.
Rog built the pantry cabinet for the wall with the refrigerator and then attacked the bar counter. We had bought some African Teak (Iroko) lumber at ReStore and it was time to start fitting it together. We had 2 large pieces, one about 30 inches wide and the other one about 16 inches wide. And then there are about 6 boards a little over 5 inches wide. Everything is about 2 ½ inches thick and 12 feet long. The two large pieces will form the bulk of the counter and one of the boards will trim the side in the kitchen.
We started by manhandling these incredibly heavy pieces to the backyard. Stubborn and not wanting to call for help (the son-in-law and son would have been happy to help I’m sure), we used dollies and a lot of sheer will power and did the moving ourselves. Once in the backyard, we were able to maneuver them into the family room. My considerate husband/contractor did not want to get the sawdust in the house, so we got them back outside for the initial sanding.
We rented a floor sander at Home Depot and Rog got the first layer off both pieces. Then we not only got the pieces back into the house, but up on buckets. But we could not get them up on the counter by ourselves. Ryan came to the rescue and with him on one end and the two of us on the other, lifted them easily into place. After a lot of sanding and shimming, the pieces were ready to fit together. Rog used a piece of poplar between the pieces and had to trim it to fit (these pieces are planed but do not have straight edges). I was amazed at how he got it done. It took several days, but by the end of the month, all of the pieces were cut and fit and ready for assembly and glue in June.
Meanwhile, I continued painting. I finished the hallway, family room, and dining room and painted the cabinets as Rog made them. I also hit the yardwork. We have 2 “green” trash cans that the county picks up for free each week. My goal is to fill them both every week. Believe me, there are plenty of trimmings to reach my goal. I could actually get a third can but I think 2 are about my limit physically. One week I work in the back, the next week I do the front. We bought a hedger, blower, and weedeater that have been worth every penny spent as I trim hedges, trees, grass and bushes. The cheap mower we bought finally refused to start but we have a friend who took out his lawn and was anxious to get rid of his mower. I have to help him win the next card game, but what a difference the “new” mower makes. It was a constant battle with the old one. We have not been watering for two reasons; the drought and we have not figured out what we want to keep and where we want to put it. So whatever makes it through this summer will get to stay! The backyard has a natural spring so the grass back there is staying pretty green. I do water the vegetable garden and the tomatoes and squash are doing great.
We continue to see the kids for the Monday project and had fun making Mother’s Day rocks and banana dolphins (thanks Laur for the idea!). I enjoyed my first Mother’s Day with the kids in 8 years, got to babysit Princess (Ryan and Beth’s dog), had a special lunch with Max at his school, went to Four Sisters with Ryan for lunch, and made it through our first Rocklin Founder’s Day (held at the park across the street, it was lots of noise and music for a few days).
But the highlight of the month was spending 4 days in Disneyland with the Bloom Family. We rented a van and Eric did the driving which made it super easy for us! We got to Anaheim mid afternoon and headed over to Downtown Disney after checking in to the hotel. I tried to pick up our park passes while we were there, but they couldn’t find me in the computer and I had left the voucher in the hotel room. So after we got back to the hotel after dinner (at the Rain Forest of course) Rog and I drove back with the voucher. This time success. (I was in the computer as Susan Lloyd and I had given her my name as Sue). By the time we got back to the hotel, both kids were sound asleep and the adults soon followed. We spent the next 3 days in the parks and experienced huge crowds…turned out that Disney was having a 24 hour “Rock Your Disney Side” event Friday. They actually had to close the park a couple of times on Friday to new arrivals because there were too many people. Rog and I took the kids back to the hotel after dinner Friday night, leaving Michelle and Eric to have a special birthday night together. It was so crowded, they could barely walk around and gave up getting on any rides. Saturday was better and we were happy to use Fast Passes. We ended up seeing everything we wanted to see, ride on just about everything we wanted to ride on, and exhausted everybody to the max. I am already looking forward to our next trip!!
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