The post was put in today!  I sanded it late this evening with the intention of getting up early to put primer on the beam and now-textured walls. 

It’s a 6×6 just like our other posts, so we’ve got at least a theme going…and a roof that won’t cave in, so win-win.

It doesn’t look like a big difference from yesterday, other than the beam, but the number of invisible things that need to happen—lots and lots of taping, adding outlets, bringing a few pipes up to code, removing the pantry header and repairing the drywall there, and the contractor is making an extra effort to foam up all the possible rodent entrances!

The goal tomorrow—all painting and possibly start the cabinets installation!

 

This is my current kitchen:

The cooking area ((microwave)

And sink

Here’s my hero,

ready for

1) Winter in his new long underwear,

2) Bedtime wearing his new long underwear, and

3) Halloween, wearing his new long underwear and generic Green Lantern accessories.

(Excuse me!  I took a picture right after Kyla shoved toast in her mouth.)

I had combed out  Kyla’s golden locks this morning, and

1) Piper asked if Kyla would like her to braid her hair, and

2) Kyla agreed.

Both are improbable events, but here is Kyla’s hair, 3 braids plaited into a metabraid!

  

These days blended into each other, as very little happened on days 2, 3, and 4,  and then suddenly on days 5 & 6, the two walls were removed, wires and pipes relocated as needed, and drywall added.

We decided to take out the entire wall, including the supporting beams (ugly, uneven) and put in a separate beam.  A metal jack supports the beam for a little while.

The ceiling….

 

We were all a little surprised to find the pipes in what seemed like superfluous wall, rather than the regular wall.  It caused a little bit of head scratching, but our wonderful contractor measured everything to the smallest fraction of an inch, switched a few things around, and is making it work. Hopefully, that will be our biggest surprise and work around!

 

Can you spot Piper?  She is recovering from an Incident.  She had already cried into my shoulder and snuggled on my lap, but to achieve full recovery, she needed to Go Cat.

See her yet?

There she is!

The Kill!  Which may refer more to the number of dead mice found rather than the cabinets taken out.  Sigh.

Walls will start coming out tomorrow!

I planned, organized, and carefully packed up the kitchen over several days…and somehow still managed to have a ton to do at the last minute.

But here’s what it the kitchen looks like naked before the surgery.

Bye-Bye, Kitchen!

My friend went to Geek Girl Con and all I got was this lousy t-shirt…

‘…that I will never, ever take off again.

Thanks Diana!

We’re averaging about 1 dead rodent a day (about 1 live mouse every 3 days).  Um, in the house, if you were in doubt.

Should I thank the cats for killing all the mice?  No. They are the ones bringing them in to begin with.  Damn cats.

It was picture day at school!  Wesley comes home wearing his best clothes and sandals….

..before doing a superman change into his swimsuit.  He put the sprinkler under the trampoline and jumped his little heart out.  It is good to be a 7 year old boy on a beautiful autumn day with a “sure, go ahead” Mama.