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The progress may be slow on the cabin, but meanwhile at home there is a lot going on...

The travertine tile we chose arrived. it was 5 crates and just enough room to get it into the garage and still be able to pull the mower in.







After we got the delivery we went right into destroying renovating the house. While some parts were fairly easy, just time consuming, like pulling up the carpet and the tack, Other parts were quite a bit more difficult.











After several days of back breaking work trying to lift the old tiles out with a hammer and a chisel we finally rented this machine. It was kind of a mini jack hammer and that make the work much easier. Not that holding up a 40 pound jack hammer and chipping away tile is easy, but it was better than the weeks that it would have taken us to do it by hand.

Unfortunately once we got the tile broken up we found a few things that we were not expecting....at all! First and foremost the concrete was not poured evenly. For the most par this was fixed with varying the amount of mortar used under the tiles that were affected. In one instance we were left with a 'hollow' tile. That isn't pleasant sounding and may last a long time, but will be more susceptible to cracking and breakage in the future. Unfortunately at the double doors you can see in that picture there is a 6-8" gap that will have to have concrete poured in. Thank goodness for the easy DIY self-leveling stuff at Home Depot. We haven't done it yet but it's one of the next things on the list.

We have already laid the majority of the living/dining area (first picture w/couches) It's not complete yet, but getting there. It looking like another 2-3 weeks before it will be complete. Because the tile is being laid in a pattern I can't go tile the bathroom from the back forward and you can't tile from the front back because you are not supposed to walk on the tile. That means I have to do about 4 ft in and then one side leave it until the following time I can spend on it and then fill in around the toilet, bath, etc and only walk on the side that is set. There are a few areas like this otherwise we'd just work through it and finish this weekend.

  after dark

daylight

I like the variability of the tile and when we are finished laying it all it will need to be grouted and sealed. The sealer will enhance the color. I imagine it will make it look more like the night time photo once complete. The grout lines are super fine as we abutted the tiles as much as possible but there are also small holes that will need to be filled. I think I'm dreading the grouting more than I did the demolition.

Needless to say the garden is still sitting on the back burner. I'd love to pay attention to it but there are not enough hours in the day. Of course right now even if I had more hours, I'm completely exhausted so I wouldn't be accomplishing much else anyway. The lemons and limes are coming in steady and nothing else is producing right now. I pulled up all the sweet potatoes. We had such a wet summer that most of them rotted. The ones I did pull up are already gone. I didn't let them cure this time, just ate them.

Tonight I go to a play my sons been working on N3RD and tomorrow the birthday fun begins for my twins. They will have the classroom cookies/cupcakes and a fun night of BINGO at school. Saturday will be spending dinner and the evening with the BFF and Sunday is church pick up pizzas & cake and then their party. 

Call me late for bed! It's only just after lunch and I'm pooped already. *sigh*

See you soon!

Barbie~