Stay-cation

About a month ago I scheduled with my brother to stay with Mom for a weekend so I could have a little break.  I then proceeded to make plans for that weekend.  Unfortunately...or fortunately, every plan I made felt really "meh" and I wasn't terribly excited about any of the other ideas I had either.   So I finally asked myself what it was I really wanted to do more than anything.  The answer was to work on the Bungalow.  So I decided to have a little stay-cation which has resulted in quite a few firsts.  I'll list them for you: first time to write in my journal while sitting in my living room, change my clothes, walk barefoot on my floor (I really liked it), use my composting toity, smash my finger with the hammer (amazing that I've gotten away with no smashed fingers until now), write a blog post while sitting in my loft, watch a movie...and those are just the Friday firsts.  Saturday firsts include eat breakfast, sleep on my new mattress, and pound with the hammer until 10:30pm (I usually quit WAY before that).  

Here is the stuff I finished while on my little stay-cation: inside window trim downstairs (I have a tendency to forget that there are windows in the lofts because they haven't been in the line of sight so much until now, loft windows are still on the list)

Before...

Starboard after

Port after

Bathroom after

Port kitchen (poor little window didn't get finished when the other one did)

Also finished the wall and loft trim with braided rope.

This braid in the kitchen is my favorite. :)

Put the backing on the kitchen shelves next to the sink.

With shelves...

Full perspective ...

And a little wooden flange (with a lot of caulk) for the propane pipe outside (still needs blue paint).

Made a trip to IKEA (danger zone) on Saturday (delicious meatballs and lingonberry dressing) and got a few items like a mattress (quite comfortable) which has actually inspired another new item on the to-do list: storage boxes on either side of the mattress to use loft space well.  Some table runners to make into blinds, lighting ideas, light bulbs, a few kitchen items and of course a chocolate bar or two for Mom.

I also spent quite a bit of time at the hardware store purchasing the parts I need for my propane set-up.  I should be able to fill my propane tank, and then cook and make hot water.  I briefly put it together to make sure everything fit, but the regulator and hose that look like they fit, didn't quite thread properly.  I'll clean the threads and then see what needs to be done.  Also while at the hardware store I bought the rest of the waste water parts I need to finish the plumbing.  I realized that I'm procrastinating a little with the plumbing.  So, back to my motto of "The best way to finish something is to simply begin."

Thank you Mike, and thank you Kristie!

Yehaaa! Very productive weekend!

Propane plumbing is in!!

Two hours and Craig had the propane plumbing finished!  He'll come back when the wall is finished and hook up the cooktop. The relief that this is done is quite amazing!  I can move forward now with the rest of the interior!  Which also means that the remainder of the finishing is up to me. WOW!  Get ready for the wall covering. I'm in a little bit of shock, I think, and I'm also so very excited!  

Cooktop

Water heater

The wall...just waiting to be finished!

Didn't end up doing anything about heating. Thought about putting the flat panel heater that I got for the TV room out there, but by the time I got to doing anything about it, there wouldn't have been enough time for it to make much of a difference.

Cooktop and sink, port side

Here we are again for the Sunday update.  Still working on the kitchen area.  Not feeling like I've accomplished very much this week, but definitely crossing things off the list, so I need to re-think my accomplishment statement.  My neighbor gave me a reference for a propane plumber...still need to call him. Step in the right direction.

This is where I started, cutting the countertop to the length I wanted made me a little nervous.  Measure a million times, cut once was the theme this week.  

Figuring out just how far from the edge I needed to put the cooktop and sink.  Again measure a million times...

Drilled holes in all the corners of the rectangle where the cooktop was going to go, and started with a dull blade in the jigsaw.  After one short side decided to change the blade and that made cutting so much easier.  

Sealed the inside of the cut edges. You'll notice that the cooktop rectangle has been sealed and the sink circle has not been sealed yet.   

Sink and faucet holes sealed, cooktop in place.

Cooktop and sink in place. The sink came with a foam strip to seal it to the countertop and prevent moisture from getting below the lip of the sink, but I decided to use plumber's putty instead. I figured it would make a better seal.  The reviews and comments I've read online said that the foam strip was sufficient, but my gut said plumbers putty.  So plumber's putty.  It worked very nicely.

And here it is with the cooktop, sink and faucet in place, as well as the countertop correctly attached to the cabinets.  Now to call the plumber about the propane.