poplar road

All but four of the cupboard doors are up; four sets of hinges out of 22 sets were unfortunately a different size. Richard got the replacements this evening after work, along with some valence fluorescents, but I couldn't convince him to install them after dinner, too bagged. Instead we watched the last half of a DVD (a treat, usually we watch about 20 minutes a night) and planned the next series of tasks.

When the cupboards are cured properly I can clean and do touch-ups, but already I'm happy with the way they look compared to the original (see "Progress" for the before shot). Most of them had to be tweaked to fit, and a couple of them Richard may trim when he gets his router set up, but they'll do – and I unpacked and put away every last box of kitchen stuff today.

I even found a spot to fit the mixer, since it doesn't fit on the counter beneath the cabinets. Thank goodness I spent all that time carefully sanding and painting that awkward bottom corner cabinet next to the sink. It's the only one both tall enough and deep enough.

Whoever built this kitchen must never have used spices, cookbooks, tall bottles, large platters, or heavy flour cannisters – the shelf heights are completely impractical and it's all one open space so trying to keep food separate from dishes is nearly impossible. That's what you got, I guess, in the middle of nowhere in 1972. At least it looks more modern, and it's certainly enough space, if not in the most ideal setup.

And about the next tasks… Our dining room/family room area is much closer to completion. We've bought moldings and baseboards and white paint; primer and deck-quality paint to seal the plywood (no flooring yet for a while); and a replacement window for the 5x5 foot 1972 special (along with the one for the office). I start painting moldings on Friday (along with the ends of the two bottom kitchen cabinets behind the freezer and fridge – forgot those!) and if I'm really energetic I might get the last coat of ceiling white done in my office, too. Then it's a toss-up: paint the walls in my office ("ripe currant"), or paint the dining room/family room floor? I'm dying to move into my new office, but I also would like a clean floor before we set up our couches and the Christmas tree. However, before the plywood can be painted it may have to be sanded to remove the last of the carpet glue, and do we want to start messing up the place just when there's paint curing everywhere? Or, we paint the floor as is and hope the primer is tough enough to keep the glue from peeling underneath. And by the time we can even consider it, Christmas will be a week away. Sigh. At least now I have holly.

Here is the dining room, with our new light fixture, a "chandelier" style dining table lamp. When we got it home we realized there are actually 3 sizes of glass shades on it, so a complete replacement set is on order from the lighting store (where they gave us 60% off on this thing so we could afford to take it home with us, hooray!). We also got the "puff" fluorescent in the kitchen and 5 dome-style lights for the halls, bathroom, and bedroom. They all fit compact fluorescents which makes Richard happy – he doesn't want a single energy-sucking halogen or incandescent light in the house.

Which is why tonight he came home with an LED "ice crystal" nightlight for the bathroom. The old-fashioned one we had (initially to make sure I didn't fall down the open staircase on my way to the bathroom) apparently sucks as much electricity as the three compact fluorescents in the overhead dome lamp. Pity. This fancy "ice crystal" thing gives off the same "white" light as the new Christmas lights. Moonlight blue, in other words. Barely enough to see by. Or just enough to imagine things by, when I'm alone in the house at night. Two nights ago I woke to a strange clatter, and ran to the door to see what was the matter. (Sorry, not Santa, couldn't resist.) It was the culprit responsible for a hole in a very messy bag of garbage, come back to finish her work. Not the dog (which was worrying at it all day today, mind you). Skunk? Nope. A black and white cat. I got a good look when I turned the new (c.f.) outside lights on and the thing didn't bat an eyelash much less run away as I'd hoped. So much for scaring things off. Instead I woke Richard, and had to deal with a growly bear in my bed for the next few hours. You can't win.

Tomorrow I work a full day, which means I can't join our neighbour, Jonathan, on a drive to see some llamas someone is giving him. We were supposed to go this morning but it got postponed. He gets this twinkle in his eye and starts talking about giving US one… We keep telling him we don't have the time or resources to take care of a pet, even one as apparently low-maintenace as a llama, but he still tries. Even after the incident with the goat in the back yard. But that's another story.

There's been little in the way of "wildlife" here, but no lack of animals to keep us entertained. And we're tracking mouse droppings. They were black, and then they were green, and then there were none. We hope it stays that way. I showed Maria the "mouse duplex", but everywhere else I've swept up and with luck they won't be chewing through any more bags of flour, or leaving any more turds on clean piles of socks or frying pans. I've had enough of washing my dishes both before and after a meal. It makes that fact that everything is now put away in the kitchen doubly fabulous!

That's it for me. The next time Richard has the camera at home during the day, I'll try to remember to stop and take pictures with this place full of sunlight, the photos work out so much better. Crash! Our nocturnal visitors are at it again. Time to snuggle in next to Richard – I'm not going to leap up in defense of my garbage tonight!