And it just got worse!

And like that. Within 30 mins, it was over.
I hope the 90% prediction of an El Nino year
hold true.

We just can't have too much more of this:




Hoping this rain put out the flames!

Father and son . . .  making beer!

These guys love projects.

They work on the car, they work on endless projects in the garage,

and all those remodels home and away.
They just get so into their projects.
First, the planning stage.
It takes almost forever to get past this stage.
Then, comes the research stage.
This one is endless too. Books, magazines,
shopping and talking to "those in the know".
All the ins and outs of all the possibilities are explored.
Then, comes the shopping stage. Every conceivable plan
was painstakingly  mapped out and everything needed was
researched and found near and far for the best price and purpose.
Then, almost all of a sudden, the flurry begins. And it is on!

This is it. The tools of the trade come out of their hiding places.
And this time, it is the kitchen that is taken over.

Sorry about these photos- a bit blurry


I wish I could give you more details, but I don't really know the details of these 
beer making stuff. I think this was Ale of some sort, with blood oranges.

I guess he's doing something important here!

But it goes on.

And, although I'm no beer connoisseur, it tasted pretty darn good!

Cheers!

So Taylor was out one day with his friends.

Terry and I were working at Pat's rental.

They came by for a bit and Terry suggested they stay for dinner

so Taylor could get some help bottling the beer

they had made. (another blog entry ahead)

That made a hit! Beer and Pizza!

And free help!

In no time we had all hands on deck!

Taylor had fun showing off his mad pizza skills!




And 
Rachel was a quick learners, Mark , you are next!















Enough fun guys, lets get that pizza in the oven!




Yeah, now you're talking!!!





Yum, pizza and beer and great company!!



Can never have too much garlic!!




Great time guys!

It's been a while since I've blogged.

We've been busy with Pat's remodel. Well, now we're just about done,

and I swear we'll have to be locked out so we don't keep tweaking things!

We've talked with the leasing agent, who, by the way, was
really impressed we stayed with the mid-century
modern vibe with many original features,
 and will start showing this

weekend, so we are mainly in clean up mode now.

Pictures tomorrow.

Terry is down there now as I blog this, I'm just waiting for Taylor to get

home with the SUV, so we can unload the closets of all our tools

and cleaning supplies.

I thought I'd put a few "before" pictures to show you
how the reveal turned the place around.

Since last I posted, we finished the kitchen:

Changed the faucet, put in the appliances, aligned the cabinets,
 put on the hardware,

put up the back-splash, window blinds,

and finished installing the hood.

Another day, a little more done on the remodel for

Terry's mom's rental unit.

Early in the morning last Friday, we were up for the

counter top install.
The project manager inspects!

When they had come out for the measurement, they had requested
supports for the overhang. This irritated the project manager, Taylor,
who had strong opinions on mid-century style and that it should be
a free-floating overhang.
After all, there were 3 inches of concrete, plywood and tile on this same overhang
and we just replicated it with plywood and. . .
well, you don't argue with the installer, if you want it installed.
Our first choice was quartz. We found it out of our
budget for this project, but found this solid surface so much more affordable.
The drawback is heat resistance, but we took home a sample
and did our own tests. We boiled water in a pot and set it directly
on the sample and waited. Nothing happened!
We found out that almost anything but a cast iron skillet or dutch oven
would get hot enough to do the damage.
Then, scratches, can't cut on it. Well, not supposed to cut on stone
either, but for different reasons, it will dull your knives!
This, though, can be sanded and buffed to get rid of damage!
A rental! Sold. We can just have it resurfaced between tenants if needed!
We also liked that it is not highly polished nor is it cold to touch. 
Looks like a honed counter top.
And the color looked really nice in here.

Well, that faucet just has to go. More on that later. I totally apologize for not taking more pictures of the day.
It kinda got too busy and I was so tired. We ended up cancelling
our dinner reservations that night for my birthday,
but Terry prepared a lovely salmon dinner with a
lovely Chardonnay. And that was that.
How wonderful to have my own personal chef!



No pictures of the salmon, but here are a few pics of
a previous dinner experience.

Hungry?

Well the day started out really nice.

I got up and had my power walk around the lake,

the weather is warm and clear, the birds were out.

I even got a glimpse of the herons

nesting.

When I got home Terry was up and we had breakfast.

It wasn't long and Taylor came out of his bedroom like this:

Oh sweet!

More of that later.
But, we had a mission.
We had to get the hood up over the counter before the countertop gets installed
tomorrow.
So, off we go.

Looks like they have this under control.

I'm off to get you some pictures of the rest of the place.

If I move back, you can see the dining room that leads into the living

room with the fireplace.

You can also see down the hall to the bedrooms/bathroom.

Now, if I turn around ...

rather, if I stand back, you can see the entire fireplace.

This is the view, when I turn around  . . .


Yeah! More of that later.
Oh yeah, we also replaced the carpet in here.

Check out this laundry area (really a closet)
across from the kitchen.


and right next to that, this huge pantry!


I've got pantry envy!
Then down the hall is the bathroom and 2 bedrooms.

This place is not short on closet storage!



and the hall linen closet

Let's go back and see how the guys are getting along with the hood.
And they are almost done.
And it's almost dark out there!
Better get some pictures of that sunset!





These are from the deck out the living room!
The "Hollywood Sign"!


and from inside

and back out on the deck


shift around and a view of downtown


Oh, it's dark, time to go.
More on the birthday, later!