Inspector was here yesterday and passed us on everything up to now. Just final inspection left, now.

Drywall is up and today they will be taping and mudding the walls to resemble the plaster that was there.

And. . .








Windows are here and going in today! Yeah! No more boarded up holes!

This last weekend, we made lasagna! Mom's recipe was in one of Terry's cookbooks that he wrote that we packed up to remodel. I saw it and thought "perfect" for a cooking class!

So, first we make her spaghetti sauce that she had received from an Italian from "the old country". It is unusual in that it has cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg!

Once, that was simmering, we proceeded to layer the lasagna ingredients and that's when it got fun!

Now, there is no "right" way to layer, but everyone has their "own" way!

Noodles or sauce first? When does the cheese go in?
Do we put the ricotta first or the mozzarella?








Everyone did a layer in the order they thought best!


Eventually, all the ingredients went in and the pan was full!









Wow! What a mess we made! The clean up crew went right to work!










And before you know it, it was dinner time!

Looking good, smells good, too!

Bon appetite!

It's been busy around here!

I left you at first stage of Demo. We remembered later what real demo felt like when the crew came and the walls came down and windows disappeared.

Notice here the walls. A few patches to do. Nothing major. Not bad at all!






We set up our indoor temporary kitchen in the living room. Thankfully we already had the undercabinet beverage and wine cooler for use.

Not too bad!








And the outdoor kitchen was working well, too! Terry had his burners, bbq, countertop and sink. The food coming out of here was great! Here, have a glass of Chardenay!









Mornings start at 6:45 with a meeting with the Contractor and which ever sub is working that day. Today, the plumber is here conferring with us. Even Kevin is on payroll for all the little things we meant to finish like locks, stuck doors, painting. . . but just can't get to.

Oh, by the way, like our dining room?







And the work begins in earnest, more demo needed for access for plumbing, electrical and windows, so the plaster comes down.

Yeah, that's my hardwood floors under there guys, go easy. No worries, they've covered it with the "magic paper". A sheet of construction paper!

No kidding! They were mixing a wheelbarrow full of cement for the pad (that goes in that hole in the floor) right in the middle of my kitchen! Eeeks!



Our "rough guy", Ted! He's a blast. Check out his worktable! A wheelbarrow! He does rough framing. Here, he's cutting the header for the window.










Here, a little trimming to fit. Again, check out the worktable, his foot!











Perfect fit!

Nice job, Ted!

Some passerbys asked for his business card. He picks up a piece of cut 2x4 and takes a marker and writes his phone number on it. "They won't lose that card!" he says. I love it!





Terry puts in his request for a "tomato ripening ledge" on the window.

Big enough, and made of countertop that won't destroy if the tomato spoils!

Done!






Taylor supervises from outside the window!

Everything lookin' good from here!


More to come. . .

Meet the Demo Man!

Yup, he's gonna tear out this kitchen all by himself! Just a part time job, really, he says. I help out my brother, Chris. (that is the installer)

Chris was named Number One cabinet installer in the Country! For all the Lowe's stores in the nation!

His brother says he's so particular and his attention to detail is amazing!




So, it's 2 hours later and demo continues. . .














Meanwhile, I have found the most difficult part of the remodel so for is trying to comply with CA's Title 24 high efficiency lighting requirements for kitchens!

It takes a calculator!!

Will I get the pendants of my dreams?. . . stay tuned!

The Real Deal!

Yeah, we had our ribs grilling,
the strawberries were washed and the pie shell was in the oven. . .

then, the fireworks began early! The sirens blaring, ladder trucks rolling down the street. Three ladder trucks, paramedics, intense!

Out to the street everyone ran. The trucks rolled all the way down to where they got trapped on the narrow streets!

Finally, the paramedics were able to get their truck backed down the street and we found out it was for a false alarm call on "barbeque smoke"!

Always, a thrill to see our firemen on the job!

Thanks guys! So long, and, see you next year!?!

OK , so I told you about all the planning. . . now that my techno stuff is functioning I can update you with pictures! Yeah!

So, here is my planning binder full of plans, permit applications, specs. . . I've got divisions for everything from countertops to windows, ventilation to windows, cooktops to refrigeration, doors to hardware! People are starting to ask us if we are designers!




Here are some of the samples I've been collecting. . . a sample door, some paint chips, some counter top material.












So, then I emptied out the dining room. Well, almost emptied out the dining room. I was told 300 cubic feet were needed for the cabinets that were coming. Ummm. . . let's get out the calculator. . . yeah, this should do. . .








Well, here they came and some spillage went into Sean's bedroom. So nice of him to leave and let me fill up his room!













OOh, here's a peak at one of the cabinets!

The cabinet installer came over after they arrived to make sure they were all here, in good shape and what we wanted. Well, we have two extra cabinets!









Here is a peak at our wine cooler. It has two temperature zones. One for red, one for white! Ooh, perfect for those wine tasting parties!










Here's a peak at our top pick for the counter top! Not granite. . . not marble. . . quartzite! Supposed to be even stronger than granite, but looks like marble to me. . . what I would have if it would stand up to my cook, which it won't!

I spoke with Sean this evening. He was so excited! (It takes a lot to get Sean real excited!) His robotics team made their power point presentation, qualified for the event, and took 5th place (out of 50 bots) for design! Fuel cell, baby!
Here is a link to the site at the university. They don't have pictures yet for this year, but if you're interested, they have previous years events pictures and results:

http://www.igvc.org/teams.htm

He competes at 0700 tomorrow morning! May the force be with you and your team, Sean!

My camera is infected, my laptop is on life support. . . my blog maybe be terminal if things don't turn around. My computer/tech MD is involved elsewhere (2000 miles away) and I'm at a loss.

I was about to blog the latest events of the remodel, however, now, without pictures, it seems quite boring really.

We, Mr. Roberts, my architect, and I faced the Building and Safety of LA and proceeded to get the ball rolling on the city's approval. First, we went to apply for building permits. That took 2 hours and some $300 to find out we need a Grading Permits or Waiver for a lone cement pad (all of 18 inches) to support a lone beam on our precarious hillside property! Ha! Going downstairs to get that, we were told to come back when the inspector was available: 7:30-8:30 am. It was by then, about 12:30.

So back we went to Grading this morning, armed with pictures, engineering calcs, and structural plans. The lone supervisor, Sergio, for our area of LA, was tied up for 45 mins. with plans ahead of us. I ran out to feed the meter in the pouring rain (it never rains in June!!) while we waited. Sergio waived us our grading inspection with barely a glance at our fortressof evidence built for our lone cement pad ( for another fee) and off we went for approval for permits. One hour later we were approved (no fee!!). Next, the contractor gets the permits that are now cleared and we are ok to proceed!!

I was going to show off my samples that I've been loading up on. Sample cabinet door, sample countertops, sample backsplash material, sample paint chips. I've filled a three ring binder with bids for appliances, plumbing fixtures, spec sheets on every single item I've ever considered from door hardware to doors and windows, all the way to ventilation hoods! I've filled another folder with floors plans, cabinet plans, receipts, final bids, permit applications and invoices! And we haven't even started! We're wickedly obsessed!

Pat joined us this weekend with the ladies! She held a cooking class!

I've always wanted to learn how to make her cabbage rolls that Terry grew up loving, and she showed us all by holding a class in mom and Aunt Dorothy's kitchen!








After grocery shopping, she got right to work and we all pitched in.

Aunt Dorothy said she had made them before but had forgotten how and it started to come back to her.

I learned a lot about how to cook the cabbage so that you can pull the leaves off the head and roll the filling.



Pat doesn't use a recipe, so it was all a little of this, oh, maybe a bit more of that and so on till it felt just right!













We made enough for our dinner with leftovers, then I got to work on the next batch while the ladies sat and had oh'derves.

I filled another couple of baking dishes, for takehomes for me and Pat and for a couple of freezer dinners for the twins for later!







Yum! Smells delicious!

Do I smell a new Memorial Day tradition!??!