Our travel day began with packing yesterday.  We did our best to squeeze everything into one suitcase, two computer backpacks, and the breathing machine bag.  We thought we were going to able to take everything until I put the suitcase on the scale.  It weighed in at 62 pounds and was well over the 50 pound limit.  After removing most of the books I was going to read it was back down to 46 pounds.  Maybe I’ll have to get a Kindle someday after all.  I also had to call the airline.  We booked our flight over two months ago and there have been several changes in itinerary since then.  One of those changes ended up deleting our flight from San Francisco to Atlanta.  I had gotten the flight reinstated earlier this week, didn’t discover until yesterday that we were no longer seated together.  The reservation agent at Delta was very nice, but could not do anything to change our seats.  Instead, we were instructed to get to the airport early and attempt to change our tickets at check-in.

After getting everything packed and Shirley getting snacks baked we went next door for dinner.  It was a wonderful meal of polenta and stew with bread pudding for dessert.  We got to bed at 7P, but this is only too early if you aren’t thinking of making a three hour time change the next day.  We were up early and ready to go by 5:30A.  Our neighbor Dave went with us to bring the car back and we had a very smooth drive to the airport.  We got to the airport by 6:50A and Shirley went to check-in while I went to the bathroom.  I asked more than once and discovered that the check-in process has been completely automated.  The employees at the check-in counter are only there to assist you with the terminals or check your bags.  I had some books back into our bag and cut it a little close.  The bag weighed 50 pounds (maybe a little more), but a very nice Delta employee checked the bag onto the plane.  He asked us to be cautious on the way home not realizing that we’d be much lighter after leaving Christmas gifts in Fort Myers. 

At this point we proceeded to security and took a long time getting through.  Shirley’s breathing machine even got the privilege of being x-rayed twice.  We got to the gate more than an hour ahead of the flight departure time and asked the gate agent if he could find us seats.  We moved further back in the plane, but he was able to reseat us and put us together.  We were in an early loading zone so we didn’t have any problem getting one bag in the overhead compartment.  The flight was bumpy, but there were few turns and Shirley did as well as she ever has.  Her music player battery went dead about an hour into the flight, but we were on a 757 and she was able to watch HGTV the rest of the way to Atlanta.  I was a little surprised, but pleased.  We’re now sitting in the Atlanta airport and Shirley is playing Freecell while I write this blog. 

I sure wish that the larger airports provided free Wi-Fi for passengers.  I guess if I want it that bad I’ll pay for it.  It is now possible to connect to the Internet while in flight.  The company that provides that service just handed out free access cards for the customers going to Minneapolis. 

Our flight to Florida boarded on time and we had a smooth flight to Fort Myers.  It is a very short flight and was very smooth.  Shirley was delighted that the approach to the airport was a straight on approach rather than the normal turning and turning and turning.  The ultimate indicator of a smooth travel day is when your luggage arrives.  Our not only arrived, but was sitting to the side of the carousel when we walked into the baggage area.  When we walked outside we knew we weren’t in California.  I don’t know what the temperature was, but it was warm.

The bed is done.  After I got back from Santa Rosa this morning Shirley and I began assembling the bed.  Our neighbor had ripped some scrap lumber to create the cross pieces to go under the plywood and mattress.  It could be called the scrap bed, but it is named the safari bed because of the paint effect that Shirley put on it.  We did buy a little hardware, but most of the assembly was done with scraps we already had.  It will sure be nice to roll out of bed and be able to stand up without having to push up off the floor.

After lunch Judi and I looked at the cabinet layout in the kitchen.  We haven’t finalized our decision on how to proceed, but it was clear that we didn’t want to begin installing anything until we decided.  So, Judi and I moved onto the bathroom and began installing the fixtures.  We got the main plumbing fixtures installed before I had to go to work.  They look good.

Tomorrow we’re expecting a lot of rain and high winds.  This will be the first time any of us have been here during a real storm, so it will be good to see how everything works.  The heater is keeping up without any problem.  I think we’ve got the program worked out so that they house stays very comfortable.

Shower Fan/Light Fixture

Rearranged Kitchen

Wiring the Under Cabinet Lights

Measuring for the Lower Cabinets

Big Buck

Big Buck

Today was a day of completing some little stuff.  Shirley had painted the ceiling of the downstairs bathroom, so I could install the lighting fixtures.  The fan/light unit for the shower area went in easily, but then we rethought the wiring.  The light was tied to the main light and the fan was on a separate switch.  We decided to switch it so that the fan and light come on together.  This way we save some energy, because only the CFL light comes on when you switch on a light at night.  I also got the track for the track light installed.  There is a little problem with the power coupling not lieing flat against the ceiling, so we’ll need to sort that out before we install the lights.

The most exciting thing today was the appearance of a big buck next to the garage.  I went out to get some tools and when I looked up he was only about 10 feet away right outside the window.  I called Shirley and then decided to go inside and try to get some pictures.  None of the pictures are great, but he hung around quite a while.  There was a doe laying down under the Scotch Broom and she didn’t even move when we walked around attempting to get pictures of the buck.  He was really interested in the Purple Hop Bush.  In fact he was ripping them out of the ground and then taking them a little ways away to eat.  I wouldn’t want to tangle with him, but he was sure fun to see up close.

I did succeed in getting another gopher today.  It is amazing how big some of the tunnels are.  I was proud of myself becuase I managed to locate the tunnel between two groups of dirt piles on the surface.  The only problem with trapping the gophers is the dip in the yard that is left when the dirt is replaced and the tunnel filled in.  I estimated that this tunnel was at least 3″ in diameter.

We started working on installing the kitchen cabinets today.  We didn’t finish because there are a number of things we need to discuss with Judi before we go much further.  I also need to get some sheet metal pieces for installation of the microwave.  It is going to be great to have the cabinets in.  We moved our temporary cabinet today to make it possible to measure and begin the installation process.  IKEA really has done a great job of engineering the installation process.  We only got one cabinet up, but it was really easy.

Buried Trap

Hole in the drip tubing

Hole where the leak was found

A dug up gopher tunnel

Deer Eating Lunch

Sprung gopher trap

It has been quite a day.  It began with a phone call early this morning from our son in Florida.  He and his wife were checking in at the hospital for the birth of our 4th grandson.  Early this afternoon we got another phone call  informing us that Elijah Lemayan Whitney had been born at 2:15p.  He weighed in at 8 lbs 6 1/2 ounces and was 21 inches long. Lemayan means blessing in Masai.

As the pictures show my gopher trapping yesterday was unsuccessful.  Once again a gopher managed to fill the trap with dirt and then completely cover it.  I did manage to catch one gopher today.  In the picture you can see the sprung trap within 3 feet of a Solar Sonic Spike.  This isn’t a very good testimonial for the Sonic Spikes.  I don’t know if they are discouraging gophers from entering the yard, but I know that they certainly aren’t chasing them away.

All of the interest in gophers is due to the damage they seem to have done to the septic system.  When we had the system serviced they confirmed that we had a leak in the leach field.  The weather was beautiful today and the ground was just right for digging so I decided to see if I could find and repair the leak.

I began by digging a hole right where the wettest spot was, but after getting deeper than I thought I would find any of the drip tubing I began to think that the leak might be further up in the gopher tunnel.  I proceeded to dig up the tunnel and did find drip tubing, but it was below the gopher tunnel and intact. I went back to the other end and noticed a little bit of gravel on one end of the hole.  I dug carefully and found the tubing with a nice hole chewed out of the side of it.

I then switched the leach fields to make the one with the leak active and pumped out some water and confirmed that I had found the leak I was looking for.  After a quick trip to S&B Market in Manchester I returned with a 1/2″ drip union and was able to repair the leak.  All that digging wore me out.  I was encouraged.  The drip tubing in the leach field is much deeper than most of the gopher tunnels I’ve been finding, so I’m optimistic that aggressive trapping will keep us from having to continually dig up the leach field.

While we were having lunch the deer appeared to have a little lunch themselves.  One of the young does did some nosing around Shirley’s new plants, but for the most part they all seemed satisfied with new shoots of grass.  They do love the purple hop bush and chewed a little of of those before they moved on.

Shirley has done a little painting today and the downstairs bathroom is ready for me to do the final finish electrical work.  She also put a few more coats of paint on the new bed frame.  Other than that we’ve been doing some reading and napping today and even got in a quick walk around the block.  We hadn’t done that all week.

Wavy Tile Shower Wall

Shower Seat

Sink and Mirror Wall

Toilet Installation

Toilet Paper Holder

Cabinet Assembly

I know that the world is full of people who would be thrilled to have one indoor bathroom with running water.  So, we are truly spoiled to consider the occasion of reinstalling the downstairs toilet a big deal, but it is.  No more climbing stairs to use the bathroom in the night.

Getting this done today would not have been possible without the hard work that Shirley has done over the last several days while I’ve been in Santa Rosa at work.  As I noted in the previous post, epoxy grout is difficult to install and even more difficult to clean up.  On her own she has finished the entire bathroom.

When she wasn’t installing or cleaning up grout, she was working on our new bedframe.  We’ve been sleeping on a mattress on the floor which is way better than sleeping on air mattresses, but not quite like sleeping in a real bed.  It has brought back memories.  I don’t know how many years we slept on a mattress on the floor when we were first married.  For some reason spending the money for a box spring was never a priority.  In fact I don’t think we’ve ever owned a box spring.

The yard is also full of many new plants.  It hasn’t rained, but the humidity is so high out here that everything stays wet a long time after just a little moisture.  All of those cuttings are really paying off and if everything survives until spring this place is going to look very different.  The deer will also have a feast.  We’re hoping that many of the plants are deer resistant and that they rest are able to get established before either the deer or the gophers kill them.

I did work a little today as well and was reminded again of why we built this place.  I got up to take a break from staring at the computer screen and headed out into the yard.  I wasn’t really looking where I was going and was surprised to look up and find two deer just ahead of me.  I think we were both surprised.  It was a great reminder to take a real break.  I was really grateful coming out last night that I was able to avoid hitting a deer.  I was able to make a panic stop and had a about 10 feet to spare.  I saw two dead deer alongside the road on the rest of trip so not every driver or deer was so fortunate.

The other big news is that I brought out the majority of our kitchen cabinets yesterday.  All that weight really tested the ABS brakes in the Subaru, but the only thing that moved was my computer backpack.  Getting everything loaded was a little rushed, so I was pleased to find that we do have all of the upper cabinets.  I’ve started assembling the cabinets and we’re hoping to get the upper cabinets and microwave installed before we have to go back.  We’re going to have an IKEA kitchen and so far everything is going together well.  The real test will come when we hang the cabinets on the wall.  We’re really looking forward to the extra storage space.

Blog updates won’t be as frequent during the week, because I’ve gone back to work.  I was able to help Shirley a little today, but spent most of my time reading email and drawing flowcharts for my new job.  Meanwhile, Shirley was dealing with some of the stickiest stuff I’ve ever dealt with, epoxy grout.

Regular sanded grout just gets dirty over time, no matter how hard you try to keep it clean.  Epoxy grout is much less porous and so it is much easier to keep clean.  The ease of maintenance long-term does have a cost.  This stuff is really difficult to install.  It may be the only thing worse than concrete in terms of time sensitivity.

The process begins by mixing 3 ingredients together.  Two of the ingredients are the liquid epoxy and the third is the colored grout.  The resulting mixture is a sticky putty that gets pressed into the gaps between the tile.  The installation is a lot like what you would do for sanded grout, but the cleanup is not the same at all.  There are two cleanup steps and they must be completed before the epoxy sets.  The result looks great.

The only reason I know this stuff is sticky is that I got called on to clean the bucket and spreading tool.  It didn’t feel that sticky when I was scrubbing it away in the water, but when I dried my hands off I couldn’t open and close them without them sticking.  A little more soap and some hand lotion solved the problem.

In the afternoon we began working on constructing our bed.  We’ll have some pictures of that when we begin putting it together.  Right now we’re assembling pieces and Shirley is doing some painting.

Our gopher trapping strategy is still working.  We’re catching one a day and it looks like the activity is diminishing.  I’ll be headed into Santa Rosa tomorrow to work, so the next update will probably be on Friday.  By that point Shirley should just about have the whole bathroom grouted.

Today’s entry is going to be shorter than usual for multiple reasons.  I started work today as a temporary employee at the company I retired from over 2 years ago.  It was good to be back in the work environment.  The project I’m working on is interesting and will challenge me to learn new things.  I love that.  The only thing I don’t like is that Shirley and I are in different places.  She and Judi stayed at the Ark to begin working on the grout in the bathroom.  Shirley provided the pictures and the day’s story.

Getting all the right material to the Ark has been a challenge all the way through the project and today was no different.  We’re using epoxy grout in the bathrooms to minimize maintenance.  It really has worked well in the upstairs bathroom and has been worth the extra cost and effort to install.  Unfortunately, we got the grout itself, but not the coloring agent to go with it.  There was enough of the coloring agent to do one batch of grout today and you can see the results on the bench. 

The first in grouting is to clean all the tile and that took most of the morning.  Even Liam got into the act.  Since there is no more grout everyone will take a well deserved day of rest tomorrow.  The garage door installers are coming out to do annual maintenance on Wednesday and then it will be another week and a half before another update.

We started this morning a little after 8a.  Shirley mixed up some mortar and began installing tile.  As it approached 8:30 and we thought that we could wake the neighborhood we began cutting tile.  It was hard to turn on the saw because it was an especially quiet morning.  Fog hung over all of Irish Beach and nothing was stirring.  The tile saw soon broke the stillness and the circular saw soon followed as I had to cut a small piece of Hardi-backer.  Soon after that everyone was up and the regular roles were in place.

We already knew that preparation is key, but it really hit us this afternoon when we discovered a 3/8″ variation in the thickness of the end walls that are designed to be trimmed out with bullnose tile.  There were many decisions that had to be made and made quickly.  Every decision involved some level of compromise between the design and the reality of our preparation.  With 4 people involved this was sometimes challenging, but we have come to the end of the day together and I occasionally hear chuckles from the bathroom.

I’m writing this at 8:30 in the evening and everyone has been going full out all day.  We are trying to get all of the tile we have installed so that Shirley and Judi can grout the tile next week.  We’re really hoping to get the toilet installed the next time we come out.  The other reason for working so hard to finish is that we can’t install the river rock in the bottom of the shower until all of the grouting is done.  Even with all that has been done today we still aren’t finished installing tile. The white finish tile is backordered and we can’t really finish until it is installed.

Liam and I had a fun day.  I think we watched “The Love Bug” twice, but we got through the day in good shape.  We tried to catch another gopher, but I didn’t get the traps installed correctly and the gopher managed to fill them both with dirt without setting them off.  I think I tried to set them in an area where the dirt was too wet.

Liam is down for the evening and I’m going to curl up with a good book.  Tomorrow we’ll be going to church in Elk and then having the congregation join us for a potluck lunch.  It has been an amazing week and we’re all ready for a break.

After getting the last hole out of a carbide tipped hole saw yesterday, today began with a drive to Fort Bragg.  The Ace Hardware in Fort Bragg is a little larger than the one in Manchester and the selection is definitely better.  However, at first I thought I was going to be frustrated even though I had called the evening before to check to be sure they stocked what I needed.  When you’re looking for hole saws to drill holes in ceramic tile remember to look in the section with the other ceramic tile supplies.  That’s where we found the first one at Home Depot.  I finally found what I was looking for and got back to Irish Beach a little after 10a.

The rest of the day I hung out with Liam while the rest of the family perfected their roles in installing the tile.  Judi measures very precisely, Kelly cuts just as precisely, and Shirley places the tiles.  It is hard to tell from the pictures, but everything is as close to perfect as it can be.  There are some difficult sections left, but the team is working well together.  I anticipate that I’ll have Liam duty again tomorrow as well.

Liam really enjoys water and rocks like any real boy.  He entertained himself for an hour with a 5 gallon bucket of water and rocks.  He made an old piece of duct tape into a fishing line and went fishing.  He really enjoyed washing his hands.  He would wash his hands, then walk a few feet away, place his hands down in the dirt, and then walk back and wash them off again.  He was soaked to the skin when we finally came in for lunch, but that was okay.

The master gardener workshop we attended a few weeks ago was certainly worth the time.  I caught a third gopher today.  Once I see activity, it only takes about 2 hours to catch the gopher.

One final note.  This may not get posted until tomorrow morning because we have experienced our first power outage while out here.  I’m glad I’m working on a laptop because it actually provided the emergency light we needed until we could get the candles lit.  Everytime this happens I’m also very grateful for the utility light that came with my Makita drill set.  It really lights up the room.  The power is back on and we all hope it will stay on.  Otherwise, we won’t be completing the tiling tomorrow.

We got started a little earlier today and ended much later.  The sun was barely up when we began and going down when we had all had enough for one day.  We didn’t make as much progress as we wanted to as the different size tile continues to take more time to align than we expected.

The most pleasant surprise today was the installation of the bench.  I was disappointed when I discovered that we needed to cut it a little shorter, so we began the day with a very noisy cutting operation.  However, mounting the bench was easy.  Once it was level we screwed it into the studs and blocking and it was ready for mortar.  Our neighbor had given us a used drill and we made good use of it to mix the mortar.  This was much easier on the body than mixing mortar by hand.  It was a little hard to get the mortar across the front of the bench to stay in place, but some fiberglass mesh tape did the trick.  The bench is called the Better Bench and information can be found at http://www.innoviscorp.com/.  It worked as well as advertised.

We had to make our first complex round cut today and it went much quicker than our first bathroom.  I figured out that I could cut out a triangle of material before beginning to make the multiple short cuts to create the circular shape.  This saved both time and saw blade.  Our new diamond core drills also worked really well.   Last time it took 20-30 minutes to drill a single hole,  This time it took 5 minutes and the process was easy.  If you need to drill glazed ceramic tile these bits are the only way.  Go here to buy them – http://www.diamond-drill-bit-and-tool.com/Diamond-Drill/MAIN.htm.

We didn’t get as far as we expected today, but everyone feels good about what we got accomplished.  I did get to make a few cuts in tile, but spent most of the day playing with Liam.  This will probably be the case tomorrow as well.  We’re still hoping to have all the tile installed by the end of the day on Saturday, so that grouting can be done next week.