something fun ....

These are the tiles I found for the new en suite bathroom..... just one course of mainly field tiles the same background colour with a few of these interspersed here and there.  There are other little characters...but, these two are the nicest of the grouping.  Maybe a row of little "liner" tiles above them... I've never heard that term before ..I've always thought of them as trim ... but, there are some with tiny bumps on them that remind me of bubbles.... they could work great.

I especially love the lily pad one ...  aren't they cute?

In floor heating..

...   in the ensuite bathroom.  The tiles were laid yesterday and Saturday.... but, now the room is piled high with doors, a bathtub and the surround for it ...some shelving and oh, yes... sandpaper.  Sandpaper for the big sanders....

The hardwood (which is everywhere except the bathrooms) was given a first sanding today.... then, coated with filler and the second sanding is underway.

WOW.   I was a total skeptic when the contractor told me the hardwood sanding would be "dustless".  Yeh...right ...and I'm the Queen of the Nile.  I can't remember my exact words...but, they probably were more or less that...or maybe shorter four letter ones....can't say for sure.

Well....it is.  Dustless that is.  Totally.  I'm still in shock.  And, I love it.
                                                           

The sanders have big bags on them...... plus they are attached to long vacuum cleaner hoses that lead to this.... two vortex vacuums.  Almost 90% goes into the small one...and the really fine stuff ends up being siphoned off into the larger one....somehow.....

Sanded entryway.. .. the old hardwood...with patched areas...

Now that I can see that beautiful wood under there all sanded and pristine, I just want to leave it like that!  No stain, no colour not even any lacquer ... it looks amazing...

But, ...colour we must.... and choose we must......drat......

Photo a week...

Here I am again...a day late and a dollar short... and short my last 3 marbles too. I don't even know what day it is anymore. And...I don't get enough play time on here anymore either..... whine.........

My other half has been off work since end of June and my loosely woven schedule has gone to aitch ee double hockey sticks in a handbasket.

Tuesday, almost Wednesday ...but, hey...I'm still around!!

We were supposed to get busy as soon as he was off work (before somebody finds him more work to do) and begin some of the little (and even the not so little) finishing jobs of our past 23 years of renovations..... I have not had a backsplash in my kitchen for many years now. Somehow, almost two months have flown and we have finally just begun doing some tile in the past week. Then, today he hit me between the eyes with some other projects that we have not even discussed....but, now...will also be part of the ongoing saga of this Money Pit. If my laundry room doesn't get finished by the end of next week, somebody else is going to get something between the eyes too...

I had my rant and now am scrubbing these little guys in preparation for the sealer...











Friends and relatives all think that because we tackle all sorts of household repairs we know what we are doing. We know jack squat.... well, I can't say that anymore now...because over the years we have learned plenty! But, in the beginning... we knew nothing.... ..nada...zippo.... But, finally, we tired of paying so called tradespeople to do things and getting crappy jobs in return for big bucks. We baulked... ..we quit hiring and just gave things a go on our own. We find info on line...go to the hardware stores and tile and paint shops..and pump and quiz them up one side and down the other. We even buy books on some of the projects... and then...we just get busy and do them. We have made some mistakes...and sometimes things turn out a bit differently than they should...but, mostly we make it right by the end of things. Even if it takes a second and a third go round..or ripping off tiles... or re-doing shower bases... or ... lifting bathtubs one too many times and not lifting anything for over 6 months while recuperating.











This is our first time for tiles this tiny...half inch mosaics. There are three types of glass tiles and some travertine in the pieces. One type of glass has a nubbly texture. At the tile shops... they don't always have display tile grouted....and you have no idea how it should look when finished. This was the case with this particular tile. However, while grouting... we knew that if we washed off too much the sharp corners of the travertine bits would be sticking out of the grout...and be difficult to wash regularly...or be really sharp...so we kind of had an idea that the grout should be left almost as high as the surface of the little tiles. We were a bit surprised to see the grout remain in the nubbly surfaces of the glass...and even more surprised to have grout stick firmly to the flat glass tiles as well. So..it took a lot of cleaning the day after to make sure the smooth glass was clean ....even though we didn't want to clean out the grout on the nubbly surfaced tiles. It makes them look almost like a greenish veined marble piece now.... we did check immediately with the tile shop while the grout was still soft...and they said people do it either way. On the short run in the laundry room... we actually applied a bit more grout...because we had already washed out a bit more than we wanted to ..... but, all is well. The wall will fall down before the tiles fall off and the grout is not going anywhere...my finger nails will attest to that fact. They are wrecked from trying to scrape off tiny bits on the flat smooth glass bits..... and my neck is killing me...but....all is ready for sealer tomorrow. The sealer is apparently "bullet proof" ..... and a good thing, because me and tomato sauce have a thing.... if you know what I mean. Every single time I use tomatoes.... I get little spatters on every surface ...so, it better be bullet proof...I don't want any orange on my creamy whites over the stove. Now...for the backsplash behind the sink ....... woohoooooooo ... well, maybe next week...I won't get too excited this week.














....but...I sure do love this little run of tile behind my stove .... .......