Almost finished!

Absolutely Perfect. Not a spot anywhere. Pristine. This will be the one and only time we will be able to take a picture of the kitchen and not have a single thing on the countertop. Not even if we move again and have to take pictures for a real estate agent will the counters be this clean. It is almost sad to put anything on them.

That thought lasted through – “Is the sealer dry?”

The plumber is coming over shortly to finish setting/connecting the sinks, garbage disposal and completing the project by hooking up the dishwasher. Once that is finished, we can start cooking here again. Some people would argue a chef doesn't necessarily need a dishwasher to be able to cook. Luckily I am spoiled and don’t follow that rule.

Saturday was another day spent in the office (no work on the taxes but cleaning and tossing other items) and Sunday was completely dedicated to washing off, out, under doors, cabinets, drawers, floors, etc. For all of you now inspired to remodel your kitchen and install granite, they bring the pieces in whole to fit the top of the cabinets and then cut out the holes you need. We had three holes in the kitchen and four others elsewhere in the house. This tends to create a lot of dust. The crew tried very hard to minimize the amount of dust but a lot escaped. My mother would be so very proud. I washed the outside of the kitchen cabinets. I have not done that since I moved out of the my parents house. (She is of the opinion cabinet washing should be done yearly. I am not of the same opinion. I only wash cabinets if I spill something on them which normally automatically eliminates the upper cabinets unless there is a food fight.)

The installation crew was fantastic and did a really good job. They showed up on Friday with three people, saw the stairs and called in more troops. Our single piece of granite for the island took six men to carry up the stairs and into the house. None of the stone was dropped and no Christmas ornaments were knocked off the tree standing next to the entry door.

All of the granite cut-outs were placed on the front porch at the end of Saturday. We thought it would be really cool to use in our garden until we realized how slick unfinished granite is when wet. Most of the leftovers are stacked by the garden pathway for now. However, two of the cut outs (stove and double kitchen sink) are too heavy for Robert to lift. They may decorate the front porch for the next few months until the "non-slippery steps" season arrives.

In the middle of all the installation activities and on Friday night during the “festive attire” Christmas party, we had another bout of 70-80 mph winds and the poor reindeer on the front deck that had been bolted down with bungee cords and eyehooks were flattened. Mama and baby made it with minor injuries. Daddy reindeer was head down in the snow with feet in the air and needed some parts re-fabricated, wires fixed, 9 new bulbs (which required a $20 bulb tester to figure out which bulbs) and new eyehooks as the others broke. All is well though and the reindeer are once again guarding our house.

BTW – the party was a blast and my attire on the festive scale was perfect!