Day: March 20, 2008

a very poopy field trip

so we thought we’d quickly pop down to lowe’s tonight to return an item and buy a toilet…

lowes

the lowe’s we usually go to is in san bruno and as we drove down 101 we saw a new lowe’s in south san francisco, right next to the freeway. we quickly exited 101 and thought we’d just cross over and find the store. the red line indicates the first part of our lost journey, the blue line shows where we’ve doubled back on our path, the green line shows still more doubling back and finally reaching our destination. and wouldn’t you know it? when we finally got to their “grand opening” they didn’t have anything on our list, not even the toilet (they carry 3, maybe 4 models and we needed a specific model because of the size of our bathroom.)

so we made a bee-line to home depot and found everything we needed. they had only one of our toilet left in stock. the box containing the entire thing, didn’t fit in our tiny car, but mathew opened the box, transferred it’s contents and we were on our way. (we seem to have a love-hate relationship with both of these stores. mathew mostly shops at our local stores: cole hardware and benjamin moore: house of color. both stores we LOVE.)

toilettoilet

as soon as we got home mathew carried the pieces upstairs to see if they’d fit. only just! he’ll have to make a few changes with the wainscoting behind the toilet, but we’re keeping it!

toilettoilet

if we’d planned ahead we might have placed the toilet at an angle in the corner (for more legroom.) but really! what a bunch of fuss, over a toilet!

mathew’s house of sawdust

mathew spent a good part of today working on the bathroom vanity in the garage.

vanityvanity

(left) here he’s gluing and clamping the bottom end. (right) here it is upright.

panelsink test

(left) because it’s the right thickness, as a backing for the vanity, mathew is re-using paneling that used to be on the bedroom walls (from the 50’s? 60’s?). it will be behind drawers so it won’t be seen, but it’s cool to include the old with the new, even if we’re the only ones who know about it. there’s even a piece of tape on it where a child had written “the end.” (right) mathew is testing how the sink will fit and also testing what happens if you shake your head back and forth really fast while janeen takes a no-flash, slow exposure photo…

busy bee

mathew took the week off from work to concentrate on the house. the house has three levels, so depending on the noise level of his activity, i usually don’t find mathew on my first try. but i always bring the camera with me to capture the moment.

tile

cleaning out extra thin-set (mortar) between the tiles upstairs.

pipe

in the garage, bending pipe to cover electrical wires (using a pipe bending tool uncle ken loaned him.)

compostwoodworking

(left) out in the backyard filling our new composter. (right) in the garage, making a vanity (for the upstairs bathroom) using a cabinet making tool that was a gift many years ago from his brother.

the things i missed: mathew injuring himself (and getting blood on his overalls) while doing some plumbing in the bathroom. mathew painting the bedroom with a final coat of paint. i wanted him to do a “dramatic re-enactment” photo but he just wouldn’t play along.