North wall done! Flooring on order, and most lighting. I'll be really scarce for the next eleven days.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

We got home a little while ago to that up there. Sherm and his crew were shooting for a wall a day, but they're dodging weather, and it apparently poured here late this afternoon. It looks like they got the whole back wall, which has the most space to cover, all finished. If so, thats three layers: new skim; nylon mesh; float. That's a hell of a lot of work for not even all of one day. It's also beautifully done, smooth and even and richly colored even though it's just the cement right now [color coat comes next week].

Meanwhile, Tony and Reynaldo got the first coat of stain on all the downstairs interior windows and doors and support beams and spiral posts. We, on the other hand, weren't quite so lucky. 

Home Depot and one of their vendors managed to screw up BOTH parts of our tile order. It sets us back a whole week, and I am hugely unhappy. So is the specialist at Home Depot who's been working with us, and she's doing everything she can to take care of us in the face of constant problems. Because of the screw-ups, delivery up here to the job site from Santa Fe will be free. Delivery of today's order might be, too, if she can make it work, which is the rest of the upstairs flooring. It's engineered hardwood (yeah, I know, I know, but it's affordable, and it is wood, even if it's only the parchment thin slice on the top, and we don't plan on having water pouring in on it anywhere), and we got it on sale at a price lower than vinyl laminate. Anyway, the woman working with us on all of this is just fabulous: a retired aerospace engineer, with her own expertise in remodeling; incredibly cool and funny; and she took an immediate liking to us as much as we did to her. It is SUCH a wonderful thing to have a vendor who actually goes to bat for us on all kinds of things.

Tomorrow will just as busy as today, although without the long-distance travel, which is a plus. Just like last night, I'll be up late again, dealing with a bunch of stuff for the next eleven days' worth of scheduling, and you won't see much of me in all that time beyond the posts here and at Wings's site. We've managed to get all but (I think) three of the light fixtures in the works, at least, which means that the next (hugely expensive) rounds will be kitchen cabinetry, sink, and appliances to buy (and the water heater). As I also said, we're having to police our cash expenditures even more closely than usual, and right now, they're going for labor, plumbing, electric, and plaster, all things that have to be paid in cash. That means that Home Depot and Lowe's cards are still going to be useful for the rest of the materials, so here are the links for those and for sales:

• Wings's site, for sales;
• Lowe's cards via our Amazon wishlist;
• Lowe's cards via the company site; and
• Home Depot cards via the company site.

Giftcards for both are very useful right now, but I think at the moment Home Depot wins out in terms of importance. It turns out that those can be sent via e-mail, as e-giftcards, and the store will scan the barcode right off my tablet screen. Much more efficient than sending physical ones. Many, many thanks to the dear person who sent us one today.

::Sigh:: I'm waiting for the pilot to reheat so I can take another shower after having been on the road all day; another thing I can't wait to leave behind with this tin can. For now, it's back to work. Many thanks and much love to everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.