Tile and injuries and serious rain. Sales and shares helpful now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Close-up of the bathroom tile. I love this stuff so much, I don't even have words for it. Here's what the other octagons/squares look like:

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

That sort of terra-cotta shade is basically the same color as the interior plaster on the walls/bancos/bathroom ceiling. It would fabulous on the whole floor, but even on sale, far too expensive.

It turns out that today's Taos-area Home Depot delivery was not us after all. We learned this very early, because Mike the delivery guy very kindly texted Wings to let us know, so that we wouldn't have to disrupt our day waiting. That guy is amazing.

And so, given that we got inundated with a HUGE storm last night, with more on the way today (one wave of which has already gone through here; the next is in sight out the window), and also given that I'm lamed up with three probably-fractured toes and a badly swollen foot/ankle/calf, I spent much of the day sitting under the carport where the tile was off-loaded, sorting through each case of the much less expensive slate tile to pull out the cracked and broken ones. There are a lot of those, natch. And I only got about fifteen cases repackaged and labeled, plus one case of broken ones to be returned and a couple of other broken ones awaiting a full case (which amounts to five tiles). So you know what I'll be doing the next few days.

In the meantime, we're waiting to hear from Floyd about when he and Gary can come and get started. Also waiting to find out when the upstairs flooring will be delivered. I also need to find out whether Minwax is sufficient as a sealant for this engineered hardwood stuff. It's SO much less expensive that we didn't have any choice but to go with it, but given its construction, it will definitely need to be sealed, and really well, too. So will the slate tile, for that matter. We've put off the plumbers for a couple of weeks with regard to the septic mess, because the rains are supposed to continue past next week. The ground is far too soft for them to bring an excavator out here right now. after that, though, they'll need to get it done.

And we need to get the rest of the materials for the interior soon: water heater, other appliances, cabinetry. That stuff all needs to come from Home Depot or Lowe's, which is far less expensive than buying them all independently up here. Gift cards for those places also mean that we can devote our cash to the stuff that has to be done here: remaining exterior plaster coat, lumber and woodwork, installation of our old woodstoves (our only heating source), installation of appliances and plumbing fixtures, labor (always with the labor). For all of those things we need shares of both Wings's site (for sales) and our wishlist (for the cards), so please share the links:

• Wings's site, for sales;
• Lowe's cards (the physical version) via our Amazon wishlist;
• Lowe's e-cards (delivered via e-mail) here; and
• Home Depot cards via the company site. The e-version using my e-mail address is great; I take the tablet to the store with me, and they scan it off the screen.

Oddly, despite the injuries and my ever-present state of exhaustion, my crankiness continues to abate. Maybe it's partly that the rains are cooling it off here, even if they are putting us at risk of flash floods. Maybe it's just resignation; I don't know. Whatever it is, I'm welcoming it with open arms. Many thanks to everyone, with special shout-outs to the dear souls who sent us one e-gift card this morning and one physical one that arrived in today's mail, and another dear soul who sent a delivery this afternoon. We love you all more than we can say.

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.