Operazione Cucina - Giorno II - pomeriggio (Day 2 midday)

Scout & Kenyon helping... "go play please". Dog hair and paint bring with them a challenge all their own. Paws just rests & watches all the action, deeply sighing at various moments as though to let me know she is well and approves. At 14 and half, she is my heart.

Kenyon not helping. Good boy.

I woke early and continued to scrape linoleum. I have come to the following conclusions as a result: Linoleum is hateful. That's all I have to say. Jimmy Butler showed up at 8:30 a.m. and finished the shelving, hung the shelf I found on sale yesterday for $90.00, & moved the lighting over the sink. I patched drywall damage & scraped more linoleum in between dog walks to the beach. Today was gloriously blustery and warm. I love having the front door and windows wide open and today allowed for that which was a welcome change to the freezing conditions several days ago. I opted to leave the bark on the countertops and not to plain them but to honor their natural shape. This evening I will glaze the walls with paint the color of oatmeal.

My Coronado, CA, kitchen, due to appear in Better Homes and Gardens sometime this year, cost me approximately $35,000.00 for a complete renovation. This cucina will cost, with hired labor (mine not included), a little less than $1500.00. Mr. Butler's expertise cost me $570.00 for 13 hours; wood for the shelving cost$162.00; Southern yellow pine countertops were $200.00 with delivery; cabinets were $200.00; $90.00 for the decorative shelf; and the rest is for baskets, paints, glaze, wood stain, and butcher block oil.

Left to to: flooring (yet to be determined) and to finish countertops - a process of sanding and applying thin layers of butcher block oil.