Tile Project - Day Two

I woke up at 7:00 AM on Saturday and immediately warmed up a cup of yesterday's coffee in the microwave. I have aches and pains everywhere; yesterday took its toll on me. I have a nasty cut on one finger, both knees are shot and my left shoulder hurts a lot. And, I'm really hungry!

I can't do much about the aches and pains, but I can make a hearty breakfast. So, I warmed up a can of roast beef hash and topped that with two eggs over easy. Since I am just putting on my dirty work clothes from yesterday, I decided taking a shower this morning was a bit premature. So, by 9:00 AM I was back working.

I got the one wall done and then taped and mudded the seams. It's about 11:00 AM and my legs are shaking from getting up and down on the work step, so I decide to take a short break. But, first I filled the birdfeeder and took out yesterday's trash. Then I took a photo and posted it for you. This will be a difficult project to document photo-wise. There's just not enough room to be in the shower and take a picture.

I laid down on the bed watched a half hour taped show, "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef" and then I got back up to go back to work. My legs felt much better. I got a call from my son Jeremy, who wanted to know where they moved the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit to. Seems he was taking the family there on a mystery trip and couldn't find it. I told him I was pretty sure it's just within walking distance of Cobo Hall. Since he was in the car with everybody, he couldn't tell me what was there, but hopefully, I'll find out.

Back on the job! Here's the first abnormality (dimension-wise) I found: the north wall (the other, outside wall that will need the long screws) is 28 inches wide at the bottom and 27 inches wide at five feet up! Gonna be a lot of tricky tile cuts to pull this one off!

By 1:30 PM, the north wall was up and mudded. I decided to take a break for lunch and another leg rest. I took an hour off, watching two taped shows and eating the other half of the Italian sub, along with some green olives. Before I went back to work, I straightened out the freezer in the fridge and crammed it as full as I could with stuff from the small chest freezer in the garage. Jake and Carla are making the long trip to St. Clair to pick up 1/2 of a cow and half of that is mine.

Then it was onto the south wall of the shower. This is the tricky one, because I have to cut out for the faucet and shower head pipe. Here was where I ran out of the mastic, so I mixed up the new bag of dried mortar. I bought a big paddle to mix it but it really overheated my drill motor (you had to mix it for five minutes; let is set for ten minutes and then remix it). I did it downstairs, and, in raising the paddle a bit too high, splattered the washer and dryer with mortar! Sorta like when you use a hand mixer and pull it up too high. Yikes! I took the mortar off the washer and dryer with paper towels and then washed it off. I'll get it off the floor later...

I had that wall finished and mudded by 5:30 PM. I have no full sheets of backer board left, just the scraps from the other walls. So the wall into the bathroom (with its doorway) will be all scraps (a kind of a puzzle, if you will).

I was really tired, but I could smell victory, so I pressed on... But, it was just after 6:30 PM when I had put up a 5 foot section on the south side of the doorway wall when I realized just how beat I really was. So, in spite of my earlier optimism, I started to clean up.

I threw my mortar and sweat-encrusted clothes in the washer, along with the hand towel and bath mat from the main bath and even my beloved Crocs (they won't go into the dryer, of course). Then I threw my mortar and sweat-encrusted body into the shower. I cleaned up quickly, and then let the hot water beat on my left shoulder and knees until it started to get cold. I got out of the shower and got dressed. It was the first time I felt clean all day!

I started my dinner for tonight. I was warming up the leftover stuffed chicken breast and serving that with some wild rice. I kicked the wild rice up a notch by using my homemade chicken stock instead of plain water.

I was letting the rice set and talking on the phone with B___ about the project when I heard the front door open. Looks like my yearly supply of beef has arrived. I apologized and hung up the phone. Then I went out to the garage and helped (well, watched, really) them sort out the meat. It fit into the freezer with room to spare (whew)! I thanked them and they left, anxious for home and hearth. Thanks again, guys!

I ate dinner watching TV (the chicken was still good the second time and the rice was excellent). I started to doze about 9:30 PM, but I didn't fight it. Instead, I turned off the TV and the light and went to bed.