And just how is the kitchen coming along?

The Kitchen Project is still under way. It's been a tough week. I've been fixing meals using both the indoor (electric) and outdoor (charcoal) grills, and the crockpot. We've been eating lots of raw veggies and salads, as I don't really care for veggies cooked in the microwave, and that's pretty much my only choice. The eggs I hard-boiled ahead of time so I could continue eating low-carb are running low, and the special low-carb muffins I had in the freezer are all gone.

But progress is being made! By the end of day three, the walls were smoothed and ready for tiling.




By the end of day four, the tiling had begin. It's a small room, but we did lots and lots of tile.



By the end of day five, the tiling was very nearly complete. There were so many little nooks and crannies and corners and outlets to cut around, it was a slow process.



On day six (Saturday) our worker started the day at 9:00 am or so. He grouted the floor, then washed that. He laid the tile edging around the base of the walls, which took a good while. And at 10;00 PM, he began grouted the wall. I went to bed, and got up around 2:00 am. He was still working! He told us later he made it home by 6:00 am Sunday morning, and he still showed up for the 11:00 church service!



How do you even pay somebody who works like that for you? He originally told us he'd do this work for about $130. Since he worked six days last week (and even came back on Sunday afternoon to finish all the electrical outlets), and never left before nine or ten at night, he probably put in an 80 hour week for us. We plan to pay him according to what we think is fair for that kind of effort, not according to his modest estimate.

Here's a close-up of the tile, although I don't know how well the color will show. Trust me--it's lovely!



And now comes the nitty-gritty of installing the cabinets, counters, sink, and what-not. I suspect that each step will present its own little difficulties, but sooner or later it will be done.