Still Not Yet

I am posting this as my Slice of Life today.  I don't usually post my Gull Haven site as a slice, but it occurred to me that it is a slice as I wrote today.  Some of you are familiar with this site and saga, others are not.  Six years ago in August, we purchased a small house across the road from the ocean... near a working dock again, closer than we are now.  We had the goal of working on it with a contractor, over the next few years getting it ready for our place to retire.  I retired first, and we continued to work on it - very slowly - and now that my husband has retired as of last December, we are moving ahead on getting in.  Our move in date was to be May 1.  It has not worked out to be that date.  We are still in our old home.  There are a few updates on this site as we made progress on renovating and updating this old house.  If you are inclined, you can certainly go back to read up on the progress over the years.  But here is today's post for Gull Haven:

Not in the new house yet.  We are awaiting instructions from Lowes on getting our new new cabinets.  Our cabinets were installed just over a week ago.  And there were issues.  The installation was horrendous.  So many problems.  I called Lowes and an adjuster came out to see what the problems were and take pictures.  Lowes would tell me what the options were.  Instead I told them what the options were.  I ordered a "new" kitchen, not a repaired kitchen.  My options were to be refunded for the cabinets and the installation so I could start over with anyone anywhere, or to get a new set of the same cabinets (with some design flaws fixed) and refund the installation amount so my own contractor could install them.  Someone from headquarters called and agreed that the job wasn't right and said they would do whichever option I preferred.

I oped to get new Schuler cabinets from Lowes - just the same as we have - only meet with a senior designer and have our contractor put them in this time.  We will soon meet to reorder cabinets with a few adjustments to the design.  The new cabinets will be ordered, and the botched ones taken out.  Delivery will be in about 8 weeks.  Summer will  essentially be over.

But we are making the most of our extended stay here.  It is the first summer that we have both been retired, so we are on the motorcycles and down at the beach many of the sunny days so far.  We are not moving fast on clearing out our old house, and that will most likely become a problem for the future, but right now it is too much for my brain to handle.  I will relax amid all the clutter and disarray (wish I hadn't started packing now!) and try to just enjoy the summer on the bikes.  It is hard to find stuff, and I don't really want to unpack boxes.  I've had to partially, just to get cooking utensils I need!

We have already changed churches, thinking we would be in the house by now.  This new church would have been closer than the hour+ we've traveled back and forth to church for the past 16 years, but since we are still here, it is an hour+ from here to this one, too.  Same amount of gas each week!  At least we will be settled into the new church when we get there.  I miss my old church though...the singing, my Sunday School class, our friends.  I'm sure this will feel like home, too, soon enough.  The people have been very welcoming.

Okay, I said I wouldn't put any of the photos of the botched job up, but I just can't resist this one.  I will not mention any names, and remember, Lowes is making good on this job!

This was just NOT pleasing to me.

Really, this drawer front has two little screws so you can remove it if you need to.  Maybe you could even do that to put the knob on?  Or I guess you could just cut a gouge on the inside.  It's probably quicker, and, besides the little missus, who would ever see that? 

The cabinets were installed so poorly that there is no salvaging that can be done and still end up with a new kitchen.  Best it could be is a visibly repaired kitchen.

We haven't met with the designer yet, but they said they would replace all the cabinets and refund my installation cost so I can have my contractor do it this time.  Though I'm still waiting to hear from the designer, I have been assured all will be made right!

It will be exciting to see it all done: all level, straight, in line, no cracks, no black sheetrock screws...and no gouges.  Add the countertop and appliances, the lighting, the curtains... our table.  I'm excited to see what is so far only visible in my mind!

Meanwhile, I'll continue to shuffle about here, looking at curtains online,
Maybe I'll post some images when we get to cabinet destruction and reinstall... or some rosettes and curtains... But right now, it's roses and coffee!

 This morning's fragrance is indescribable!

I will fill up my "wait time" with "great time"!

Ah...another "ho hum day" in paradise!

Yet More Delays

Okay, the cabinets did not go in when expected and we have a reschedule date of June 5.  Seems that no one can contact each other for verifications.  This time I just said do it.  I'll be there if our contractor can't make it.  I did warn them though that NOBODY wants ME there.  I am a stickler for straight and perfect and I don't always know the order things are done, so can get nervous  about something when I don't have to - they aren't finished with it yet.

The bathroom sink supports were done and the sinks put in (they are huge... wasn't ready for that!), and the toilets were hung.  The toilets were hung too high though, so those have to both be lowered.  My feet don't touch the floor and I don't want to put little footstools by them.  So no water yet.

Yet, yet, yet.  When will it be yet?

THE Cabinet and THE Knobs

It's a done deal!  This is the kitchen flooring; we had the tile put in a couple of weeks ago, replacing the hardwood we had originally put down that I wasn't crazy about.  I haven't seen the grout yet, but Tim was up there after it was grouted in dark green "Asparagus" color.
Then, here's the cabinet and the knob combo... I finally, finally settled on the cabinet knobs!  I found these online and ordered them, and I am so excited! 

The cabinets are FINALLY going in on Monday - in two days - on Tim's birthday.  Then the  quartz countertop will arrive shortly after that we are hoping!

We thought the bathrooms would be done, but the toilets and sinks for the bathrooms are Toto and all are wall mounted.  The Toto toilets are in, but the bathroom sinks will be in someday soon.  They were supposed to be in on Tuesday this past week, but the structure for them was not behind the wall, so they are going to have to break into the wall, put a 2x6 in, sheetrock those walls again and repaint.

The mudroom is being added, along with a deck.  We may be in before it is complete, but as long as we have a bedroom and one bathroom we will be fine!

I hope to get a picture here soon with everything in place...but for now, imagine the following items all together in this recap of what we ended up selecting for the kitchen:

Still packing up and sorting here, as there is no huge hurry until the bathrooms are there!