Counter Finale!

We took the rest of the forms off. And started grinding the surface to reveal some of the aggregates and get rid of the sharp edges.

Wow!! What a huge cloud of dust. I think we will be cleaning up concrete dust for months.

Then we put a high gloss polyurethane down. Dont you love this high gloss plastic look???

Isn't it fantastic.

Isn't it beautiful.

Well this isn't the final finish!! :) Duh!!

We let it cure and then started sanding.

We sanded off the high gloss finish.

Then treated the whole thing with linseed oil.

Then we waxed the surface with a carnauba wax.

This is the final finish. There are lots of fun little flaws that make it look so amazing, it has kind of a rough natural edge and a few areas there the color is off and the surface dips because of the poly but and it is silky smooth to touch and it is exsactly what I wanted!!

This is my counter and I love love love it!!

Counter Reveal!

Marty took the melamine sides off. Thought you all might want to take a peek. I am sooooo excited!!!

Pour in place Concrete Countertop

So we are ready to pour FINALLY. We taped up the holes and siliconed the corners. checked and double checked. We found a few falws in our design and re made our form here and there. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of our reinforcements because it was so cool. We researched it real well and found a website produced by an engineer that convinced us to go with 9 gauge steel. I don't think this counter is going to have any problem in the strength department. :)

Then came the mess. We used 5000 psi sackcrete. It took 8 bags. We used BUFF colored concrete dye and some water.









I was so tired. I mixed the concrete and Marty poured. We worked at it all day and night.....

This is what we have so far. I know already I am going to love love love it!! Next comes the long wait..then some sanding, filling a few holes with slurry, more sanding, buffing and sealing.....

Stay tuned.....

Fish Fry

One of the girls, Kim Gilpin, who rides my High School bus sent me a text on Friday and said she was on her way over to bring me a couple of fresh catfish fillets. Her parents are commercial fishermen. I was a little nervous because I have never cooked catfish before. She dropped them off with a bag of their favorite fish fry. I followed the directions on the back of the bag.





It was SO GOOD!!!! I made Marty try...he doesn't like fish. HE LOVED IT!! I made Lacey try. She doesn't like fish and she said "Amazing...Maybe I do like fish" We ate them as fast as I could cook them. YUMMERS!!! What a fun snow day!!

NAUVOO SNOW STORM

That big storm that went across the country this week hit us pretty hard. It was really windy and we got between 12" and 18" of snow with drifts up to 5' in some areas. It was crazy. The whole town shut down around 4pm on Tuesday and it took most of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to dig out. The temple was closed early on Tuesday. Closed on Wednesday. Open as usual on Thursday.

I took these pictures on my way home from work Thursday Morning around 4am. Mulholland Street/HWY 96 downtown Nauvoo, Illinois.

a little good news!! Marty's daughter Jessica had her baby. Sofia Nichole Morales Januray 31 2011 

Kitchen Remodel Update

The lights are all in and working. The form is ready to pour the concrete. The weather has settled a little so we can go buy the concrete. Then things will really start moving.