Monday, August 13, 2001

 

10:46 p.m. Tonight I post of picture of the counter that I've been working on for the last couple of weeks, but certainly not today, or yesterday. Today and yesterday I've been sitting in stymied block-headedness, unable to figger out how to rite.

Single-handedly just a mere few days past, and with my unaided brain, I was able to convince Igor to crawl under the house and hand out whole boxfuls of the very tile that our kitchen was composed of. Tons of tile, all sizes and shapes of tile; enough to do all sort of repair and replacement and still have plenty left over for Clever Projects.

And so inevitably, and for reasons that I don't understand, I covered the top of the counter in the photo with tiles that match the floor, and then just for fun, I edged it all around with fetching little curved tiles (that still need to be grouted).

The whole grouting routine didn't go very well. First of all, the grout is black -- not dark gray, but black. Charcoal black -- and messy. Plus, the tiles themselves are not sealed, so I'm still steel-wooling off the black every time I get a few spare minutes. And for future reference, if you mix too much grout at a time, you absolutely, positively can't save it. Nor can you get it out of the plastic container you've sealed it in. It's a black rock now and forever.

Then I made another mistake when I tried some tile stain remover on the black grout smears and that particular solution sort of permanently clouded the pristine grout into a grayish splotch that really looks stupid.

Otherwise, the counter is ok. We can call it rustic and we can let it go.

Always remember that doing it yourself means you're never really finished; plus you always know where each and every knick and dodge is located. It can eat at your soul, as we all know.

So, although it isn't perfect and although it's standing there in the middle of the kitchen for anyone to look at (and smirk), still, I had the courage to attempt the project. Where is that courage now?

Where are my words?

I am well and truly stumped, and totally struck dumb. And do you know what's the worst part? This is all I've got. This *is* my day job. I certainly couldn't survive if I had to depend on construction work, now could I?

Words. Bah.