You must be so excited, annkh, and I can understand your being a little concerned with going out of town.

They just demo'd my kitchen today and I can certainly see already that the doing dishes in the bathroom will get old quick... I think we will be eating out a LOT! However, our kitchen area is small and we're not changing the footprint at all, so it should be smooth sailing, right? Yeah, right! First thing for us is the fact that the wiring that was in the fur down has to be changed; luckily DH is a master electrician, was a contractor for years, but he is quite ill now, and when he does start feeling better overdoes things (in other words, doesn't listen to me!), and now his back is out. However, we'll persevere, and I am really excited to have this 1970's kitchen redone.

Good luck to you!

Thanks, ogrose! Best wishes to you to, as you begin your adventure, and I hope your DH is feeling better soon.

I'm not too worried about the counters - plumber friend knows the fabricator too, and is impressed. My cabinetmaker will be in call after we leave, in case they need someone on site - he is the one who ordered the countertops, so he has a vested interest in seeing it's done right.

The disruption at our house really hasn't been all that bad. We were on vacation for part of it; our bathroom has a long vanity, perfect for a dish rack. We used a lot of paper plates, cooking on the grill (even pizza!), rice cooker, electric frying pan - and a fair bit of eating out. Our neighbors took pity on us and fed us a few times too.

Have a great vacation, how exciting to come home and see it all fresh, again! Maybe you want to consider asking your plumber friend about turning off the water to your home while you're away? I just had a new, brass, shutoff installed so that I can easily turn mine off when we are away overnight.

That's a good thought, kksmama. My Mom has a well, and always shuts off the breaker to the well pump when she goes out of town.

Here's where we're going: "Gunflint Lodge" for 3 days of horseback riding, canoeing, and hiking. Oh, and the Zipline course! The restaurant is fantastic, and we've been going there long enough that the staff knows us. It's a family business, on its third generation. And it's in the middle of nowhere - Canada is just across the lake (not that Canada itself is the middle of nowhere, just that this particular place is pretty remote). We're 40 miles from the nearest cell service, 10 miles from the end of a 50 mile dead end road. Over the years we've seen wolves, bears, foxes, and plenty of bald eagles. I've yet to see a moose, though I have seen fresh moose tracks. It's not unusual to have a deer peek in our cabin window.

Here's the view from our cabin last year:

I don't think I'll have any trouble relaxing up there!

You must be in my home state somewhere! I'm in the Twin Cities. We drove to the end of the Gunflint Trail when I was a kid... in the middle of a thunderstorm and attempted to pitch a tent on top of a rock. Ended up staying in a small cabin as I recall. Good memories!

Can't wait to see your final reveal next week (right???). We just started last week and are supposed to be done mid-Oct. I, too, am already tired of the small sink (we have a tiny bar sink we are using in our finished basement).

Have an uneventful end to your renovation and enjoy your vacation up North!

So exciting Ann! I can't wait to see your Cambria. Keeping my fingers crossed that it all goes well for you.

Enjoy your vacation!

ck, I live in North Dakota now, but I grew up in Fridley, and my Mom lives in Pelican Rapids. I'm a Minnesota girl at heart. One of my sons spent the summer working at a Boy Scout camp near Ely, canoeing in the Boundary Waters and Quetico for 10 weeks. He loved it, and plans to go back next summer. We're rather an outdoorsy family.

As soon as we get back (literally - I go to work at 8 Sunday night) I start a 9-day stretch of 12-hour shifts, so I don't know how much energy I'll have left for my final reveal. If it's a little late, don't hold it against me!

There has been a small setback - I got a call from Dan the Cabinet Man at 7:30 this morning. He had tried to reach me on Friday, but I missed his message (and yesterday he was out of town, visiting his brand new baby granddaughter). The counter installers won't be here until tomorrow. Dan knew we were going out of town, but didn't want us to get put back on the end of their schedule and have to wait a few more weeks. He came over this morning and reviewed the plans, determined where the faucet hole needs to go, etc. Dan will be here tomorrow for the install, since I can't be. I trust him to handle it - he hasn't let me down yet!

While he was here, I asked if I could have the guys rebuild the face of my sink tip-out. This time it was my mistake - I should have put a single pull in the middle, but I put on two instead, and the tip-out doesn't open easily with just one handle. Dan had a better idea - just last week he got soft-close hinges for tip-outs! He's going to take the set off his display, and bring them over early tomorrow morning, before the countertop guys get in.

Enjoy your vacation and we all look forward to your reveal!

Have a great weekend, annkh! So exciting to come back to a finished kitchen!

We're sick of washing dishes too ( in the laundry sink) and eating out or eating frozen foods or making do with the rice cooker, toaster oven and microwave ( our bbq is not working, sadly).

Good luck! Enjoy!!

So far so good! We're having a wonderful time - Thurday was horseback riding and a fantastic zipline tour - one of the zips is 800 feet long, and you step right off the edge of a cliff. The food is fantastic.

I called home at lunchtime Thursday, and Dan answered. He said the sink was in, and they were working on the seam. I asked how it looked, and he said "Terrific! You ordered the pink stuff, right?" I've found that he only jokes around when things are going really well, so I took it as a good sign.

I might have to have my neighbor take a picture and email it to me - but the WiFi connection is so slow here, I might not even get it. We'll have to drive fast on Sunday!