We are making progress. At least that is what we are telling ourselves. The kitchen is done. Well, I need to paint the new sill and Ryan will install the trim. Then it will be done. It's nice to have a place to cook and a place to clean dishes other than the bathtub or creepy utility sink in the basement.
The project that consumed this weekend was the fireplace insert. Last weekend Ryan hauled himself up onto the roof a handful of times to put in flexible vent pipes. I helped him by sticking my arm up the flue to pull the tubes in so he can connect them to the fireplace insert. This week it is about getting the mantle ready.
We bought a mantle off Craigs list a few months ago. It will be pretty once it is painted but right now it is dark brown and looks like it was built in 1960. Kind of ugly. As always there were a few bumps along the way and the design changed. To keep the mantle from getting too hot we had to keep it a safe distance from the insert and to keep Ryan from having to dismantle the entire brick fireplace surround to have access to the gas he had to place the insert out further, closer to the hearth. Now the mantle is turning into a massive structure. We stopped and looked at it this afternoon and thought that the scale was off. Small living room, huge fireplace. So Ryan thought to tie in the fireplace and surround he would make window seats to flank the unit. The fireplace installation gave birth to a new project, built in window seats. He made one in the West Seattle house but this one will be a little different. How, we don't know yet. But I'm certain that it will be cute.

Here is my final post on little Snickerdoo, aka Snickerdoodle, Snicks, Snickers, bunny bun bun buns. The wee little thing died Sunday, June 25th; she was 5 years old. I miss the little rabbit. I waited to post something because I was too upset to think about her for the length of time it would take for me to write this. I'm glad I made my previous post on the bunny, just a month before she died. If you think I'm being silly over 'just a rabbit' I bought her at the pet store when she was just a baby, only a few weeks old and I've had her longer than the cats and dog. She was my first pet as an adult on my own. When I would visit Ryan on the weekends I would bring her with me to Seattle. Then she made the move from Vancouver to West Seattle and finally to Beacon Hill. She definitely had a personality shift since being given some freedom to roam in the yard, she really mellowed out. Although she had a luxurious pad in the other house this last home was definitely the best habitat for a rabbit, some might say the best rabbitat. Ha. Having a fenced backyard was a great change from the small front yard we had in West Seattle where she could only be if on a harness, which she hated, and watched over every second. I wish I had a close up of her face because the fur above her eyes turned really dark, almost black; it looked like she was constantly scowling. I didn't realize how much the color of their fur changes - they are constantly changing colors. She was a light brown when I got her, hence her name, Snickerdoodle. So, that is all for Snicks. Farewell, my sweet little bunny.