Pretty Kitchen

Fire Update: It is now 44% contained. The weather today was a bit breezy, which greatly improved our air quality. We were able to see the shoreline out the window again and very little ash rained down today. It seems like the fire didn't completely behave itself today, which added to the concerns of those down in South Lake Tahoe. The real concern is that the fire will move east (away from us) which could endanger that community. I am still convinced that this fire does not threaten us. Geography and wind direction are on our side.

Now it is time to start catching up on all the house pictures that I took, but wasn't able to post until DSL came back. The tile guys came to finally finish the kitchen tile. The accent tiles finally came in and they are pretty. I really like the way it all turned out.
here's a close up of the tile:

The painters are coming tomorrow to finish painting. They plan to repaint our bedroom and bath, and touch up a bunch of stuff. Painting our bedroom will be a big step. We have been waiting for this, before we settle in. So, after tomorrow we can do just that. Really settle in.

After paint, we still need the electricians to finish their thing. We are also waiting for our front door and some of the door hardware. We passed inspection for everything except the fireplace. We have to install the glass doors on it for code. I drove down to South Shore last week (right next to where the fire is now) and picked up the glass, so we will probably get that done in the next few days. It is a good thing I got it last week, because now the road is closed!

Knitting Catch-Up

I have been busy moving in and working on the house in general but obviously not posting on the blog, however I have managed to knit a few things.

I knit a pair of pedicure socks for Annika out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts(BMFA) heavyweight Socks That Rock(STR) in "Backstabber" (which I could not find on their website), however I forgot to get a picture before I gave them to her, so you'll just have to trust me on that. They were basic stockinette socks, without the toe, and about an inch of 1x1 ribbing on each end.

I also finished the toe up socks using Wendy's pattern that I showed ages ago. For those I also used BMFA STR. These were mediumweight in "Fire on the Mountain". That name seems so apropos today! These were for me and I love them, because they are so soft and comfortable. I was a little annoyed with the pooling on the leg part, but I'm pretty much over that, cuz they are so snugly.

It took me a while to obtain the yarn for my Lizard Ridge afghan. Since Kureyon can be so variable, I really wanted to get it in person, which is hard to do when there is no local yarn store (no LYS!!! how sad). I went to Jimmy Bean's in Reno, but they were phasing out all of their Noro yarns, and had no Kureyon. I eventually bought a bunch of one colorway in Auburn when I was down there last month on a paint errand. I was thinking I would just use one colorway, but it was a little too blah, because I was using a colorway with a lot of earth tones and light colors. So then I got brave and ordered 3 more colorways online, getting colors that would fit with my earth tone plus blue and green plan, while adding more contrast and personality to the piece. They arrived while I was down in the Bay Area a week ago, and I promptly got started. I'm very happy with it now.
By the way, I had to wipe the ash off of the ottoman before laying my knitting on it. Maybe it is time to close the windows? My eyes are stinging from the smoke.

With this afghan, I plan to bring together the colors that I have put into the blue room our guestroom. I'm not totally sure about the color we painted it. I think I was a bit tired from all of the decisions on the house when I decided to paint the room light blue. I wanted some color, but I didn't want to paint it yellow, which seems to be the "in" color in the mountains these days (or is that the case everywhere?). I also didn't want to paint it in "coffee house colors" like sage green. I thought blue would be relaxing and soothing for our guests... like a retreat. I think there is a chance that I pull it together, but the room needs some help to make the color work. So... the Lizard Ridge, which I really wanted to knit anyway.

Fire

I finally got the DSL hooked up, just in time to leave town for several days of family get-togethers. And then once I got back, I was pretty busy with house stuff. So, sorry for the dearth of posts.

You may have noticed on the news, there is a big fire burning in the Tahoe Basin. The basin has a lot of very dry timber, and we fear that we are at risk for a devastating fire, which makes this particularly scary. Fortunately, we do not appear to be in any danger. The fire is down at South Shore, and we are on the West Shore. The winds are generally to the East here, which should encourage the fire away from us, rather than towards us. The winds have calmed down considerably today, helping the firefighting efforts, so hopefully this fire will will not threaten anyone for much longer.

Sunday afternoon, we heard a lot of fire engines going by, all afternoon long, and we figured that something was going on. We got the details from the news and knew where to look as we drove toward the North Shore for our dinner plans.the entire south and east shores were covered in smoke (it was an absolutely cloudless day).
On Sunday, the winds were quite strong as well as gusty, which kept the smoke heading east, and most of it was going over the Carson Range and beyond the Tahoe Basin. This morning, the winds had mostly died down , which is great for fighting the fire, but the smoke began to settle in the basin. It is hazy with the smoke, and I've seen a bit of ash floating around. Tim took the picture below from the boat as I drove north to pick up some friends for a cruise.
For those who have expressed concern, thank you for thinking of us. We are fine and do not appear to be threatened at all by this fire. It does remind us of the danger of living on the edge of the wilderness.

Updates:
-At a press conference around noon, it was anounced that this fire is only 5% contained. Officials feel that they have two days to get it contained, because the wind is forcasted to kick up again on Wednesday.
-The calm winds that I thought would help firefighters are good and bad. The smoke is sitting in the basin making things hazy and the lack of visibilty has kept the tankers and helicopters out of the mix today.

Moving Day at last!

Today we moved our furniture and the rest of our stuff in to the house. It was snowing! As I write this, I am sitting on my couch, which I haven't seen since January. I really missed this couch. We have a dining table again, too! yeah! Maybe some of the boxes will yield silverware, glasses and plates!

Just in Time

We got a functioning toilet by Friday afternoon! I think all three are hooked up, but at least two are all set. We also have working faucets in the bathroom and kitchen! The kitchen appliances are all hooked up and working, except for the stove. It was all unpacked and we realized that they sent us the wrong version. We ordered sealed burners, and got open ones. We ended up deciding to keep the one we got, but it isn't hooked up to the gas line yet.

We began moving our stuff in on Friday, June 1st, as threatened planned. The house is definitely still a construction site, but oh well. I had begun cleaning the construction dust on Wednesday and had gotten all of the kitchen cabinets thoroughly cleaned out. Normally they bring professionals in to clean just before the owners move in, but there was no time left for that -and they weren't done yet. Once the workers left Friday afternoon, Tim and I cleaned the great room floors. This took hours, because 1. there were many different kinds of construction stuff on them and 2. they had to be totally clean because we were about to "seal" them. I used dilute muriatic acid (HCl to most people -masons still call it by the old fashioned name, it seems) to remove the drops of cement and grout from the stone and rubbing alcohol (isopropanol) as well as goo gone to remove the plumbers caulk. On Saturday, we treated the floor. It was not so much a sealant as an impregnator. The floor looks really pretty now. We got all of our stuff out of the rental and in to our new home. Today, we installed a dog door into the back door, so we are no longer required to be the dogs' butlers. Tonight is my last night in the rental. Tomorrow our new bed arrives at our house and I will sleep there for the first time. Tim is working nights, so I'll be christening the new house/bed all by myself. On Wednesday, we will move all of our furniture in. It isn't very comfortable at the moment with all of the stone floors and no furniture:)

It took two electricians and a pilot to install the light in the stair well on Friday.
This picture doesn't accurately demonstrate the height of this endeavor. Tim is standing on the upper landing, while the ladder is on the great room floor.