As usual, we were up by 7:15 a.m. I really had feared that we would have trouble adjusting to East Coast time, but from the first day we arrived, our routine just switched an hour so we went to bed by 10:30, and we are up by 7:15 East time. I was smart today and did not bother to shower when I first got up, knowing that later on I would need a good scrubbing down to get the dust off my skin and out of my hair.
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| The shower door and frame are gone, revealing bare walls almost down to the tiled floor. |
We made great progress today. Almost all of the tile is now out of the shower. We still have a little bit to do where the door once hung, but once that is gone, the worst of the chipping job will be complete. We still have to remove the whole wall facing the bathroom (where the glass shower doors eventually will hang); however, even though those walls also are plaster, we will not have to contend with the tile over cement board.
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| A view of the tile left shows the layers: tile, thin set, 1" concrete board, and wire mesh. What a pain to remove all of that material! |
Our whole neighborhood seems to be under construction. Two doors down, our new neighbors from New England just finished adding a sprinkler system, a new fence, new landscaping, and a new paver patio. The vacant house behind us shows evidence that someone spray-painted the interior-- windows and all! Kitty corner from us in the back, new shingles are balanced on the tile roof, and a dumpster has taken up residence in the driveway.
Speaking of dumpsters, Rick and I have decided that we need one to get rid of all of the shower debris. We have already dumped three bags of tiles/ cement board, and we have three more to go out in Monday's garbage. However, we also have about nine more bags that we need to dump, and we have walls, thresholds, shower pans, and framing to go yet. We hope that a 4 cubic yard dumpster will do the trick.
As we took our walk today and went about our daily routine, I have made a few observations. You can tell you are in Florida
- when people who buy pumpkins have to lift them carefully so the pumpkins don't drop on toes exposed by flip-flops.
- when the weatherman tells viewers to soak their newly-purchased pumpkins in bleach water for at least an hour so the bugs do not eat it before Halloween arrives in six days.
- when the object speeding toward you in the street is an old codger in a souped-up golf cart, and
- when the normally lush fall chrysanthemum plants we are used to in the North are actually giant chrysanthemum bushes for sale at Lowe's.
Rick wanted to work further on the shower today, but we spent all morning chipping and hauling, so by noon I was tired. I promised him that the work would still be there tomorrow. We spent part of the afternoon with our Kindles in the back yard, reading for a while. Just as I was starting to relax, CRAAACK, swishhhh, BBBBOOOOMMM. A large branch from the oak tree in the yard behind us tumbled from very high in the tree to the ground. Since some of the branches from that tree reach over our property, the branch's nose-dive did not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. Ah, well. I always say that nature is interesting in the tropics.
Tomorrow we hope to get the rest of the tile out of the master shower. If we can get the walls down, all the better. We are not so sure that we want to tackle the floor. We may hire that out yet, letting the tile people and the plumbers vie for that honor.
Overall, this was a good day. We even got a treat when our daughter sent us pictures of our grandson on his first venture onto a farm. He makes me smile, and that really is the best feeling in the world.
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| Smile! It's a wonderful day. |
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