Looooong Day

Rick got up early this morning, and he has had a long day installing the new light and new fan on the lanai.  I thought he would just install the light today, but once he got going, there was no stopping him.

Rick drilled the first hole, and together we pulled the wires
out and into the garage.

The most frightening point of the day was drilling holes into our new lanai ceiling, but that actually went rather smoothly.  Since the structure is only aluminum, we decided that just hanging lights and fans by a few screws was not a great idea, so part of the morning was spent attaching the light base and fan base to the ceiling and then manipulating the screws we used into a washer and a locking nut, all within a 2" tube in the ceiling.  Rick's fingers may never be the same again.

Our new lighting fixture provides plenty of light.

The lighting fixture we chose is very low profile and sleek.  We have yet to get power to it to see how bright it will be, but I am sure that it will be good enough to add illumination for a walk to the garbage cans or for a dusk discussion with family and friends on the lanai.

The fan was a took a little time to install since
Rick had to wire in the light, the fan itself, and the
remote control receiver.

The fan was a bit more complicated, but it, too, is now firmly attached to the ceiling.  Anyone who is 6' 5" may have to worry about the blades, but they are not in my way nor in Rick's way, so we are happy with it.

Rick adds the blades to the fan.

Rick works in the garage with the light and fan wires.

Of course, the worst part of the day was the snake's nest of wires going into the garage. Rick spent most of the afternoon connecting everything together, only to discover that the new GFI breaker kept tripping each time I flipped the switch.  He took the whole tangle of wires apart again to double check his wiring -- which was correct, by the way.  The trouble is in the breaker box itself, but Rick is too tired tonight to redo that work.  It can wait until he is fresh in the morning.

A light, a fan, four chairs and two tables
now fill part of the lanai.

We did do something yesterday that we had not planned to do until next fall.  We found some padded lanai furniture that fit us well and that was very comfortable.  I really did not want anything with cushions.  That furniture tends to be very expensive and usually is too large to fit my short legs.  The chairs we found have no cushions that need storage, and they stack when we need to take them in for the summer.  We can scrub them down with soap and a hose, just like we do our patio furniture in Wisconsin, so we are happy with our four-chair and two-tables conversation group.  We decided not to purchase a dining table for the lanai.  We hardly ever use our table on the porch in Wisconsin, and we both felt it would be a waste of money to do so here.  Perhaps we will add a chaise lounge to our seating group yet.  For now, we are satisfied with what we have.

We are expecting rain tomorrow, so I am happy that any work we have to do will be within the dry confines of the garage.