Now We're Cooking

  Here's Gail and our niece, Mariana, in the kitchen back around 2002 soon after Gail bought the house.  She painted the cupboards right away because they were a dark brown, but not much changed in the kitchen for the next 15 years.  We did get a new stove and refrigerator, and had the dishwasher with a hole rusted through it taken out and drawers put in for more storage, but that was about it.
  Gail decided it was time to get rid of the yellow counter top, the fan that didn't circulate, the sink with the crappy faucet, and the rounded shelves at the end of the counter.  Her (excellent) plan and design was to move the cupboards up, add more shelves and replace the rounded ones with a cabinet.
  We envisioned a late spring project, our contractor of choice, Scott, who did a great job with our bathroom and doors, tends to be in high demand.  When we had him come by to do the estimate he said he could get started in a few weeks (it was January).
  We also wanted to get the floors redone in the kitchen and dining room while we were at it, and the crew who did that were able to start even sooner.  So much for cooking out on the grill while this was going on and eating on the porch or patio.  We managed, and it was nice to sit in the recliner in the living room and open the fridge to grab a snack.