Shower door saga continues

This better be a wonderful shower.

I choose a shower and door. Our contractor says the door won't fit the shower. So I pick a new shower.

The plumber says the door will cost $2,000. Yes, four digits. It should actually be a small fraction of that. Turns out his supplier couldn't get that door, so this is to replicate it in a custom order. I say no thank you.

I call my supplier. My supplier cannot get the door either. He can order one to be custom made. He can't tell me the price until it is ordered. I say no thank you.

I go to big-box Lowe's. They can get the door. Easily, and at a reasonable price. I use Google to learn I can save 20% more if I order from an online supplier. I place the order.

It has been five days. Today I receive an e-mail acknowledging the damage claim I filed. But I filed no such claim. My door has not arrived.

I check the UPS tracking page. My door is ... missing. It consists of three large pieces of glass, measuring roughly 25 x 75 inches. Missing?

Meanwhile, I attempt to order the second-choice shower. My supplier says he can't get it. I am about to become incredulous, since I received a price from his comany two weeks ago. Then he says his company is in receivership with the manufacturer. "The banks have us," he tells me. I say I'm sorry.

I find that Lowe's has it in stock. Then I miraculously learn that the local lumber yard (I really do prefer to buy local) can order it for 20% less and have it in a week. Thank you, I say. Here is my order.

Bookshelves!

I would be most content if my children

grew up to be the kind of people

who think decorating consists

mostly of building enough bookshelves.

~Anna Quindlen

A room without books is like a body without a soul.

~Marcus T. Cicero

Books are not made for furniture,

but there is nothing else

that so beautifully furnishes a house.

~Henry Ward Beecher

These quotations came in my Above Rubies e-mail newsletter today. Wow, they strike a chord with me! Now I feel confident enough to reveal my dirty little secret: I have been far more concerned about the placement of my books than the couch, piano, dining table or anything else. I've been afraid to say it out loud for fear someone will suggest I get rid of a few. Priorities! Among my earliest measurements was the minimum linear inches of shelving space I will need.

I envision something like this along

the stairway in the dining room.

And this on the east living room wall,
backing up to the breakfast nook and
running over the office door. And along
the short wall, and probably wherever
else I can fit shelving. We'll save space
for a TV to be hung on the wall in the
center of the shelving.

Today a reader,

Tomorrow a leader.

~Margaret Fuller

When I was about eight,

I decided that the most wonderful thing,

next to a human being, was a book.

~Margaret Walker

There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.

~Mary Ellen Chase

The Reading Mother

I had a Mother who read to me,

Sagas of pirates, who scoured the sea,

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays,

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales,

Of Celert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things,

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings

Stories that stir with an upward touch,

Oh, that each mother of boys were such.

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be--

I had a Mother who read to me!

~Strickland Gillilan

Construction as of a month ago

These photos have lingered on my camera for a month. As of mid-January, Pat had these projects done. Of course much more is accomplished now.

Stairway opened up, roof reinforced and attic floor beginning to be built, downstairs walls reinforced below ceiling joists, new framing around windows and doors, front door to be raised up a couple inches to allow for carpet.

Who needs a bath?

In this whole big remodeling project, there has been lots of exciting progress and plenty to look forward to, but most of all, I need a bath. Grandma P's house (which we're renting now) has only a shower. Some people enjoy a good glass of wine; lounging in the bathtub is my getaway. I've been without that for a year. While it's also easier to wrangle two muddy little girls into a tub than a shower, this is mostly about me.

So here it is, the bathtub of my dreams. Kohler model K-1159. It's not a particularly fancy or expensive bathtub, but it will hold 72 gallons of water at its maximum, and any number of kids. I've special ordered a different drain so none of those kids will have a trip lever poking them in the back. Most of the Kohler tubs have names like Mariposa, Archer or Portrait. To get a name as exquisite as Caribbean or Purist, you have to pay $2k and up. This one is simply called 7236, in homage to its measurements. I think I'll name it myself.

Our shower, on the other hand, has a name ... or two. The walls are Kohler Devonshire. I figure it can't be too sophisticated if they sell it at Home Depot. The receptor (the base, what sits on the floor) is Sterling Intrigue. The doors are also Sterling Intrigue, in Deep Bronze with the Naturalist glass texture (leaves all over the place, my new addiction). I'm telling myself that I carefully chose the walls to reflect the architectural detail in the arches from downstairs, but the truth is that the price was right and this one didn't have little grooves I'd have to (not) clean.

I considered saving the bucks and going with a simple shower curtain. Then I remembered that new drywall for the kitchen ceiling resulting from kids who don't know how to keep water on the correct side of the curtain is even more expensive.