We have had rain off and on for the last week. It’s not like the big rains in the east. These have been slow drizzles which soak into the ground. It rained most of a night and the gauge showed half an inch. My lawn is springing back like whiskers on a teenage boy. It was almost killed by the six weeks of not being able to water because of village water tank issues. Then there’s the gophers. A darn smart/lucky gopher is turning the back yard over like a plow. I’ve put out bait three times and three times that bugger has ignored it. Or it’s died and it’s relative took it’s place.
A pox on all gophers, past, present and future. If I was walking across the yard with a fork and a gopher came out of a surprise hole, I’d stab it to death and sadly, enjoy it a little too much. In the mountains it’s grand to have all that soil turned. In my yard, it’s gosh darn no.
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Margo moved into the big house in early September 2025. The shower in the master bath was too questionable to use. The grout had failed in places and the owners repaired with caulk. Of course, it didn’t hold. Fortunately, there is a second bathroom with a shower/bath combo, so Margo continued to smell sweet.
Margo thought she could save the master bath by removing the caulk and grout and re-grouting (even as she complained about how ugly it was). She began painstakingly removing all the caulk and about an eighth inch of the grout between the tile using a multitude of tools. I think she best liked a grout removal tool that was basically a Dremel. She started at the top and worked her way down. When I saw how much it was hurting her body I began a weekly chant — why don’t we hire our house service company to put in the shower of your dreams. She said no and kept working 30 minutes every day. It was pure stubbornness on her part. About a foot in the middle was easy. The rest was too high or too low.
I’m not sure what tipped her to my side. One day she called me to the computer and pointed out a shower door she liked. Then she went back to un-grouting. My next visit she again called me to the computer and she showed me tile. Then she went back to un-grouting. Then fixtures. This went on for weeks. Each time she asked me what I thought and she fine tuned until she had what she and I wanted. Glass wall and swinging door. She couldn’t go with the same tile as the floor because it was no longer being made. Finally, she said the magic words, “Let’s get a quote.” So she got a reasonable quote from the home service company, got on their schedule, and ordered the glass swinging door of her dreams and tile which were delivered about two months ago. They have been sitting in the garage, the door leaning against the wall and the tile on a 2’x2′ pallet. Both were too heavy for us to move.
The service company began deconstruction this week. What a mess in every way you can imagine. The fellows removing the shower made lots of noise and dust and were constantly going in and out. Margo basically stayed in the TV room while they were working except for going in to see what they were doing and to prepare her lunch while they were gone. She used the baby gate to keep LolliDog in with her.
On Tuesday, they left the doors open when Margo also had opened the baby gate since she can’t step over it. Lolli took off like a bullet, running through the utility room and the garage to freedom with Margo and the two workers not far behind. School was letting out and traffic was beginning to build. Margo grabbed the keys to the Ridgeline and drove down to Lolli who was sniffin’ and runnin’ and opened the door and said, “Lolli, get in.” Lolli did.
The plumber and apprentice put in the drain plumbing and shower pan. Margo had requested a niche and two shelves and support for a grab bar. On Wednesday, they installed the wood backing for the grab bar before they paneled over it with that concrete panel stuff. They began laying in the tile walls.
On Thursday morning they completed tiling including the ceiling. I had no idea they used screws and washers to support the tile until it dried. Best of all Margo sent me a photo of one task they had done in the second bathroom. Margo had purchased large and small grab bars thinking she would have two grab bars in the new shower. However, wall plumbing prevented this. So she had an extra grab bar. “Why not,” I said, “put it on the tiny wall extension where we are currently stepping in and out of the tub in the second bathroom. So she had the plumber install the second grab bar. Oh, I’m happy.
On Thursday afternoon, Margo called to say they couldn’t use her fancy shower door. Something to do with spacing. So we talked about it and she found a nice swinging door at the super hardware store, but it swung the wrong way. Will it work? I suggested she check the amount of space in the alcove. Nope, not enough room to swing the door that way. So she ordered a sliding glass door to arrive late Friday. The last thing the plumbers did was to put the extraordinarily heavy first door in the back of the Ridgeline.
Friday, nobody worked as the grout needed to set. I intended to come over, but Margo asked me not too. Four days of having strangers making noise and dust in her house and being confined to one side of the house for the working hours, tired her out. Bella and I hadn’t been there since Sunday morning. Almost a week without seeing her and Lolli, but I promised we’d not come over until Saturday. A day of quiet before doggie bedlam.
On Saturday, BellaDog and I drove over to spend the weekend. Bella hadn’t played with another dog for six days and the rain and mud made me keep her mostly in the house. Bella threw herself out of the CR-V and ran for the utility door. I opened the door like they do at the rodeos. Oh what joy. She and Lolli sped around the racetrack that is the living room – hallway – kitchen — dining area — living room. Bella forgot her proper behavior and jumped on Margo who wasn’t expecting it. Almost knocked her off her feet.
Of course the star were the showers. Margo rushed me to the second bathroom. I had to try out the little grab bar. Used it to step into the shower. Used it to step out. Perfect. Then the biggie — the master bath shower. The tile color was fabulous. The mason had done a neat job. It needs the final plumbing and door. And then I looked at the shiny drain cover and why did that PVC pipe almost touch the drain cover and why wasn’t it bigger than the holes in the cover? I voiced my concern that it wasn’t done correctly, and then we argued. I know why we argued. Margo’s frustration had boiled over. She has been waiting for months for this shower to be completed and it looked like I’d found something wrong. I don’t know plumbing. I wished the plumber had talked to her before he left to explain what he had done and what needed to be done. I told her we’d get it straightened out on Monday when the plumber arrived.
I put a very reluctant Bella in the crate, and we drove the first glass door to the super hardware store where she ordered it from. If we’d have waited two more weeks, we wouldn’t have gotten our money back, and it was darn expensive. The return was handled by two strong fellows and at the register, amazingly painless and quick.
We stopped by the super box store for some of their made salads and a couple of other items. In a moment of weakness, I snatched up a French cheesecake cup then traded it for two apples and three bananas. It takes work being good.
We returned to the big house and Margo looked online and learned why the PVC looked so weird in the drain. Since it’s not new construction, a waterproofing gasket is placed around the PVC pipe inside the drain center. The water will drain into this area, much of it entering the PVC but some falling into the gasket area. When the water reaches the height of the PVC pipe it falls into the drain. There will always be some water where the gasket sits unless we don’t use the shower for a while and the water evaporates.
“Where are the photos,” you ask? Twill appear after the shower has been officially used for the first time and confirmed correct. But I tell ya, even the unfinished photos are *chefs kiss*.
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The rest of the day was spent lounging and watching TV. I finished The Residence on Netflix, a screwball murder-comedy. A whodunnit with crazy White House employees. Eight episodes, and it was hard keeping up with so many characters and stories. I liked it and it’s not just because the main character was a birder. It had the most amazing graphic of the White House if the front vertical walls were removed. Like a 3D doll house, except you could see the people moving inside. It was also filmed at a slant and sometimes overhead. Production also built replicas across seven sound stages with 200 working doors. 100 cameras. I might have to watch the episodes again because I missed much of the scenery which was done as close to the pre-2024 White House as possible.
Margo watched her Texas Longhorn football team whup up on a smaller university. Supper was some of the best Chinese stir fry Margo has ever made.
I’ve begun rewatching The Diplomat on Netflix so I can be primed for season four that begins next month. Not a bad actor in the bunch. The writing reminds me of the early years of West Wing. Allison Janney, who also played in West Wing, is superb. If you want to know her character in a nutshell and what scene earned her Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney as Grace Penn explaining THAT decision. I rewatch the video regularly to appreciate both.
Looking forward to Best Medicine (quirky and fun) and Doc to return to the fall TV lineup.
