At the heart of it, clean dishes

So, dear reader, you might be surprised to discover that the genesis for this little (and rapidly expanding) project was the desire for a dishwasher. Today Jessreal is here to rough-in the dishwasher I picked out yesterday. Angus tries to help with any tradesman, but he's especially fond of Jessreal.
It's a little tricky to work modern conveniences into an old and idiosyncratic kitchen, especially when one's tastes veer towards expensive things like panel fronts and smaller sized appliances. But after much consideration, I settled on a simple WhirlPool model that almost looks like it has a panel.
These old metal cabinets will look a bit shabby next to the new ones on the way, but they'll do for now. The sink is a classic: an old American Standard cast iron porcelain with double drainboard. It's sturdy and I like its looks too. I'd like to replace cabinetry underneath, which may be feasible. We'll have to find out just how much that sink weighs...

More About Mud

Well I think we've established my love-hate relationship with red clay. Love it on a tennis court, hate it in my house. The rain came this weekend, and it keeps on coming, so in the meantime, let's talk a little more about red clay. Housekeeping is a particular problem when you live near the red stuff. Erosion control at construction sites is something I'm interested in at the moment, but mostly because I'm trying to limit the impact on the housekeeping.
Forgive me, dear reader, because this is a little gory (and do bear in mind I took the first photo after cleaning up a fair bit.) But take my word for it that it was much, much worse.
Yesterday, Tim and Sherman and I decided to continue progress on the deck construction in spite of the forecast for rain. We rigged up a tarp overhead to offer a little cover, and it did just that: it covered us, a little.
I do wish I had photos of the mess while we were working, but it was difficult enough to keep hands on tools given the slippery nature of the mud. See how the tops of our posts and that band got sloppy from us trying to grab onto them. Just handling the lumber became a bit of a challenge, not to mention handling small and sharp things like nails and joist hangers.
Today I lined up the straw bales in an effort to hold off the tide of red clay that flows down this slope. Tomorrow, I'll clean up more red clay in the house. It gets worse before it gets better. But the important thing is that it gets better!