Today was our day to go see the quartz slab that would become our counters. I needed a fun day because yesterday I was beginning to feel that this project would not complete until the new year. The estimate was 10-12 weeks, which I never believed, but this is week 13 and NOTHING seemed to be happening. Combine that with a gray overcast day and it was a bit dispiriting.
We needed to drive an hour north to get to the factory (? is that what you call the place where granite and quartz are cut into table tops?). We took the convertible and had the top down, cruising merrily until we hit a sudden summer shower. I had to pull over and put the top up because this was enough rain that I couldn’t race fast enough to keep the drops from hitting us. *grin* I did THAT on the way home.
I had no idea what to expect. Let me say first that the people were lovely. Helpful, patient and very very understanding. I guess that’s how you become a successful business. 
We certainly had no idea how things happened, all we knew was what we wanted as an end result. They took us into the warehouse and there were scores and scores of slabs – quartz, granite and who knows what else. I could hear a lot of cutting noise from the other half of the warehouse. They led us to OUR slab. It felt a lot like being presented with a prize, or a relative’s new baby or something momentous. OUR SLAB. *grin* We loved it. The color was less gold than I expected, but it still was in the range of what I wanted. My husband loved it, and the counter is really one of ‘his’ aspects of this project. I mostly vetoed all the other patterns we’d been shown – he was the one with strong opinions. I just knew what I didn’t want.
We had time to wander about in the warehouse, looking at all the other slabs. 
Some of them were gorgeous and some were quite hideous, no matter WHERE you might want to put them. I have tried to get my photos to reflect the true color, but have not really succeeded. For that matter, my husband and I were editing the photos to try to get to the true color and we didn’t agree on which version was correct. Which merely proves the point that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I know the dress was gold and he knew the dress was blue. Whatever is our slab’s true color, we are both pleased with it and everything we picked for our kitchen, based on the sole image we had of it on my camera, will still work with that color.
It’s always fascinating to watch how big heavy things get move. 
While this wasn’t quite as exciting as the time I watched a railroad train engine lifted up in the air and settled into place so workers could reach the underside, it was still a smooth ballet of lifting and moving the slab from one position to another. Once we could face it head-on, we began the process of placing the counter templates on the slab, trying to get the ‘best’ patterns for each piece.
We had a bit of confusion at the start, when they thought we wanted the 2 large segments to be one huge L-shape. We kept saying we didn’t want any seam up to the sink, that we didn’t care where the seam occurred in relation to the sink. They heard that originally as no seam at all. You can see in the photos that it is physically impossible to have those 2 pieces adjoin with no seam. My husband took the pieces and placed them as he wanted on the slab and then we were all able to see where the seam will have to be in relation to the sink. I gather this is another way in which my husband and I are a bit odd. 
We don’t care if the sink is centered in the counter or centered over the cabinets. It never was and we don’t care if it is now – that is not how we view the whole. What we wanted, and what we will get, is one unbroken piece from the one end all the way to just past the sink. For those of you who know the kitchen, that unbroken piece runs along the wall adjoining the bathroom, and hangs a left along the driveway to the sink. They will cut the adjoining rectangle to hold the sink and continue to the end of the counter, closest to the basement door.
Next we arranged for the pieces that will flank the stove. Again it’s not just a question of how much pattern you can get into the template – the grain must face the same way on both pieces. The last bit was for the cabinet in the breakfast room which is really stand-alone, so it doesn’t matter which way we oriented that template. When we were all done, I asked what they did with the pieces left over between the template. They said it was scrap and they toss it. I asked if I could have one of the pieces to use as a cutting board or cheese tray. They said absolutely and so that is marked out as well, with marker, not with a template. I’m guite pleased I thought to ask that.
They asked us questions about the sink – where does the faucet go, will we have a soap dispenser. I told them I wanted the faucet near the bulge in the sink but that I had no idea about the soap dispenser. So many details!!!!! I said I didn’t even remember what the sink looked like, much less if it had a soap dispenser. They had the sink there (of course – they need it to cut the counter) so I have finally seen my sink since we picked it out back in April. It also took me a little conversation to grasp that the holes for faucets and dispensers are not in the SINK, but in the counter. I need to do more verification, but I’m fairly certain that there is no soap dispenser that matches our faucet, or we’d have ordered that as well.
The best news of all about the counter is that they plan to deliver it TUESDAY!!!! That’s only 1 week away!!!
The painter was here today, removing the old wallpaper and spackling the wall. He and I talked about where/how I could get one of those roll-out garbage cans in a cabinet, since I did not order one of my cabinets to have it already. 
I went online and see that they sell the hardware for installing in existing cabinets, and I have picked out the cabinet for it. We are having one of the cabinets reconfigured to be part broom closet, removing the shelves and adding a vertical divider. I think the garbage can go on the other side from the broom. The recycling bin will stay under the sink. Now I just need to figure out where to put the compost bin.
I came home and found several messages about shipments and deliveries. I needed to contact the appliance people to confirm delivery tomorrow. I needed to contact a shipping company to confirm delivery of the bistro table. I had called the cabinet hardware people this morning to find out why my order still only showed as “in processing” as opposed to “shipped”, and found a message from them that my order was sent out for shipping. The contractor stopped by late today as well and delivered the material for the soffits and the molding and what I think may be the divider for the broom closet. THINGS ARE HAPPENING!!!!
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