Nothing Says 'I Love You' Like Sharing Your Power Tools

We continue to creep forward on the complete and total transformation if the master cabin formerly known as "the dark, cramped and icky vee berth".

Mark spent a few days meticulously cutting the cabinetry openings in the master cabin and carefully cleaning up the teak trim rings to reinstall them in the new cabinet. The biggest reason he was so methodical in sizing the openings to reuse the teak trim rings from the former forward head? The bid from the good and talented boat wright was well right at $2,000. For ONE trim ring. Yes, we want beautiful but we would like to not go broke while attaining beautiful. Fortunately, the slow but jolly boatwright was very careful when taking out the forward head so the trim rings that were in the head are all in good shape. After a few hours of careful scraping, sanding and general fine tuning they are now in perfect shape. Its time consuming to be sure, but when you weigh the time needed against the extraordinary cost of teak it becomes a very worthwhile investment.

The beautiful teak and holly sole by Superior Marine, ready for varnish

While Mark was working on items requiring fine detail, I got busy with some painting. Happily, Mark let me tackle the sanding with his honking big sander. That thing is the bomb. I only had one instance where I had it cranked up a little too high but quickly got the hang of it and got busy sanding the boards that go under the cushions in the salon and master cabin. Due to the fact that Murphy is my middle name, of course the wind picked up after I had laid the boards out carefully on raised blocks to dry. You guessed it, specks of dust, a couple of bugs and some leaves are now imbedded in my carefully applied enamel paint. No worries, it was just the first coat and I have big ole power sander to take care of it.

Maura helped out by entertaining Kitty long enough for us to get some work done until Kitty could stand it no longer. If we are doing anything resembling building, painting or construction of any sort she wants to be included. We are happy to let her "help" (knowing we will have to redo whatever it is she has put her hand to) but the difficulty is in her stubbornness.

Striding with purpose. This girl is ALWAYS on a mission

You can see the dilemma she found herself in...

While Maura was a very chilled out toddler, Kitty is the polar opposite. She wants to do what she wants to do and once she has made a decision, she will not waiver from it, no matter what. This will be a wonderful quality for her to have as an adult but in a 3 year old, it can be tough. She desperately wanted to help paint. Mark and I both told her that was not a problem so long as she changed out of her new and much beloved "Olivia" t-shirt. She did not want to remove said t-shirt. She refused. She crossed her arms. She was steadfast. In the end, she refused to change her t-shirt and did not get to paint. The next morning, she lamented the fact that she did not get to paint. I told her next time she could paint to her hearts content so long as she wore appropriate work clothes. You could see the wheels turning in her head. Life lessons...these are life lessons.

This was taken a little over a month ago, but it pretty much sums up Kitty's personality. I have to say one of the really great things about having a teen and a toddler is getting to hear the toddler's renditions of the teen's favorite songs. You have not lived until you have seen and heard Kitty singing "Single Ladies".