The big news was that our granite counter tops for the kitchen re-do arrived:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisB7YWZm5jnWjKFxUMd5s5LiZRCeZKFAcSW0nIvbQgPp87W-eYdiZyjXhI-AK86g59LxdwdeptFnd6b7vUCEcdlMl0al9kwT2ilknerAXiJGW7OjrLvqhyphenhyphenDhC3U756uC0kco5TGug6Ns3y/s400/P1120355.JPG)
Mu Shu was intrigued with the stuffed animal (a seal? an otter?) wedged into the granite truck's bumper:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqtBRvfvF1kvtKXNATvphuIqNoKZB7DSOeyfQ-3PB0jtFG6lmx7RIDw43QdVLTVKNZ4X30KJF5xvXdQAA2Dr04e5f6URIjr_ERj4SJf6ZduJc8QyfQ7Swp2INCEdmI3bHFru0nuHzpdWp/s400/P1120354.JPG)
Do they do this in other parts of the country? Or is this only an L.A. thing, to lash an unsuspecting stuffed animal onto a truck?
Anyway, I was far more intrigued with the oodles of tubes:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijO8zPZtjgt2ZPCxzQOEx56ugk5AQHNe6py_nJ_701Ue6WSQ38yZHXiSyoyXCZ5kTnxMcUZUMgpCL47r_3UiRC92BOQwIBBf3v-W95Tq58-iXsXiFv8wVh3hAPkojtu6U53KK7iGmcDUkb/s400/P1120356.JPG)
Takes a lot of epoxies and glues to be a granite installer!:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJtWxHC6pSuxnw5eefC7qhyphenhyphenOhd3_AzayIm2NiExt0c6whc42zS1Cyojcocf67Zcffc1cespvSbZoomG_EX9WNXsQrSaNI1aMYuU_9-wzJ_Pz9AMpzCQFwbKspPUbtiKol_jJ_BlISawln/s400/P1120357.JPG)
The granite men set up shop in my driveway and, after some careful measuring, cut out the holes for all the various switch plates:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6Xh_YSPoFMSKUQyPuvrqkwUbLkrPLssUIirD86yMrv2JfGnA_1b_MiWTlQHyqMu3NdCLfDVERG673zE671yp8XsmE1HGXa6WE2ZP1RrP2DSSKD9bmXW9WQmIdpLYD4CI1bS5DxMt7TXs/s400/P1120377.JPG)
And then the exciting part--the granite started coming in! Here's half a sink:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCFBwsnUmJRTjJzQ91fX6wViBv3ssfqmYWB3ciu39yee_76TMgfM06PGcTuWMeuP9auBtJqvgQ9LUi1hfBQ6QLuUu3FQ3iduNBe5LkOcEvUZcMi6IfjnhpgMBN6Z9-12iM3SzijPyMACy/s400/P1120359.JPG)
He's cutting out the plywood sub-counter (is that a word?) where the sink will go:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvd-Rv65kYTJ_rzQQmtZaP_kdN-tFBSvmiEfyyMrk_HU4W_f2NRiGzygz4BYHUelhcyUVLTAyhiD4zVs5M_ZHd4H-JZr7MPl-4jrihLXOCvsMvIedTgKeTNrmHN5dXgcfUvl9CLkzSzvN/s400/P1120364.JPG)
A piece of counter, temporarily resting on pieces that will eventually be our island, gives me a rough idea of what the island will look like:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2VWG3fgAFP8Ur6lszTj-c6HJ2H_6mnoWWhSexqeg_k9HdLU9Dqyam7y_vo9k7vaUp5ROdzX-l-0lyQ0qWMO44pUXaCzzexjKHcECPhklNeCrMzxmddmymBufpnmAOTjFJc1vmcxe_nbc-/s400/P1120366.JPG)
The sink is dropped into place:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHszqM1pwF-YlaJvcr5O3I2g8fTrN-cXeH0b2HhjKcKeMnIEkvBBnf796HWOqESZluVImYf0zsfJkiI8vWVttWdBBUVNf-fV9MNj4HG7zcohgbLkbCBwTTEHQMsDx32U3gHJb1UslHzqQv/s400/P1120369.JPG)
Oh, man, I love me this sink. Deeper and wider and altogether sexier than the old one.
Surprise, surprise; the cabinets in my 80-year-old house aren't totally plumb. This requires some fancy footwork to mash down the granite pieces so they lie totally flat:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPaJoJ49US6yGkXBizYCJ4iUB1VaUOqHMJxWk6-zwBc4s1v-E4KOtB_DOErBg1t4Shqpf387Bnun7r2CMrshnD96JHzS_d0K7iSbj1-Q6Lta42oEiXgjKunF6YD2gK96xxcTki4ljdhd2K/s400/P1120373.JPG)
I love how they custom-mix the colored goo that fills the gap between two pieces of granite. It is sparkly, just like the stone:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjJ8k9ZwFh6jkd9oDZx7MpuNIqXaNbBbAg_u8DgplD9dl4QyZaus8U-dRPwpfs89DYLjYHox0AR4MJVDNlHB6pSV8FJXaZCMrOf9jfDcYFdYh-Z-muJYSW8vrQEviKogsxKKUe05ZWTfj/s400/P1120374.JPG)
A fair amount of shoving and measuring and sanding and buffing went on in this corner, where the levels of stone were off at first:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJAjHSUFfdm2vm3wCJaWwQ6WauWBsN__FL2QdwzsO8yvFa3RH55i5faf0YOUoUCVd89YMCEsqiKRL4EGQd7eC4PQwIHNygYw_0KJMEa4nk8n53ng0BSXLEj-JnUyGmJTGA62Ng_Wivh0K/s400/P1120379.JPG)
This is the Big Kahuna--a nine-foot-long piece of granite, together with its "edges," weighing in at about 400 pounds:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wpLvND-o3SOSPY60zQmRnnfu5G-v5yCldLE_YBjp0sR74LVuD8w8Q2xbl4emn8BU5xZ78PTu-zsZZWTAgBF5CqtVONF1RCspv7fSOh4nClwEwe6g4CyLtPPHZYTOCfyYm2GCZOKkW730/s400/P1120380.JPG)
It gets dropped into place verrrrry carefully:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCWkdXg3kZMgZmVYXmH0ma97OfyDvA3yiO_oeLQhHlI2hyak1NJjiPDHkBsgyXtkY0XgLQOIER1vHLTK-ltCQ_5vtf3we11xovdUBCck1QGr065PKYGpHIXwJa29t0pgSwtOR2g9Msxp1c/s400/P1120385.JPG)
And then immediately pulled back up.
Then they stick some shims (thin pieces of wood) here and there to ensure a totally level surface, and apply gobs of go:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DGy6GdKR2p6T4kmLrd1PcUvyN-VlHBa7binXrfjTpvEpfu9nFdKIgcjlaOFeB5XCLcMny_4XOYeP1t2Oy3FhsZyyGxt4lE-NBaEF8eL2SG0Q3rh8tO0MoN8YR6yIHo7ZSunltSV_bCQe/s400/P1120385-1.JPG)
The guys told me that when it dries, it's harder than the granite:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplCwrnwB2wuygm5LJ9eiCcZyPBCCeJ5x7AMI0UwHXe_ERvlA63m9yDV7EolWGm2SdPok1zpR4WKiNeramajqXVh3g9YHOTyHzTQ41KpVDbizSKDI_O5A2yLjgdjRWuV3ijzS3doYYuDAk/s400/P1120386-1.JPG)
They had to wrassle that thing in there:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHwkZmInTvpxyhYXGAwZc47Ats5alA4xczg6be0TVVq98v0VPMkA2yv6r1OOze1MghQegdnDRO_AnDpugu4KXcMqEMs2J05AV49vKAmJNXKKI4xrCzsQPUD6VV5Y7YY0jNZMv-Pk66G2J/s400/P1120387.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_DAjUSiSgmUoG3VDFuY8MwZhexz_Jpc2jVaj9rikRfpdfDMpcylPBRykmH68_MiieG1GrVi1Tmym-1uph0LC4z7R1fTk2Ipb_IOHDQVagkMPWKTuaMhml57GXxamUhDlcutEhR_u_yd0/s400/P1120388.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfjhp9eTPldL1wFbmvvfaikwQ8rV3yH5Aup88-bzP7wK_afaW7GILIZK7QW4T-jbVIUfUjEwf14nY7PTx8J2Gj7Ta7qdXCyyei-cMeqbg2YCuKqKGtT-mfZAmI0pd-xuMc18PsXfpZ91uh/s400/P1120389.JPG)
At the end of the day, all cleaned of sawdust and stone dust, the counters look beautiful:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTPQj7iNpJ3xvxoClMSX3Fdv96sd7jNgVZQ4avkhrS499NxWICCCss1DEggbLfa01f9i3IjkeFeC_ybPq4kdUudZF3pvsRrmUBdxkkGo7_GYWmeuakzswLXgHwoPEOWcaXdR9zK2Aqe9Q/s400/P1120349.JPG)
I can't wait to show you the rest of the kitchen! Tomorrow, I'm told, is tiling-the-backsplashes day. Yay!
Gorgeous granite! (It IS an amazing process, isn't it). I LOVE the picture of Pao assessing the stuffed animal (and, no,I've never seen anyone ever put a stuffed animal in a bumper!)
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Ooops - I mean MU SHU!! (I'll bet, with 3 of these cuties running around, you find yourself calling them by the wrong name all the time, yes?) xoxo
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