Sink & Faucet Installed in Patio

Here's a picture of the sink and faucet after I got them installed in the new patio. Seems to work well and will give us an easy place to use to wash our hands or clean up a spill. I have a drain in the lowest part of the supply pipe that I'll use to shut down the sink and drain the lines in the winter.

I bought a 1 3/8" diamond coated drill bit to drill the hole for the faucet through the 3" concrete counter top blocks, went more easily than I expected.

Pizza Oven Crate Opened

Finally opened up the crate with the pizza oven to check out what it looks like. Everything looks to have arrived in good condition, nice thing is the oven is sitting in the crate the way it will be constructed so easy to see how it goes together. The dome is in 3 pieces, will have to figure out how heavy they are to sort out the best way to move them, may need some help.

The oven dome rests on a 2" thick blanket of fiber insulation (very itchy!), then the 3 dome pieces are set on top of the blanket with fire bricks inside the dome to make up the floor of the oven. The dome is then mortared together with refractory (high heat) mortar and then covered with about a 3" thick layer of fiber insulation to keep the heat in.

The chimney is added and at that point, the oven is usable but will need to be covered. Leaning towards using a stucco finish at this point that would complement the stone in the patio area- might use some of the patio bricks to make an arch on the opening of the oven as well but will figure that out later.

Here are some pictures of the oven as it was opened up.

Crate Top Removed

Fiberglass batting roll

Oven as it will be built

Front view with door

The oven has a metal door that can be used to help hold the heat for baking, when cooking pizzas, the oven is left open with an open fire to the side. The inside of the oven is 36" in diameter so there should be room for at least 2 10" pizzas next to the fire. Hoping the learning curve won't be too long to use the oven but understand it takes some time to get the hang of using it and learning the characteristics of your own oven.

Hope to start construction sometime this week, stay tuned.

Latest Patio Pictures

Patio area is nearly completed. Waiting for a dry day or two for the landscaper to fill the cracks in the pavers. Had hoped to have this done last week but too much rain. The pizza oven stand is nearly done as well, blocks to surround the cinder block foundation is complete and the top is on. Yesterday, I installed a fan and the associated wiring in the pavilion and will try to get the sink done in the next few days. Hoping that cutting the holes for the faucet and sink drain in the 3" thick pavers isn't going to be as bad as I think.

Here are some pictures. First one shows Sparky checking out the area and you can see the fan.

Next one shows the fireplace and oven stand, you can see I lit a small fire this morning to make sure the fireplace chimney worked. Seemed to be okay. You can also see the copper vessel sink that is on the right hand side, this isn't installed yet but setting close to where it will end up.

Last picture is one of the overall area, we're really pleased with how it turned out.

Alpaca Blanket from Triangle Loom

Here's a picture of a small lap blanket that I made on the triangle loom. Basically, two 6 foot triangles are weaved on the loom at the same time, the second triangle goes on top of the first after it's done. Once all the weaving is completed, the two triangles are brought together while still on the loom with a crochet type stitch along the hypotenuse. Once removed from the loom, you have a square blanket. Easier to see than describe!

The blanket is 100% alpaca, the light brown yarn is from Delorean and the dark is from Tuxedo. The yarn was spun from their blankets and is nice and soft. Should make a nice rug to provide some warmth when setting on the couch- the weave is fairly open so shouldn't be too hot. Will try to find some pictures of the rug as it was in progress but here's the finished picture.

Alpaca Lap Blanket

Patio Lights

Here's a picture of the patio with the lights last night, really turned out nice!

Front Patio Nearly Complete

Work has continued this week on the front patio, the pavilion is nearly completed. I just need to do some trim work but haven't decided just what to do yet. The pavers are all in place and the plan is for the landscaper to put in the silicone/sand mixture on Friday if the weather forecast continues to call for dry weather, the mixture needs 24 hours to set. As I understand it, this mixture will fill in the gaps and then harden so water doesn't penetrate the pavers and at the same time, it has some flexibility so it will stick to the stone pavers but accommodate some movement.

The stand for the pizza oven is completed as well and most of the top for the sink area are ready to go. I'm leaving those loose for now until I purchase a faucet so I can figure out how to get the faucet and sink holes in to the concrete tops.Lighting is in place and looks really good, will include a picture below of the patio area lit up at night in a separate post.

Here are the latest shots.

Overall View

Tongue & Groove Ceiling in Pavilion

New Puppy Pictures

Sparky is doing fine and continues to wear Donna and I out. Like having a baby in the house and we've been there and done that! Here are some new pictures.