The August Break 2016

Wish me luck as I partake in a new blogging adventure. It is a month long photo taking and posting project based on the prompts from Susannah Conway The August Break.

Sights along the Seward Highway

Mountain Goats that hang out on the southern cliffs of the Chugiak Mountains during warm sunny days at mile 106.5 along the Seward Highway.

Lupine ~ Lupinus arcticus

Mr. Raven, who always seems to be watching us with his keen eye.

Ravens are very good problem solvers, and are referred to as the 'trickster' in Alaska Native culture. They have adapted to all the regions of Alaska and can be seen most every place you visit.

Whittier Alaska

This is the building where most everyone in Whittier lives.

The photo below is the Buckner Building... old and scary for sure.

A visit to Whittier should make it on everyone's list.  It is on my 'must do' summer list, every summer from here on out!

Lunch in Whittier

Lunch in Whittier at the Swiftwater Seafood Cafe.  Best place in town!

Day Trip to Whittier

My fella Josh and his Grandma!

My fella Josh and his Dad Glenn!

Whittier is a beautiful coastal town, a village by all accounts, a small and sometimes not so easy to get to village.  When it is nice here, it is really nice and when the weather is rainy or stormy it can be a bit unpleasantly cold. But always worth the trip!

Matanuska River along the Glenn Highway

Road trips around Alaska with my fella are just the best!

Happy road trip weekend ahead everyone!

Kitchen Back-Splash Day Two & Three

The above photo is of the filler tiles I picked to help add a little something different to the kitchen.  The coffee tiles are on the range/stove side of the kitchen and the wine tiles are on the sink side.

Day three...

So far so good.  Only a little more tiling to do and the grouting messy fun can begin! 

Hooray for working on home remodel projects!

Kitchen Back-Splash Day One

Step one ~ getting the layout all set before you open the container of thin-set. It really is less messy this way.

The outside corner on the stove/range side of the kitchen.

Under the microwave/convection oven and in front of the stove/range.
Photo without grout. Once all the tiles are in place the grouting can begin.

Product Review ~ Daltile Ceramic Tiles

In the current state of our world economic manufacturing processes, every company has taken the olive out of the jar (cut corners to save their bottom dollar all the while passing along, what they hope the customers will not notice, an inferior product). The companies that are maintaining their product quality, which does mean the cost of their product can be higher, are few and far between.

Just over one year ago we purchased white subway tiles made by Daltile at Home Depot and were satisfied with the quality. Oh sure these are mass produced tiles, and there were a few that had defects, I would cut them out and discard them but overall the tiles were of good quality. There was one remaining box from the guest bathroom remodel and when it was time to start on the kitchen, we calculated that we would need to purchase two more boxes. We had noticed right off that they were no longer putting paper between the squares which help the tiles not scratch each other in transit, but we thought okay, we will inspect each one closely for flaws. But when the time came to start using these newly purchased tiles it was immediately noticeable that they were different, they were thinner. This change in the tile quality impacted the project as you cannot use an older tile next to the newer ones because the thickness difference would be noticeable once the grout was installed.

Older tiles

Newer tiles

Older tile on the bottom and newer tile on the top. 

Needless to say I was fuming for most of that first day. I berated myself for not purchasing ALL the tiles to complete both projects a year ago. But done is done at this point and working out a fix was the only choice I had in front of me. At the end of the day it all worked out but I will not (if I can help it) be purchasing any more tiles from the Daltile company.