Just a quick update

Just a quick recap of the events leading up to today:
On June 21st of 2013, Calgary and many surrounding areas were inundated by a vast quantity of water in the form of spring melt run off as well as pretty heavy rainfall in the mountains. The result was pretty horrible. My main floor condo was flooded (7ft or so of water filled it almost to the ceiling) and I lost pretty much everything I owned.
It is now 19 months later and I am still not back in. I came close to moving back in October last year, but there was a mysterious water leak that showed up that destroyed my hardwood floor and required that all of the base kitchen cabinets be removed. The source of this water was never found, but possible sources were eliminated. The only remaining cause is human error & or negligence on the part of the contractor.
The good news is that we now have a new contractor & they will be starting next week. The cabinets are to be installed the week of Feb 16th and the flooring will go in 5 days after that. IF everything goes according to plan, I could very possibly be moving back home by the first week of March. Some good news for a change.

In the studio, not much news to report. I was busy making open baking/serving dishes last Sunday, and here is a shot of a few drying their bottoms on the plaster and one that is all handled and just hanging out. I made about 8 of these of varying sizes and shapes. They are mostly round with an altered/pinched rim, but I did do a couple square ones. I do like the round ones the best. These would be good for a shepherd's pie, mashed potatoes, a deep apple crisp, stuffing, anything really.

So close - like 48 hours close

So this is where the condo stands. A few minor fixes here and there, a few last little things to finish, but for the most part, it is done! I need confirmation on occupancy and when I will be allowed to move in, but I have been told that it would not be unreasonable to expect it to be all complete in 48 hours
This is the living room with the furniture that arrived last Friday.

This is the view into the master bedroom from the living room with move of the furniture that arrived on Friday.
 

This is the kitchen with all the tile up, the last bit of paint. An electrical cover needs to be installed, but other than that, done!
 

And finally the bathroom sink and toilet...
 

Condo rebuild status

As you may or may not be aware, my condo was flooded last year on June 21st. There was 7 feet of water in there and reached almost to the ceiling. It has now been 1 year and 2 weeks since the flood and this is the state of the rebuild. It has been a long haul, and it looks like it will be a bit longer until I can move back in. I was told we would be in before the summer, well, that deadline was missed. Then we were told we would be in by July 4th. That is tomorrow, and by the looks of these pictures, that deadline will be missed. I don't have any expectations now that I will be in before the week of the 14th, but that might not be the case either. The City needs to sign off on the inspections, and the contractor does not want to bring them out until there are at least 2 completed units ready to go to grant occupancy. So, it is close, but still far away. I had a somewhat early welcome back to my condo gathering at a local pub with some of the people I work with at Ceramics Canada last night. Those people are fantastic and if you ever get a chance to go there for clay or other clay related items, they will help you out with all your clay needs. They truly are great.

Here are a few shots of the current state of the rebuild
This one shows the kitchen with the redone tall narrow cabinet, and the silly upper corner cabinet that needs to be revised...

And this one is of the partially completed bathroom. The toilet is in the bathtub right now to make room for the cabinet installer...
 

Floors and doors

The early morning progress meeting went well and things are moving along. The hardwood floors are all in and the doors are mostly all hung or at least in the space waiting to be hung. Bathtub is next (today) and then tile starts tomorrow. Cabinets are still a bit of a jumble and I have yet to pick the cabinet door fronts and counter top laminate. Not sure if I will be in by the 11th, but I am hoping it will be that week... The Fairview Pottery sale was this past Saturday and although there were only 9 of us in the sale this time, I think our individual sale numbers were good. The turn out for the spring sale is always a bit on the slow side compared to the Christmas sale, but with less participants, we don't have to spread the dollars as thinly. After the expenses were accounted for, it looks like I cleared more than double what I did at the last Christmas sale. That kind of tells you how much that last sale sucked (I blame the polar vortex). Every time I think I have this pottery selling thing figured out, the game changes, the people change, the market changes, mugs become either the hot new craze or you can't give them away because everyone wants goblets or have stopped drinking liquids or something silly like that.

It's been like driving down a washboard road with no idea how long it will be until you hit pavement again.

If I squint, I think I can see a tiny pin prick of light at what I am hoping is the end of this very long tunnel.

I found out yesterday that construction has begun in the main floor units (one of which is mine) of my condo building that were destroyed during the flood last June. There is a week of bringing the units up to code, as this building was originally constructed back in the mid 1960’s. Then, in hopefully a week, they will begin hanging drywall, laying down flooring, installing cabinets and other fixtures. Exciting times are ahead. I will need to go out and buy all my appliances soon, as well as furniture. I just need a timeline so that I can have all this stuff delivered and installed.  

Who knows, I might even be moved in before Easter (fingers and toes all crossed).