PlantCam / Timelapse Cam Follow-up

I figured I'd share a few more thoughts (and pictures) of the Time-Lapse Camera Gee-Gaw - since it really is pretty cool!

First-up: Side-by-side Old and New (Old, dead one is green.  New, live one is black).

And here they are out of their boxes:

They have a tough, weatherproof exterior and they seem to seal-up pretty tight.  The old one made it thru several rainstorms without incident.  They both have a screw-ma-bobby hole on the bottom that enables them to be screwed onto any standard tripod.  They also come with brackets that can be mounted thru a lattice fence or on a sturdy garden stake.  The bracket has a corresponding screw-ma-bobby and adjustable angles and yada-yada.  Wingscapes also provides straps so you can strap the camera to a tree trunk.  All-told - you will be able to find a way to rig it up (just don't put it in a high-traffic, narrow-walkway, at shoulder height, like I did!).

Here are the cameras with the doors open:

You can click on the image to Biggify it.  All told, it's a pretty simple set-up.  There's a viewfinder ("Meh!"), a power button, a focus-ring (the flower-lookin' ring around the lens).  The old camera had a laser-aim (but it really was only marginally useful), and they both have light sensors (so you can set the camera to go on at first light) (again, that didn't work for me b/c of our motion-sensor lights and nocturnal neighborhood cats!).  The middle rectangle-screen is just a simple LCD.  You basically use the dialy-knob (bottom left) to pick your setting; then when you're in setup mode, you use the 5 "directional" buttons to navigate thru the menu selections.  It's fairly intuitive and SUPER simple.

Incidentally, this is not intended to be an instructional post (you can always go to Wingscapes for more info) on how to use the thing, but since my last post generated some questions, I figured I'd share a few more observations based on my (limited!) experience...

It uses 4 AA batteries (one set of alkalines lasted most of the summer: May - Aug) (over 1,100 jpgs).  Apparently, there's an AC Plug-in option, but I never bought the adapter - and I never needed it (I don't think I'd want to run an extension cord outdoors anyway).

It does need an SD card for storing pics - and if you're half as geeky as us, you've probably got dozens of cards laying around.  Otherwise, I think if you send back the Registration Card, Wingscapes will send you an SD card for free (Free is good!).

I used a 2-Gig in my old Plant-Cam and you saw the quality.  Not bad (Not great, but not bad).  I'm gonna bump-up to a 16-Gig b/c the new cam has HD capabilities.  Also: It looks like the new cam supports WiFi.  I haven't "RTFM" yet so not sure if that means it WiFi's the images directly to my laptop (which means my machine needs to be on all the time).  I think I'll prob'ly just stick with the SD card.  And now that I finally figured out the Movie-Maker software, it's ridiculously easy.

Price seems to have gone up a bit (no surprise), but Amazon's got it for $99.95 w/Free Super-Saver Shipping.  I do think it's a fun and cool gizmo.  The key is to find a good place to aim it (Finny Farm was a sucky spot, unfortunately).  It did pretty good with the "longer view" of last year's garden.

Honestly, I think the trickiest part of the PlantCam is finding a good place to put it.  The mounting stuff provided is excellent - that's not the problem.  

First up:  It's pretty difficult to "aim."  There is a little Viewfinder, but it really doesn't help much (especially if you are mounting the camera on a lattice fence and really can't fit your head behind it!).  And it's not like you can "aim it," let it take a few pictures, then view the output right away...  

(Well...  Wait a minute - maybe you can?!  But you'd have to be SUPER careful not to jar the camera.  I'm thinking Bolt it into position FIRMLY, let it take a days' worth of shots, then the next day *very carefully* open the door and remove the SD card to view the jpgs on your PC - just to confirm that it's aimed properly...)

So - up 'til now - it's been kind of a crap shoot!  I'm not sure if it will be easier or more difficult on smaller subjects; say, aiming the camera at a seed-tray to capture germination.  I think I'll experiment with that (I know, I think I said that last year, right?!).

I do like the broader selection of focus/distances with the new camera.  I bet a lot of folks were trying to do close-up seedling shots and getting fuzzy photos.  And they do provide a tape measure so you can accurately gauge the distance.

Secondly: In order to get a decent video, you need to be cognizant of where you're aiming it and what kind of background you'll have "competing" with your video.  In other words, trying to photograph my GREEN veggie garden under a GREEN tree with GREEN vines covering the fence in the background?  Ummm...  Yeah! (Obviously I am NOT an award-winning photographer!).  Think "Composition!" Duhhh!

Footnote to that: Don't aim the thing due-east (as I did last year!), or due-west (as I did this year!).  You'll end up dumping a LOT of shots because the sun is blaring straight into the camera at dawn/dusk.

And for something large, like a garden bed, you'll want to keep the camera further back so you can actually see the whole bed.  Last year's video was much better from that perspective: You could actually see the plants grow from seedlings and eventually fill the entire screen!

And, personally, I like having some kind of inanimate object IN the picture so there's a sense of continuity (plants do seem to "move" during time-lapse photography).  Last year, it was my Weenie-Dog Whirlygig  This year it was a garden stake.

Hmmm...  What else?  I set my camera to take pics at one-hour intervals starting at 8:00am and ending at 7:00pm.  You can probably get a "smoother" video by shortening the intervals to, say, 30 minutes.  You'll need to have a pretty big memory card for that, though...

I had actually tried to use the PlantCam, last year, to photograph my Plumerias coming into bloom.  Strapped it to a palm tree and set it at 15-minute intervals (since the bloom-time of Plumies is just a matter of days).  Unfortunately, I never got to complete that experiment due to some palm-tree-trimming action that practically annihilated my Plumeria tree (Ooops!).

Anyway, I think that's about it.  To summarize: Be aware of where you're placing your camera - for a big area, the further-back the better.  Don't aim it in a location where it's gonna get direct-into-the-lens-sun.  Don't put it someplace where it's likely to get bumped.  And have fun with it!

I really do like my PlantCam (even if it is a toy that requires a lot of patience!) and - as previously noted - I love any company that stands behind it's product...

HTH!

Finny Farm Garden Videos - and Kudos to Wingscapes!

Soooo...  A couple of Christmases ago, Beloved Hubs bought me a Plant-Cam.

And I used and "reviewed" it, last year, in this post.

And honestly, last year's video wasn't *too* terribly awful.  At least I'd rigged the thing up in a relatively good location so you could actually SEE the growth of the plants.  Although the "stringing-together" of the images, using the on-board software, was pretty labor-intensive...

This year, I decided to capture The Finny Farm in all her glory!  Unfortunately, the Finny Farm was tucked away in a corner that didn't lend itself well to time-lapse-video-capture.  I bolted the camera (using the included bracket) to the fence that covers the pool equipment.  But it was in a bad spot (narrow pathway between the plum-tree and pool equip't fence).  And I did a lousy job of "aiming" the camera.  I started-out being SUPER optimistic about how tall the Finny Farm 'Maters were gonna grow and I aimed the camera a little too high.

And then there was the whole "narrow walkway" thing to deal with - which resulted in the camera getting "bumped" several times thru the season. Ooooops!  And then there's the whole "angle of the sun" thing to consider (which didn't play well with the camera-to-garden-aimedness!)...  The Finny Farm just wasn't in a good location for filming. "Oh well, waddaya gonna do, right?!"

I did retain ONE valuable lesson from last year's experience:  I set the camera for an 8:00am-8:00pm schedule (rather than "on" when it detects light - since we've got a motion-sensor light out there, and about a bazillion neighborhood cats that frequent the side-yard at night!).

I also decided to forego the onboard "string-the-jpgs-together" program for video creation - not entirely by choice, mind you (more on that, later).  No, this year I downloaded a freebie video program called Windows Movie-Maker.  It's actually really cool because A) You're not limited to 360 jpgs per video and B) You can actually preview the pictures and C) *Easily* dump the ones you don't want included in your "movie."  D) It also has features for adding captions and narration (or music), but I wasn't feeling THAT inspired!

Okay, now that you've read all the "disclaimers" here are the Videos that I took of the Finny Farm! (Grab a cocktail, this might take awhile...  Or you can skip 'em, based on my commentary!)

Finny Farm I:  This was early in the season, May-June.  I was entirely too optimistic and aimed the camera too high to capture anything (other than the "Volunteer" Peach-Tree which ended up with inedible peaches anyway!)


Finny Farm II:  I'm not even sure why I'm posting this video!  This was after Hubs "bumped" the camera and re-aimed it more toward the greenhouse.  You can pretty-much just watch the neighbor's Passiflora Vine take over the roof of my greenhouse in this video!

Finny Farm III:  Camera got bumped again.  But at least you can see Brandy, the Yellow Brandywine kind-of outgrowing her cage on the left side of the video.  Again, this ain't gonna win any awards!

Finny Farm IV:  The shortest video.  Camera got bumped back to the inedible peach tree!

Finny Farm V: You can actually see tomatoes starting to ripen on the plant to the left (at around 0:30).  That was supposed to be Yellow Brandywine, but the 'maters got Blossom-End-Rot and they really don't look like Yellow Brandywines at all.  :::sigh:::

Anyhoooooo...  Even though the Finny Farm ended up being "A Flop" this year, the camera *did* perform admirably (under adverse conditions!).  
And I should note: I do not consider the "Floppyness" of the Finny Farm to be a shortcoming on Finny's part (not at all!).  Truth be told: I kinda fubar'd on the Bed-Setup this year.  See, I had actually REMOVED this bed entirely (this is where last year's Straw-Bale-FAIL-Bed experiment resided).  This year, we built a new raised-bed and I decided to fill-in the base of the new bed with partially-rotted straw, then top-it-off with bagged El Cheapo Home-Depot Soil.  
Even though I Tested and Amended (per the Finnyknits Method), I think what ended up happening was: between the crappy soil, and still-rotting straw, the beds were robbed of nutrients thru the growing season.  So I am taking full responsibility for the suckiness of this particular bed.  Had I broken-down and driven up to get a full truck-bed-full of Yummy Lyngso Soil, I suspect I would have harvested a heckuva lot more (the other two beds - which were filled with aforementioned Lyngso Soil - performed admirably this year.  Although it really wasn't a Banner Year for 'maters, in general...)
Okay, ANYWAAAAYYYY..  Back to the Plant-Cam - and my Kudos to Wingscapes, k?? So at the end of the growing season, right-around the time that I ripped out the Finny Farm, I took down the Plant-Cam.  I was pleased to see that it took over 1100 photos thru the growing season and was (honestly dreading the idea of) stringing the jpgs together into several 360-jpg time-lapse videos.  I managed to create one video when I got the "Low Battery" Warning.    Okay.  Shut down and install new batteries, right?
Welllll...  The camera died after that.  Booooo!!!  I kept pressing the Power button and - Nada!
No worries.  Everything's on an SD Card.  I'll just offload it onto my PC.  And, while I'm at it, I'll d/l the Owner's Manual and figure out how to fix it, right?
Well, long story short, I "got" from the Owner's Manual, that the third-party software (Windows Movie Maker) would be the best approach for stringing-together the jpgs and making a movie.  But - as far as "Troubleshooting" goes, the manual was not forthcoming with useful information.
Sooooo...  I went to their website www.wingscapes.com, and I snooped thru their "Support" pages and ultimately ended up with "Contact Us"/Customer Service.  I sent 'em a note explaining that I had gotten my Plant-Cam as a gift, a couple of Christmases ago "and I LOVE it!" blah-blah, but now it seems to have inexplicably died.  "I hit the Power Button but the LCD screen doesn't come on.  Don't know if it's the power-button or if the LCD screen is dead...  Can it be repaired?"
Well, lo and behold!  They responded within a day (or two - might've been the weekend).  They told me that my model of Plant-Cam had been discontinued, but that they would send me a NEW, UPGRADED model -  along with a pre-paid Shipping Label so that I can return my "dead" PlantCam - Free of Charge!
Now I have NO CLUE what the "warranty" is on these gizmos (couldn't find it on their webpage, nor in the manual).  I naturally assumed that - with my unit being a couple of years old - it MUST be out of warranty and I was fully prepared to pay *something* to have it repaired (not sure what my "pain threshold" was - but I was certainly willing to investigate it, right?!).  Anyway - the fact that they STAND BEHIND their product - and are willing to replace it so quickly, easily, and PAINLESSLY speaks WORLDS for their company, I think!
So a BIG HUGE THUMB'S-UP to Wingscapes and the Plant-Cam for having AMAZING Customer Service!!!
I received my new TimeLapse Cam 8.0 earlier this week.  I did a quick side-by-side comparison of Old vs -New.  The OLD camera had limited "focus ranges" (11"-17", 17"-3', and 3' to Infinity).  The NEW camera lets you dial-it-in more accurately (8", 9", 10", 11", 12", 14", 16", 18", 2', 2.5', 3', 4' and 8' to Infinity).  The OLD camera did have a "Laser Aim" feature - but it was only useful at dusk (or nighttime).  The NEW model doesn't have the Laser Aim, but it does offer High-Def and will accommodate a much larger SD card (16 Gig).
I think the rest of the camera (including the low-tech LCD "limited menu" GUI) remains the same.  But I am anxious to set-it-up for my soon-to-be-planted Fall Garden (I'll try a better location this time around) and give you a FULL review!
Anywaaaaayyyyy...  I just wanted to give a HUGE Thumb's-Up to Wingscapes for their AWESOME (and highly-unusual, these days!) Customer Service!
Yes, they sent me a free, upgraded Time-Lapse Cam - but I still consider this to be an "Unsolicited" Testimonial - given that we PAID for the first camera, k?  And they certainly weren't looking for a "testimonial" - they were merely exhibiting excellent customer service by standing behind their product!
More to come, I'm sure..............

New Droid...

Well, after much flailing and gnashing of teeth, I finally joined the 21st Century and upgraded my 1st Generation Droid to the new Droid RAZR 16G...

Oooh!  It's Purple!
(Last photo taken with Old Droid!)

Old Droid was just getting increasingly "buggy" and required fairly regular "Battery-Pulls" to re-boot after a freeze-up....

Simple things like taking pictures and uploading to FB were just getting frustratingly annoying - or annoyingly frustrating! (including the phone "completely forgetting" that it had *just* taken a picture).  Many-many cuss-words were uttered and I finally decided "To Hell With It" and ordered a new phone, online, from Verizon Wireless...

Now I'm supposed to get an Employee Discount (b/c my company has some kind of "arrangement" with Verizon), and a "Customer Loyalty Discount" and a whole bunch of other Happy Horsesh*t...

The Droid RAZR 16G was "on special" and "My Price" was supposed to have been $69.99, right?

The other contender was the Samsung Galaxy Nexus - and it was cool.  I mean, I saw it "up-close-and-personal" in the Verizon Store - but it didn't totally "Take my breath away" (plus, the GUI was just different-enough that there would have been a "learning curve!" :::GASP:::).  The Galaxy Nexus was *not* as deeply discounted - so I opted for the RAZR.  I also contemplated the RAZR MAXX - but pricing on that was outrageous.  Screw it.  Just go with the RAZR...

Okay, well, mini-rant here...  Dear Verizon:  DON'T tell me you're giving me a Super-Duper-Stupendous Deal unless you are prepared to deliver, k???  Apparently the "regular" price for the phone (as listed on their website) was $149.99...  "On Sale" for $99.99 - but with my "Loyalty" discount, I get $30.00 off, so $69.99.  Sounds good, right?

Well, THEN they add-in a $30.00 "Upgrade Fee" (thus negating the "Customer Loyalty" Discount!).  I'm not sure WHAT happened to my "Employee Discount" but then, with taxes (on the Full-Bust-Out-Retail-Price of $599.99 - WTF?!!) (NOT clearly-stated on the website, I should note!), I ended up paying $149.49.  Or exactly fifty cents LESS than the Advertised Price.  Gimme a break!!!

Sorry - didn't mean to rant - but srsly, Verizon?!  Don't bullsh*t me, okay?  If the price is $150.00 - then just f**king say so!!!

Honestly, I don't mind that I paid $150.00 for a new Smart-Phone.  I DO mind that you TELL me I'm gonna pay $69.99 to "lure me in" - but then charge me full-price anyway...  I'm not stupid - I *hate* deceptive advertising practices...

And, had I not been SO fed-up with the old phone, I probably woulda pitched a b*tch and tried to get the "Final Price" a tad closer to the $69.99 "Advertised Price" (Which probably would have necessitated a trip to the Verizon-store - and I wasn't up for that).

To be fair...  Prior to my upgrading my phone, I received an email from Verizon - promising me a "Totally Free" Accessory for my phone (Snap-on case, or Screen Protector).  Well, the stuff for the OLD Droid wouldn't fit the NEW Droid, so I emailed them.  Turned out that NEW Droid wasn't part of that "Totally Free" Accessory Offer, but they ARE honoring that and will allow me to pick a protective case for my new phone.  So that is a "partial" offset to my pissed-offedness!

Annnnnnywaaaaaayyyy...  End of Rant #1!

Sooooo....  Rant #2:  I received my new phone a couple-days after ordering...  I'd left a note on the door for Fed-Ex - with my signature - so FedEx would leave the package on my doorstep.  Yay Fed-Ex, they DID!

So I excitedly opened up the package and read thru the set-up instructions.

Now I *did* have the presence of mind to download ALL of my personal files off of my old phone, to my PC (pictures, videos, music files, ringtones, yada-yada)...  The only thing I couldn't find was my Contact List.

Now, I did know that First Generation Droid was *not* compatible with many of Verizon's "proprietary" apps (which, honestly, I kinda liked!) (and that's a Big Reason why iPhone was never "on the table" for me - too proprietary!).  That included "Back-up Assistant" so there didn't appear to be an "Easy" way to transfer my contacts from my Old Droid, to the New...

I'm here to tell you: The Instructions provided by Verizon really-really-really sucked!

There was some sorta bullsh*t (directed from their website) where I needed to "Export" the contact list from OUTLOOK in csv format.  That's all very well and good except that I DON'T HAVE an Outlook Account set-up.  And when I tried to initiate the Export from my phone, it put it into vcf format (Outlook), and it included email addresses from about 400 years ago (and very few phone #'s, actually).  Now, I know that Droid relies heavily on your Google email acct - but the people I EMAIL from gmail are definitely "different" from the people I "call" on a regular basis...

Well, long story short (Too Late!), I ended up setting-up a dummy Outlook acct on my PC (no email associated with it), and I keyed in all of my important contacts into Outlook.  This, actually, was a good opportunity to do some "clean-up" since...  Well, my mom is no longer with us, so I don't really need to keep her in my Contact List, right?  Then I followed the instructions (from the Verizon site) to export the csv file, then I IMPORTED it into Google Mail, Contacts.

Well, SURPRISE!~  All of my original "Contacts" actually DID reside - with phone#'s intact! - in gmail's "Contacts." If you look on your GMAIL screen, there's actually a "drop-down" where it says "GMAIL" (directly under where it says "GOOGLE"), and THAT'S where your phone's "Contacts" reside - Duhhhh!

So, after I'd imported my new Contact List into Gmail (using their "Import" feature), I ended up with duplicate contacts - but, in the end, it was fairly easy to "clean-up" my contact list...

Anyway, it took me two days to get the Contacts squared-away, but when it was all said-and-done, it was fairly easy to "Activate" the phone, on my own.  I *really* didn't want to go to the Verizon Store and "don my Blond Hat," to convince them to do it for me - although I'm sure they would have.  But - given my experience with *my* company's I/T Dept, I was reasonably sure they'd find a way to f**k it up! (I definitely did NOT want the 400-yr.-old email contacts added to my phones contact list!!!)

And I am pretty "rabid" about NOT syncing ALL of my contacts (Facebook and multiple email accts).  I maintain "multiple personalities" online and I *don't* want everything smushed together!

Now one thing that *did* freak-me-out when I first fired-up the phone (and synced my "Contacts" from gmail), the phone ALSO added all of my Facebook Contacts.  No-No-No-No-Noooo!!!  But I *did* figure out how to suppress the FB contacts from my "Phone Numbers" list...

Bottom Line:  Setting up the phone really wasn't very intuitive - and the instructions from Verizon really sucked-eggs.  Thankfully, I was able to figure it out...

I'm guessing that the Verizon Store would have (reluctantly) taken care of it (but I think they work on commission, so be prepared for push-back!). Nevertheless, if you're considering an upgrade, you're not entirely "on your own..."

Once I got the phone set-up, I have to say that - overall - I am pretty happy with it.  The GUI is slightly different from the First Generation Droid, but not too difficult to figure out.

Features that I like:  

• Once I got it hooked-up to our WiFi, I can actually play any music that's accessible on the network (i.e. stuff on my hard-drive on my laptop in the house).
• Picture Quality seems vastly superior to Old Droid.  And uploads to FB happen almost instantaneously.
• 4G speed is definitely far-superior to 3G (although I worry about them over-subscribing and slow-downs in the future)
• Bluetooth uploads:  I can take a picture with the phone and upload it to my hard-drive on my laptop via Bluetooth (a little slow - but less of a pain than plugging in the usb cable)
• So far, so good - no freeze-ups (but NO clue what I'm gonna do when/if that happens - the battery is NOT removable)
• Most of the apps I use, appear to have come pre-installed (Yay!  But I *did* make a list before I shut-down the old phone)
• Some of the Verizon-specific apps are also pre-installed (not sure if I like that - we'll see).  VZNavigator ($fee) is on the new phone, but I think I'll stick with Google Maps/Navigator (FREE!).
• I'm guessing (hoping) that the memory is expandable (looks like there's a mini-SD card slot)
• Can watch Netflix Movies on the new phone (that's actually pretty cool!)

Downside:  I'm worried that the battery is NOT user-replacable... We'll have to see how that pans out.  Right now, I am fully charging and discharging the battery, a few times...

Anyway - overall, I am pretty happy with the new phone.  I hope I can say that 6-months from now!!!

Bathroom Reno Pictures

Okay... I'm making good on my promise to share photos of the Bathroom Reno Adventure...

I'm keeping my "commentary" to a minimum, right now, because I am seething mad at the moment (See the last photo. I'll save my "final commentary" for later!).

Sooo... Let's look at pictures, shall we?

In true HGTV fashion, I give you the bathroom "BEFORE:"

Ugly brown diamonds and "framed" El Cheapo Home Depot shower-door

The "reason" for the remodel.

Leaky tub and water-damage seeping up under the vinyl floor.

The underlayment, once again, was pure "gush!"

Similar damage at the foot of the tub.

FWIW I think this is the 4th (and - hopefully - FINAL) time that we have to replace the floor!

Matching Brown-Diamond Vanity.

It wasn't "horrible" - but a lot of the tiles were chipped/cracked and it just looked kinda "dated."

Ewwww! Speaking of "dated" - I absolutely HATED this brass "Hollywood Light Bar" fixture over the sink. It gave very good light, but it was just unspeakably ugly!!

Day #1 of Demo. "Buh-bye sink!"

(It looks kinda lonely and sad here - but "BUH-BYE!!!")

Demo-Crew, ripping out the old tile countertop...

Vanity tile is gone!!!

Guess I'm gonna be brushing my teeth in the kitchen!

Tub Tile is going...

Vinyl Floor is going...

Sheetrock is going...

Temporary Facilities.

I think the toilet paper hanging off the foot-peg of my Harley just kinda makes this shot Super-Classy!

Drywall is gone and innards are exposed.

We have determined that the tub is not level - Boooo!!!

Water-damage at vent pipe from old roof leak

And another view...

More leaky-roof damage toward the base of the tub
(we had the roof replaced a couple-three years ago).

Damp, but not rotten, floor at foot of tub. This is from the uneven tub leaking.

More wet floor action at the head of the tub. It looked like it was starting to rot, but it didn't go clear through the sub-floor, so AKB opted to "treat it" rather than "replace it."

This had been replaced, previously, when the last LOSERS worked on the bathroom leak.

("No Commentary! Shut UP!" ;-)

Countertop is GONE!

But the toilet's still there (whew!)

"Let there be light!!!"

New fluorescent light fixture with super-quiet fan. Definitely needed that!

New light fixture over the vanity.

I like how there are little squares embossed in the glass...

(goes nicely with the mosaic tiles)

They did level the tub. This is front-to-back (as you're facing the tub)

And side-to-side.

They put in shims under the tub, then CEMENTED them in.

So the tub shouldn't "settle" any more...

New drywall and plumbing!

Nifty New Niche!

We couldn't "center" it on the tub because there were support beams behind the studs.

Electrician was here...

And he wired in an "extra" wire for me. I want to do under-cabinet lighting (like a strip of LED's or something) to shine down on the backsplash and use as a night-light.

Treating the sub-floor with some stinky Copper-Green stuff.

It's supposed to stop rot and deter insects...

Mud going up on the tub walls...

Muddy Niche...

Mud at the base of the tub (and it covers the base of the tub so there should be NO LEAKS!!!)

See how thick the mud is, behind the tiles?

Tiles going up... Pretty!

And Accent Strip - Prettier still!

Tiles up - but no grout yet.

Tile "patch" between the light fixtures on the Medicine Cabinet...

Better picture of the Tile patch

Tile floor prep. Waterproof membrane with chicken-wire on top of that.

Oh noooooo!!! No Toilet for TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!

(EEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Muddy floor...

Floor tiles going down...

Tub is grouted!!!

Floor is done! (I really do love this floor-tile!)

Originally, I thought I wanted the floor-tile to be set on the diagonal.

But - seeing how the "pattern" is diagonal - it ended up making more sense to go with the tile set "square."

Blue paint on the walls - very soothing!

Tub fixtures starting to go in...

New "Euro-Style" Shower door (that I schlepped home from Lowes)

Two shower heads. One is a big, square "rainshower" head (Delta Dryden, if you're interested)

The other is a multi-function Euro-Style Hand-Shower (Grohe Euphoria).

Our brandy-new Toto Toilet

I've heard rave reviews from ppl about these toilets and, so far, it seems they're All Right!

Super-Low-Flow and doesn't plug-up when you use more than 4 squares of TP. In fact, I haven't had to use our plunger ONCE since it's been installed!

Week #3 and the counter is still nekkid - and we still don't have running water :::sigh:::

But we do have cool-lookin' lights!

Yayyy!!! FINALLY!!!! We have a quartz countertop!

(Caesarstone Buttermilk - which is purchase-able "by the foot")

(as opposed to "by the slab")

Close-up of counter-top with my mosaics laying on top. I don't think it's gonna clash.

We are ALMOST there!!!

Sooooo close to completion!!!

Pretty new faucet!

Backsplash Mud going up...

Super-thick (which is good!)

Mosaic Backsplash - SUPER pretty!

(still needs grout, though...)

Mosaic backsplash in the afternoon sun

(It is grouted, here)

Droid pics really don't do it justice - it is super shimmery and pretty!

This photo was taken well-over 24 hours after the last time the faucet was used...

Contractor is eager to receive his final payment, but...

The pretty sink faucet DRIPS! No, no a lot - but that's not the point!

The latest update (and I'm not posting my FULL opinion - YET!) is that *I* have to go deal with Delta Faucets MYSELF and when/if they choose to send me new cartridges/o-rings/new-faucet/whatEVER, then he'll send someone out "No Charge" to fix it.

Ohhhhh am I holding back a huge rant here, folks! (There's Yelp, and Yahoo Local, and Angie's List for that, I suspect...). Seems to me that if one spends over $10,000 for a bathroom remodel, then expecting a non-leaky faucet isn't entirely outside the realm of "reasonable-ness."

:::sigh:::

I *am* holding back some of the Final Payment until this is addressed. And that's ALL I'm gonna say about THAT!