The kitchen floor is coming to life. Joe is a nice guy, competent and fun. He put down the plywood, moved the old appliances around, and he and Maria sat on the floor and plotted some special patterns she has in mind – dark blue strip by the sink, a square pattern in the middle of the floor. We both love the blue feeling in the kitchen it was laid out in the early 1950’s, the kitchen is funky, the floor was ratty. Tomorrow Joe is coming early to put down the tile and reach a final agreement with Maria on how the squares are going to look. She and I are getting up early to try some different ideas. In my mind, this is the beginning of the slow move of the farmhouse from quaint to charming, it will take us a few years, maybe more, we will get there.