Spring cleaning in the Kitchen

A couple of days ago I started refinishing our kitchen counters. These are made of a mix of practically every kind of Costa Rican hardwood. They've been under constant attack by daily kitchen use for over 20 years, so there were dings and water stains and such which I needed to sand out.

The old finish was a mix we call 1,2,3. (One part clear varnish, two parts linseed oil, and three parts turpentine. You apply a coat with a brush, wait 5 minutes and rub it off with a cotton cloth. This is applied once a day for a week, once a week for a month, and once a month for a year. It's like an oiled finish.)
However, this time I'm going to try a commercial finish since it's less of a hassle in the long run--even though it's pretty expensive: Polyurethane floor finish. This stuff resists just about everything. I'm applying three coats, the first of which is now on (since we have a Day of the Covenant event here and we need the kitchen to be functioning).

We're installing some fancy backsplashes behind the sink area. They'll be wood with decorative Mexican tiles inset, but we are short a few so, hopefully, Aria will be able to bring some down.

Meanwhile, Julie didn't know that I was going to tear of her kitchen apart with all this sanding and such. I had to pull out the stove which is inset in the two Eastern parts of the counter. Poor lady was really in a funk!
Here she is wondering how she'll be able to do any work in there. (The spots are dust on the lense, I suppose. ) She ended up going over to Gianni's place to cook while I pulled the stove out.