Sparkle plenty

The flash distorts the color a bit, but it sure gives you an idea of the reflectivity of the glass strip.

Apparently the opalescence comes from tiny amounts of iridium, selenium and cadmium in the glass -- but whatever causes it, I like it.

Hank and Ray had all but a few tiles done in the little guest bath Wednesday, and they started in on the master bath.

Their plan -- besides taking a welcome vacation to cobalt -- is to have the two bathrooms' tile finished by Thursday night, so they can grout Friday.

Hank, who's particular about color, sent us out to research new grout this week. Our original plan for the green tile was a pewter -- off-white, veering toward gray. He wanted us to take a look at a bit more tone, and we ended up with a slight gray-green: "seafoam," a nice color, though Robert had to overcome his horror of the '60s name.

The blue bath will take black grout -- which we all think will set off the billion colors in the glass strips quite well indeed. "I can't wait to see this room when the ceiling lights go on," Hank said.