Today, as I sit near the window, I can see the birds working the feeders quite happily. And the grey and red squirrels are out - not too odd. The chipmunks have been out and about for at least the last three weeks - a bit early for around here. This morning, my husband said the daffodils in the side bed were starting to sprout. Too early for this part of the world. Maybe, just maybe, we can get an early garden in this year. Just trying to find the bright spot in global warming!!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
February
When did February become the busy month? It used to be the seriously boring month with the Spring not yet in hand, and winter at its grey, tired worst. Perhaps the fact that we really have not had winter contributes to this early revving up.
At school everyone is starting to work great guns on the Spring musical, The Drowsy Chaperone. It is kind of tricky for me since our costume shop is very small, understaffed, and worst of all, has too few racks. It makes pulling costumes from stock very difficult since there is no where to put them! The shop is currently in the midst of building The Cherry Orchard, so you can see where the racks are being used.
I did do my annual order of vegetable seeds. I tried to keep the list small - but ended up spending about $25 on seeds. I would love to plow under half the back yard for a large-ish garden - just 1/4 to 1/3 of an acre, but I think that would foment rebellion among the troops.
Maybe things would be nicer if we had some snow. real snow, not the flurries we have been getting followed by 45 - 50 degree days so it all melts anyway.
WINTER WHERE ARE YOU???
At school everyone is starting to work great guns on the Spring musical, The Drowsy Chaperone. It is kind of tricky for me since our costume shop is very small, understaffed, and worst of all, has too few racks. It makes pulling costumes from stock very difficult since there is no where to put them! The shop is currently in the midst of building The Cherry Orchard, so you can see where the racks are being used.
I did do my annual order of vegetable seeds. I tried to keep the list small - but ended up spending about $25 on seeds. I would love to plow under half the back yard for a large-ish garden - just 1/4 to 1/3 of an acre, but I think that would foment rebellion among the troops.
Maybe things would be nicer if we had some snow. real snow, not the flurries we have been getting followed by 45 - 50 degree days so it all melts anyway.
WINTER WHERE ARE YOU???
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Teaching about Bees
I taught my first Introductory Beekeeping class tonight. It was fun. There were some really nice folks asking good questions and I'd guess about half of the class will probably start working with bees this year! Hooray! This is such a good thing - the bees need our help so desperately, and since we need them so badly, it is in our own best interest to keep bees!
One of my students is an inventor who has modified the age old design of the hive tool. He gave me one and I am eager to try it. They call it EZ Pry. He has added a couple of bends in the prying end, which gives the tool a pivot point. It makes so much sense! It is one of those "why didn't anyone think of this before" inventions - it is so simple and so useful!! They are trying to market it through MannLake, but if you are interested, check out the live link.
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| Start 'em young, that's what I say! |
One of my students is an inventor who has modified the age old design of the hive tool. He gave me one and I am eager to try it. They call it EZ Pry. He has added a couple of bends in the prying end, which gives the tool a pivot point. It makes so much sense! It is one of those "why didn't anyone think of this before" inventions - it is so simple and so useful!! They are trying to market it through MannLake, but if you are interested, check out the live link.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
counter 1 done (ish)
Due to numerous little reasons, we returned the marble tiles and have set Italian porcelain tile in the counter instead. We went from this:
to this:
It is darker than the original but much more solid and will probably take the bangs and knocks of our family better than the marble would have.
The counter is now usable - we still want to get two or three more coats of the Minwax on it, but we can do that and still use the counter for eating, the morning lunch-box filling, etc. A quick photo journal of the rest of the process. Next we tear out the countertop between the sink and stove to do this same surface treatment there (that one should be a real joy!) and finally we will get the last two smaller counter sections. When all that is done, we will do the flooring - which was how this entire project began!
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| Wearing a rain poncho to protect him from the spray of the tile saw. |
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| Adhesive |
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| Hard to see, but the Made in Italy stamp was done so it is backwards |
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| Stain |
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| Grouting is NOT our favorite job |
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| Nearly done. A few more sandings and coats of varnish and we are good to go |
Friday, January 20, 2012
getting the counter in
With just a few days before classes start, a fundraising gala to attend, and various children's activities to watch, taxi kids to, etc, we are getting the counter in.
After much cursing and several trips to the lumber store for various supplies, we are almost ready for the tile to go in. 
We bought a cabinet.
After several tests, my husband found the stain which matches the current cabinets the best.
When pulling off the current counter top, we discovered that the kitchen was a custom job, so the measurements are a little off from the current standards. This has made leveling the plywood and backer board a trick. We are finding the need for measurements like 9/32 of an inch. Standard measurements need not apply.
It is a family project with everyone helping in one form or another. Because of the archway between the nook and the main kitchen (the nook was an extension added by previous owners) my husband put in a 6 bottle wine rack/cubby to fill the space.
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| you can see the various stain color tests |
The backer board is cut. The backsplash from behind the stove as been removed. We may actually get tile on this weekend. I have tried to photograph the tile, but it looks muddy. It is not flashy - sort of a soft, rosy beige with brown, gold, white and pink veining. The photo just looks tan and brown. Oh well.
Cutting and fitting the marble is going to be the trickiest part. There are weaknesses in marble along some of the veins, so we are expecting some unexpected cracks. Keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Lest you think the 52 Project was dropped
There have been things I have been finishing up, or starting with materials I already own, so the 52 Project continues. Some needed to be given to their recipients before publishing. Here are a few examples.
Here are a few cuff bracelets I stitched together for my niece for Christmas.
I am still working on two quilts which I have been stitching on and off for over two years. The experience has taught me that I am not a quilter - but has given me a great respect for those who are. I am also in the middle of knitting an afghan for my niece. She asked for it for Christmas, but gave me less than a month to do it. I looked in the book 7 Day Afghans, and have adapted a pattern for this blanket. I do not know how many hours a day the author has to knit, but I may be done is April!
I have a whole bunch of this yarn - I think It was originally intended for sweaters for the boys - but it is a nice colour for an afghan.
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| A scarf in rainbow yarn chosen by my youngest son. He adores bright colours! |
changes
So we have been living in this house for longer than we have ever been in any place. (Did I ever mention that we have moved around a lot?) Since we are not planning on moving soon - after all, my husband just got tenure - we are changing the house some more.
Last summer we fixed the front steps - not aesthetically changing things, just getting rid of the insect riddled wood. We re-did the dining room, finally stripping off the old lady wall paper and putting some paint on the walls. We have ripped up the living room carpet to discover the disaster floors the previous owners were hiding (they were good at hiding things). Now we move onto greater things.
In the Spring we are getting the foundation fixed - a good deal of the surface cement is flaking off the cinderblock which supports the house. We are also getting the drainage fixed (two contractors are working up estimates) so - hopefully - we will be able to turn the big room in the basement into the studio space we thought it could be, instead of the wet, nasty, "storage for all the junk we do not know what to do with" space it currently is! This will involve a backhoe and tearing up all the foundation plantings along the front of the house come spring, as well as re-grading the front lawn. Which means I will be spending some time at the nursery looking for shrubs I actually like for out front. (Have you ever tried to walk through a barberry bush and an evergreen to turn on your hose? A very prickly experience).
So what are we doing NOW? Tearing up the kitchen! We have decided that the lack of counter space is getting a bit frustrating, and the breakfast nook has become a pseudo office, so the kitchen table is not being used for anything but sewing. In order to streamline things, we are tearing up the flooring; a nasty vinyl which is old, with cracking and curling along the edges.
We are redoing the floor - probably in a strand bamboo. We are adding about four feet of extra counter which will wrap around into the breakfast nook, and have about a 10 - 12 inch overhang so we can eat at it. We will get rid of the stained cream coloured Formica countertops and replace them with (insert marble, porcelain or granite here when we finally make the decision).
To start things off, my husband and I spent far too long at the Lumber Liquidators website, and walking the flooring aisle at Home Depot deciding what type of flooring we wanted. Yesterday my husband and daughter painted the nook the same colour as the rest of the kitchen. (Yeah, that was one of those things that never quite got finished last year).
So today we are off to pick up the base cabinet for the foundation of the counter. Since the counter will be bridging the archway into the nook (part of a load bearing wall, not to be messed with) my brilliant husband has decided to fill the space in between the two base cabinets by building a wine rack. (Have I mentioned before how clever he is? I was thinking storage for the dustpan!)
Last summer we fixed the front steps - not aesthetically changing things, just getting rid of the insect riddled wood. We re-did the dining room, finally stripping off the old lady wall paper and putting some paint on the walls. We have ripped up the living room carpet to discover the disaster floors the previous owners were hiding (they were good at hiding things). Now we move onto greater things.
In the Spring we are getting the foundation fixed - a good deal of the surface cement is flaking off the cinderblock which supports the house. We are also getting the drainage fixed (two contractors are working up estimates) so - hopefully - we will be able to turn the big room in the basement into the studio space we thought it could be, instead of the wet, nasty, "storage for all the junk we do not know what to do with" space it currently is! This will involve a backhoe and tearing up all the foundation plantings along the front of the house come spring, as well as re-grading the front lawn. Which means I will be spending some time at the nursery looking for shrubs I actually like for out front. (Have you ever tried to walk through a barberry bush and an evergreen to turn on your hose? A very prickly experience).
So what are we doing NOW? Tearing up the kitchen! We have decided that the lack of counter space is getting a bit frustrating, and the breakfast nook has become a pseudo office, so the kitchen table is not being used for anything but sewing. In order to streamline things, we are tearing up the flooring; a nasty vinyl which is old, with cracking and curling along the edges.
We are redoing the floor - probably in a strand bamboo. We are adding about four feet of extra counter which will wrap around into the breakfast nook, and have about a 10 - 12 inch overhang so we can eat at it. We will get rid of the stained cream coloured Formica countertops and replace them with (insert marble, porcelain or granite here when we finally make the decision).
To start things off, my husband and I spent far too long at the Lumber Liquidators website, and walking the flooring aisle at Home Depot deciding what type of flooring we wanted. Yesterday my husband and daughter painted the nook the same colour as the rest of the kitchen. (Yeah, that was one of those things that never quite got finished last year).
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