See It Sunday: Red

Amy's well loved red sneakers.

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Sunday Scribblings: Ocean

When I was about 7 my parents gave my aunt, who lived in the heart of Kenmore Square in Boston, a couple of cots. My aunt was visiting my parents but the cots wouldn't fit in her VW bug so my mother loaded them into the back of our station wagon, and then loaded my sister, brother and I into the front and drove them to my aunt's house. I distinctly remember that this was explained to us as a quick trip - drop off the cots and head home.

We arrived in Boston in early evening to, as I remember it, the hubbub that is Kenmore Square when the Red Sox are playing at home. Since it was dinner time, the adults decided that we needed dinner. I don't remember what we ate or where. Just when I expected that we were about to be packed into the car for the ride home it was announced that it was too late for us to go home and we would have to stay the night.

This was quite a surprise, particularly since my aunt lived in a very small one bedroom apartment. But she did have those cots which were the reason for the trip. So the living room was lined with cots, and from some secret stash my mother produced pajamas for us all.

I don't remember much about the morning, but the overnight was not the last surprise. We loaded back into the car with my aunt and headed not home, but to Gloucester and the sea shore. We ended up at Good Harbor beach and from her secret stash my mother produced bathing suits and towels. Having grown up more than 100 miles from the nearest ocean beach, I'd never seen the ocean let alone put so much as a finger into it.

I was also deathly afraid of water (I realize that comes as a complete shock to anyone who knows me now). Wading was my limit. Even the best efforts of numerous swimming teachers, and the swim coach colleague of my father's, who wielded a heavy metal boat to try and coax my face into the water hadn't convinced me that swimming was a good thing. The swim coach used a heavy metal boat which he told me was Popeye's boat. He would drop the boat a little farther from shore each time in an effort to get me to put my face into the water. I became adept at contorting my body so I could pick the boat up without getting even my ear wet, but still would not put my face in.

When faced with the tumbling waves, the likes of which I had never seen before, I became enchanted. I didn't worry about getting knocked head over tea kettle by a wave, or about being dragged out to sea by the receding waves. No, for an afternoon I reveled in the beauty, and power of waves crashing on the shore. I leapt over waves, and let them break across my feet. I had to be dragged from the waves, lips blue with cold. For an afternoon I made peace with water.

It would be several more years before I made a permanent peace with water. I was ten when I learned to swim, but once I learned there was no stopping me. The only thing that kept me from a Life Saving certificate is that I am uncomfortable diving more than a couple of feet below the surface.

I don't spend much time in the ocean these days. I'd much rather spend my water time in fresh water. But I do remember that first ocean adventure. And to this day if I head for the Gloucester sea shore I end up at Good Harbor no matter where I intended to go and no matter how clear the directions. I don't usually get lost. I have a very good sense of direction. My psyche just insists that The Beach is Good Harbor.

More: Sunday Scribblings

It is entertaining to me that there is a pulse in the blogosphere which leads to similar prompts from a variety of meme sites. One Deep Breath's prompt this week was Sea and now Sunday Scribblings has served up Ocean. And the photo I picked in response to LensDay's Smooth prompt was of an ocean beach. Makes me wonder what we'll all be thinking about next.

Tanka: Sea

nestled in the sand
unaware of my presence
no secrets you tell
what adventures brought you here
beautiful ocean treasure

The prompt at One Deep Breath this week is sea. Despite living less than 20 miles from the ocean, I do not spend much time there. So, I had to dig into the pictures from my trip to California for inspiration. This shell was on the beach on Coronado Island. We left it where it lay.

See American Tanka for an explanation of the tanka.
More: One Deep Breath
Larger version of photo: here.

Thursday Challenge: Noisy

Action shot of an MBTA train.

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Lensday: Smooth

surf smoothed sand
Coronado Island, California

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More Lensday.

Moody Monday: Light

The view from inside a small grotto at Xcaret in the Yucatan. Taken during our honeymoon.

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More Moody Monday.

Sunday Scribblings: Wings

Sports have always been a part of my life. My father coached college football, and baseball so I attended my first game as an infant. Fall Saturdays during my childhood meant dressing up to go to Dad's games. Many winter nights were spent at hockey games. And spring meant baseball. I learned to score at a fairly young age, and served as bat girl for several of the teams my Dad coached.

The college I went to is not what I'd call sports crazy. As a women's college it doesn't have a football team for people to rally around, and attendance at sports events is usually limited to other athletes and families. When I was a student I attended only a couple sports events - the Head of the Charles (crew races) and one field hockey game. Oh, and a Harvard-Dartmouth football game, and the Harvard-Yale game my freshman year. The Harvard-Dartmouth game was mostly about the party after, and the Harvard-Yale game was with my mother, brother (a Yale student) and a couple of my cousins. My wife grew up in a family that didn't follow sports so we haven't spent a lot of time watching sports.

I have remained a great fan of softball and baseball. I umpire and coach during the summer. I'll watch softball on TV when it's there, and have spent many an hour watching the Little League world series.

The sports facilities at my alma mater are a whole lot better now than when I was there. Like many sports related events in my life I'm too old to have taken advantage of them although I do swim in the pool there regularly.

Several years ago Wellesley undertook the cleanup of a toxic waste dump at the edge of the campus. (The toxic waste was dumped by the factory which used to be on the site.) Once the cleanup was done the College converted some of the land to new sports fields. The rest is reclaimed wetlands. Among the new fields is a softball stadium which makes me drool every time I drive by, and I drive by frequently since I live nearby.

I've thought about going to a softball game there many times. Finally in March I took the leap and went to a game. And I got hooked. A friend asked recently what my connection was. I don't think I would have been asked that if I'd gone to Penn State and the sport was football.

I've attended almost every home game since then (The picture above was taken just over a week ago at a game there.), and one away game - conveniently held at the university where I work. Which brings us to this weekend. With a pair of wins last weekend my college's softball team qualified for the playoffs for their athletic conference. They won their first and second games on Wednesday. The semi-finals were more than an hour away, but I couldn't stay away. So with Amy's blessing off I went yesterday.

In yesterday's outing the team outhit Springfield College to qualify for today's finals. I had other plans for today, but just couldn't miss this game. So I canceled those plans and got back in the car this morning.

The day was grey and cold. There was occasional precipitation. But it was a glorious day. I reached the tournament early enough to watch the end of the last semi-final game. The final game was a pitcher's duel. A beautiful diving, sliding catch by Wellesley's left fielder, Megan Wood, in the top of the 4th saved a no-hitter for pitcher Jenna Harvey. And in the end it was Megan's solid single to right in the bottom of the 7th with 2 on that led to Wellesley's win and the championship.

Mid-afternoon a bus load of ecstatic young women left Springfield headed east. I'd hazard a guess that they didn't really need the bus. Those women, the ones with the great big grins pictured below, could have flown back on wings of happiness buoyed by the knowledge that their hard work, dedication and teamwork helped them achieve this first.














































Thanks to Sunday Scribblings for the inspiration to write.

The official press release on the game is here.

Thursday Challenge: Fun

What could be more fun than sharing an early morning giggle with your cousin?

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Lensday: Water

The Sudbury River just east of Route 27 last spring.

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Haiku: Energy

Sunday Edit: My darling wife, has just pointed out that this is not a haiku because the first line only has 3 syllables. She is, of course, entirely correct.

hands lift sticks
creative thought becoming
beautiful music

The revised version, which is a correct haiku.
hands and sticks transform
creative energy to
beautiful music

(The prompt this week at One Deep Breath is energy. I've got the creative energy of NEFFA on my mind since the festival starts today. The picture was taken in a hallway at NEFFA a couple of years ago.)

Thursday Challenge: Wildlife

Rainbow Lake 2006
This deer wandered down to the lake for a drink as I was kayaking by.

Larger view here.
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Lensday: Flower

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Moody Monday: Disorganized

My shop is desperately in need of better organization. Seen and not seen in this picture - two projects, my safety glasses, mallet, burnisher, wood scraps, googles, knife, scroll blades, dust mask, plans, scraper, clamp blocks, glue pallet (yogurt cup lid), sand paper, hardware, glue...

More Moody Monday.

New Throne - Day Two

If you haven't ready Day 1, I'd suggest reading that first so you get the whole story.

After a well deserved rest at the hotel Saturday night, and a hearty hotel breakfast we headed back to the house on Pickerel Pond to continue our rehabilitation of our bathroom.

Step fifteen: Replace floor. We bought the replacement vinyl tiles years ago for the other (non-working - a story for another day) bathroom in our house. Early this year they made their way to the yard sale pile. They didn't sell so when we decided to replace the floor and toilet it made sense to put them to use.

The entire floor contains 20 tiles. I took probably 25 to get them in. First error I started in the corner nearest the door (bottom right of photo). The problem with this was that the tiles at the end fit further under the threshold and baseboard than the third tile on the wall with the door. Despite numerous vacuum passes the tiles picked up fuzz and other debris so were unusable again. With that problem solved the job went quickly until it came time to start cutting tiles.

Seven of the tiles required cutting - 2 around the drain, and 5 along the tub. Cutting the tiles for the drain went smoothly. I got a little bit cocky at that point, thinking I had this job nailed. It took probably 30 minutes and 2 tile to get the cuts scribed and cut correctly for the piece next to the tub at the upper right of the picture. A few more missteps and the floor was done. The only problem with the new floor - it's really slick. Imagine, if you will, a dog on a newly waxed floor. That's pretty much what I looked like trying to stand up.

Step sixteen: Caulk edge of tub. Nothing major to report here, other than that the directions on how to open the tube need to be larger. Once I located a nail large enough to pierce seal inside the spout the job went without incident.

Step seventeen: Cleanup. Because of the small space all of the tools I'd used needed to be collected before the toilet install could begin.

Step eighteen: Toilet install, part 1. We unpacked the new toilet. For anyone planning this in the future - cut the box away from the toilet. This method worked great for us. Then we cut portions of the box to use to cushion the toilet while we got it ready for install. First we installed the closet bolts in the flange, then squished the wax ring onto the bottom of the toilet. At some point during this (don't remember exactly when but it was before the wax ring was attached to the fixture) Dad called. Brief conversation and promise to call back.

To paint a picture of the next maneuver in your head - imagine if you will one large, heavy toilet with really sticky wax blob on the bottom, and two rather large women in a 4' X 5' space. The toilet needs to be lifted and dropped into place over two small bolts without dropping or even setting down the toilet, without hitting the supply line, and without injuring either of the women. Amazingly Amy and I managed to get the toilet upright and into place without incident. Wish I had pictures, but there was no one left to take them not that they would have been able to take a decent one.

Step nineteen: plumbing connections. (Insert screeching tire sound here). After wiggling my way under the toilet, I discovered that the new supply line didn't fit - the helpful sales person at the big box store had provided me with the wrong size.

Step twenty: Trip to big box store for correct size supply line. More helpful sales people - why is it that even when I know what I'm looking for and where it is the sales people in the Plumbing department can't leave me alone. With the correct supply line in hand (receipt #4) I headed back home.

Step twenty-one: Final installation. Attach supply line. Hack saw bolts. Add caps. Turn on water - no leaks YEA! With Amy in the basement to check for leaks I flush - no leaks there either. Added a bead of caulk between the toilet and floor.

Here's the new throne in place. It's quiet, flushes and refills quickly and doesn't run!

Step twenty-two: Reattach door.

The evening concluded with lots of cleanup - tools back to the basement, vacuuming in the basement (debris had made it's way between the boards that make up layer one of our subfloor), more tools away, cutting up the cardboard for recycling, and packing up all the trash.

Cleanup was followed by dinner and celebratory cupcakes. Life is good in the house on Pickerel Pond.

A New Throne - Day One

The women on Pickerel Pond have a new throne. While Amy tackled the government required paperwork, I took on the bathroom. A leaky, wobbly toilet prompted a replacement of both the toilet, part of the sub floor, and the floor covering.

Here's the before:

That's not dirt but broken and peeling vinyl tiles.

Step one: List - we did that together Friday night.

Step two: With list in hand head to Sporting Goods store for temporary substitute (did I mention that this is our only working bathroom).

Step three: Off to the big box store for toilet, plywood (including some for woodworking projects), caulk, flexible supply line, and several other items (and no the router bit wasn't for this project).

Step four: After selecting the new throne, I negotiate a hour or so rental of one of the big box stores small trucks. Pay for and load up the throne with help. Head back inside for the plywood. (Note to self: when transporting very heavy items, and 8 foot sheets of plywood in truck with 8 foot long bed - procure and load the plywood first!) Load the plywood, with help from another customer (thanks buddy) who came upon me trying to determine if I could load the sheets by myself. I was doing this while waiting for more help from the store staff. With the sheets in the truck I then struggled to get them under the toilet's box which was already in the truck. A little assistance from a store employee got the boards under the box enough that the truck bed would close.

Step five: With help from Amy, unload the toilet and carry into the house, and the plywood to the garage.

Step six: Return truck, and purchase a couple of items missed on the first trip. (For those keeping track this is cash register receipt #3.)

Step seven: Remove towels, bathmat, and basket from the bathroom. Tie up shower curtain. Oh yes, and the door - this is a small bathroom.

Step eight: Empty the water, disconnect and remove old toilet. The floor space in this bathroom is about 4' X 5'. Getting to the connections required contortions. The blob on the floor is me - my feet are in the hall. (A note about the shirt. It's tie-dyed. I really like tie-dyed shirts, and bought this from a catalog without thinking carefully about what a red tie-dyed shirt would look like. I'd wanted a purple one, but they were out. I don't wear this in public, since it looks like I've just come from the scene of a massacre.)

Step nine: Clean - floor, flange - the remains of the wax ring were sticky and fairly disgusting.

Step ten: Cut the perimeter of the floor section to be removed - due to rot. I'm not sure what the pros use for this. I did my best impression of a hapless home owner at this point. I cut the perimeter with my circular saw. This did a fine job except for the fact that it couldn't get close to the wall, or the tub. As a result I had to finish up with a chisel.

Step eleven: Measure for replacement floor. Cut plywood. Measure for drain opening, scribe to tub. Cut. Test fit. Consult with Amy about how to wiggle into place. Cut again (same piece, smaller segment). Cut new strip for next to tub. Test fit. Trim all, cut new strip for next to tub. Lather, rinse, repeat (oh wait that's something else).

Step twelve: Screw down plywood.

Step thirteen: Strip up remaining old vinyl tiles. Discover that some of the tiles are still stuck to the floor, really stuck. Call in reinforcements. Discover just how sharp the edges of the tiles are. Acquire band-aid. After a lot of scraping all remnants of the tiles are gone - from the floor at least.

Step fourteen: Pack up a change of clothes, pajamas and swim suit and head for local hotel. Enjoy room service, a swim and a soak in the hot tub before collapsing into bed.

Poetry Thursday: Together

We didn't see it coming,
We hadn't planned for it,
It wasn't part of our wildest dreams,
But then,
quiet and trusting you slipped into my heart.

I tried to shake you loose,
To find again the path,
I thought was mine,
But then,
stubborn and demanding you slipped into my arms.

We talked deep into the night,
We held each other close,
We promised to protect each other,
And
soft and tender you slipped into my soul.

Together we face each day,
Together we face each challenge,
Together we build a life,
Quiet, trusting, stubborn, demanding, soft and tender
Together.

This is my contribution to this week's Poetry Thursday. The challenge this week was to take a line contributed by another poet (thanks! patti) and build a poem around it. Patti's line was "soft and tender you slipped into my soul".

Thursday Challenge: Circle

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Bridge Haiku

under the stone bridge
paddle draws kayak toward
adventure beyond

In response to this week's prompt at One Deep Breath
and with thanks to Shelley for the peer pressure she didn't know she was exerting.

Sunday Scribblings: In The News

When I was in high school I managed the girls basketball team. One of my responsibilities was to call scores in to the local newspapers and tv stations. This was back in the early seventies when the coverage of high school sports was limited to the boys teams, and then only to the big three - football, basketball and baseball. Where I grew up high schools didn't have hockey teams, if they had then boys hockey would have gotten a share of the coverage.

Getting coverage for girls basketball was a challenge. If we were lucky the score would get into the papers. Forget the tv stations. But after each game I called. And I had an advantage that most other high school students didn't have. I knew the sports reporters for most of the local tv stations. I didn't know them well, but I'd met them and in a few cases served them coffee.

The reason was that my father was often a subject of sports news. He coached college football at a local college and a minor league (what most people call semi-pro) football team. He never made an obscene amount of money to coach or won a national title, but he and his teams were still news.

I didn't always like that he was in the news. When I was in elementary school it was just another bit of ammunition in the arsenal my classmates used to tease me about. But in high school it was useful. When I was brushed aside by the flunky answering phones at the local tv stations, I could simply ask to speak to the reporter by name. This sometimes required a second call. When the person on the other end asked who was calling my name, or more correctly my father's name would get the call through.

Slowly but surely the coverage of girls high school sports increased. It didn't just benefit my school, it benefited all the schools in the area. I'm proud that I had a part of that. My father who was a big supporter of equal opportunity in sports, not just for his own girls, but for all girls. I don't know if he realizes that he had a part in increasing the coverage of girls sports in the area where I grew up, but he did and I'm proud of that too.

More Sunday Scribblings.

Homerun Hitter

Kara Wong '08 hit the first ever homerun out of the Wellesley Softball field during game 2 of yesterday's double-header versus Springfield College. Unfortunately, Wellesley lost the game 8 inning game 4-2.

Shutterday: Miss

A strike during game 1 of the Wellesley College softball teams double-header versus Springfield College yesterday. Wellesley won 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th.
Note: the black oval on the 3rd baseman's face is a mouth guard not a spot on the lens.

Larger version here.

More Shutterday.

Makes Me Smile

Among my many identities my favorite is aunt. I've held onto this gift label for more than a month because every time I look at it I smile. The little guy is getting bigger and this is clear evidence of it.

Thursday Challenge: Colorful

Leaning in as if sharing a secret,
these flowers which will soon
grace my garden with color.
Do they whisper of the nursery,
or tell tales of other flowers,
or simply share the pleasure that is a warm spring day.

Note: This photo is from last spring. With a smattering of snow on the ground this morning it's still too cold for planting.

More: Thursday Challenge

Passover Haiku

Charoset, matzo
horseradish and Grandma's plates,
time for the seder.

Charoset is a concoction of fruit, nuts and wine that is a traditional Passover dish. The ingredients are ground and mixed to resemble mortar. Amy makes three types - a traditional (Ashkenazi) mix of apples, walnuts and red wine; one with apples, apricots, almonds and sometimes dates; and a third with pistachios, walnuts, almonds, figs, dates, prunes, and apricots. All are yummy.

Sunday Scribblings: Deepest, Darkest

I'm a woodworker.

Now you know my deepest, darkest secret.

What? You already knew? Oh, right almost everyone who knows me knows that, and those who don't know me or don't know that can follow the link to my workshop and figure it out.

What you probably don't know is that I've gone over to the dark side, wood wise.

I haven't developed a jones for ebony, yet, but while at one of my favorite suppliers on Thursday I was drawn to a gorgeous slab of wenge. It was the deepest, darkest piece of lumber I've ever wanted to get my tools on. Many kinds of wood have found their way into my shop - pine (not so much lately), maple, birch, aspen, cherry, mahogany, walnut, and even zebrawood and purpleheart. I've been pretty much a light to medium wood kind of girl. Wenge isn't the right texture for the project I'm working on, and it costs more than I was ready to spend, but boy was it attractive.

The wenge didn't come home with me, this time. But now I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate a small amount into the next project.

P.S. This picture I just added (Sunday night) is an ornament I made for family and friends for Christmas 2005. I've made an ornament (different designs) almost every year since 1999. I've missed two years both because of work obligations. There are pictures of a few other creations in my flickr account (link to the right).

More: Sunday Scribblings

Thursday Challenge: Spring

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Waiting for Snowflake

Our pals, Sunshine and Snowman, are expecting their first child, Snowflake, in a couple of months. It couldn't happen to a better couple. The parents to be are kind, gentle, generous and fun-loving. And judging from the crowd at last Sunday's baby shower (Thanks Domino for organizing it!) the little one has a lot of honorary aunts to provide even more love.

I can't wait to meet this new person.

Morning Swim - for D and N

This is my entry in Buried in the Slushpile's contest. The challenge was to write a story of 75 words or less using words from the Dolce word list. I found out about this a the last minute and submitted my story less than 10 minutes before the deadline. Thanks to Shelley for bringing this to my attention.

Sun comes up
I jump out of bed
put on my best blue shirt
and my red shorts.

Where is my aunt?

Each day she jumps out of bed,
and walks past green trees
to jump in the big blue lake


I run past the green trees
and call to my aunt

Pretty please can I jump in too?

Sunday Scribblings: In the Kitchen

In the kitchen daisies dance on a field of yellow,
In the kitchen cereal is stored between the wall studs,
In the kitchen pudding is stirred from a foot stool,
In the kitchen cast iron radiator foot rest,
In the kitchen popcorn fire ceiling stain,
In the kitchen tricycle zooms from laundry room to living room,
In the kitchen cookies cool,
In the kitchen girl scouts learn to cook,

The kitchen,
now only a memory,
the house long ago sold,
and not quite so long ago fallen prey to gravity.

More: Sunday Scribblings.

Thursday Challenge: Green

green.

Detail from Niki de Saint Phalle's Nikigator outside the Mingei International Museum in San Diego.

A picture of the whole gator is here.

More Thursday Challenge.

Grey Friday

This afternoon's fog fascinated me. Usually this sort of weather depresses me, but the fog rolling off the river as I headed home and off the pond when I got there drew me to it. It was intriguing enough that I even made the trek down the hill to the pond.

The pictures here are (clockwise) the Charles River looking west from the Cambridge side, the base of the dogwood tree in our front yard, Pickerel Pond near our house, and the hill from the pond to the road.

Anniversary Celebration

Another shot from today's anniversary kick-off at work. The poem is inspired by my pal Shelley.

cold
grey
rainy
gloomy day
made bright by cannons
of purple and green confetti

Thursday Challenge: Entrance

A day late...

The kick-off for the 25th anniversary of my workplace was today. The day was rainy, but the event started out outdoors as planned. The highlight was the cannon release of many bucket fulls of confetti - the speckles above the banner are bits of confetti caught in the netting over the upper windows of the entry. Click the picture for a better view.

For more go to Thursday Challenge.

Kitchen Renovation

We're planning a major renovation of our house, so haven't done much about many of the things we dislike in the house. Our anniversary was two weekends ago. Many years we've spent the weekend away somewhere, but for a variety of reasons we didn't plan anything for this year. Instead we decided to do whatever we felt like.

So Saturday morning we were sitting on the couch watching tv. The view from the couch frames the pendant in the kitchen. I've never really liked the pendant. It's not that I don't like stained glass, it's just that this particular rendition doesn't appeal to me. While ignoring a commercial I looked over at the light and turning to Amy innocently asked "If we were going to replace the light in the kitchen, what would you want?"

Amy thought for a minute or two and replied "I don't know, should we go look at lights?"

So began our minor kitchen renovation. I don't remember why we decided to remove the pendant before going shopping, but remove it we did. As it turned out the wiring for this light went through the fake beam into the ceiling's drywall. So down came the beam, which turned out to be a whole lot easier than we expected. The beams are another item on the list of things we don't like in the kitchen. Since that beam was so easy to remove we decided to remove the other 6. About an hour later all that remained of the beams was a pile of wood in the living room, stripes in the paint on the ceiling, holes in the framing above the cabinets and patches of bright orange paint and orange striped wallpaper on the other side of the room.

Off we went to look for new light fixtures. After two circuits through a nearby lighting store we identified a ceiling fixture (to replace the square fixture pictured here) and a sconce (to replace the pendant). The sconce was going to require a 4-6 week wait, but the ceiling fixture was in stock, so we left the store with just the ceiling fixture and headed for the large orange big box store to look for something to replace the pendant. We located a pendant we liked at the big orange store, picked up some additional supplies and headed home with our purchases.

It was getting late, but excited about the new fixtures we decided to replace the ceiling fixture. With a worklight from my shop providing ample light we removed the ceiling fixture and installed the new light. Once I got the right combination of wire nut and electrical tape on the connections we had a beautiful new light. Tired, hungry and getting grouchy we decided to finish up the work on Sunday.

On Sunday we turned our attention to replacing the pendant. The wiring from the old light disappeared through a 1 inch diameter hole in the ceiling so out came the keyhole saw to enlarge the hole. Once the hole was big enough I discovered that the junction box for this light was about 2 inches above the drywall and the wiring wasn't actually in the box. This didn't really surprise me but did make me shake my head. We'd acquired a new junction box so I fed the wiring into it, and secured it to the studs (acquiring a lovely blood blister on my thumb in the process. I whacked it with the hammer I was using to persuade the box into the hole.) With the new box in the correct location even with the drywall, we assembled the light, secured it, wired it up and turned the power back on.

After a little cleanup - nails out of the old beams, lumber to the garage for later disposal, fixture remains into the trash, floor swept and mopped our spur of the moment renovation was complete. We are very happy with the changes and I'm still wondering what took us so long.

Icy Tree

We've had a mostly snow free winter, at least until today - yucky snow /sleet /rain /ice storm. A couple of weeks ago we got about 1/2 inch and the dogwood in our front yard ended up coated with ice. I love the way trees look when iced over, although I know that it's really bad for the trees.

Thursday Challenge - Cute

My nephew clowning for the camera. I thought he looked like a frog, but he said he was a dog.
See more at Thursday Challenge.

Concentration & Pride

When I visited New Jersey in December D and I worked on a project together. This is the second year that we have done this. When D was 3 I worked on a project (shelves for the downstairs bathroom) but he didn't help much.

Last year I milled the parts for a wooden tray, and D painted the bottom and helped assemble it. I posted one picture at the time since D couldn't wait to surprise his parents.

D is a little older now and more able to do more of the work on the projects and to keep secrets. So, this year's project remained a secret until Christmas (at least as far as I know). Which is why it's taken until now to post these pictures.

This year we created mosaic pictures within store bought frames sized to either be pictures or to be used as coasters. I'd like to have made the frames but all the travel I did this fall prevented that. In the shot above D is masking off the edges of the frame so the adhesive and grout wouldn't get on it. With the confidence of age I didn't mask all of the frame I filled, you can see it to D's right in the picture. I ended up getting grout on it and D was able to tell me that I should have done it like he did.

Here is D with the finished result (no pictures of the one I made). He's also holding the "god's eye" he made in First Day school that Sunday. I love this picture for the almost bashful pride he's showing.

Out with the Old

This is the before, outside and inside views. We finally reached the last straw when the mechanism to open the door from the outside broke several months ago. The door was hard to open - the method for opening it from the inside was by pulling on a chain, and squeaked when raised or lowered.

So we decided to replace it. After many trips to the local big box store - order placed, order revised (the original order wouldn't work with our _very_ low ceilinged garage), paperwork they forgot to have us sign...)- the door was delivered a couple of weeks ago.

Over the last couple of weekends, and a few weeknights we varnished the door sections. It's kept me out of the workshop, but it sure does look nice.

In With The New

The installers arrived this morning, and quickly got to work removing the old door. Soon all that remained was a pile of debris in the driveway.

After trimming the door, and lowering the header, the door started taking shape. Several hours we had ourselves a brand spanking new garage door, complete with an electric opener.

The blue in the after pictures is masking tape put on to keep the varnish off the glass. It's coming off first thing tomorrow.


Now we just need to decide what color to paint the trim. Any suggestions?

New Socks

Amy went clothes shopping today. I don't know if she found what she wanted but she did buy me a bunch of new pairs of socks, including the patterned and striped ones pictured here. I also got a few pairs of solid colors, but they really aren't photo worthy.

I don't know why I like brightly colored socks, but I do. And there's nothing better than a bagful of new socks. Thanks Amy!

A New View

I spend a fair amount of my free time masquerading as a woodworker. I've set up a new blog so that you can have a peek at that part of my life, if you're interested. There isn't much there yet, just my project list, but I promise to add to it soon.

A Kiss

Two sets of lips
lightly brush,
Is it a kiss?
Hours pass,
the lips meet again
long slow kisses.
Life shifts.
Love grown over
months of late night
long talks,
friends become lovers.

Twenty one years,
societal shift
a wedding kiss,
made sweet
by the wait.

The fearful,
claiming faith,
can't erase the love,
the legacy of that
first kiss.

Thanks to Shelley and Sunday Scribblings for the inspiration.

My New Nickname or Gravity Always Wins

I'm a very careful woodworker and I have all ten fingers to prove it. I get splinters regularly, I have gotten cuts from the edges of chisels, I've even sanded off skin (not recommended), but I have never had a major woodworking injury. I know how to use my tools, I think about how I'm going to accomplish the task at hand, and I stop working when I'm tired.

My workshop is cluttered (like much of my house). One of the home improvement projects on my list is organizing the shop - it'll happen one day soon, really it will. There are parts for numerous projects, bins of cutoffs, tool containers, and of course saw dust covering most surfaces. While this isn't the best way to work, I do make sure I clear off the space where I'm currently working. This frequently means that I make use of a work mate (small folding workbench) in addition to the workbench top. I sit on a counter height stool most of the time while working in my shop.

So Monday night I was working on the latest project - cutting dadoes with a router fitted with the plunge base using a homemade jig. The work piece and the jig were clamped to the work mate, which was sitting perpendicular to the work bench, and when not being used the router was placed on the work bench. After making a pass with the router I decided that the bottom of the dado wasn't even enough. So I turned to the bench picked up the router (plugged in but off) and turned 90 degrees to my left to position it on the jig. That's when gravity took over.

In turning I became unbalanced and tumbled off the stool toward the concrete floor (and the tool bags sitting on it). There wasn't time to catch my balance (my left foot was probably on the rung of the stool rather than on the floor. Because the router was in my left hand I didn't try to catch myself with my hand - which was for the best since that's a quick route to a broken wrist.

Amy heard the noise - the stool crashed to the floor shortly after I did - and came down to investigate, and helped me shut off lights, unplug the router. We left the sweatpants I had been wearing next to the washer. The sawdust they'd picked up while I was working had been supplemented by most of the sawdust from the floor - they looked like we'd dusted with them.

I ended up with a dime sized scrape on my elbow, an impressive bruise just above my elbow, and a very swollen knee which also has a couple of small cuts - I landed on it. The injuries are too gruesome for pictures! The good news is that the swelling is going down thanks to regular icing. The bad news is that the bruises have only just begun the inevitable journey through the spectrum. It's a really good thing that it's winter so I'm not tempted to wear shorts.

Amy overheard a couple of the guys at work talking about calling me Crash from now on (just what I need another nickname). The moral of the story - I need to organize the shop, including adding more rubber pads to the floor (I've got a few and they are very nice to stand on. While I don't plan to take any more dives I expect that they might have cushioned the impact a bit.); I need to pay more attention to my position when moving in the shop and remember _gravity always wins_. In the words of Beakman - "gravity - it's the law".