Wisteria

This trellis was built nearly 6 years ago, along with the planting of the wisteria. It took about 4 years for the wisteria to finally start budding. That first year it budded, it almost didn't because I almost ripped it out thinking it was defunct. Fortunately, my neighbor informed me these take awhile to take hold. Hopefully, it'll go nuts this spring because I'm getting tired of looking at that bare trellis.

Apple-Gruyere Open Faced Sandwich

This is a slightly different twist to a "house blog", but I just had to share. This last weekend I had no idea what I wanted for lunch. Nothing really sounded good and I wasn't starved but needed something. Then I had this idea of using up some fridge contents and for whatever reason, the thought of apple and cheese sounded really good. I came up with this little diddy - the apple-gruyere open faced sandwich.

I thinly sliced a red apple and placed it on slightly toasted Como bread (italian chewy crunchy sandwich type bread), covered it with sliced gruyere cheese and broiled it in a toaster oven until the cheese was melted. A dollop of chutney was then placed on top (I'd probably lighten up on the chutney next time). But it was... So. Good.

My Favorite Chair In The Whole Wide World

This last Friday, I had the day off and what a perfect day to not be in the office. I woke up earlier than I have in months, in anticipation of the near 80° weather and bright sunshine. Even after the hike up to Mt. Tabor, both Scully and I were well overheated. I can't speak for Scully but I already miss the rain.

I made full use of the day and at the end of it, got out the outdoor furniture for a fresh coat of oil. I never though I would enjoy this Adirondack chair as much as I have in the last few years I've had it, but the placement next to the waterfall, along with space to throw the ball for Scully makes it pretty difficult not to love it.

Check out the birds eye view:

The Dining Room Table - Embryonic Stage

I've been working on this dining room remodel for a year and a half now, though 6 months of it has been the oak tree tile mural, and today was the first day to meet the table. My intention is to obtain a table that is at least 100 years old, or at least seems like it. I hate shopping and the thought of wandering from antique store to antique store to find some thicked top rustic table seemed more of a chore that hanging drywall, or even painting. Besides, who knows how over priced that ideal table would have been.

Then I had an idea! (yeah, I get those from time to time)... a custom built table from reclaimed old growth Douglas Fir timber.

I came across Brave New Wood through the Architectural Heritage Center in Portland, came up with quick design, and finally met him today where he had sanded one of the boards that will become the tabletop.

It's going to be a trestle type table, like the table I ate dinner at as a kid. Here's a CAD sketch of it, though it's probably going to change slightly for ease of manufacturing:

White Tin Ceiling

This past week I have been priming and painting the tin ceiling, removing it from it's shiny status. From what I understand, the tin ceiling concept was utilized as an economical way of recreating the fancy plaster work found in the more upscale homes. With that, it makes sense to me to have it painted white.

This project would have been completed a day earlier had I used actual PAINT and not primer to do the final touch ups. Label reading prior to opening is so understated.

Cherry Tree Pre-Bloom

I have a cherry tree in the front which blooms in mid-April or thereabout. Since it's probably 20 to 25 years old, it's fairly large so in full bloom it's pretty exciting. The last few days I've noticed quite a few changes, so I wanted to capture it in pre-bloom form. Stay tuned for more pictures later in the month!

Crawling

Crawling. That is what happens when too much glaze is applied on my trim tile pieces and the glaze pulls itself off of the clay piece, I am told. And it's particularly bad with the exact glaze I am using - Downright White. It happened to about half of the pieces that I had glaze fired last week.

My next step is to retouch the pieces that this happened to, take them to get refired and hope for the best. Otherwise, I may be starting all over. This trim tile part of the dining room project has really been a hassle and progress for this is, should I say......"crawling". Here are the pieces that did make it out successfully and I'm pleased with.

I Like Shiny Things

For the end of the week, I was busy installing the tin ceiling. First I installed the "filler" around the edges since the main tin panels weren't in yet. Then it was the crown molding and finally the 2' x 2' panels. It went very smoothly and wasn't too overly difficult. The nail gun was a huge help (once again). I'd say the most critical part in the whole process was just making sure the pieces were laid out properly prior to nailing into place. That and making sure the panels were square to the wall, but that just takes a lot of measuring and a few reintalls.

The shiny look is very exciting and I can't seem to walk through the dining room without taking notice with my mouth agape, but I'm off to Home Depot to purchase some white paint. And it has to be oil based paint, or else it'll make the tin ceiling rust because the tin ceiling is really a steel ceiling.

In Between Fires

After receiving the call from Georgie's, the everything ceramic store, that my trim tiles were done being bisque fired, I picked them up as soon as I could. I spent most of the afternoon Saturday cutting the challenging miters, as well as recutting the simple straight pieces as the shrink rate was less than expected.
On Sunday, I sanded and cleaned the trim pieces, then I applied the glaze - LOTS of glaze (about 4 coats). Today (Monday), I'll bring them back to Georgies to get glaze fired.

Vacuum For Sale

Actually, I take that back. I still have carpet upstairs, but as of last night, there's no more carpet on the first floor. Last night's carpet rippage in the family room was much more successful than the office from the night before, in that the doug fir floors are all intact and in good shape. I'm all the more excited for these new floors. After hanging out in the room, I realized that the soft doug fir floors give a much warmer feel than I was expecting.

Here's Scully, enjoy the last few moments of the carpet.

Carpet Tearout in Office

Last night was the unveiling of my Doug Fir floors in the office (also know as a third bedroom). I was fairly excited, not just because it was another step in the direction of a finished dining room, but also to see the wood floors, that were sure to be in great shape and ready to be easily restored.

Here is a before picture. I should have vaccuumed but what's the point?

And the after picture. In the background are some hideous wide boards that will need to be removed and replaced with new fir floors. The reason they're different is because that part of the house was added on later from the original house.

Below the carpet and padding was this colorful linoleum. Kinda cool, but isn't staying.
Here's a more detailed picture of the "newer" part of the house, with the wide boards that will need to be replaced.

Bloomin' Clematis

The first picture is from inside my fence. The clematis is actually planted on the OTHER side of the fence, but since this side gets the afternoon sun, this is what happens.

I still don't know what variety it is, despite the fact that I see it all over Portland.

Tin Ceiling Ordered

I finally got on the ball and ordered the tin ceiling. I went through a couple of different companies to get the best price. I was planning on going with a pattern that I've seen more commonly, but at the last minute I came across a couple that were pretty interesting, finally deciding on this:

I'll have a "filler" around the edges which has a hammered look to it. Then this moulding to cover the perimeter edge:
I've been told that I should see the panels by the end of next week, so we'll see.

Plying the Ceiling With Wood

This is so I can attach the tin ceiling in the weeks to come. It was quite a task hoisting the 4x4 pieces of half inch plywood over my head on a wobbly ladder, but that pneumatic nail gun was a life saver. I was quite surprised by how fast it went.

Here's some before and after shots:

Hiya Spring, Nice To See Ya Again

I particularly like this time of year not just because it gets warmer (duh) but also because it reminds me of when I got the keys to my house 12 years ago (March 8th, 1995 to be exact). In fact, I distinctly remember moving stuff with great excitement in the back of the house where the 2nd picture of daffodils was taken, and those same daffodils were blooming at the time.

This shot is of the daffodils in the front of the house. I'm digging the slightly out of focus house siding in the background.
Interestingly, I'm not sure Scully is liking the warmer weather. At the park, where she fetches the racquetball after I bash it into space with my stick, she tends to get too hot too quick. But that's kind of why I built the waterfall.

Here's a shot of the first clematis bloom of the year.

I think there'll be plenty more from the looks of those buds.

So Far, So Good

This past week I have been redoing the trim for the oak tree tile mural after the initial attempt ended up in catastrophic warpage. The things I did different were: using fresh clay rather than recycled and letting the clay dry in the jig a bit before attempting to move it. I also pre-cut the trim to 8" while it was still a bit damp rather than fire it, then cut. So far, the side trim that was redone is looking like a winner.

The darker gray trim on the right was formed just last night and is darker because it still contains moisture. The lighter gray on the left was more several days ago and is pretty well thoroughly dry.

For the cap of the trim, I decided to reuse the already formed clay since that didn't warp as bad. I'll make a decision whether it will be useful after I do the bisque fire.

Warped

After coming back from a week and a half vacation in Ireland, I discovered that the oak tree tile trim was completely dry and ready to be bisqued fired. Unfortunately, it had warped pretty badly.

This picture just shows a small portion of the several feet of trim I tooled out but after checking it all out tonight, I realized that most, if not all of the clay work I've done is unusable.

There are few reasons for this warping. The biggest cause is that when I was done forming, to move the clay out of the jig, I had to lift on each end of the 20" section. Since it was still wet, it obviously bends. Though it's laid out flat to dry, apparently the clay has good "memory" and tries to go back to that shape it took when it was removed from the jig.

I also think a small part of it has to do with using recycled clay. From the many dry scraps of clay in making the oak tree mural, I added some to a tub along with water and a lot of mixing. The problem was that I don't think the moisture was evenly distributed, leaving drier clumps in the wet clay. This may be why the trim appears bumpy.

Regardless, I have to start all over. I have a new plan in place and tomorrow it's off to buy fresh clay.

It's Like Watching Clay Dry

I have just finished the final making of the trim and here it is, set to dry. Not the most exciting post, I realize, but that is why I choose the title I did. I have a feeling there's going to be some rework. I can even see some mistakes just in this picture, but I'm done with this stage of the dining room remodel for now.

Oak Tree Tile Trim, Part Four

This part deals with making the side trim of the oak tree tile mural. Here it is in final form, drying:

The first stage, in rough form, after pressing the clay into the jig or guide for the forming tool:
After the first pass:
After the second pass:
And the third. At this point, the bulk of the extra clay is off, and it's a matter of going over it several times, while spraying it with water to make sure the clay is uniforming distributed and no small cavities exist:
For the last pass, I clean the tool to make sure I get a good final clean cut into the clay. Surprisingly, there is still clay coming off despite making several passes. I try not too over work the clay too.

Panel Wainscoting Complete

This past week I was able to wrap up the last of the panel wainscoting install. It was just a couple of small areas, one near the stairs and one near the woodstove. And I can't even nail the cap yet near the woodstove until I figure out how to blend it in with the oak tree tile trim.

Here is the before / after scecario: