649 6th

wood stain

Sorry for the snoozy title, but sometimes the all pith has been taken out of me.

Not a bad match for the stain I used on patch boards in the dining room ceiling. Settled on Minwax Golden Oak after testing several other stains (including Colonial Maple and Cherry, which in my opinion are rather hideous -- too much tint). Better than the zebra stripes that have been up there for, um, years.

Tomorrow, the beams get a dark stain. Drama.

what's next?

I've noticed something recently (or I'm doing a hell of a job projecting onto people); the question "what are you going to after this?" suddenly has a slightly different connotation.

It used to be when people asked us that question it was understood to mean, "when are you going to get a normal life back?"

Maybe it's because the place is finally more than a bunch of unobtainable ideas, maybe it's because they realize that this "making stuff thing" has become more of lifestyle than a solution.

Either way I take shift in meaning as a compliment.

The photo is from the backyard looking in through the hall.

coasting

Last night we hosted a party for my team from work. Today we are officially done hosting for this holiday season (aka we no longer have any "target" dates). I think it may be time to go back to the master project plan rather than that little triage list we used to punch out the parties. Or perhaps I'll go lie back down on the couch.

An artsy-passing-the-time shot to go along with this coasting mood...

family truckster

A few weeks ago I met my friend Jeff for drinks after work. As we were saying goodbye on the sidewalk he noted the bike I've been riding. It's a three speed sealed hub (think dutch city bike) Sowbo. I tricked it out with a rear pannier and have a begun to use it like my own ecoSUV. With its sleek styling and matte black finish my esteemed branding colleague remarked that it was rather chi-co (chic eco). I chuckled because I knew exactly what he meant. I was either part of a meme or I'm a ubiquitous demographic.

I've used it for a number of material runs, I commute to and from work, and I do the grocery shopping. It gives a flare of superiority known only to some movies stars and Al Gore. I feel like a superhero when I place my groceries directly into the snap-on bag gently clicking into place. After which I quickly mount and make away in stealth (way to many comic fantasies).

Granted I live in New York where it's relatively flat, so it's not a hard ride and everything is relatively close, I think everyone should try it. Or at least the huppies (hipster/yuppies) should give it a go. It fits the lifestyle... well, you'll have to get the obligatory fixed gear bike first I guess.

wheat and chaff

I gotta say the details and the materials were starting to get the better of me. It's Tuesday night and that means schedule check-in, but tonight I wanted to give it a kick. We did a cleaning reset on the last unfinished room (dining) and made it less of a materials storage area and the beginnings of another finished space.

On the plan we're doing ok at best. Last week I mentioned that it sometimes takes longer to set-up and strike a job than it takes to do it. This week I am finding the plus side of that equation is that there are limitless jobs to choose from. Nothing really has priority over another at this point; if you're tired of painting trim, miter and nail up some cedar for a while. Not working for you? How bout a bit of electrical fixture installation?

We've got a couple of big jobs queued up for each of the next three weekends (kitchen cabinets and trim, stairs installation, and sliding bathroom barn door respectively), if successful by December 1 you will see a blue sheet of perfection (at least I'm allowed to dream).

3 years in

Today marks the three year anniversary of us moving into the house. I wanted to make three years flashing before your eyes. Trouble was the production was a little more complicated than out current methods can handle. Well maybe not handle, but at least do in a reasonable amount of time.

We had competing cameras with competing numbering systems. Sort of like a fugue! Then there was the problem with Google's algorithm; apparently it doesn't like images thrown at it quite that fast. Sorry for the chunks, but enjoy!

banner day

Tonight we futzed more with the drywall compound (trying to meet the rigid QA requirements), and spruced up the blog a bit. I figured why not nail up a bit of cedar here too? It makes the place smell so fresh.

dust mask

Just a friendly reminder to all.

After cutting cedar planks most of the weekend without a dust mask I feel like I'm having a asthma attack this morning (and I don't even have asthma).

House rule from this point forward; when vaporing cedar with a chop saw wear a mask, it'll pay off in the long run.

borrowing

It's Monday night, you need about 45 linear feet of 1x6 poplar from the depot. It's about four blocks straight downhill. With that amount of lumber the two of you could 1) carry it home and likely be in a  state of foul tempered irrtation for the rest of the evening, 2) hire one of the van guys in front of the depot to drive you home (except it's Monday night.. really, who's gonna be there?) or 3) "borrow" a cart from the depot.

Yes that's right we've been known to periodically take shopping carts from the depot and push our stuff all the way home. Once we were bold enough to borrow a lumber cart and push that heavy sled back up the hill loaded to the gills with materials (just ask Greg, somehow we Tom Sawyer'ed him into helping). We don't keep them and we always return them exactly back to where they were found.

I have to admit I was brazen enough to borrow one once to go pick up tile from another dealer in the neighborhood. Which of course meant a double trip of going to get an empty one and then returning it later that day. But, if the depot's motto is "You can do it. We can help.", periodically lending us their carts is much obliged.

kitchen kinetoscope

The kitchen renovation was the first time-lapse series we shot. Now that we found a quick way to make movies out of them, we dipped into the archive and whipped this one up.