Countdown to Floor Refinishing

In order to complete the upcoming Floor Refinishing task within the confines of the Labor Day Weekend, we are preparing some pre-refinishing chores.

The main job will be moving all the furniture out of the TV Room. No big deal but it is a little cumbersome and bulky and will require some pre-planning so we're not stumbling all over everything.

The other thing will be some edge sanding. I am starting tonight to use the palm sander and get areas like the corner shown below. This is in the hall in the corner where a radiator will go. If I can get all the edge sanding accomplished, that will go a long way to getting us ahead of the game. Being ahead of the game will allow for more goof off time.Speaking of goof off time, we just finished a weekend where we were visited by my childhood friend, Mike. It sounds like I changed his name to protect his anonymity, but it didn't. His name really is Mike. He came to town from Bellingham to visit his mom and hang with us.

We concluded the weekend by going up to Arbor Crest Winery last night for their Sunday Concert. It was a great Swing Band called Timmy Swing and the Vino Swingers. They all wore Zoot Suits and had a great horn section.

I captured this lovely sunset to commemorate the event.

Asked and Answered

I did a little research over the weekend and found the answers to my questions about the work occurring in the river bed.

I found that Avista Utilities is in charge of what's going on in the river bed. They are studying techniques to enhance the aesthetic qualities of the river flow. They want the rapids to look better. Who would ever think of something like that other than a utility with lots of money to spend.

Actually, I can't blame them. They have to do this to be in compliance with their permits to operate dams on the river. I think the rapids are the rapids and they look like they look. How can you possibly enhance them?! Make them bigger? Make a giant surfing wave? Perhaps something in a nice curly-cue?

We made some progress on the new bookcase in the upstairs landing. We put a second coat of stain on the thing. The first coat was with dark walnut and the second coat was with red mahogany...just like we did on the stairs.

I have to finish up the shelves and then we can varnish.

The other project I'm working on is the little pieces of trim under the stair treads.I finished cutting and coping and shaping and finally, installing. Now we have to get a coat of varnish on them and that is one more step to completing the three years stair project. These things are a very small detail affectation that probably nobody will notice other than those who read this. Just remember, it's all in the details!

We starting to get geared up for the big Labor Day Project, also known as Floor Refinishing Weekend. I believe I have it arranged so that I don't have to tend bar that weekend. The sander is arranged and we are starting to figure out the logistics. There will be the moving of furniture and the hanging of plastic and the sealing of orifices.

I'm really looking forward to it.

Lazy Bastard

I have ridden my bike to work the last couple of days. I was hoping to go all week without using the car but I ran into a problem this morning. The problem is: me!

I just couldn't get my lazy ass out of bed this morning. No reason other than not motivated. So as I laid there in bed, against the warm cuddliness of Susan, I told myself that I probably needed to drive today.

"Um...let's see...oh, I know! I need to buy some trim for the new door in the entryway. Yeah, that's it! Okay, 35 more minutes to lie here and snuggle."

So I reference the bike riding to bring up this question.

What the hell are they doing down there?

As I ride home through Riverfront Park, I noticed all these workmen in Bobcats cruising around the riverbed. It looks like they are placing large packs of sand bags in the riverbed. How long are those sand bags going to stay in place once the spring run off kicks in and the current turns into a roiling torrent?...he asked incredulously!

So I'll be keeping an eye on that.

In the realm of home remodeling, I'm going to buy some trim today for the new door in the entryway.

Carpet!Carpet!Carpet!

The carpet runner has arrived!

I arrived home last night to find a large box on the front porch along with another package containing two rolled up carpets.

The two carpets are for the hallway upstairs next to the landing and the hallway downstairs next to the stairs. They match the runner so we have a tied in color scheme going floorally.

We layed out the new carpets and, as you can see, they look great. They are also quite plush.We immediately started planning our schedule to install the runners when Susan remembered our coming plans for Labor Day. We are planning on refinishing the hardwood floors on the main floor. It makes no sense to get our runner down only to coat it in a heavy layer of hardwood sanding dust.

So the installation is off until after Labor Day, which I think is fashionably correct...although I do plan on wearing white. But just my shoes and a belt, perhaps a nice pair of flared polyester slacks.....and a big collared shirts with chains.....Disco Floor Refinisher.

Hot August Stump Fire

I still have a ton of twigs and branches to clean up in the yard and that gives me the perfect excuse for a Saturday Night Stump Fire. Below is one of about 10,000 pictures I took trying to make my crippled camera get a good picture. Tonight we are hosting a couple of friends for a nice little evening barbecue. I am making my second attempt at a barbecued rotisserie chicken. My first attempt was okay but not what I would call a success. I'm going to attempt to create a smokey flavor by adding some hickory chips. The results are coming up in the next paragraph.

After obtaining some butchers twine, I trussed the chicken to keep it from flopping around as it roasts.

It took a while to get the coals to cooperate. My barbecue has a propane starter and I haven't been able to refill the bottle because it is old. I think I know a place where they will fill it. I'll try them this week.

In the meantime, I just used the ol' charcoal chimney and finally got a nice heat going. I put the chicken on the spit and started it over indirect heat. I cooked for about an hour and a half and was perfect. It really came out good and we were all pleased.

All in all, it was a lovely evening with good friends who will remain anonymous because of their reviled status in the community of local city governmentation.

Not So Protective Tape

The brass keeper bars for the stair runner arrived last night. I didn't even bother opening the package yet. We had a family dining event to attend so there was no time. I'll bust it open tonight and inspect the contents. Or not!

In the meantime, we have removed the protective tape from around the balusters and discovered it wasn't terribly protective. We have some touch up to do. In some cases it is just a little scraping but in a few instances, some mineral spirits or similar chemical will be required.

Beyond that, we've just been trying to stay cool during the hot August dog days of Summer.

The real tough thing to keep up with is the lawn watering. You can't neglect it or you're toast.

We watched two fairly young skunks cavort about the yard last night. I think that is all we've got. I have been feeding them hot dogs in order to introduce them to the fabulous flavor and make them crave it.

Traps to come!

Where's the Points

I had the opportunity to take a day off from work yesterday and I jumped at it. I was pleased with my accomplishments.

I started the day with a visit to the doctor. Just a regular check up. Everything seems to be okay, although I believe I am in the worst shape of my life. I need to lose 20 and get me some energy.

To celebrate the successful Doctor's appointment, I had me a big fatty breakfast and pondered new ways I could lose weight.

One project I have been putting off for over a year was to get some electrical outlets on the front porch. I finally got that done. It took me only a couple of hours. Actually, it probably only took about 20 minutes to do the actual wiring. The rest of that time was spent crawling under the front porch, realizing I didn't have the proper tool I needed, crawling out, going to the basement, getting the tool after the obligatory 5 minute search and then returning to the under belly of the porch to discover another tool not at my immediate disposal.

Another project that I have been putting off since we moved into the house is to replace all the windows that are plexiglas with window glass. I can think of 5 such window spaces throughout the house. I decided yesterday was a good day to take care of two of those plexi-problems.

There was a small 9" x 9.75" window pane in the kitchen and another 26" x 28" pane in an adjacent window. I ended up removing the glazing from a number of panes and re-glazing. That took a few hours. Partly to go get the glass but mostly because I'm a loser dumb ass!

I know I have glazing compound and points, the little metal things you stick in the frame to hold the glass in place. I have even seen them recently and I remember putting them in a special spot so I would have ready access to them when needed.

Where is that special spot? Beats the shit outta me!

I looked all over the place. I pretty much scoured the basement and found some other stuff that I'll have no idea where it is when I need it. Finally, after a good hour of hunting, I drove over to the General Store and paid eight bucks for a new bucket of glazing compound and points, the little metals things you stick in the frame to hold the glass in place.

So I got that done and I am happy.

On Sunday, we got a second coat of paint on the balusters and we are good with that. We are calling them done. We started removing the tape last night and things look pretty good. We have a little touch up to do but for the most part, the stairs look pretty good.

We are now awaiting the arrival of the stair runner. Once that is installed we will complete the three year project with the installation of the keeper bars, the little metal things you stick on the stairs to hold the carpet in place.