Living Remodel Pre-Work

I have devised a home made piano caster for the cost of buying one professionally made piano caster. I will have three, commenserate with the number of piano legs I have, so that worked out well.

I just went on line to Steinway and Sons dot com and learned that a parlor grand Model A piano weighs 695 pounds. That is good news for me as the furniture mover I purchased has a 1000 pound capacity. That means my little casters will be well within the regulations for successful piano movamentations.

As you can see from the photos provided, I placed a brace across the furniture mover and then another brace on top of that. I used my router to create a square hole for the wheel to fit in snuggly. I spent about $60.00 for the movers and the wood to augment the movers. As I said, that is almost as much as one caster.

It still remains to be seen how easily the piano will move around with this system.

Survived the Holidays

It's two days past Christmas and we have survived it. The tough portion of the holiday is behind us and now I hope we can enjoy ourselves a little bit.

I guess we have to start thinking about New Years Resolutions. I have one every year to learn to type properly. My hunting and pecking method does not serve me very well considering the amount of time I spend on a computer.

I also want to play the piano more. It's waaaaaay out of tune but I think that can be fixed.

We also have a project to start preparing for. It is time to drywall the ceiling in the living room. Then it gets a nice treatment of crown moulding and I think some wall papering. I'm not in charge of that.

To prepare for the project, I first have to come up with a method to easily move the piano around. I have a plan in mind and I need to start on that without haste.

Deep in the Bosom of the Season

With the occurrence of the annual Corbin Park Carriage Ride, we are now firmly ensconced in the Christmas Season.

The Carriage Ride was perfect. We haven't yet had any snow to speak of this season. So when it started snowing about 11AM today, Susan and I celebrated. It did not snow a lot, just enough to create a dusting on the ground and make everything an occasion for Caucasian. It was just white enough.

We invited a few friends over and enjoyed some pizza and libations, including ice shot glasses with Fireball. Ooooh! Ahhhhh!

There was of course, the cleaning frenzy prior to the party but that went pretty smoothly this time around. Susan did not seem stressed and that's cuz I was incredibly helpful.

I painted a window on Saturday and took enough pictures to create a seminar on how I paint windows. You are particularly lucky because this is gonna be it.

It's best to start with a window. Pretty much any window will do but try to get one that you have permission to paint on.

Generally, I use tempera. Tempera is the powdered paint you used in kindergarten that mixes with water. It is not a good choice if the window is exposed to rain. It will run. In that event, you have to use acrylic.

Okay, you have a window. Now you have to decide what you are going to put on the window. In this case, it's going to be a Cigar Store.

So I made a stencil of the the copy that needed to go up and taped it into place, making sure it was square and level on the window.

Then I pulled out my big window painting dauber, and went to town on the stencil.

When you have that up, you start filling in the letters with your base color. In this case, it's very simple. White letters with a black outline. I use an inch and a half foam roller to fill in the letters. You don't have to worry about sloppy edges because you'll cover that with the outline.

When it's all filled in, you pull out the Chinese character brush and start outlining.

Now, if I was at all professional or cared, I would use an artist brace bar to support my hand as I paint. But because neither of those traits apply to me and it's a temporary window anyway, I just slap up the outline and move on.

Thus endeth the seminar!

I made some bitchin' ice candles for prior to the Carriage Ride. They froze a little too efficiently so so they kind of fell apart on me when I tried to chip a hole in them. Nonetheless, they worked groovily.

This one is completely enclosed and comes apart in half. I put LED lights in it and it looked pretty cool.

The other one came apart in three pieces but I was able to freeze it back together and make it look decent. This one had a real candle in it and was quite luminous.

Okay! That's our Holiday weekend in pictures. Now it's time to go back to work and reality!

One Wedding, a Funeral...and Lots of Sky Walks

It's been a busy week here in Lake Wobegone!

We have been out painting sky walks every night this past week. 
It cuts into our busy television viewing schedule but the money is nice.

Today we had a Memorial Service for our friend, John Roehm. (Pronounced "Raym") He has been Mom's boyfriend for the past five years. He died November 10th after being diagnosed with lung cancer back in May. He was the nicest guy I've ever met...very kind and the quintessential gentleman. We will all miss him a lot and leaves a real hole in Mom's life.

We will be leaving shortly to attend a wedding. This looks to be a very big affair. A big service at St. John's Cathedral followed by a reception at the Davenport Hotel with open bars and and a served dinner for 300. Some money is being spent!

We have one more sky walk and then we are finished. However, I did get a call from a guy who wants a temporary sign painted on a storefront window that will be opening in a couple of months. Something like "Coming Soon!" He doesn't need it right away but we'll get it done this week.