DAMN YOU, FLARED CHIMNEY!!!

Here's how it looked after the first round of Crown Molding.

Here is what we ended up with after our fix today.

I can live with this. It is by no means perfect. It's not even in the same dictionary as "perfect". But we can make this work and look good.

We have closed up the gap by adding an extra piece of molding  below the crown. It allowed us to hide the imperfections and it adds a bit more substance to the overall look of the crown.

The corners are a bit rough but even here in the after picture, you can see it looks much better.

All in all, we are pleased! The crown molding portion of the living room is almost complete and now it is time to move on the the wood.....and the radiator.....and the wall papering.....and the chair rail.....check back in August.

Gardeners Corner

We have determined that our house is where plants go to die.

The hydrangea's we planted back on Memorial Day weekend are not looking well. It's not from lack of watering and I can't believe it's from too much watering.

I think one of the things we need to do next Spring is rototill some compost into this dirt. It turns rock hard once it settles and dries.

Susan bought a bunch a flowers last weekend and finally got them all into the ground last night. It was the first chance we've had as we have been painting skywalks all week.

The areas I seeded with grass are coming in nicely. Compare this picture with the one from the May 30th post and the transformation is semi-dramatic.

Editors Note: We have since found out that we are over watering the hydrangea's. We have knocked that off.

Different Forms of Accomplishment

Accomplishment was my middle name yesterday as I tore around the yard and accomplishmentized all over the place.

I have completed Phase One of my Arbor Project. I have installed caps over all the lengths of beams that form the arbor over the deck. The next phase is to place the caps over the cross beams at the end of the arbor. And I need to get it done before the hops gets any larger.











Then I got to cleaning the yard and couldn't stop. That little area at the end of the Carraige House and next to Ted's garage has been an eye sore for many years. I got to work cutting up the boards that have been rotting on the ground. Then I pulled out the roto-tiller and really did some damage. I cleaned it up enough that Susan and I are now in talks about laying down some sort of patio in the area. We are discussing cement, paver bricks and large pieces of slate.

I had a piano lesson at 1:30 and barely made it on time due to my inability to stop. I just kept wanting to do one more thing. That was my last piano lesson for the summer as I have too much going on to stop in the middle of the day and take a lesson.

The perfect end to a perfect day of accomplimentation is the tradition Pit Fire of Accomplishment.

It was ferocious and I used up a lot of the wood that I cleaned up from the yard. Fret not...there is still plenty of house to burn.

Today has turned into a bust in relation to Accomplimentoring. We went to church and then charged home to plant a bunch of flowers Susan bought Saturday. We planted one side of the front yard garden.

Then we went to a Graduation Party for my friend Lee's son. It was a grand event at the Spokane Club with beer and wine and pop for the graduates. There was great food as well. 

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long due to a prior commitment we made with our church. We volunteered to answer pledge calls at the local PBS TV station. That ate up four hours of our time on an otherwise beautiful Sunday. 

We're working on figuring out how to get the deduction.

The Problem of the Flair

It is another day of toil for the Living Room and to highlight that fact, displayed above is my compressor and my 100 year old custom needlepoint workbench upon which my air nailer rests. As soon as I get my Fine China Plate Hammer Rest and my taffeta doily staining pads, I'll be all set to go.

Today, we (and when I say "we", I mean Phil) must confront the most tedious part of the crown molding project. The Chimney Outcropping.

This area flares at the top as one may note from the photograph. The crown molding is designed to adhere to two flat surfaces. I'm not sure how we (Phil) are going to accomplish this. I presume it will require some filing, sanding, sawing of the bottom portion of the molding in order to allow it to rest properly into the flare.

Later that Same Day: It is evening now and day is done. So is the crown molding. Although, as with everything we do with this project, it did not go easily.

Filing, sanding and/or sawing did not solve the problem of the flair. It turned out that the molding would be too thin were the dentil features are.

We have a problem with squareness! It's a 100 year old house and it has settled somewhat over the hun. Plus, we have that damn flare you see above on the chimney portion of the walls. 

We are going to progress to another thin line of molding to be placed below the crown. I'm hoping that another strip of molding will help to hide that gap around the fireplace. Stand by for news as it happens.

At this point, I will say that I am not exactly happy with this molding we purchased on-line. You will notice from the picture above that we used pre-fabricated inside and outside corners. They do not match up well with the contours of the molding. 

I'm sure this will all look better once it is painted. That will help to hide some of the imperfections and the intense sanding I intend to do to make things match.

Four Project Saturday

I woke up around 3 to the sound of someone shouting outside. I think it was coming from the neighbors yard across the alley from us. There was definitely a party going on when we shut down our pit fire around 11.

It was to be a busy day and that meant getting up and getting right to it. Whatever it was, we were to it.

Project Number Most Important was getting up the crown molding in the Living Room.

It is not complete but what is up looks good.

While Phil worked on the crown molding, I went to work to restore workability to our front window. The house is loaded with all the old style windows that employ weights hidden within the sill. The weights add ease of opening to the heavy windows. As with many of these old style windows, the weights have long since ceased to work. The ropes have broken and the weights fall uselessly into the abyss.

I have recovered the weights and am attempting to reattach them.

The weights in the front window have to be 50 pounds each. They may be more. I suppose I should have weighed them. I am attaching a new length of rope, which I estimate to be about 36 inches.

I got them in and Phil helped me get them attached to the window. The picture above shows the 80 pound weight sitting quietly in its place gaining weight. 

The problem is the window barely opens. I new it was not going to open completely but I was hoping for a nice opening to allow a breeze. I'm going to shorten the length of my ropes and hope I get a bit more breeze space.

While all this was going on, Susan was busy planting more flora in the front garden. It's really taking shape out there. I got some peet moss down over the grass seed in hopes of protecting it from birds and having something moist over the top.

I also got a good start on capping the arbors on the deck. Above is a nice before and after shot. I'll be installing these over the next several days. I think I got four up today.

You must excuse me now as I have to go rest.