Everything was ship shape when I returned. Behold, concrete board on the wall from last weekend and the concrete floor is now complete too.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Goofing Off
I had a goof off day yesterday. While I went to the city to have my hair done, and meet the girls for brunch, Carpenter Man continued with some actual work on the shower. He connected the drain and mixed concrete for the floor pan. I missed the fun, but he took pictures before he cleaned up the mess.
Everything was ship shape when I returned. Behold, concrete board on the wall from last weekend and the concrete floor is now complete too.
Everything was ship shape when I returned. Behold, concrete board on the wall from last weekend and the concrete floor is now complete too.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Carpentry Day
Yes, the smell of sawdust is in the air again.
This weekend we thought we better get a start on actually constructing the shower that all those tiles were made for. Due date on the shower is July 2, when Pete's mum arrives. The last time she visited here, she looked askance at the 3 foot high tub surround that the current shower is in and decided to sponge bathe instead. Something about not wanting to break a hip at 81. We promised her a real shower next time, and that was 2 years ago.
First a trip to the hardware stores were in order to buy various bits. But it is a Saturday in May, so we also had to detour to 3 yard sales before we reached the hardware stores. I love valley yard sales and church sales in may. Major plant scores.
We visited three hardware stores, one we visited twice. Then, of course, it was close to lunch so we had some chowder.
Then gathered up some tools. And then some more tools. Then we did some measuring and were about to go cut a board to frame in a glass block window in the shower stall when the neighbours wandered by on a walk, so we had a chat for about an hour. Then we had to remeasure to know how long to cut our board. By about 2pm we were actually doing some work.
All in all, we got more accomplished today than I expected. I fully suspected that after a 2 year absence, we would be very slow off the mark. We actually got the window frame rough opening completed and 2 panels of concrete board cut and tacked up before we decided it was supper time.
I have a rule about work after supper. Nothing that needs cutting or sewing should be attempted after 6pm because you will only screw it up and get frustrated. So after supper I did some gardening instead.
At this pace, we may just make the deadline.
This weekend we thought we better get a start on actually constructing the shower that all those tiles were made for. Due date on the shower is July 2, when Pete's mum arrives. The last time she visited here, she looked askance at the 3 foot high tub surround that the current shower is in and decided to sponge bathe instead. Something about not wanting to break a hip at 81. We promised her a real shower next time, and that was 2 years ago.
First a trip to the hardware stores were in order to buy various bits. But it is a Saturday in May, so we also had to detour to 3 yard sales before we reached the hardware stores. I love valley yard sales and church sales in may. Major plant scores.
We visited three hardware stores, one we visited twice. Then, of course, it was close to lunch so we had some chowder.
Then gathered up some tools. And then some more tools. Then we did some measuring and were about to go cut a board to frame in a glass block window in the shower stall when the neighbours wandered by on a walk, so we had a chat for about an hour. Then we had to remeasure to know how long to cut our board. By about 2pm we were actually doing some work.
All in all, we got more accomplished today than I expected. I fully suspected that after a 2 year absence, we would be very slow off the mark. We actually got the window frame rough opening completed and 2 panels of concrete board cut and tacked up before we decided it was supper time.
I have a rule about work after supper. Nothing that needs cutting or sewing should be attempted after 6pm because you will only screw it up and get frustrated. So after supper I did some gardening instead.
At this pace, we may just make the deadline.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Confessions of a True Gardener
Many people think that being a professional gardener is a great job, and well, they are right actually. I can't complain because I get paid to do what many of you do on weekends for fun. (Without the sex and alcohol obviously. The Town of Wolfville isn't that great a workplace.)
This doesn't mean that the job doesn't have any hazards. Last weekend for example it rained very hard, which made the flower beds very wet. When this happens I try to keep my hands dryish in my work gloves by wearing disposable rubber gloves inside them. This works well and has the added bonus of keeping my hands cleaner than on most days.
On Tuesday, after the long rainy weekend, I was working at the recreation centre when I heard nature call. It could have been that second cup of tea at lunch, who knows? The Rec centre has been recently renovated and is very posh with motion sensor lighting and automatically flushing loos. After doing a little pee dance to make the light come on, I failed to take off my second set of gloves before operating the zipper on my fly with the result that I got my rubber glove caught in the zipper as it went down. I mean really caught. So caught that I spent several minutes trying to get it up again, with the results that the lights went off. Now I'm in complete darkness with my pants unzipped.
So I do the only thing I can think of, which is grope to the exit and call to my workmate to come help. Alas, nothing was to be done, and I finished my day with the wardrobe malfunction hidden beneath a long t shirt.
Gardening can be hazardous.
This doesn't mean that the job doesn't have any hazards. Last weekend for example it rained very hard, which made the flower beds very wet. When this happens I try to keep my hands dryish in my work gloves by wearing disposable rubber gloves inside them. This works well and has the added bonus of keeping my hands cleaner than on most days.
On Tuesday, after the long rainy weekend, I was working at the recreation centre when I heard nature call. It could have been that second cup of tea at lunch, who knows? The Rec centre has been recently renovated and is very posh with motion sensor lighting and automatically flushing loos. After doing a little pee dance to make the light come on, I failed to take off my second set of gloves before operating the zipper on my fly with the result that I got my rubber glove caught in the zipper as it went down. I mean really caught. So caught that I spent several minutes trying to get it up again, with the results that the lights went off. Now I'm in complete darkness with my pants unzipped.
So I do the only thing I can think of, which is grope to the exit and call to my workmate to come help. Alas, nothing was to be done, and I finished my day with the wardrobe malfunction hidden beneath a long t shirt.
Gardening can be hazardous.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Spring!
We had a bit of rain this week, and now everything just went 'poof' and all the countryside is green and flowering. Behold Spring!
Not all the countryside actually. We drove to Shelburne yesterday to look at adopting a dog. Through New Ross very little green was showing. But as we got closer to Shelburne it came back. We drove home (sans dog) through the number 8 highway and that was still brown but as we got closer to Annapolis Royal the green reappeared. When you clock 700 kms you can cover a lot of microclimates.
The dog was a lovely 1 year old Border Collie named Max. He was a nice dog, but he was not 'our' dog. I felt bad leaving him, but the lady giving him away assured me she had dozens more people on her list who wanted him, so I have to believe he found his right people. We have come to the conclusion that we want a goofy dog. Not stupid, but one with a sense of the absurd. Peter noted that Max was a little too earnest, and I commented that we are looking for more Algernon than Ernest.
Atticus was happy to see us back sans dog I think. He developed 3 new tricks this week.
Trick 1: Hang out with people on the couch.
Trick 2: Use the living room window as an entry point. (We are trying to discourage this, as eventually we will put the screens on.) To encourage him using the door, we left it open this morning which led to...
Trick 3: Bring a field mouse into the kitchen and let it go. He caught it again the first time, and the second, but the third time the mouse ran under the floorboards and escaped. Peter found a half eaten mouse in the kitchen on Thursday when he got up, and we praised the cat for catching a mouse in the house, but now we are not so sure he didn't plant the mouse in the first place.
Not all the countryside actually. We drove to Shelburne yesterday to look at adopting a dog. Through New Ross very little green was showing. But as we got closer to Shelburne it came back. We drove home (sans dog) through the number 8 highway and that was still brown but as we got closer to Annapolis Royal the green reappeared. When you clock 700 kms you can cover a lot of microclimates.
The dog was a lovely 1 year old Border Collie named Max. He was a nice dog, but he was not 'our' dog. I felt bad leaving him, but the lady giving him away assured me she had dozens more people on her list who wanted him, so I have to believe he found his right people. We have come to the conclusion that we want a goofy dog. Not stupid, but one with a sense of the absurd. Peter noted that Max was a little too earnest, and I commented that we are looking for more Algernon than Ernest.
Atticus was happy to see us back sans dog I think. He developed 3 new tricks this week.
Trick 1: Hang out with people on the couch.
Trick 2: Use the living room window as an entry point. (We are trying to discourage this, as eventually we will put the screens on.) To encourage him using the door, we left it open this morning which led to...
Trick 3: Bring a field mouse into the kitchen and let it go. He caught it again the first time, and the second, but the third time the mouse ran under the floorboards and escaped. Peter found a half eaten mouse in the kitchen on Thursday when he got up, and we praised the cat for catching a mouse in the house, but now we are not so sure he didn't plant the mouse in the first place.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Name That Colour
Got bored with being a blonde today so I asked my hairdresser to make me Orange. Actually I asked for Tangerine. I wanted that plastic pumpkin colour that kids used to put their Halloween candy in. I figure if your going to colour your hair make sure everybody knows it.
The first thing she did was put a filler on my hair so that a colour would stick to it. Like primer on a wall I guess. It was the perfect shade of Tangerine. I was excited. Then she put the colour on and it looked like someone had bled all over my head but she assured me it would lighten up.
This is the colour I got, which I think is too dark, and frankly, looks like I'm trying to be a redhead. Which was not my intention at all, because I can be a redhead for free thanks. But I am at a loss for what to call this colour.
Not sumac.
Not autumn oak.
Close to blood orange but not really.
Peter says there is no colour in nature which is this shade. So I started thinking about lighting gel colours, and I think the closest is a Roscoe 22.
At any rate, I'm off to wash it, several times if needed, to see if I can lighten it up a bit.
Green Tip for the Day: Each year I try to change one thing I do on a regular basis that makes my life more environmentally friendly. This year, I'm recycling my 20's.
Friday, April 24, 2009
New pots
Last weekend I took a break from re-firing tiles to bisque fire some coil jugs I made ages ago. This a speckled red stoneware clay, when I put a glaze on it, the speckles should come out. I think this weekend I may try to mix up various glazes for testing. And then I can see what colour I want to glaze these. At the moment I'm thinking either a clear or a white would be interesting with the red. I've been lurking around a number of slipware pottery blogs and I'm really starting to love the red earthenware with white over top style. Ironically when I started pottery 10 years ago, I was in a low-fire earthen ware studio and hated the limitations of the glaze colours. Now that I'm making stoneware, the brighter glazes are not as important.You can see some of the bathroom tiles stacked up on the shelf above the jugs. We are up to 21 usable ones. This is a better picture of them laid out.
First Pay Cheque
Today was a first paycheque day. I celebrated by buying seeds, potting soil and mushroom compost. We have had several nice sunny days but with cool winds, which is not so bad for working. This weekend though is supposed to get into the teens, so I'm going to start up the greenhouse and see if I can get seedlings for a veggie patch started.
My municipal career may be short lived. The Town of Wolfville has a projected budget shortfall this year, and while directors and councillors have apparently been batting budget proposals back and forth since January they are running out of time to reconcile how to deal with the shortfall. The entire staff of the town was called to a meeting on Tuesday to hear the bad news. So far everyone is hoping that various budgets can be cut enough to make up the difference without losing either services or staff, but the message we were given was that some of us may not be here in three weeks time. Yikes!
On Wednesday the new senority list was posted and everyone was mighty interested to make sure it was correct. On the theory that the last one hired is the first to go, I have no delusions that I'm out of a job if it comes to that. Particularly since things like water, sewer fire department and policing always trump parks and recreation.
Safe drinking water vs pretty gardens is kind of a no brainer. We are deemed non essential services, and then Study boy pointed out that when it comes to the bottom line, schools always cut music and art first.
So if I'm laid off in three weeks, that would make my municipal career a whopping 6 weeks long. Which, when you consider that a long term contract in the perfoming arts is about 5 weeks, is not so bad. At least I'm used to looking for work. But I did get into horticulture with the idea that I wouldn't have to look for a new job every month. And now of course all the good gardening jobs are taken and what is left are the very hard labour, very low paying crappy jobs. Maybe potting will become full time earlier than I planned.
My municipal career may be short lived. The Town of Wolfville has a projected budget shortfall this year, and while directors and councillors have apparently been batting budget proposals back and forth since January they are running out of time to reconcile how to deal with the shortfall. The entire staff of the town was called to a meeting on Tuesday to hear the bad news. So far everyone is hoping that various budgets can be cut enough to make up the difference without losing either services or staff, but the message we were given was that some of us may not be here in three weeks time. Yikes!
On Wednesday the new senority list was posted and everyone was mighty interested to make sure it was correct. On the theory that the last one hired is the first to go, I have no delusions that I'm out of a job if it comes to that. Particularly since things like water, sewer fire department and policing always trump parks and recreation.
Safe drinking water vs pretty gardens is kind of a no brainer. We are deemed non essential services, and then Study boy pointed out that when it comes to the bottom line, schools always cut music and art first.
So if I'm laid off in three weeks, that would make my municipal career a whopping 6 weeks long. Which, when you consider that a long term contract in the perfoming arts is about 5 weeks, is not so bad. At least I'm used to looking for work. But I did get into horticulture with the idea that I wouldn't have to look for a new job every month. And now of course all the good gardening jobs are taken and what is left are the very hard labour, very low paying crappy jobs. Maybe potting will become full time earlier than I planned.
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