I love reading about what I do from the Google Translate version of Susanna’s Blog. My weekend project of making shelves for the boys turns into, “Chuck carved a couple of shelves to the child.” A couple of weeks ago, we went to pick up some cherry lumber because, “Planks are his collection of objects.” I love how Google turns what is no doubt a well written piece of literature into a comedy of words….
Category: Family
The first snow and Halloween
This past weekend we had our first snow fall. We didn’t get too much snow and didn’t loose power – even though most of the north of the state got a pretty good dumping of snow. There are a bunch of people that are still without power. It seemed like it was almost the opposite of hurricane Irene (where the coast got most of the damage)
We took most of the morning Saturday to visit the Crystal Mall and go shopping for Halloween costumes for the boys (and the adults). We had intended to stop by and get pumpkins on the drive home. However we were a bit late – the local orchard was all sold out. What do you expect, waiting until last minute (hopefully I’ll do better with my Christmas shopping). Susanna wound up heading into Ledyard to pick up pumpkins after we had all returned from home.
Later that afternoon we carved the pumpkins. The boys drew faces on each pumpkin, and Susanna and I did our best to carve to the plans – or at least to the intended plans (when Will got upset because he couldn’t get the teeth drawn the way he wanted them).
The boys went to their mother’s house on Sunday morning, and back here on Monday for Halloween. We had decided to head to Taftville to do trick-or-treating – it was a little closer than the other options. They have a parade, which I had forgotten about until we were there. The fire department and police block off the main street, and all the kids walk from one end of the town to fire station on the other side – following a procession of fire trucks and police cars.
Will and Ben hit as many houses as they could until the parade swept them up. We followed the fire trucks in a huge crowd of ghouls, goblins, monsters, and witches. The trail ended at the Taftville firehouse for more candy and ice cream (ok, not sure why they serve ice cream – everyone is cold by that time of night). And we were home with time for the boys to sort and trade (and of course eat)their candy.
A weekend wall shelf (or two)
Ok, so it is taking me longer than a weekend to build the two. But I haven’t been only working on them (I am of course still doing storm windows and spending time moving my 200 bdft of cherry into the workshop loft (and rearranging the loft).
I am building two identical shelves. One for Ben, and one for Will. Both are made from Birch. I have the pieces milled and cut to size for both shelve and backs. This past weekend I routed the dadoes for the shelves on Ben’s shelves and tonight I finished cutting the back to shape and doing the edge profile on the back. The back is pretty thick, almost a full 2″ thick. The shelves are milled just a bit thicker than 3/4″. I’m copying the design from the Wood Whisperer weekend shelves.
Tomorrow I’ll finish sanding the parts, and glue up the shelves. The bottom two shelves are glued (and reinforced from the back with screws). The top shelf is just set into the dado (The screws to hang the shelf go though the dado behind the top shelf. Then a coat of shellac (or maybe two to give the wood a little more color) and finally I’ll attempt to spray a water based pre cat varnish (I picked up Agualente in satin by ML Campbell and will use an Earlex HVLP system – my first attempt to spray a finish on one of my woodworking projects).
Overall the project is turning out pretty nice. Hopefully I won’t completely screw it up with the spray finish… The dadoes fit pretty well. I didn’t have the proper router bit (a top bearing pattern bit) so had to sneak up on the size. The bottom dado was a little loose, but that was fixed by gluing a hand plane shaving into the dado. I ordered the proper router bit for the second shelf.
Windows, windows, trim, pizza (and a sleepover for Will)
It seems like all I write about is fixing the windows in this house. Maybe one of these days I’ll have something more exciting to write. I’m pretty sure Susanna is getting tired of having to check out each window after I paint the trim and put in a storm window. And to top it off, she gets to read more about it in this blog…
I think we finally committed to a trim color scheme. It is Rookwood Dark Green (Sherwin-Williams) trim with Rookwood Dark Brown accent colors. We are still discussing what color to paint the house (I’m thinking that the house may get painted next summer – so I’ll live with unmatched trim for a while – I think the white is a bit to bright compared to the dark trim). I also found out that Will has a difficult time telling the difference between the green and brown trim colors.
I dug out all the existing storm windows from the basement (and barn) yesterday. I started repairing the one that is in poor shape and painting the rest.
I installed the new storm window hanging hardware from Kilian Hardware. It is much nicer (and a lot more expensive at $20/set). I had been trying to find a better way to latch the storm windows in – and these seem perfect.
I’m guessing this will be the last long warm weekend of the year to work on the house – which is good – I’m almost out of green trim paint and am holding out until the spring to get another gallon.
In addition to a busy day working on the house, we had a crazy kids day here. A little before lunch, the boy next door, Justin, came over to play. Then after lunch, Ben invited his best friend, Anthony, over. A little later, Will’s best friend, Shane, came over. Everyone stayed through dinner (homemade pizza) and a movie (“Matilda”). Justin and Anthony went home, and Shane stayed over for a sleepover (Will’s first and Shane’s first at another house).
So, here we are at 9pm, with Will and Ben asleep, and Shane down here talking to Susanna. It is never easy to sleep in a new place.
A saturday afternoon bike ride
This afternoon we decided to take a bike ride and explore one of the local rail-trails – the Airline State Park Trail. I had to dig out Susanna’s bike, fill up the bike tires, and find everyone’s helmets. We packed the four bikes into the back of the mini-van, and headed out to find the trail.
We had a great ride – enjoying the cooler weather. I’m not quite sure how far we rode – the bike computer’s battery is dead. But it is sometimes nice to just ride and not worry about how far you have gone. Tomorrow I’ll get back to work on the house – get the scaffolding set up to work on Ben’s window and pull out a couple of the lower storm windows…. getting ready to replace storm windows before the winter.
And it is finally finished
I finally finished Ben’s bedroom today. Almost all the tools are back in the shop (ok, one more trip left). I just finished touching up the paint – but it is a boy’s room – so touching up paint could be a weekly project if I desired.
He now wants shelves in his closet – but I’m counting that as a second project.
Now off to the movies (something to do on a rainy day) – then to Target to get some storage bins for Ben. He is slowly in the process of moving his stuff from his old room to the new one. I won’t show a picture of the big pile of toys and stuff he has in his old room – I’m hoping he decides to go through it and throw a lot out.
A broken window…
The afternoon started off well. The boys were about as expected, running around with their friend, Justin. Of course at times it got a little out of hand. Of course one of those times, Will got in trouble (don’t worry, Ben got in trouble as well the other time). So he got a time-out in his room (and yes, for those without kids, time-outs do work).
I’m outside with Ben and Justin – I have my phone set to go off when Will’s time-out is over. From above, I hear the sound of glass breaking – from Will’s window. I run upstairs – a little angry- I’ve assumed the window broke because he was angry and threw something that broke the window (hey, seems fair – the usual cause of broken windows is things being thrown ).
Well, it turns out that he wasn’t throwing things. He had just been leaning with his hand on the window pane and it broke. And he was upset – upset about the time-out – scared he had broken his window (there was glass all over the floor). Thankfully the only thing on him was a small scratch on his arm (I am VERY thankful for no trip to the ER).
So, after he calmed down (and I calmed down), I sat down with him. I told him that he wasn’t in trouble (it was an accident), but that he needed to help fix the window. That made him more upset (he wanted to play with Justin). I told him it wouldn’t be all afternoon – if I break a window, I am expected to fix it, so it seemed fair if he helped.
I think he must have realized that it wouldn’t be fair to play the whole time I was working on fixing the window he broke – he complained a little bit, but did help with the window.
We carefully cleaned up the broken glass (work gloves and shoes on). Then off came both stops, and out came the sash. I don’t know why, but the stops on this window have only one screw in the middle, and nails on the top and bottom. Maybe I’ll change it to three screws each tomorrow when I put the window back together (like the rest of the windows in the house).
Will cleaned out the rabbet where the broken pane had been (lots of nice old hardened putty). I removed the other pane (the putty was in bad shape – and since he had only broken the one pane, Will didn’t have to help with that pane). Then Will was back to paint the sash. After the paint had dried to the touch, we put a new piece of glass in (strangely enough I had a new piece of glass sitting around the right size), and reglazed the window.
I use Glaze-Ease from Advanced Repair Technology, Inc. to glaze the windows. I love the fact that it can be painted 2 hours after glazing (traditional glazing needs to cure for several days prior to painting). It comes in a caulk tube and they have a special tool to get the finish to look like traditional glazing. I’m still working on getting it to turn out perfect – but this is a second floor window, so no one will see the glazing job.
Tonight I painted the glazing and removed the tape. Tomorrow I’ll second coat the glazing, and Will and I will wax the sash where it rubs against the parting bead and stop (keeps the paint from sticking) and put the window back together.
So Will gets one night without a lower sash (he still has a storm window). And he had a lot less play time this afternoon than he had originally wanted.
On the good side, Will learned how to take the lower sash off a double hung window and replace a pane of glass. Another good thing – that window sash was in the worst shape of all of them in the house – so reglazing and repainting was needed. Even better – I got to work on a project with Will for a good part of the afternoon. And I’m pretty sure he won’t lean on a window again.
A long project… nearly done….
I’ve been working on Ben’s room for a long time. A very long time. I started in the room when we first moved into the house. And it kept going on and on… It’s really not that fancy or complicated of a room to renovate.
A lot happened since I started the room, including a divorce and a year living in a different house. And the room stayed under construction the entire time. After a while, the project just seemed to live there and have no end in sight. I would start other projects instead of finishing the room.
Not that I chose the easiest path to redoing the room. Initially the though was to keep the original plaster. So we peeled the wallpaper off the walls. Then, after leaving and coming back a year later (after much discussion with my dad), I decided to tear out the plaster walls on the exterior wall so I could insulate the room. That was last August (a year ago). My dad showed up and we spent a part of a week late that fall, and we put the insulation up and put up the walls, and the plywood for the ceiling (I had purchased materials to put up a tin ceiling several years ago).
I spent that winter putting up the tin ceiling. I had to hand nail every 6-inches with the painted decorative nails. This spring I got the windows in, and at the beginning of the summer, I ordered the flooring. I also had to install the crown molding.
I finally go the floor installed last night, and Ben wanted to move his bed in today. As I write he is spending his first night in the room.
It was a lot of work…. I restored both windows (repaired and repainted the sashes, and replaced the sash cord with sash chain). I installed a metal ceiling. The room needed all new electrical – so I added outlets on all the walls, and a switch for the light. I ripped out three walls, and installed drywall on all the walls (covering the plaster on one of the walls) – I had a lot of help for that. I installed a new floor (an inexpensive cork floor – but it feels nice under the feet) and painted stripes on the walls.
I had a lot of help with the project. Thanks to my dad for helping get me moving on the project last year. And this summer I was able to get a huge amount done thanks to Susanna’s help and encouragement.
Of course it’s not completely finished. I still need to mill and install the baseboard trim (but Ben didn’t want to wait). One of the outlets is missing the cover (I couldn’t count when I ordered the outlet covers). The paint needs to be touched up, and the crown molding needs to be caulked. I should get most of that done this weekend – assuming I can find enough red oak to make the baseboard trim (ok, shouldn’t really be a problem). Of course one of the sash chains came off today – but I may wait a while before I fix that – the window is still working.
It has been a very busy summer… at least the boys and I have been able to enjoy the other big summer project – a new patio in the back yard. I think I’m going to take it easy on house projects for a little bit. The workshop is a disaster and needs to be cleaned, and I have a whole list of woodworking projects that I want to finish.
Six Flags….
Yesterday we decided to take a family day and visit Six Flags of New England. Wet Mark and Jessica Matkovich, and Nick and Sarah. Of course, as the only ones in the group with kids, we wound up spending most of the day with just the four of us.
We got tickets at the Submarine Base MWR office – a great deal for those able to get tickets there. Our plan was to get there when it opened at 10:30. We had a little late start, but were there by 10:40.
We picked a perfect day for a trip to the park. It was overcast and threatened to rain all day – which meant no crowds – though maybe it being a week day was a bigger reason than the weather. The overcast sky also meant that it wasn’t too hot.
The boys got their first chance to ride on real roller coasters. Ben was just a little too short to get on a bunch of the rides (a lot of the rides need him to be 48″ tall; he is 47″ tall). Will was just big enough to fit on all the rides (54″ tall). We started the morning on the newest roller coaster – some sort of mouse maze type (Gotham City Gauntlet Escape). Not very fast, but lots of turns and starts and stops. It was a pretty good start. We also spent a lot of time on the one they called “Catwoman’s Whip ” – a mild family coaster – but much better than the ones that are at the local fairs.
That afternoon, I was able to get Will on some of the bigger rides. We started with the smaller of the two wooden coasters. Ben was almost tall enough – next year he’ll be able to ride it. Will came off that ride and said “That was SOOO scary.” And he didn’t want to do it again. So we went back to the smaller rides. I finally convinced him that there was no line for the big wooden coaster – so he went on it with me. Much scarier than the smaller one. But he did it. And he screamed every time we went down a hill.
And then we walked by the biggest ride in the park, “Bizarro” – a huge fast metal coaster. With the first drop a 225 foot plunge and reaching 77 miles an hour. There was no line in the afternoon, and he said he would try it. Talk about scary…… But he did it. He kept talking about it the rest of the day. The final big ride we did was “Batman,” with two loops and two corkscrews. He said that one wasn’t nearly as scary as the big one.
We finished the day by letting the boys run through “Pandemonium” several times by themselves… It is the best ride Ben could get on this year (the cars spin as the coaster goes around). Then took the skyway back to the center of the park, and finished with a ride on “Catwoman’s Whip.”
Overall, we stayed until almost 7:30pm. Nearly 9 hours at the park. What a great day.
Summer Trip (very late post) – Part 1
I’ve been slow posting on this blog… there is lots to do outside and around the house in the summer. Finally it is hot enough this weekend, that writing seems like a good thing to do.
The big family trip this summer was a road trip to West Virginia. The trip started in the evening of the 24th. We started with a short drive to New Jersey for a night sleep (leaving after the boys arrived here for their vacation period). The next morning, we drove around a bit to find breakfast (and new headphones for Will) and then drove to Washington DC. We stayed at the same hotel we stayed at last year (Homewood Suites in Alexandria VA).
We took it easy on Saturday, with dinner at the Olive Garden (it was my birthday dinner). The next day we decided to head into Washington to visit the Holocaust Museum. We got distracted.
When we arrived at the Mall, the boys wanted to walk to the Washington Monument. It was right there, so why not. When we got up to the monument, one of the other tourists gave us 4 tickets for the 10:30 am tour… normally you need to get down there very early to get tickets. What good luck. So we went to the top. The boys thought the ride up was pretty cool, but got bored after 5 minutes at the top. Then back down and to the Holocaust Museum.
We should have done lunch instead. It was getting close to lunch time. Will was getting hungry. He couldn’t stand still at all while we were in the lobby of the museum. We tried to walk through the children’s exhibit, but Will couldn’t stop running. He got very upset when I took him outside. He had a screaming meltdown on the way out. Not the best day. In hindsight we should have done lunch first, he would have been much happier on a full stomach. But all he wanted to do was go back to the hotel and swim.
After lunch we took the metro back to the car and drove back to the hotel, spent the afternoon swimming and ordered pizza for dinner (after Will calmed down – he was very upset from the events of the morning).
