Monday morning, getting the corn planter ready, with fog swirling down the river as the sun comes up.
Monday Morning
You can’t go wrong starting the day like this.
Monday Morning
Looking Out of the Window
Here’s the view from my ‘office’ today.
Looking out the front
Looking out the back window
Floored
The rain continues to fall, almost 6 inches in the last 10 days, so being it’s too wet to plow, and I can’t dance, I headed out to Washington DC this weekend to help eldest son Josh refinish the floors in his new condo. Josh isn’t moving in until in May, so it was the perfect time to get it done.
I drove out on Friday and wanted to start at 6am on Saturday when Home Depot opened and we could get the sanders. But I hadn’t considered practicalities of city life and neighbors both adjoining and underneath. So we started at 9am.
Here’s the kitchen after the first pass sanding. You can see how aged the old finish was. Josh thought it was probably the original finish, 24 years old.
Kitchen – First Pass
That’s the edger we rented from Home Depot in the middle of the floor.
Josh is on the drum sander making the first pass in the living room with the 24 grit sanding drum.
Josh Sanding
You’ll notice the electric cord draped over his shoulder. By this point we’d managed to sand both of the sander electrical cords and patched them with tape.
This is the bedroom after the 1st pass sanding.
Bedroom Floor
Just gorgeous! The old finish was worn and scratched and stained, but the wood underneath is beautiful.
Looking down the steps after the first sanding pass.
Steps
We sanded them with the edger. It doesn’t look like there’s much it missed, but there’s hours and hours of hand sanding left there.
Hand Sanding
Josh is working on the spots the edger wouldn’t reach with my pad and mouse sander. A few minutes of hand sanding gave you a deep appreciation of the contractor quality sanders we’d rented from Home Depot.
Here’s the living room floor after the final sanding. We did 3 sanding passes with finer grit drums on each pass.
Living Room
There’s still lots of dust to clean up. We vacuumed it, wiped it all down with rags soaked in paint thinner, wiped it with a swiffer and then a tac rag. And then did it all again.
The jugs of finish all contained dire warnings about planning your application so you have an exit. We took heed.
Exit
Out the Door
Josh is holding the door open with his foot so I can do the last little bit of the first coat.
After the first coat of a water-based polyurethane it’s starting to look good.
First Coat
With the second coat we’re really starting to get some depth and shine.
Second Coat
Second Coat
If you’re from around here[1] you’ll recognize I have a Leatherman in that holder on my belt. I quickly realized that, unlike around here, a Leatherman is not a common fashion accessory in Washington DC.
The last coat is going on here. I managed to step in the part Josh had brushed in along the edges, so I took my shoes off and finished the rest barefoot. You can see that 3rd coat is really getting a rich, deep gloss.
Almost Done
Home Depot[2], we couldn’t have done it without you!
Our Favorite Store
1. Hillbilly Heaven.
Happiest Dog Ever
Debbie got Spenser a new bed.
Happy Spenser
Spenser is all hound dog. He’ll go out in rain or snow or sleet and crash through the brush and slog through the wetlands going wherever his nose leads him, oblivious to it all.
But he still loves a cushy spot to sleep when he comes in. He’s the happiest dog ever today.
One Step at a Time
Tom and I built a set of steps to get up into our spray trailer this week.
Steps ready to use
We used to get into the trailer by grabbing the side of the door and scrabbling up the frame. Getting down was a reversal of that of course. Invariably a couple of times a year I’d miss a foothold or a handhold and plummet gracelessly to the ground.
Notice the nice handrail on the steps. Safety First is our motto! The handrail serves a dual purpose. When we fold the steps up it holds the steps upright, so they’re easy to lower again.
Steps ready to transport
The steps are out of the way when they’re up. We just close the doors and go. When we’re ready to use them again there’s no dragging them out or fitting them into brackets. All we have to do is tip them down.
I’m just delighted with these steps.
Corny Letter
A letter to the editor in the April 22nd Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette.
Corn producers the cause of many of nation’s woes
Perhaps Rep. Marlin Stutzman can address the following agricultural issues on the House floor: policies of the Department of Agriculture that are so negative in nature that they need to be abandoned.
•The production and marketing of high fructose corn syrup, a product so sweet that it destroys the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels, and thus is the primary cause of obesity and diabetes in America. Or, we could have the corn producers pay the medical bills of those so afflicted.
•Since it was cheap taxpayer-subsidized corn products that drove the small Mexican peasant farmer off his land and caused the immigration problem in the first place, I suggest that the corn producers pay the tab for border-protection costs or be issued weapons and spend one month per year patrolling the border.
Ken Koenig Angola
I think Ken Koenig is trying to shame me, but actually I feel so powerful. I didn’t know people were powerless before my blandishments and would gobble down whatever I set before them, unable to resist.
And although I’m a little fuzzy on how I drove the small Mexican peasant farmer off his land, I must admit it makes me feel like a feudal lord. You say the peasants have no bread? Let them eat corn!
Buwahaha!!!
Blueberry Crumb Bars
I have blueberries in the freezer from last summer, and with spring upon us (despite the prediction of snow for tomorrow) I’ve been looking at ways to use them up.
This is a Smitten Kitchen recipe, but it’s 5 years old, so I don’t mind reposting it here.
Blueberry Crumb Bars
About 16 cookies
About 16 cookies
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup cold butter
1 egg
a pinch of salt
Zest and juice of half a lemon
2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup white sugar
2-3 teaspoons cornstarch (if you’re using frozen blueberries (and it just delicious with frozen) use a little more cornstarch)
Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8×8 inch pan.
Stir together 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
Put in the oven. Set your timer for 35 minutes and when it goes off check every 5 minutes or so until top is slightly brown. Allow to cool for as long as you can stand it before cutting into squares. It is best when slightly warm.
Blueberry Crumb Cookie
This makes an incredible cookie. I laughed with delight when I first bit into one. They’re that good.
Where’s Owen?
Let’s play “Where’s Owen?”
Where’s Owen?
Need a hint?
Here’s Owen!
I played that game today. I looked out the door and thought, “where is that dog?”
It’s windy today, yet sunny. So if you can get out of the wind it’s very pleasant. Owen, wise dog he is, found a very pleasant spot.
Let’s Plant Corn
We got our seed corn this week.
Seed Corn
Fifty thousand dollars worth of Pioneer’s best! But most importantly, note the sweet corn bags front and center. That’s the good stuff!
Under Pressure
I’m cooking stew in a pressure cooker for supper tomorrow.
Pressure Cooker
Mom and Grandma used pressure cookers a lot when I was growing up. At least that’s how I remember it. It seems there was always a pressure cooker hissing in the kitchen.
Nothing gives me a more nostalgic feeling of ‘home’ than hearing a pressure cooker rattling away on the stovetop.
