The End of March Update

Just a little post of what we have been doing these past few months.

The Kitchen Jotul provided lots of comfort this year... always feels so good to feel that heat and see that cheery flame. 

Ok now, this was a fun find! ...  the Schwinn Air-Dyne exercise bike.. non electric... Manual.. totally works by just pedaling... you never have to plug it in! ...even gives you a cooling breeze as you pedal... 

It was given to us when we went to a yard sale.. the fellow just wanted it "gone" as he had sold his house and had to move that very weekend...  so we loaded it on the trailer and took it home..  Perfect condition and was it Heavy!!!   So solid... found out after some research that it is quite a Collectors item and I can see why... they don't make things like this anymore ... you know, things that don't wear out!  From the 1970's...  It is practically indestructible and you can do lots of different exercises with it other than just basic pedaling.. Love this !

This beauty was also being given away.  It is one of the coolest looking sewing machines in my collection.  It needed cleaned and oiled as most all old machines do, but I like to see if I can get them back in working order. It even came in its own table. It has a very masculine appearance don't you think?... brown and cream with lots of dials... also very heavy.

This machine was very dirty and dusty mostly just from sitting someplace where dust and grime accumulated...  most parts of it were seized and needed quite some time for the oil to soak in. 

The original  Kenmore ad was still with it, torn from the pages of a mid 1960's Simpson's Sears catalog.  I believe it is one of the early fancy stitch machines... Made in Japan.  The sewing machine industry was something that grew huge in Japan after the second world war as they were trying to get their economy built back up... shifting from war machines to domestic machines... and Japan made excellent quality machines.. 

Here "He" is with his top metal lid removed... a bit of a look at the many working gears and moving parts.  I oiled everything that moved and even the parts that never. It eventually loosened up and everything started working in unison.... but it took a few days.  He had not been used for a long time but was almost like new.  I don't think it ever saw much use.

 Thought I'd test it out.  I had an old pair of oven mitts that were worn out, dreary and darn ugly... made from an old pair of recycled jeans years ago... they had done their service and were ready to retire.

  I took a pattern off them and sewed a new pair up using that groovy sewing machine above... worked great. I reused the inner padded insulating lining.  

The fabric was left over from the drapes in the living room.  I preshrunk it and it was fine for the job... besides it's pretty and heavy and so much nicer to look at.

We are still in the studio making jewelry too. Here are some new "Fiddleheads"... can't wait for the real fresh ones to pop their heads up...  and a pair of "Ship and Whale" that are always popular with visitors to the Maritimes.  

The sand dollars in the background were found on the St. Martins beach at one of the times of year when the tide is very, very low and goes out the farthest.  They were on the sand at exactly the point where the tide turned... you had to be quick to gather them.

 An in-progress shot of the  Fiddleheads after fusing, being set up to have the hole drilled for the earwire... at this in-between unfinished stage they have not yet been hammered, buffed or polished. 

Also doing some forging and shaping on the big steel textured block, my dad found for us years ago.  

And every once in a while I unload some art supplies and spend some time making art.  I particularly like the new Sakura "Koi" water brush.  That's it lying across the small white sectioned dish... the main body of the brush is a water reservoir... no problems with leaking and the bristles hold their shape well...  A pleasure to paint with.

Till next time. All the Best!

Globe Thistles at The "New" Old Homestead Project

As I was wandering around the new old homestead (our newest Project or should I say "Adventure") I came across these wonderful Blueish-Siver Globe Thistles. I had never grown this flower or even seen them before. I had to look them up to identify them.  I do remember seeing the tall thistle stalks earlier in the season and I thought they were Scotch Thistle.  

Oh but the Globe Thistle has far more presence.  They are magical the way they interact with the light.... they are gorgeous really!   4-5 feet tall...  and irresistible not to go to them and cup your hands around them, a visual delight and a touch sensation....  and quite inviting to the insects as well.

But luckily they are Deer resistant.. and I have found that to be true because with as many deer that come on the property every single day ~ they do not touch them. So I am also guessing that most plants that persist here must also be deer resistant. Yes!

***

The distinctive slightly hairy, prickly thistle leaves of the Globe Thistle... that the deer don't care for.

Globe Thistles adrift in the hayfield.  They were so beautiful I couldn't stop taking pictures of them. 

What a wonderful surprise they were!   I love them.

*info on Globe Thistles: Here and Here

Gwen Buchanan and John Ackerson at Desideratum and The new Old Homestead Project.

Texture

The character of surfaces ...
 elements transformed by time or manipulation...

flocked and gathered, gauzy fabric discovered in the ends-bin at a favourite fabric shop... 

an aged, rough, thick, salvaged  floor plank, now cut with a scalloped edge,
 serving  its second life as
the strength giver in an east facing  window seat in a corner of an upstairs room...   

the coolness and durability of  leather surrounded by fur and fleece...

...the interrelation of these elements stimulate the senses...

their surfaces draw one to touch... to linger... to feel... with  eyes, fingers and imagination..

abstract is real...   visually tactile...  satisfying on a gut level...

 discovering, assembling and working with these mostly found materials was exciting...

and when I have a chance to sit here, it makes me feel good.... and I remember the "Process",
my favourite part of creating.


 ...my Best to you All....

.

Drilling Marble

The sink top that this little yellow chrysanthemum is sitting on waited a long time for its second life....  it feels so smooth and the veining so beautiful... we were determined to figure out how we would make it work...


..click pictures  to ENLARGE...

The most frustrating thing about it all was that everyone we asked didn't know anything about drilling marble and couldn't help us at all.. .. it is a shame that the knowledge of the past is disappearing .. we checked in books and online and decided we might as well try it ourselves and give it a shot since we had the old marble top anyway and if we could get it to work for us it was worth a try...

Our biggest fear was that it would crack... but now after finding how easy it was to drill  we would not be nervous again.. as long as not much pressure is applied and we just go slowly and let the drill do the work.. We used a hole cutter for ceramic with diamond grit on the end... these pictures start when we were beginning to drill the third hole... the drill bit has to be constantly cooled  so my job was directing the flow of the water, just a trickle, the easiest part... although the drilling  was not difficult at all,  just needed a slow gentle hand..

... the marble was heavy and so thick...  1 1/2" (you can see the marble plugs we cut out sitting on top of the sink in a couple of the pictures) ...that the drill would not go all the way through... we turned it sideways, shone a light through the cut side and the spot showed through its translucency.. we traced the circle, flipped the slab, laid it down and began drilling from the back... we did this for each hole... the last one popped out... the white slurry that was created by the drilling was very dense and fine and felt so smooth on the fingertips.  makes me wonder what it could be used for.. I'm sure someone has already thought of something to make from it...

 ...we also had to drill 4 small holes on the back to hold the clamp attachments to secure the undermount porcelain sink in place...  I never got pictures of that...  they were held in place with a heavy-duty epoxy, which we had to try a couple kinds to get one that worked... no one knew what to recommend for that either..  but we know now...
 

  

For quite a while, we had saved some old hardwood staircase spindles in the garage for a reason, we knew not what.. til now... and decided they could possibly work for the front leg supports for the sink... but they were too short, since we wanted the marble top to be about 36" high... we took a couple more spindles and cut them at spots where the turnings were appropriate... John drilled into each end and glued and fitted them together with dowels...... 2 legs just the right length...  and kind of special too, I think...  as we looked carefully at each of the spindles, there were subtle nuances observable so it is a fact that each one of them had been hand-turned in their beginning.

... we used some true 1" thick, 100 year old, salvaged, maple, nice and dry, stair-tread for the apron..  because we had it and it was good stuff...   intricate patterns can be cut from it and it is still strong...   John used a drill and a jigsaw to create the pattern in the wood ... then attached the legs and put in corner braces just behind them...

                                                                                                      ...at the studio...

here it is attached to the wall, where he had previously put a 2" x 6"  at the given height...  and began putting all the pieces together...


... little chrome circles were attached over the old square holes on either side ...
.... at a monument shop in nearby Sussex we were able to find a small leftover piece of limestone (since they didn't have any marble) from when they used to make kitchen counter tops, that seemed to be complimentary to our old marble, to use as a back-splash.. not exactly the same but that's ok... the whole assemblage is made of parts from hither and yon anyway and that's fine with us.. We like living a Bohemian Life...




Moral of story..........  Drilling marble is not as hard as Marble......

or......  If you decide you want to do something... just keep on doing it till you're done.

How to Make An Entrance

... I love the Process involved in the act of Creating, of just about anything... it almost thrills me more than the finished work itself...  these photos show some of the steps involved in bringing the front of a structureto life...
... click photos to see larger view, if you like...

... the casing and the very old doors (1870, I believe) were hung...  the black space surrounding them is covered by heavy tarpaper...
... an overhang has already been mounted across the top covered with white aluminum flashing...

John is beginning the side Pilasters.. building them out so they have depth...

Layers of wood are measured and cut... nail heads being sunk here...

...sturdy attractive bases for the pilasters...  the door is still being held closed by a stick.. can't do everything at once... soon...

Then he works his way up to do multiple layers at the top of each side...

... building them out using extra pieces underneath... making each section progressively larger... and not letting any of our scrap wood go to waste...

...attaching the flashing to the top corner

I like it so far...

A little sketch of what we might do to the top of each window on the doors...

.. nailing on the wide dentils under the header...  the remaining header space is filled with flat cedar... each board cut on the bevel so any water from storms will drain away ... and not lay and rot the wood.

...three narrow but deep wooden strips were placed in the main header butting up to a raised box that holds the light fixture... the box helps project the light out further over the doorway...

We beveled the sides of  recycled boards to create the look of raised panels under the side and front windows..

to compliment the panels John put on the front doors...

...  we added small triangles to finish off the front pilasters...

...top and bottom...

... when certain design elements are repeated,  it helps tie it all together...

...and hopefully adds a bit of whimsy and fun...

...starting to paint the top row of triangles that runs along the top of the wall... so it looks like little flags... I am using Olympic Solid Color White Stain...  stain doesn't peel... low maintenance!

  ... the details of the built-up surround makes lovely shadows when the light is at certain angles and levels during different parts of the day......
 

... finished painting the flags...
...and just started the window trim... I want them to look as one unit ... and be reminiscent of the older architecture of the village...

...detail...

...the windows are done and they have really come to life

I never painted the eave shingles .. as well, I am not painting the sides of the weathered patinated shingles.. I like them that way ... the front shingles are being left to weather to a silver gray... won't take long in this salt air...

oh.......   I was very reluctant to start this part... the first few swipes with the paintbrush just made me cringe...  but it is hard to paint with your eyes shut...
... no turning back now...

.. ok.. I did it... it's ok...  It's Fresh.. I like it... I think it presents the doors quite well... and makes you feel a little special walking through them... like you went somewhere, even if it was only in and out... sort of like a child climbing into a cupboard...

...attached the cast iron bell with  ribbons that were hiding in the back of a drawer... from Laura Secord Chocolate boxes that John had given me a few years ago...

...... we put the light back in its place and made sure it worked...

... all done...

These are the same steps taken by us, a few years back, when we created the front door entrance for our home, just up the road   Door #4

..Other old doors we had fun with when we built our house.....  Door #1... Door #2...  Door #3 ...