More Grapes go in

Down in the SW corner of our place, the area we've always called 'the vineyard', we put in 25 more vines! Melissa actually mapped out and dug the holes:

I spent a lot of time clearing the overhanging brush... this is an 'after' shot... you couldn't see that stump from all the growth around it, about 10 feet high.

Each one got gopher wire:

and then buried in!

Activities continue, despite the rains...

Jack thought he could get away with digging up gopher holes and snarfing his nose in to catch the sweet aroma... I think he wondered why we were laughing at him afterwards

We had a few stray wires from the house circuitry that were left open for the built in bed to have plugs on the side, and a light switch... but we forgot to label the ends!

I rigged up some alligator clips to the power ends of the radio (2.45v) and then we used a digital volt meter in the different outlets around the room. with a little logic, we easily figured which wire was which.

Melissa continues on the tiling frenzy, with slate pieces going in the living room for under the woodstove.

Melissa the tiling queen

She's got all the tiles inside the front door done and in place:

and immediately started working on the threshold outside the front door, with some old slate pieces we had left over:

a day later and she's got them locked in:

all those puzzles as a kid apparently helps:

Kitchen Sink tiling update:

we went to the home despot and got a curved edge wall tile, which looks like it will solve the sub-strata too high problem:

and, it doesn't look like it will look that bad. Of course, now comes the color debate

Parts going in, or not

It's come time to start thinking about kitchen counters, and since each piece is going to be unique and built in around appliances, I had to start somewhere to know how to build the rest. We had this old sink we wanted to use, so it's become the center point we'll build off of.

In the picture above, you can see the nice slab of redwood in the front, that will get oiled, and be exposed to the room. The sink edge goes right along it's vertical edge, so there's no were for water to sit.

The problem is that we want to tile over the top of the sink. (actually, now that I write that, I can't remember WHY we wanted to do that. so we could easily sweep junk into the sink? hm) Anyway, the problem is, with the plywood and hardibacker that's needed under the tile, the tile is too high for our plans. what to do? (shimming up the sink would mess up my front redwood slab edge above)

In other news, the toilet bench is taking shape. the square part is for the sawdust... not a strange shaped butt.

Maintenance day

which I hate. If I didn't have anything else to do, puttering around fixing things would be a great way to spend a day, in my opinion. But it always seems like things need fixing RIGHT NOW. Still, when that happens, it is best to just settle in and find a solution. Here's the latest:

The handle and locking mechanism of the woodstove has been bothering me for quite some time. Finally, the little tang on the inside end of the handle cracked, so I had to not only make a new one, but figure out how to place it so that the annoyance would be gone.

I actually cut a piece off of a chunk from an old wheel barrow part that was sitting around (cut it with the hack saw, i.e. by hand) and found a couple extra nuts that would fit on the end of the handle and got it placed just right.

Then, Melissa discovered that the drainpipe under the sink was starting to drip. Close examination discovered that the big wide nut that holds the drain face (the thing you see when you look down in the sink) was cracked, and thus not holding the thing tight.

Taking it apart, I discovered another threaded piece was crappy and cracking as well. That meant I had no parts to put the thing back together. Still, in my plumbing box, I had a few old parts, and by using one designed for a bathroom sink, I was able to get it all back together. Of course, I had to use a 2" piece of PVC as a washer, and a bicycle innertube as a reducer, but it actually doesn't leak.

Not too shabby for not going to the store for parts!

Shelves and Tiles

like most of the posts these days, I've got a couple photos of what we're working on. I got the kitchen side shelves in today, with their appropriate veneer (donated by our neighbors who were trying to get rid of them) and all fastened in. Now, to make some cabinetry around them.

And Melissa continues on her tile mania, working away at planning the tile area in front of the main door. These aren't actually set in yet, they're just sitting there. (but they look good, no?)

More and More Shelves

and the notching goes on....

This is the kitchen side, on it's side. Note the right (bottom) side is longer - to go all the way to the floor, while the other two parts will sit on top of the kitchen counter.