More Kitchen Project (2)

The next morning it was time to start on the wall.

The Backer Board needed to be mounted to it.

This meant that the stuff would have to be cut to fit for the "back splash" on the wall behind the counter.

Cutting the stuff was not difficult with the recommended blade in a circular saw.  But the cutouts for the electrical outlets were another story.

First, The Fuzz drilled holes at each corner.  Then he got out the little jigsaw.

This proved to be ineffective with this stuff, and the blade was ruined before the first hole was finished.  The Fuzz finished the cutout with his trusty Dremel tool.

Of course there were still 2 more of these to cut out.

The circular saw would cut the stuff, but was way too big for the job.

What The Resourceful Fuzz finally did was use a combination of very careful plunge cuts with the saw, followed up with the Dremel tool.

With everything finally cut right, more or less, the backer board was screwed to the wall.

Now it was time to prepare the counter top itself.

1st, the sink was removed.

There were a number of ideas kicked around on how to lay the tile on the counter top. The original idea was to remove the whole thing and replace it with plywood.  But it was discovered that this would essentially destroy the flimsy counter.

Some suggested simply sanding it, and then applying mastic and and the tile.  But this was discouraged by the "experts".

What was finally suggested was to use this weird stuff.

It comes on a big roll, and is not cheap.

It would be glued to the counter with contact cement.

The can strongly warned about using this around any flame or spark producing devices.  Oops, this place is heated by a wood heater, definitely containing a flame.

So the fire was extinguished and the windows opened to the freezing cold outside.

Note the coat on The Fuzz's Sweetie as she pounds on this plastic with a rubber mallet in an effort to set the stuff.

With the weird plastic glued down, and the trailer freezing cold and full of fumes, it was time to head into town for a break and some dinner.

Latest Project

Well, here we go.

In case anyone was wondering what has been happening to The Fuzz lately, It's time to bring up the Latest Project out here in the Woods.  And it must be admitted, it is still in progress.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie had been talking about replacing the kitchen counter tops with tile.

In fact, there had been a lot of talk, but no action on The Fuzz's part.

And it was time to change.

The first step involved a lot of YouTube.

And then a trip to the Home Improvement Store to check out just what kind of tile they wanted.

And this was accomplished.

We wish we could say that The Industrious Fuzz jumped right on it, and it is a done deal by now.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

And some after a few months had passed, it was time for Our Fuzz to get serious about this.

More YouTube

And back to the Home Improvement Store.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie thought they had a plan.  But as they gathered information, it kept changing.

No one can say The Fuzz doesn't believe in evolution now.

(at last as it involves this project!)

And even at the store, with "expert" advise, it changed again- several times, depending on which "expert" one was with at the moment.

At this rate, nothing was being accomplished.
So The Fuzz and His Sweetie took a deep breath, and settled on a plan.
And money changed hands.

Mucho dinero.

A "Before" Pix

It will be noted that there is already tile on the wall behind the stove.

This could not co-exist with the projected back splash scheme, and would have to be removed.

So the stove was pulled out, and The Fuzz went to work.

Of course that hood vent thing had to also be removed.

The breaker was thrown and the hood removed without too much trouble.

That tile was on there pretty good.  The Fuzz had to work to get it off.  He just hopes the new stuff will stick just as well.

With this accomplished, it was time to move on to the next step, getting the wall ready for the new tile.

Tom Crelious' Tale

Tom Crelious' Tale

["… there were many stories, some quite fantastic.  Like the night when old Tom Crelious had seen the Wizard…"]

(From The Orkanian Chronicles)

The fire was burning low on the hearth in the public room of the Red Rooster.  Most of the guests had already retired to their rooms for the night. A few of the locals remained, reluctant to wend their way home.  Each for his own reason.

Tom Crelious sat on a low bench looking sadly at the empty tankard in his hand.  It was late, but he had no desire to face the sharp tongue of Madam Crelious.  He sighed, and looked around the nearly empty room.  Samis, the Innkeeper was watching him.

He knew that Samis would never eject a paying customer.  But alas, his purse was as empty as the tankard in his hand.

In a corner, several of the City Guardsmen sat laughing together over some private joke.  But there was no point in approaching them.  They had heard his story too many times already.

But there was a stranger standing by the hearth.

Tom eyed the man by the fire.  He was a stranger, but obviously a man of importance.  Surely he could spare the price of a pint for Old Tom.  Tom walked over beside him and pretended to warm his hands over the coals.

"Bit cool t'night yer Lordship," he said.

The man looked up.

"Cool?  It is quite pleasant to my mind."

"Indeed, Yer Lordship, 'tis a beautiful night."

The man turned to face Tom.

"What do you want?"

"Is Yer Lordship a stranger to these parts?" Tom asked.

The man sized Tom Crelious up.  He was obviously a drunkard in search of another pint.  But the night was long, and he might provide a bit of amusement.

"Perhaps I am," he replied waiting to see what would come next.

"Then you should know to beware of the Sorcerer in the Tower."

"Sorcerer?"

In fact the man did know of Kazarro the Wizard, having met him at Court on several occasions.  But sensing a story here, he feigned ignorance.

Tom's eyes moved from the man to his empty tankard, and back again.  With an amused smile, the man motioned for the Innkeeper to refill Tom's mug.

"As I was saying, milord, in this city there is an old stone tower, the lair of the Sorcerer, Kazarro."

Tom gave the man a significant look, and took a long drink of ale.  The man waited for him to continue.

"You may doubt, if you wish, sir.  But I have seen it myself!  Weird lights flashing from that tower at midnight!  And only under a full moon.

"And then one night, some years ago, I was on my way home, from this very inn.  They may say it was the ale, but I know what I saw!"

There was another pause.  Tom seemed to have lost his train of thought.  He was staring off into his own world.

"And that was?" the man prodded.

Tom's eyes focused again.

"A bat, sir, as big as a horse!  Perched on the tower - at the very top."

"A giant bat!" the man repeated, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

Old Tom gave him a dirty look.

"Oh yes, you can laugh.  Most folks do.  But that's not the half of it."

"Oh?" remarked the man, waiting to hear what would come next.

"This bat, sat there with folded wings.  He was saddled, and in his mouth was a silver bit, Moonsilver, I'm certain of it."

"Moonsilver?"

"What else could it be?  How else could anyone control such a beast?"

The man shrugged.  He had never considered the question.

Tom became more excited as he continued his story.  The Guardsmen had stopped their conversation to watch.

"A cloud passed before the moon," he said, slopping ale as he gestured.  "It was only for a moment.  But when the light returned, I could see him!"

There was a snicker from the corner where the Guardsmen sat, but Tom didn't hear.  He was caught up in his tale now.

"There he was, silhouetted against the moon, the Sorcerer himself, sitting up in the saddle!  He looked straight at me for a moment.  I wanted to run, but couldn't move a muscle.

"Then with a terrible shriek, the creature leapt from it's perch, and dove straight for me!  And now I could run, and run I did!

"I felt the wind from it's wings as it passed over me.  I ran like the devil was behind me, for he was!  And then as he passed over me once again, the Sorcerer struck me a mighty blow with his staff!

"I woke the next morning, next to my own door, with a lump the size of a turnip!"

There was an explosion of laughter in the room.

"It was his own wife!"

Then more laughter.

"I know what I saw," Tom said sulkily.

Then he made his way shakily to the door.

He turned with one last word.

"I know what I saw!

Then he went out into the moonlight.

Art on the Wall

The Fuzz and His Sweetie have collected a bit of art over the years.  No Van Goghs or anything like that of course.  But there are not a lot of places to display all these treasures out here in the woods in the trailer.  One solution is to swap off every now and again.  But even this requires a place to swap off to.

So His Sweetie recently requested that The Fuzz put up one of those little shelves where one could set a piece, and easily change it when desired.

So, taking a mental inventory of his small wood stash, The Fuzz headed out to the shop.

Earlier in the woodcutting season, The Fuzz had experimented with cutting some small boards out of a piece of cherry firewood.  They had been just laying around the shop (like so many other things).  But this looked like the time to put them to use.

Here's a look at the finished product.

Why only 2 off center mounting screws?

That was the only wall stud in the area.

But it should be plenty strong enough to hold a painting...

Like this one.

Not Dead Yet

No, The Fuzz has not fallen off the face of the earth, died, or anything.
He has been up to a few things, here in the Woods and over at the Old Place.
And of course there is always the Laziness Factor to consider.
There has been a long term project over at the Old Place.
This one involves electricity.

The existing wiring was in pretty bad shape.  It had been done back in the days (BC*) in an absurd manner.  And The Fuzz's hurried and improvised "up grades" over the years were admittedly "Micky Mouse".  And besides all this, the insulation had become brittle.  It was not to be trusted.

The Fuzz basically eliminated all of the original wiring.  But of course it had to be replaced by something.

Some of the improvements were in the kitchen.  The way things were, one had to go into an adjoining room to turn on the ceiling light & fan.  But since that wiring was no longer being used, The Fuzz was able to install a wall mounted switch in the actual kitchen.

Since the cookstove had been moved out to the trailer, any cooking** has had to be done on a hot plate or toaster oven.

 (The Fuzz does often use the wood heater as well, but only in cold weather.)  

These appliances were being plugged into one poor overloaded outlet mounted on the wall.
The Fuzz ripped out this jury rig and ran some new wires through the wall.  You can see where the old boxes had been mounted.
Here is a look at the new arrangements.  These are now on separate circuits, which should help with the Countertop Cooking.
There are still a few more things he wants to do over there.  But at least the main issues have been addressed.

Maybe we can get that Lazy Fuzz off his butt and be able to do a bit better with keeping up with this blog before he gets reported as a missing person.



*before code

** Part of The Fuzz and His sweetie's plan for Post Retirement Sanity involves them alternating one night a week spent at the Old Place.  This gives them a bit of personal time, and may help avoid Mutual Madness.

Ice Is Not Nice

The Fuzz has been spending a few days over at the Old Place.
He had finally gotten around to one of those projects that had been on hold for a while.
There'll be more on this in the future.
But for now, here's a teaser.   ☛

He had been living "Old School" for this time.  It may be recalled that using the "facilities" back there, involves a walk "down the hill".  This can be an adventure in itself this time of year- like on a 9℉ morning!

So after a few days of this, Our Spoiled Fuzz was glad to get back to The Woods, and all those luxuries.

Of course these particular facilities at the trailer are located as far as possible from the wood heater.

While The Fuzz was toughing it out at the Old Place, His Sweetie was holding it down back in The Woods.  She has a definite preference for the other bathroom, the one closer to the heater.  So the back potty hadn't had much use.
This means that it hadn't been flushed, which also means that the water had not been run for a while.

When The Fuzz got home he eventually felt the call of nature.  He did notice a skim of ice there in the bowl, but thought little of it, since there is no effort made to heat that room.  But when he flushed, he discovered that the tank would not refill.
Well, after a good bit of work with a hair drier, and His Sweetie pouring warm water into the tank, the pipe finally thawed out.
But it was obvious that the problem was under the floor.
The only thing for it was to crawl up under the trailer and investigate the situation.

And here's what he found.

For some reason, the insulation had been pulled back, exposing the pipe.  Perhaps it had been a previous repair?
But, with the weather into single digits, this would have to be addressed.
Since they were going into town that afternoon, they made a stop at the Home Improvement Store on the way home.

There, The Fuzz grabbed a small packet of insulation to make the repairs.
The actual repair was "a piece of cake", as they say.  He just crawled in there and stuffed a bit of the insulation up around the exposed plumbing...

... and ...

... sealed it all back up with his trusty Gorilla Tape!

So now, as long as the thing does get the occasional flush, there should be no more problems.

Super Soaker

Well, it's been raining for several days now out here in the woods.

When The Fuzz and His Sweetie moved out here this place was just trees.

The trees had to be cleared just to make room to drive in and for a place to put the trailer.

And so the yard is the sort of place that soaks up rain like a sponge.

This is not the sort of thing that is appreciated at all by the Kitties.

And at times this could be a bit of a problem for moving vehicles.

But that situation has been taken care of for now.

But this morning it is just one of those...

Saturation Situations.

Micro Forest

While waiting for guests to arrive on Christmas Day, The Fuzz decided to have a stroll in the woods.

It was a nice day with beautiful weather.

Among the other woodsy wonders, he discovered this Micro Tree.

And not only 1 Micro Tree, but

A whole Micro Forest.

A forest within a forest.

Looks like this may be some kind of a fractal thing.

Merry Christmas

Winter Garden Greens

It's wintertime here in the Northern Hemisphere.  And that means not a lot of gardening for The Fuzz and His Sweetie.

But here is what is going on over at the Old Place.

In the foreground are a few leaks.

And then toward the back some turnips and mustard.

The turnips haven't done very well this year.

But the mustard is great.

The Fuzz's Sweetie likes turnips fine,

but is not overly fond of the mustard.

But that means

all the more for him!

So while over there the other night,

he put a bit of fat meat in the pot,

and cooked him up a nice little mess.

It was delicious.

A Street to Nowhere

The Fuzz and His Sweetie were off to another Big City.

It's getting hard to just stay out here in the woods these days.  With Holidays, and Family spread out, there's always something going on-

someplace else.

This Big City was the seat of one of the great Tobacco Empires.

Of course Tobacco ain't what it used to be.

So the city has had to diversify, and has done well, The Fuzz supposes.

But Our Fuzz does find himself drawn to the relics of the past,

some of the things left behind as progress...

progresses.

Like this street to nowhere.

How often do you find Cobblestones any more?

There was a time when even a street could be a work of art.

Oops...

It looks like this could give away the latest

Mystery Pix!

2nd December Mystery Pix

 Might as well give it another go!

1st December Mystery Pix

Here's an easy one.

Not Quite Blind

Some readers may remember how The Fuzz or His Sweetie will spend a night over at the Old Place from time to time to keep their sanity.  Well, this was The Fuzz's turn.

With the colder weather he had decided to not ride over on his bike.  The arrangement was for His Sweetie to drop him off, and then in the morning pick him up.  Then, they would go for a fine breakfast at a local cafe.

Since it was a sunny day, Our Fuzz was wearing his cool shades on the way over.

His Sweetie was on a tight schedule, so they hurriedly unloaded some firewood from the car trunk, and she headed out.  It was only then that The Unfortunate Fuzz realized he was still wearing his shades.

This was fine in the bright sunlight, but sucked in the dim light inside.  The Old Place always has been a bit dark on the inside.

When he was unable to flag her down, The Fuzz tried his cell phone.  But the thing wouldn't work.

After a bit of frustration, he took out the card, cleaned it and then reinserted it.  Now at last the thing worked.

He had hoped to catch His Sweetie while she was still in town and she could drop off his real glasses, which were still in the car.

But alas, it was not to be.

So Our Fuzz resigned himself to an evening without glasses.

This may not seem like much to those blessed with the proverbial 20/20, but for The Fuzz, it was a significant thing.

The first thing, was of course a fire in the heater.

No Problem.

It's not like he is plumb blind or anything.

With a good fire going it was time for some dinner.

The Fuzz went for some spaghetti.

Here's a look at how wood heat can double as a cookstove.

The dinner was good, and he was also able to find his mouth without his spectacles.

The Fuzz did make it through the night okay.

After all, he can see his dreams well enough without their assistance.

Rocks

Another project that's been in the works here in the woods, is a Water Garden- or something like that.

So far it hasn't gotten too far.

But sometimes these things take time.

The concept involves a small pool and a way to recirculate the water.

It should be pretty nice when finished.

Rocks were needed for this project, but rocks are one thing we don't have here in the woods.

So The Fuzz and His Sweetie decided to have some brought in.

The driveway in was a bit small for this big truck.

But they have ways to handle these things.

So off the truck...

And down into the yard!

Now it's up to The Fuzz to move them the rest of the way.