Motorcycle Tour

Yes, Spring is finally here.

And The Fuzz is taking advantage of this to have a Motorcycle Tour, and visit Family.

It's always nice to be able to combine these things.

The first destination was Wilmington NC, with an overnight stop in Durham on the way.

Thanks (you know who you are) for a great meal and putting The Fuzz up for the night!

Then it was time to pack up...

...and continue on his way.

The Fuzz has an aversion to the Interstate.

There is something disquieting about being passed by transfer trucks at 70+mph on a relatively small bike.

So he worked out a route involving NC 55, US 401, and US 421 into Wilmington.

It was a good ride.

He made a couple of stops to top off the gas, have some coffee, and get a bite to eat...

...and made it into Wilmington a little after 3:00.

He made his first stop down at the River Front and dropped a layer of now, too hot clothing.

That's the battleship North Carolina across the river.

The Fuzz saw this fellow taking advantage of the fine weather to do a bit of painting.

Today, they were calling for a bit of rain, so The Fuzz is laying low.

But he's hoping to cruise up to Topsail Island tomorrow...

...weather permitting.

Not So Lazy Day

It was another nice Spring day here in the woods.

But there was work to do.

All that wood still had to be split!

The Fuzz had considered splitting it before hauling it out of the woods.

It would have been easier to move that way.

But he did make the right choice in bringing it out first.

Because of this guy!

It was a bit hard to get cranked, but eventually it fired up.

The thing's not too fond of cold mornings, and we still have them, kinda.

That wood was pretty tough, and it would have been an ordeal splitting it in the old school manner.

There's nothing like Power Equipment in a situation like that.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie also took advantage of the nice weather to clean out the wood stove and smoke pipe.

That should take care of these things till they're not needed anymore.

Spring is here and Summer is on the way.

Lazy Spring Day

Well, we did have a couple of cold days here.

But then it is still March.

Some of the critters were just lazing around in this nice Spring weather.

This one fell asleep in the dinner bowl.

Nobbie is the "Grande Dame" of our little dog pack here in the woods.

However,  this is not her dinner bowl-

or her dog house.

These belong to Lucy, the youngest and littlest member of the pack.

So she is holed up on the porch.

Nobbie has few teeth left, and is def as a post.

But she still seems to be able to get her way.

But it was too nice a day to spend inside anyway.

It was the kind of day to just lay around and enjoy life.

However, The Fuzz had to cut a bit more firewood... 

just to make sure.

He found another nice dead oak in the woods down near the creek.

So he got out the old chainsaw.

He had to roll the wood back in the wheelbarrow, and it was a lot of work.

But then,

It was a good day for that too!

To Cut or Not

The Fuzz was out in the yard and noticed that the wood pile was getting a little low again.

This is the sort of thing that happens this time of year of course.

This raises the question wether to cut more, or not.

How much longer till warm weather?

Well, there have been some signs of Spring.

There's been the Daffodils  and crocus.

And now...

Peaches !

We haven't had a particularly hard winter around here,

but it will be good to see the Springtime.

Just a Word

Well, once again it's been a while.

The Fuzz has been busy,

but that's not really blogging material.

As for today, it is a rainy day here in the woods.

But thankfully not freezing cold.

Still, a gloomy day.

But...

Spring is on the way!

And The Fuzz and His Sweetie are ready for it!

The Kitchen Project is still not quite finished of course.

The window trim remains.

But That Lazy Fuzz has at least made a start.

He did manage to cut out a window sill.

The rest will come eventually.

Then, it should be time for some outside projects.

And His Sweetie has a great one in the queue.

But we'll get to that when we get to it!

So at least for now...

Everything's Cool.

The Kitchen Project (5)

The Fuzz realizes that this has been dragging out a bit.

But the fact is, that it did drag out a bit.

In fact, there is still more for The Fuzz to finish up on this project.

But at least the kitchen can be used once again.

When we left The Fuzz, he and His Sweetie had finally managed to get all the tiles, cut and set.

The next step was to grout them.

The mastic had to have a little time to set up, so there was a short break.  Then it was back on the job.  It is really inconvenient to not have a usable kitchen sink.

As Our Fuzz worked on into the night, he made quite a mess.

(it's funny how these things always take longer than expected)

But it actually went rather well.

Then there was another delay before the grout could be sealed.

The Fuzz sealed the grout lines, (which was a little tedious on the back splash) and then on the counter top.

Now it was time to get that sink back in there!

It was then that a previous problem came back to haunt him.

It was mentioned in a previous post how The Frustrated Fuzz had sorta "half assed" cutting the smaller tiles around the hole for the sink.

Now he found out that at the back side, some of the uneven tiles made it just a little too tight to get the sink back in!

First he tried to trim them a bit with his Dremel diamond wheel.  But it was soon obvious that this was not going to work.

(That stuff is hard!)

After examining the situation, The Fuzz thought that he might be able to "micky mouse" things enough to get it in.

On the bottom of the sink, there are rails that hold small bolts and clips that fasten the sink down into the counter.

The Fuzz's theory was, that by carefully cutting as little as needed of said rails, he would be able to fit the sink snugly in position.  There would still be enough of the rails to stiffen the edges of the sink, and hold it in position.

So he took a deep breath, and had at it.

And it worked!

He sealed around it all with some clear silicone...

...and hooked everything back up.

And after tightening up a couple of minor leaks...

...it was time to celebrate!

The Stove and hood vent were no problem.

Now all that remains is to add a new window sill and trim around the window.

But it is good to have the kitchen back.

It was a big change...

...but The Fuzz and His Sweetie think it looks great!

More of The Kitchen Project (4)

With the "back splash" and counter top tiled, all that remained was to finish up with the edge of the counter.

This was pretty easy to do, since it was a 2" border.  That way the only tiles needed to be cut would be possibly at one end.

Yeah, well as was mentioned previously, that cutting business can be a problem.

Here's what The Fuzz had to work with.

The big guy with the lever on top was way too big for those 2x2" tiles.  Plus they were a natural stone with an uneven face that made scoring them difficult.

The Fuzz did have this little jewel.

It seemed to be about the right size for this job.

But it also required scoring one side before trying to break it.

What he finally did, was use his trusty Dremel with a diamond cutting wheel to cut a groove...

and then use that thing to snap it.

This procedure had worked - more or less - when doing the back splash, but there were a number of useless broken tiles as a result.  In fact for a while he couldn't get any to break right.

Now with only a very few left to do, he was having no luck at all!

He tried simply cutting all the way through with the diamond wheel - a slow process - but even that didn't work.

The tiles, which were some kind of slate, tended to flake apart.

In the end, after many attempts, That Persistent Fuzz managed to get that last piece cut.

There had been some question about these guys staying in place  without any support.  One YouTube had tacked a board to the counter to support this sort of edge.  But the mastic proved thick enough to hold them without it.

And so, the tiles were finally in place.

The next step would be the grout.

The Kitchen Project (3)

The Fuzz had planned to get started on setting tile the next morning.  But it turned out that the plastic stuff was not firmly glued down.  In spite of the fact that the heavy tile had been laid over it to help keep it down, it was buckled up in the center of each piece.

However, the pieces glued to the edges were fine.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie concluded that perhaps not enough adhesive had been applied.  The fiber backing had soaked up a fair amount.

So...

The plastic was pealed up to be re-glued.

This was not easy to do, but finally gotten up, and re-glued.

Again, heavy weights were used, and much pounding with the mallet.

And then it was back to town for a few hours of heat and fresh air.

On their return, it was discovered that although there was much improvement, there was still a bit of buckling.

But by now The Fuzz and His Sweetie decided to go ahead with setting tile, figuring that the weight of the tile might hold it down until the mastic set.

The wall was done first.  This seemed like the best approach since the counter top wouldn't get messed up this way.

They had chosen these "mosaic" type tiles for the back splash.

Each piece was 12"x12" and made up of 2" square tiles attached to a mesh to hold it all together.

It was easy to cut sections to fit where needed-

As long as they were multiples of 2".

This actually went pretty well.

After the main pieces were up, The Fuzz's Sweetie handled fitting the smaller pieces at the edges, and around the electrical outlets while The Fuzz cut the tiles.

(There will be more said on this later!)

And here is a look at the back splash at this stage.

These larger (12"x24") tiles had been chosen for the actual counter top.  This would reduce the number of grout lines, and provide larger, smoother work surfaces.

And this went down pretty well also...

except for around the sink cut out.

It proved to be impossible for The Fuzz to make clean cuts on the smaller pieces with the tile cutter he had.

He did the best he could, but probably should have gone back to the Home Improvement Store and had them cut these on their special tile cutting saw.

(There will be more on this also.)

But as can be seen, it was late now, and he just wanted to be finished.

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.