Green Things (For Laura)

The flower garden in front.
Our little herb garden got a little bigger this year.

The lawn is looking great because Jennifer is treating it with Scott's and we've had ample rain.

Someone has been eating the arugula.

The romaine is looking good.

Notice how things get bigger toward the compost pile.

The sky this morning

A shot of the whole vegetable garden.

See My Thumb? Gee, I'm Dumb!

This is the least a table saw blade can do to you.


I did worse, last fall, when I rushed through a cut and zinged off half the fingernail on my left index finger - though that was gruesome enough, the sheer torque of the blade at whatever thousand RPM was what caused the most pain. Still, worse can be done, and warnings to me to be more careful about these things are well taken. I risk becoming what a friend, John T., refers to as a P.O.D - "Potential Organ Donor*".

I ought to be using the blade guard and kickback guard, specially when I rip down long pieces, and also push sticks - safety glasses, too, because I am tired of getting sawdust in my eyes.

By the way, it is really difficult to photograph your own thumb.

*John introduced me to this term when he warned me to wear a helmet when I ride my bicycle. I still don't do it but I make damn sure Finn does, and he is now in the habit of it. Hey, at least i quit smoking (Nov 14 2007 9am at the Poughkeepsie train station).

Crowning Achievement

We put up all the crown molding in Cara's room today. As if figuring the inside corner bevels and mitres wasn't enough, we had one outside corner to contend with.


I got caught admiring our work.

More lessons learned about crown molding - instead of turning 16' pieces of stock around in a 15' room, you can turn the mitre saw around. Also, make your master cuts and keep them near all the time. Label them well.

We have a DeWalt compound mitre saw but it does not do double beveling; additionally, no laser sighting. If I had my way I'd have paid the extra $100 for a Hitachi with double-beveling, greater granularity on the angle selection and accuracy, and the laser site. I had a very nice Hitachi a few years ago, but that was lost to my ex.

Got Trim?

Jennifer cut and placed the trim around the glass block...


...while I worked on the windows. Up until last weekend, I was furring out the frames to be flush with the wall, then insulating the airpspace around the frame.

This weekend I trimmed the jambs and sills first. The rips had to be nonparallel because the house and sheating are so messed up. Variance in width of up to 1/4" meant that I had to make a special jig for the ripping.


Jennifer cut the trim and installed it behind me (this is similar to an approach in CPU architecture called 'pipelining').
Three windows and some chair rails are done today. Two more windows remain. Once we finish them, we'll put in crown molding, hang the closet door, trim the doors, install the floor, put in baseboard trim, outlet covers, and hang a light fixture or two. Then Cara can move in!

More About Beacon

There are several old, abandoned manufactories in Beacon. I don't know what this one was for, but it is on the Fishkill at Madam Brett park.

This picture shows relatively new joists installed. What's next?




Along the side of the building is a new walkway constructed of plasticized wood.

This reminded me of a graph or chart plotting a company's rising sales.
Silly graffiti. Reminds me of my other two favorites, "CIGAR BOYS" and "Can you say mooolf?" They were in Syracuse, years ago.

Boats

Looking down the dock from the Beacon Sloop club. That's the Wood Guthrie with the tall mast. Not as famous as the Clearwater, but maintained for the same reason.


This was underfoot where I took the above shot.

At the Beacon Farmer's market a local craftsman showed his handmade boats. He does not have a website but he can be contacted at riverschoolboats@yahoo.com.

I'll write more about the house, I promise.

The Fishkill

Many rivers in the area were named (something)-kill, by the Dutch settlers - Beaverkill, Spackenkill, Walkill, etc. The suffix means 'river' or 'stream.' Technically, it is proper to refer to them without the noun 'river' attached: "I went canoeing on the Walkill yesterday." People still do it, though.

The Fishkill was the target of PETA many years ago when, because of their misunderstanding of the name, the rabid animal-rights group asked the locals to rename the town and creek.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9609/06/fishy.name/

I will leave that story to speak for itself.

Here are some pictures of The Fishkill as it falls to sea level in Beacon.


This is an ATV stuck atop a waterfall with some other storm debris.

A bridge that has long been out but some locals want replaced.

Secluded spot.

Mt. Beacon in the distance.

The head of a small island.