Bogieblog

Adult Coloring

I am experimenting with a piece of trim that I am going to use as a detail piece in the bathroom. In putting in the vanity, I needed to offset it from the backing wall in order to line up water lines and to cover the hole in the sheet rock that the lines run thru. So I installed a filler strip that the vanity backsplash would butt up to. However, it needs something on top so it doesn't look awkward, hence the need for the detail piece.

I got an unfinished trim piece that has leaf/vine pattern

I wanted to color the leaves in autumn hues. Of course they don't make stains the colors I would like so I had to figure out something else. Well, as luck would have it, I have a collection of something like 60 markers so I decided to experiment with mixing their colors to achieve the results I wanted. After coloring in the leaves and letting them dry I stained the background with the stain that I custom mixed for the bathroom door trim, which closely matches the cabinetry.

Here is a panorama of the piece. Since I didn't keep the camera level while taking the picture, it makes the wood look very warped. Rest assured, it isn't :)

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the "dots". I am pretty sure I will try a very small paint brush to insert the stain, but may try some colors too.

Winter Storage Party 2017

My dealer had its Winter Storage Party yesterday so I got to visit the bike. This year she was on the ground row just inside the door between Service and the storage area so she was easy to find.

At the end of the party they pull tickets for door prizes. I was the first winner and got a drag Specialty sweatshirt. That is cool, I had no sweatshirts related to bikes. Now I can wear it instead of Iditarod sweatshirts to HOG meetings.

Speaking of HOG, only a couple of members were there this year and only one other LOH member attended. A lot of HOG members don't store their bike at the dealer, but I was surprised that several that are at the party every year chose another activity. After all, the big door prize is for a $400 gift certificate, so that is much coveted. However, there was also an outing scheduled for the Ice Castles up in Lincoln, NH so they all probably went to that event. Unfortunately the original date for that activity was scheduled for last weekend, the same evening as the Patriot's play-off game, so they moved the Ice Castle outing to yesterday.

It was good to see the bike and sit on her for a minute or two, plus get out and do something other than regular trips to the grocery store or Big Box Home Improvement stores (which I did do before the 2 hours I was at the WSP). Next month HOG & LOH meetings start back up after a 2 month hiatus so I have those to look forward to to pull me out of the house for a couple of hours a month.

Counter Swap

Before Christmas, one of the NH members of a pellet stove forum I belong to was discussing that he needed to install a second stove as his current stove is too small for all of his heating needs. He was also talking about having to wait until he got the funds for exhaust pipe (it is rather expensive and comes in very short sections so you have to buy lots of individual pieces). This is a guy that lives about 15 miles away and I met for the first time when I posted asking for a helping hand to pick up the P43 the spring of 2015. Despite having no knowledge of me (he was a new member to the forum), he volunteered his time and equipment (dolly, straps etc).

I have never forgotten his jumping in to help, so I let him know that I had some pipe left over from my installs. Some new, some used (it came with a used stove), some connections I thought I would need but didn't. He was welcome to it if he wanted it. after all, it gets tiresome moving it around the basement to get it out of my way. Oh, and if he wanted the pipe, he could help me move something while he was here :0

Today he made it over here - and he brought presents (5.5 bags of pellets of different brands - any pellet head will appreciate that!)

 

Then he helped me swap the "old" vanity counter - old being the original 48.5" counter

For the longer, 55.5" counter that I decided would go better. If you look at the shadows, you can see a 7" space between the counter and the wall. The new counter spans the entire width - even after I moved the cabinets over towards the door so that the left-hand cabinet door wouldn't bang into the wall that juts out.

Oh, and Cop Car - please notice I got the door trim up too (I had removed it for when I did the mudding/painting of the ceiling and left it off until the counter was in).

I offered the "old" counter to the forum member. It had never been plumbed in, just used as a base covering, so was still in new condition. He gladly accepted as his wife has been bugging him to put another bathroom in the house (which I knew from forum chats, so the offer wasn't a stab in the dark). I was happy it and the exhaust parts were going to someone in need, who is a good guy - and I'm sure his wife is lovely too, and someone I "know" thru the pellet forum.

So, now I just have to see if the plumber I used for installing the tub is still doing side work so I can get the vanity plumbed in and then make a final decision on flooring to finish the bathroom off. And, bonus, that big honking 65"W x 30"W x 20"T box that held the counter is out of the basement as well as two smaller boxes of pipe is gone.

I'm making progress!

Living Room Bay Window Complete

Cop Car and her HH don't know what they got me for Christmas, so now they get to find out :)

After getting the window trim done my "curtains" in the living room bay window looked rather, should I say, Trailer Trash-ish. The previous curtains, that had come with the house were sheer lace, so for a while I had a blanket up there to keep out the sun in summer and cold in winter. Then I had new windows put in in 2014 and I didn't want to put holes in the wall, and having left over foam board from insulating the basement, I used those in that window. I was looking online for a nice curtain rod and ran into a nice traverse set up which I ordered just before Christmas and came in about a week ago. I have also been looking at lined curtains but needed slightly longer than the normal 63-65" that are common, but shorter than the 86" that are common for drapes. I finally found some I liked that came in 72" and they were waiting on my doorstep yesterday when I got home.

So, I got to work and finally got the traverse rod up - I was nervous at getting it in the right place so the curtains dropped to just at the bottom of the bottom of the window trim. But I also didn't want them lower because they would mess up the FHW baseboard heat if that was used.

Then I put up the curtains (yes, they are rather wrinkled). They are a nice, deep navy blue with a satin sheen - almost too upscale for my house

But the cool part is this

 

Yep, remote controlled. That way I don't have to get behind the furniture to open / close the curtains.

Last Two

I got the office windows trimmed today. Took forever because they are side-by-side so I had to figure out how to work with the common side. So here is the finished* product.

 

*Finished as in there is only one piece of trim missing; the left side of the right hand window. Of course I didn't have 51.5" left of on outside corner (at least not the size that worked). That is why that piece of cove is leaning on the window - waiting for its companion piece before it can be installed.