Clay and Home Improvements

I've been having some tag along children to my clay studio time at the Arts Center and have been instructing them on the basics of throwing. My youngest is in love with clay, me too.

As expected with the end of my Love's semester the work on our daughter's room and the laundry room that were damaged by a water leak was slow. I did manage to get insulation around the window cavities and all the drywall up in the closet and this little spot under the heat register.

This is what the wood floors looked like after we took off the laminate floor that was on top.







After the first sanding, three more sandings to follow.  We could not believe how beautiful they are!




They are not perfect floors. They are 111 year old floors! We unearthed 100 years of dirt, ink spills, some bug damage,and we have some little spots of paint left, although most of it came up. My Love was so awesome and got the hang of this new machine very quickly. We thought of taking turns but the learning curve is involved and it seemed safer for him just to finish. It only took four hours to finish the field of her room which is about 12 x 12.

Today we will tackle the edge sander and then we will speed ahead with our waterbased poly. There has been some debate in the house as to whether or not to stain. I'm for the all natural, others want it darkened up a bit.

Weekending

Last weekend it was a beautiful clear 65 degree day. We knew down at the water's edge there would be a breeze and the perfect day for biking. We loaded up all the bikes on the back of the "Beast" and drove the five blocks down. That sounds a bit strange but the hill back up to our house is a killer walking, so I can not imagine riding it back up after a long bike ride.





We found a little canal side park about two miles out and stopped for a rest. Perfect place.







6 miles later we were home. It was a very satisfying ride, and we were all sore the next day but not so sore that we won't do that again. (I think I need a different seat however!) Our plans are to go further next time, we have to get ourselves trained up for the summer season of weekly mountain biking!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama

Road Trip

Living in the boonies means that some times you have to put four hours in the car just to go to the doctor's office. It sounds painful to me, I just don't like cars that much and my youngest gets carsick. I always forget though that the view on the way there is magical and the time flies right by.

This day it was cloudy, misty and foggy. The highway runs along side several lakes, including Lake Superior at the beginning of the trip and then plunged into woods and large hills. The lake often mimics the sky here which means the water is always changing.; Bright Blue, Green, Dark Murky Blue, and it was Grey as the sky today.; It was very hard to tell where the lake started and the clouds began.  I couldn't snap any pictures because I was driving.

On the way back we decided with the help of someone yelling "Pit Stop" from the back to explore one of the road side parks.; I had heard that there was a couple a of waterfall at one of them.




Anyone for a walk in the woods with me?


There it is!




It was not the biggest, or the best but the journey to it was fun and a great break.


Signs of Beaver!



And what 9 year old could resist pumping the drinking fountain?

Our new favorite Beach

It was in the 60's last week and we picked up my Love and headed for our new favorite beach with firewood and a snack.  This beach is perfect for us.  Sugar white sand that goes on for miles is hard to come by here.  There is a little stream that puts out at the park so Wynn can fish.  They allow campfires which is rare to find.  Most beaches either have picnic tables or a fire ring but not both.  At this beach the fire rings can be picked up and moved easily.  We planned to return the next day with food to grill because they also had BBQ's. 

We are excited to see how this area blooms this Spring, those are all blueberry bushes along the shore and if they are like last years we hope to stock up.