Adults like to drink, too

It's the holidays, and we've been inspired to have some friends over for good drinks, food, and conversation. Yes, there will be kids involved, and yes, we will start at the very uncivilized time of 5pm on a weeknight. In our defense, the early start will give us time to get the youngsters fed and stuck in front of a holiday movie. Then, the adults--many of whom have had all-too-many evenings end at 7pm--will be able to enjoy some festive cheer.

Admittedly, the event is inspired by the resurgence (outside of Brooklyn) of the craft bar. Some recent haunts are: Tavern Law in Seattle, The Esquire in San Antonio, and Scotch and Soda in (of all places) Springfield, Mo. (I've now made it my mission to visit new craft bars at every conference city I visit).





The revelation was a whiskey sour at The Esquire last year. The magical concoction is made with bourbon, ice (crushed by whacking ice in your hand with the back of a spoon), egg whites, and freshly-grated nutmeg. It was a treat to sit at the bar and watch the drink being crafted in front of me. Let's just say the spectacle was watching a craft being executed with care rather than bottle tossing by Tom Cruise in a scene from Cocktail.





It was sitting in The Esquire that I realized that adults once roamed bars in a bygone era when $.25 draws and chemically-dyed mixers were not the norm. We're a far cry from that in Carbondale, but I still have hope. Here's to the holidays and adults once again taking over the night.





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Floor from 1920s Kansas House

In 1996, my parents still lived in Kansas. My dad had a hobby farm, and we started building a cabin in the woods. We never finished it before my parents moved to Missouri, though, and I figured the frame has been rotting in the woods ever since.

While building the cabin, we had the opportunity to salvage tongue-and-groove pine floors from an old house being torn down. The only cost was our labor. It was a great deal, but we were never able to use it in the cabin. As a result, my parents have stored the wood ever since.

Jump ahead 16 years, and I am in need of flooring for a new project (that I hope I will see completed). When I picked up the floor, I also grabbed some old cabinets my great grandparents put in there house in the 1960s. These will be perfect storage in the shed.



After bringing back a load of solid wood cabinets and flooring with 90 years of built-up dust, I got to work. Using medium steel wool to scrub a mixture of 1-part boiled linseed oil and 2-parts mineral spirits cleaned up the wood beautifully. Then, I rented a pneumatic floor nailer and was able to install the floor in about a day. The rental for the nailer was only $35, but the smallest size of nails/staples I could buy was $70 for 7,200. (Anyone want to buy 6,900 unused ones?)











I'm thrilled with the results. The floor has beautiful character. More is done on the exterior, too. I'll post those pictures soon.


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Shed Progress

We need a space for making things and storing the tools to do so. I've been eyeing the modern shed kits you can buy. They make for the perfect outdoor studio space, have an amazing aesthetic, and are pricey-- too pricey. I found some cheaper plans online, but decided to have a go on my own. This would be a great opportunity to design something not too outlandish and learn more about building an abode. Further, it wouldn't be so big that my naive mistakes would matter too much, or so I hoped.

So here's the start. I was able to use the previous shesd's floor. In fact, the new one is the exact same footprint. It's amazing how much vertical space matters.

After laying down an additional layer of plywood to strengthen the floor, I bought the door and windows to have exact measurements for these spaces. Framing the walls came next. Then, it was adding the first layer of plywood to the walls before I used house wrap for additional protection. Finally, I installed the door and lower-level windows. A video from the This Old House website came in handy for this first-timer's work with windows and doors.

Still to do: a lot. I've be tackling the shed's exterior next, including the upper windows. These cool little rectangles (four will go across the top for aesthetics and ventilation) are called "basement windows" and are very cheap.

I've learned a lot. That also means I've made a lot of mistakes, but when is that not part of the learning process?

Oh, and here's a public thank you to my dad. He's been so helpful.













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Mod Dog Dwelling

It's getting cold outside, and the dog is in need of shelter. No ordinary design would do, so I tried to make a shed that mimicked the lines on our home. Here is the result after a Saturday's worth of work, and a little help fro my daughter.










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Lantern Festival in St. Louis

...was last summer at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It was quite impressive and made for a great trip. Now I know what to do with those extra dishes.












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New Bench

I couldn't help but notice an attractive slab of wood in a friend's wood pile. It was from a local mill--a castoff because "city wood" has so many nails that it will damage the saw blades.

He said I could have half of the slab for a project. Then, began the task of loading it. A tractor eventually got involved, too.

Skip ahead with gravity helping me unload it, the addition of shims and wheels, and voilà--"instant" outdoor bench.

Now, how to finish/protect the top...?






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Starting the Shed

I suppose you have to break an egg to make an omelet. Last summer we started the long-but-enjoyable process of building a new shed.

First step: tear down existing shed, salvage as much lumber as possible to reuse, and make room in garage for stuff once in said dismantled shed (thus, the dumpster).






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Cool Lego Cake

Our 5-year-old hit pay dirt with this one. Amy made the little Lego fan a pretty nifty cake for her birthday last summer.




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How 'bout some geography with that muesli? (New "curtains" for the kitchen and kids' room.)

Close to 15 years ago, I bought two old classroom pull-down maps. They were a buck each, so I wasn't able to pass up the deal. About 10 years ago, I figured out how to use them--they would make great pull-down shades. Since then, they've moved with us and have been stored in various places. Today, I finally put them to use.

Below is the new shade for the kids' room. We have ceiling-to-floor windows, so the tall U.S. map was the perfect fit.




Here's the shade for the kitchen. The world map is so old that it has the present unified Germany.




To get these to hang without too much fuss, I used a table saw to notch out groves in a 2X4 to make a bracket these could slide on and mount.




Granted, it took about 15 years, but I'm pleased with the finished product.

The Boat is Still Afloat

Before this surge of posts (today), my last entry two years ago was about the trials of maintaining a houseboat. Needless to say, there have been several moments since then that I was ready to post it on Craigslist (more on that another time); however I can now say that we're starting to spend more hours playing on it, rather than just maintaining it. Here's a pic of a sunset tour we took last summer. This year, we got an early spring and have already enjoyed several afternoons swimming, grilling, and just plain having fun at the lake. Here's to Moby not killing the captain, yet.

"Tree" House

Another amazing spot we found in St. Louis is the Missouri Botanical Garden. Last summer, they hosted a special event, "Extreme Tree Houses." Local designers and architects created unique structures, many from upcycled and recycled materials, that adorned the already amazing grounds. I always love going places that are inspiring, in a design sense. In some cases, I feel inspired (and bold) enough to say, "Let's try to build one of those."
Prior to the visit, I had been drawing up planes for an uber-modern playhouse for the kids--think corrugated sheets of metal hung horrizontally on a simple rectangle structure.
Then I saw this....




I was in awe of the simple, yet smart, design. The skeleton of bent boards provided an excellent frame for weaving branches to form organic walls. As you can see from the photo above, they also bent branches for arched doorways.
This was it. Instead of buying and cutting up a lot of materials with scraps that would end up in the dump, why not upcycle the branches that always fall in our yard after a storm? Further, we are always trimming back overgrown branches from various vegetation. Instead of paying to have them hauled off (and hopefully ground up for composting), I would have a continuous supply of materials.
The next weekend I got started. (Like I said, I was pretty inspired.) Below is my version that is the result of months of casually weaving branches as they became available in the yard. (Next to the hut is a stacked wood climbing wall with holds.)




So how was it done? The most important piece is the top that holds the bent frame. Below is a photo of what I came up with for this "cap." Eight thin boards were attached to this top to create what looks like a giant spider.




To get boards that are pliable enough to bend without breaking, I ripped leftover 10-foot, treated (not the greenest or toxic-free option, I realize) 2x4s into half inch strips. I then created a makeshift "tub" out of a tarp to soak them for about 30 minutes (see photo below).




After I connected the boards to the top frame ("cap"), I measured out evenly spaced stakes for attaching the bottoms of these boards. I also placed pavers in the top of the "cap" to weigh it down and create a yurt-like structure instead of a cone. (The wet boards makes this more possible.) After that, it's preparing the roof for cedar shingles and creating frames for weaving a lot of branches.




I'm pleased with the results. The house continues to evolve as we add more branches to strengthen and thicken the walls. The organic look works just fine with a modern aesthetic, and more importantly, the kids love it.