We’re updating our kitchen counter tops to quartz!
As is seemingly quite normal one new thing tends to lead to a bunch of new things. New counter mean new sink, new faucet and new backslash tiles.
While the new counter will be installed by the pros I’m tasked with removing the old counter and doing the new tiles. New tiles means removing the old ones. To test out that process I’m starting behind the stove.
Behind the stove
No turning back now so I’m hacking off the rest of the tiles trying to minimize the drywall damage.
Unavoidable drywall damage
Let the patching begin! Coat #1.
I suspect there will be a couple of rounds of mudding and sanding to get the surface ready for tiles and then a coat of primer.
Back in mid-December Len and I were out at the lake and this is trip #2 for the winter season.
The drive was fine and we stopped in Kenora for dinner at the LOTWBrewCo and arrived at the cottage around 8 p.m. As usual the snow bank at the bottom of the driveway and the driveway itself was impassible so I used the snowshoes to clear a trail. A few trips and we’re loaded in. The cottage is only -5°C and didn’t seem all that cold. With the furnace, fireplace and kerosene heater cranked on it’s quite toasty in short order.
Some beverages, snacks and a couple of movies and it’s almost 1am so we call it a day.
Next morning after a few coffees and a light breakfast it’s time to head down to the lake to get some water.
There is still lots of ice but also lots of surface water this year. I shovel off a light cover of snow to find out that I can also break off about 1” of ice with the shovel and hit a water pocket! Normally, this requires a pick axe to dig out a trough to dip the bucket in. There seems to be alternating layers of ice and water for about the first foot and then it’s solid ice for over 2 feet. We scoop out two buckets and back up to the cottage.
Later in the day we head out across the lake past the island and across the ice road to an area where there has been some sort of snow clearing activity.
Out past the island, where we see people fishing during the summer, there has been another ice road created that leads form a cottage in the north end of the bay to this fishing spot. There is evidence of several ice fishing holes which are now frozen over. With the ice roads “officially” closed I suspect any ice fishing shacks have been removed.
Next morning I’m up at 6am with a coffee watching the moon rise being washed away by the sun rise at 7:05am
Moon on the far right and Saturn straight ahead 6:00am
Sunrise in the East just coming over the trees 7:05am
Our water hole has frozen over with about 2″ of ice due to the -21°C over night.
After coffees and a leisurely breakfast we clean up, pack up and head for home. A good winter weekend.
I seem to have had some new motivation lately to accomplish a few long outstanding tasks around the house.
We have 3 basement windows that were never finished when the basement was developed. I just didn’t know how to tackle trimming them out without a lot of messing about. And then, early in the pandemic, I saw and Instagram reel from a finish carpenter essentially building a box with trim attached on one side of the box opposite the window and then you just shove it into the rough window opening. Genius! I made 2 of them and they were a big success. But, for some reason, window #3 got neglected for quite some time. And then the third window finally got it’s trim on.
Project #1 completed.
When we finished the basement, many years ago, there was an opening left in the drywall to access the area under the stairs which we, like most people, use for a storage area. Well, the opening was an unusual shape and off and on I’d think about how to finish it off with some kind of door. And then I’d forget about it and a few more years would pass.
Finally, I decided to build a custom door. I remembered some 1/4” oak plywood in the garage so I build a frame using a Kreg pocket hole jig to fasten the frame together and sheeted if over wth the 1/4” ply and trimmed out all the edges with oak moulding.
Project #2 completed.
Again, a door opening in the basement where we had planned to put French doors into just never got completed. Finally, after deciding the French doors were not happening, the opening was painted to match the rest of the basement but it was still exposed 2x4s and the edge of the drywall.
After buying some very expensive architectural moulding which made the job simpler and some oak trim to match the other basement doors, voila!
Project #3 completed.
Last one. Can you figure this one out?
Well, the wall going downstairs to the basement had quite a few dings, scrapes, scuffs and some patching that never got painted. So, some washing, patching, sanding and a fresh coat of paint has it looking like new.
What we often hope for from God is prevention. In the face of the brokenness of the world, we want to be spared. Yet for reasons beyond our grasp, God chooses not to major in prevention. God opts for something stronger than prevention: redemption.
We settle for false securities, for a cheap refuge in the busyness and noise of life. We cling to temporary attachments and passing pleasures. But if we would ‘send it all across the river,’ and find ourselves alone, then we can wait.
And when we wait, we will find our salvation in God alone.
Seven consecutive days of fun in the saddle riding in the basement on the trainer in support of the Davis Phinny Foundation for Parkinson’s. Well, perhaps fun isn’t the right term as there was some suffering involved towards the end of the tour ?.
I’ve ridden The Tour for several years in a row now and this year is was a day shorter but I took an more intense option. You see the “rides” are workouts that are scaled to your current fitness level and there are options as to how hard you want to ride. There is the “get me through it” option where things are scaled back so hopefully you can get through the seven days even if you’re not used to riding this much on back to back days. Then there is the “nuclear” option. All rides are at 100%, there is no scaling back, its full on every day. And then there is the “focused” option, a middle ground where the rides are scaled back a bit but not too much.This year I was “focused”. Perhaps next year “nuclear”?
The day to day riding went pretty well. The longer 2+ hour rides on the weekends were challenging not only due to fatigue and effort but how much my derrière can endure in the saddle on the trainer. So much easier to do long rides outside where there is more bike movement. To make the final days ride a bit easier I took advantage of the 50 hour window to move one of the 30 minute rides to the Friday so that Saturday was only a bit over two hours, plenty long enough for the end of a week of riding.
With COVID over the last 2+years I imagine most of us have been watching more video that ever before and we’re no exception. We’ve added some new (to us) streaming services like PBS and become quite a fan of Masterpiece Theatre productions. Additionally, we’re watching lots of cooking show. Recently, we came across Cook’s Country which showcases great recipes, along with techniques, food history and kitchen product reviews.
I skipped over the sour dough craze, but I did think about it and then one night we’re watching a show and one of the recipes is a Prosciutto Bread with Provolone which catches my attention. The next day I’m investigating their web site and decide to sign up and get more involved in cooking and baking with some new inspirations. So, a little shopping and I’m making my first bread product project.
Dough in the Mixer
Our Kitchen Aid mixer makes a comeback after a fair bit of idling in the basement storage area and a 1st use of the dough hook. Works great!
All mixed up & rising
After 90 minutes of allowing the dough to rest and rise it’s shaped into two 12″ sub shaped loaves and left to rest and rise for another 45 minutes. Then into the oven for 25 minutes and voilà!
bible.com/bible/1849/mat.9.29.TPT
