Tin Ceiling finally installed

For awhile we had wanted to put a tin ceiling up in our kitchen. For about half that time we had various tin samples taped to the ceiling. We finally decided on a pattern and we purchased the tin from The Tin Man. The ceiling (about 10' x 11') required 9 patterned panels, 6 filler panels and 13 cornice pieces. The tin was shipped in 2 packages, each package had the panels on a 1/4 inch sheet of plywood, wrapped with heavy duty cardboard and strapped closed with metal strapping. We put up 3/8" plywood over the plaster and lathe ceiling as a base for the tin. In one place, we had to use a sissors jack to urge the plaster back up, it had begun to pull away from the lathe in one small area, the remainder of the ceiling was in good shape and level. I used 18 gauge 1 inch brads and a neighbor's sears electric nail gun to install the tin panels. I also used a panel holder, which I made out of scrap molding with 2 cross pieces located near the ends of a panel. This allowed me to hold the panel in place with one hand and kept the edges of the panels from flopping around. I only cut myself twice and only have about 3 - 5 small nicks, not bad. Tin sharp.

 

Here is the center line (left most blue verticle line) for the room and the starting line (blue verticle line to the right of the center line) for the first and 5th panel.

 

This photo shows the lines for the edge of the patterned panels, the space for the filler panels and the black lines are the cornice location.

 

Patterned and filler panels installed.

 

Cornice Installed, nailed every 6 inched to the ceiling and once per foot at the wall. I put translucent phenoseal at the junction of the cornice and the wall, so that when we paint the wall, there will be no gaps. I have not yet attended to the seams, some need to be tapped together with a wide chistle

 

Ceiling, fan sans blades and clock.

 

Ceiling over the sink. Like the Trompe-l'oeil clouds. I feel like I'm outside.

 

A view towards the kitchen door. Walls are prepared for painting.

Parade of Ships viewed from Von Briesen Park

Yesterday, I went to Arthur Von Briesen park overlooking the narrows of New York bay and watched the parade of ships for NYC Fleet Week 2009. A previous year I felt rushed, since I had to go to work afterwards and last year the weather was poor so I didn't go. This year there was no rush, so Trudee and I lingered for awhile. It was a beautiful day, but a bit hazy so the photos are not great. I was also shooting somewhat into the sun, plus there were fireboats spraying water which added some mist to the mix. You can find the official NYC Fleet Week 2009 information here .

 

US Navy Coastal Patrol Ships

 

USS Vella Gulf CG72, Guided Missle Cruiser

 

HMCS Athabaskan 282, Area Air Defence Destroyer

 

HMCS Fredericton 337, Multirole Patrol Frigate

 

HMCS St. John's 340, Multirole Patrol Frigate

Information about Canadian naval ships gathered here.

G&T's replacement

The remains of my new favorite summer tipple. It used to be gin and tonics. My favorite gin is Tanqueray. I tried the Tanqueray 10 a year or two ago, but in side by side G&Ts, I couldn't really say one was head and shoulders above the other. So I go with the regular, not their premium. The 10 did have a fruiter taste when drinking it straight, but that's not how I usually drink it. Well this year in a quest to save some money I found a new summer drink. I have saved on buying tonic, saved on buying lemons and limes and saved on buying gin. A friend gave me a bottle of bourbon, I have mint growing in the yard and I had ice cubes in the freezer (our freezer is a frost free unit so sometimes we don't have ice cubes in the freezer) and so I made a mint julep. I mash a teeny handful of mint leaves with 2 teaspoons of powered sugar and 3 teaspoons of water, add ice and splash in some bourbon. Very refreshing. In actuality, my whiskey ain't bourbon, but a Tennessee Whiskey. So it doesn't meet some of the following criteria.

• at least 51% corn in the grain mixture
• aged at least 2 years
• in new, charred, knot free, grown south of the Mason-Dixon line white oak barrels
• some specified alcohol strength is required
• blah
• blah blah
• blah blah

The bourbon info is from The StraightBourbon FAQ. The site includes a BATF document detailing all the requirements. I'm guessin that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between bourbon whiskey and whiskey whiskey. If someone wants to donate a bottle of bourbon, we can do some side by side taste tests. Always my favorite kind of tests, besides the ones that pass when they are supposed to.

And yes, I did think of it while watching the Kentucky Derby.

2008 Book list

This is my reading list from 2008.

I only started keeping a reading list in 2004, though I have lists of goals from 1994 and journals since 1984, but they are not getting published. Looks like last year was heavy on UK writers. I'm guessing that every year has been heavy on UK writers or at least stories taking place in the UK. You could say I have a thing for all things British and Scottish. I like the villages, the cars, the beer, pubs, the food (yes I like plain hearty fare), heaths and heathers, tweeds(not many in my color), their trains and stories that contain these things. What do I have that reminds me of the UK, well I have an English mastiff, several Barbour jackets, a 1963 Land Rover, English blue bells, one branch of my family comes from Holland via Manchester and as afore mentioned, lots of books by and about the UK.

Last year, I mainly read Ian Flemming, Michael Bond, Arthur Conan Doyle, P.G. Wodehouse and Graham Green. After reading Graham Green's Monsieur Quixote, I wanted to read Don Quixote, but the size of the book has prevented that from happening. Green's book Travels with my Aunt I enjoyed allot, so much so that I have read it every spring for the past 4 years and I have made it a Tradition. One of the things I like about the book Travels with my Aunt is that they take the Orient Express. Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express was also good read, but Green's Stamboul Train was a bit depressing even though it took place on a train. I really enjoy traveling by train, probably why I like Switzerland, plus the villages, the mountains, the food (I like hearty plain food) the beer, the flowers... When traveling on a train, the ever changing views keep me distracted from any book, a canal here, some group of out buildings there, a cooling tower, allotments. I just love it all.

While growing up, my parents frequently watched PBS TV and there were lots of shows on about Britian, but I don't know where the trains come in. Maybe my dad was a hobo.

P.S. Did you know that the actor who played Auric Goldfinger in the Bond movie Goldfinger also played the bad guy (Baron Bomburst) in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Gert Fröbe

Traditions

 

Here is my Christmas tree stump tradition. I trim the end, let it dry, date it and nail it to the floor joist. Since 1998, only the 2004 tree stump is missing. We didn't put up a tree that year, we went to London, Milan, Florence and Venice and looked at their Christmas trees instead. I would do that again any day, maybe this time going before Christmas so as to visit some Advent markets. We used to take the kids and kill the trees ourselves, but as the kids got older we all had less free time and so we sourced our trees locally.

Amongst the stumps is my Austin Powers keychain. It is now grafted onto a rat body (another story), but when new it had a playback device in it and a speaker. Jerry, my mate got it for me and it had a collection of about 4 Austin quotes. After awhile we decided to remove the playback device and speaker, extend the speaker wires and throw the speaker over to the ceiling of our boss. Much hilarity ensued and in the end no one lost their job.