Cedar Planter

When we were in London in February 2009, we visited Kew Gardens and in the Temperate house I saw a planter which held an orange tree. I really liked the planter and took some photos. I knew I wanted to build one like it, but didn't have any plants at home that would look right in it.

Recently, friends of ours gave us a Hardy Banana plant and I knew what kind of home it was going to get.

Construction:

Their version was about 3-4 feet high while my version is roughly a 13 inch cube. The sides are left over cedar wall/ceiling tongue and groove from the downstairs bathroom ceiling project(circa 2001). I couldn't make the planter much larger because the cedar planks were not too thick and would probably require more support than at just the corners. Also, our yard is not huge and a much larger planter would look out of place. The corners are 3/4 inch aluminium angle and the rod holding it all together is 1/4 inch threaded rod. Initially, I added split ring lock washers, but I felt that I had to put too much tension on the rod to compress the lock washers. More tension than required to keep the planter together. I also deviated from their simple planter because the thickness of my planks were not as thick as the angle. I had though about using thinner angle and rod, but I didn't think it would look right. Two opposite walls of the planter are attached to the angle using brass brads pushed through holes drilled through the metal and wood then bent over on the back of the wood.

     

The other 2 sides of the planter have the angle screwed to a L shaped piece of wood 3/4" x 1 1/2" and the height of the planter. This allowed the cedar to be slid between the angle and the wood. Holes were then drilled in the angles for the rod and then the rod was slid through the angles and the planter walls were together.

 

The base is made from some 1"x3" pressure treated wood and 1"x4" planks nailed to 2 supports cut from a scrap pressure treated 2by4. I drilled 1/2 inch holes in the base and spread a thin layer of asphalt cement on the base and the insides of the planter for additional water resistance. My planter has the silver color angle and the other is the Kew Gardens version.

  

  

The plant:

These photos were taken at the Staten Island Botanical Gardens on the grounds of Snug Harbor . The plant can be left outdoors, but needs to be well mulched like a fig tree or cut back to the ground and well mulched. It is supposed to become more hardy the larger it gets.

  

Planting:

I put 3-4 inches of gravel at the botton of the planter and on top of that I put some hardware cloth with a 1/4 inch grid. The plant had already started to become root bound in the pot it had been transplanted into so I know it was growing well. I added about 5 inches of soil over the gravel and planted the banana, finishing the top with some cedar mulch. I may bring the plant in over the winter depending on how well it does and how big it gets. Here it is in our backyard.

  

Trains

 

This week I received a list of books taking place on trains or having some part of the story involve them.

• 4:30 from Paddington, A. Christie
• Murder on the Orient Express, A. Christie
• Mystery of the Blue Train, A. Christie
• La Bete Humaine, Gmile Zola
• Anna Karenina, L. Tolstoy
• Strangers on a Train, Patricia Highsmith
• The Thirty Nine Steps, John Buchan
• The Great Train Robbery, Michael Crichton
• Murder on the trans-Siberian Express, Stuart Kaminsky
• Murder on the Flying Scotsman, Carola Dunn
• Stamboul Train, Graham Greene
• Tunnel Vision, Keith Lowe (London Tube)
• The Sleeping Car Murders, Sebastien Japrisot
• Rider, Marian Francis Wolbers (Tokyo Subway)
• Avalanche Express, Colin Forbes
• Artic Summer, E.M. Forster

Graham Greene's Travels with my Aunt has been omitted because my favorite daughter (who lives in London) knows I know about it. The list was inside a nice Father's day card (above), the cover of which reminds me of Switzerland. The main locomotive makes me think of the American West, but the train up on the viaduct and the mountains definitely has has me yearning to go back to Switzerland. We were there in 2001 and again for a daytrip to Lugano in 2004. On our trip in 2001 we visited Zurich, Bern, Thun, Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken and Zermatt and all travel was by train.

 

Here is the eldest daughter and myself in 2001. We are on our way to Trummelbach Falls from our hotel in Lauterbrunnen. Both sides of the very narrow valley are very steep, you can see one wall off in the distance. The falls are inside the mountain and are from glacial runoff, it was well worth the walk. We also passed some other falls on our way, the largest Staubbach Falls, could be seen from our hotel, Hotel Staubbach. A great hotel, in a nice quiet village. The hotel was close to a church which chimed the hours all night long, but it was the same in Bern and it seemed everywhere else we went on that trip. I don't think in Zermatt we heard the church bells though.

 

This is the new funicular from the Lugano train station down to the center of town. For some dumb reason we took the funicular down and walked up later in the day back to the train station. We took the train from Milano Centrale passing some very beautiful scenery, the trip took about 1 hour. It was a perfect daytrip, though I imagine it would be a lot more crowded in the spring or summer than in December when we went. I don't think we had dinner in Lugano, but we did have a very nice lunch. Did you notice the palm trees.

I have quite a number of books in the reading queue mainly Beverley Nichols, but once I get through them I will definitely look to see if the local library has any of the train books on the list. I had been meaning to compile such a list for awhile. I also have to fit in the traditional "Travels with my Aunt" summer read, if Summer ever gets here. I wonder what my favorite daughter who lives in NYC will get me for Father's day?

For the longest time I bought my Dad Crown Royal Whisky for Father's day. My favorite part was the bag, I never liked whisky back then and now only in Mint Juleps.

 

Talking about my Dad and alcohol, I was going to say that his favorite beer was Schmidt's, but that is what he bought, a case of schmidt's in little squat bottles every week or so. I couldn't find a photo of the bottle on the web, but found a label. I only ever snuck one or two so I don't really remember if it was any good. Was it his favorite or the least expensive or was he just different than the average Joe? I never asked. He also smoked Kent cigarettes, same quandry. I am going to go with he just walked to the tune of a different drum.

Happy Father's Day

French Cafe Music, no Accordions ... yet

I finally learned two songs off the CD French Cafe put out by Putomayo World music. I have been meaning to learn them for awhile, but was always too busy. I initially tried finding the chords or tab on the web, but had no luck so I had to figure them out myself. The first song is La Mer Opale sung by Coralie Clément. Don't know what the songs are about, I don't speak a word of French. I even need the French-American dictionary when Reading Monsieur Pamplemousse and the author Michael Bond only throws in a sprinkling of French words. I expect he expects us to know them.

Intro: Dm \\\ \\\\ \\\\ \\\\

Verse: Dm \\\ \\\\ A\\\ \\\\ Gm \\\ C \\\ F \\\ A \\\ (twice)

Chorus:

Dmaj \\\ \\\\ \\\\ \\\\ G \\\ \\\\ B7 \\\ Em \\\ A7 \\\ Dmaj \\\

B7 \\\ Em \\\ A7 \\\ Dmaj \\\ B7 \\\ Em \\\ A7 \\\ Dm

You could play them as open chords, but I think they sound better as bar chords plus you can play alternating bass notes for each chord.

The second song, On N'a Pas Besoin by Paris Combo uses some different chords, the intro and start of the verse are just Dm \\\ A#7 \ A7 \ (twice) played at a steady choppy rhythm. I just used bar chords for these 3 chords. While the chorus is E \ D#7 \ D7 \ C#7 \ (twice) E \ D#7 \ D7 \ C#7 \ C7 \\\ A7 \\\ A#7 \\\ A7

Lyrics can be found on the web and you tube has both of the songs if you want to hear before you buy.

The D#7, D7, C#7 are based on the following C7 chord. Just move the chord down the neck 3 frets for the D#7 and then move up the neck a fret after every 2 beats.

The E chord I play is similar to an E major with the 5th in the bass but with only the root note (5th string 7th fret, 3rd string 9th fret) and the 3rd on the 4th string 6th fret. Mel Bay's Jazz Guitar Volumn Two book has the Major chord with the 5th in the bass, but I couldn't find a picture on-line. The A7 and A#7 could also be played as bar chords, but I like the major chord with the root in the bass better. For the A7, the fingering would be strings 2, 4 and 6 at the 5th fret and string 3 on the 6th fret. For the A#7, just slide down 1 fret.

There are a few more songs I really like on the CD, but these 2 were my favorites.

Before and After

Some of the many changes occurring here at the castle. Tin, paint, un-shellacing and de-flowering... if the Lilac is considered a flower that is.

Kitchen before new paint

Kitchen after new paint, the color is actually a bit darker than in the photo.

I stripped the kitchen closet door since it was looking shabby after installing the tin ceiling and then painting the kitchen walls and molding.

 

Then I had to strip the kitchen door since it was right next to the closet door and next it will be the hall door followed by the hall molding. Not too difficult, just time consuming and since I have a few spare cycles I figured I would get it out of the way. I scrape off the bulk of the finish and use denatured alcohol to dissolve the remainder.

Kitchen door before

Kitchen door after

I also pulled out ye old lilac bush. We had moved some younger shoots from it to the other side of the yard and waited till they bloomed before digging up the parent. I potted up a bunch of 1 year, 2 year and some 3+ year plants. I can't see just throwing the whole plant away. I have managed to give away the bulk and only have one large specimen left.

South East corner before

 

Southeast corner after

Thoughts for the new space ranged from Japanese garden, water garden, cottage garden, shade garden to big green egg home. That is the Big Green Egg in the last photo, to the right of my dog's torso. I would like a heather garden, but that spot is too shady. I think we will put down the slate from a used pool table we which never put together, move the bench there and plant behind it and put some of the potted alpines and troughs around the bench.

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.