Yesterdays Work Assignment

The department I work for has asked me to take photos of the research and teaching labs so that we have photos to use in publications and on the web advertising our programs.  Normally I am the college and departments press photographer taking photos of the participants of our social events which is easy for me to mingle among the crowd and take photos of smiling happy faces but this assignment is a bit out of the norm for me.

This photo has had a brush effect added to it using Photoshop brightening the multitude of colors in the photo.  All the photos turned out well for my first lab room photo shoot and when I notice them around in print or on the web I will be sure to point them out and say “Hey look I took that photo!”  with a big cheesy grin on my face.

Happy Friday to everyone!

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Winter?

Winter has yet to peek around the corner of the hills and we just might make it to October without seeing even the tiniest of flakes.  There is moisture in the clouds that pass overhead that has been falling in drops but no white to cover the still green grass.

All the leaves have fallen from our birch tree in the front of our house and they have been swept up or raked away before the first snow fall of winter, which is a first in the 14 years we have called this our home.

We just might make it to October 1^st before we see snow ~ I will keep you posted.

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Youngest Son on the Job

The youngest son has been working on the construction crew that is building the new greenhouse on campus. The greenhouse will be using those fancy new LED lighting systems that are high performance and energy efficient

Many years from now he will be able to point at the greenhouse and say "I helped build that"! Along with all the future construction projects he will work on over the years.

How cool is that!

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Bedroom Project ~ Day Six

Kenny fixing the floor squeak.

 

Hail to the Queen ~ Long Live the Queen

Kenny & Karie were here!

9-17-2011

Message left in the floor!

Safety first!  Sheetrock and mud dust are nasty to the lungs.    

I may be messy but it's safety first!

Walls are drying and ready for texture! 

Go Team Us!

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Bedroom Project ~ Day Five

Not so fun part of the project ~ pulling staples from the floor.  I have a box I use to sit on when I am doing projects that require me to be near the floor
~ saves the back.

This photo looks funny but I think it is an optical illusion that makes the ceiling look like it is caving in on you.

Come to find out I am good at the mud and tape task, messy but good at it and we discovered why, it is because mud and taping sheetrock is a lot like decorating a cake.  I am just adding frosting to the wall and making it look pretty and smooth.

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Bedroom Project ~ Day Four

 

 

The pony wall, half wall or whatever you want to call it was part of the closet that we have never used. In fact we had the head of the bed in the space that was the closet but now it has been removed and the room is so much larger and open.  Heavy vapor barrier has been stapled up, taped off and the new sheetrock hung.  This project is progressing quickly.  Next up more fun stuff ~ mud and tape ~ another messy task for Karie!

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Bedroom Project ~ Day Three

The new electrical outlets have been installed, new insulation and... my favorite part... spray foam!  Karie just loves to use the spray foam.  I am quite proud of myself as this time I did not overdo it and the amount of spray foam was perfect.  I did however get it on the floor, then my shoe and well then I tried to wipe it off my shoe with a rag and it ended up on my hands.  Oh well it's not a project with Kenny & Karie if we are not messy right from the get go.

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Bedroom Project ~ Day Two

The sheet rock has been removed to expose the gross old moldy insulation.  Above photo is the shared wall with the neighbors.

The window wall faces west north west and looks out to the back yard.  This wall has always had cold spots in the winter that collect moisture.

All the insulation has been removed and we will change the outlets around some to add an extra one on the outer wall.  Not a bad days work.

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Bedroom Remodel No. Three

Projects make our world go’round. 

We have started the last bedroom in the upstairs remodel project.  This was our room and it is the bedroom that shares a wall with our neighbors.  They are a bit hard of hearing and turn up the volume when they watched those old classic movies late at night but after this project is complete there will be extra insulation between us and them plus sheetrock that is thicker quieting the room.

The room colors will be changing also ~ I am so over my purple phase ~ to a nice cream color that will go with any number of quilts we have to place on the bed for our new guest room!

It took us an entire day to empty the room of its belongings and take out the carpet.  We have our share of books and I had a room full of photos.  It will be nice to change them around and lighten up the walls.

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Music Monday

Music Monday ~ picking up where CJ left off!

Enjoy this peaceful song by Angus and Julia Stone called Little Bird

and enjoy your Monday.

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Friday Harvest

 

Giant bowl of tomatoes that I picked from the two tomato plants that were planted outside my office window by our facility services grounds crew this spring in attempt to show our sustainability.  They had a sunny warm spot to grow and were watered with the rain and some weeks even a short shower with the garden hose but for the most part they were ignored and went unnoticed.  We picked a dozen or so that turned red in August and yesterday I decided it was time to see just how many tomatoes were out there and to our surprise a fairly hefty sum was harvested.

Over half of them will ripen up given a little time and the others will make a fine green salsa or other green tomato based dishes.   

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Good Morning

 

On my left the sun is rising for another beautiful day!

On my right the moon is halfway through its nightly journey across the sky.  It is nice to see the moon again after a long summer of sunshine.  Don't get me wrong I will totally miss the sun as my dear friend CJ stated we are solar powered!  

But the moon does hold a special place in my heart along with the first person I think of when I see the full moon glowing bright. Then the song from An American Tail: Fievel Goes West ~ Somewhere Out There ~ begins to play in my heart.

Can't wait to see you both!

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Fall Fashion Show

Fall has been great this year in the North land.  It is September 14^th and there has been no measurable snow fall in the interior.  The temperatures are dipping into the mid 30’s and the days have been warming up into the mid 50’s.  There are still a few geese and a small number of cranes around but I expect them to be gone any second.  I am not sure when the robins are supposed to leave town but there are still a few hanging around our neighborhood eating the fruit from the lilac trees and pooping out the seeds on our deck.  Perhaps this is a sign that our fall will last a while longer.

Fall and especially Indian summers in the Midwest were always my favorite time of year as a child.  Duck hunting season, cutting firewood with my Dad season and helping my Mom put the honey bees and garden to bed for the winter season.  Great memories!

The red color that these few birch trees are dressed in is a bit unusual for this area as the cold weather normally moved in so quickly that the leaves do not have a chance to even think about turning red.  We also might have had just the right amount of sun and rain this summer for these few trees to produce the right amount of chemistry for a red fall fashion show, whatever the reason it makes for the most enjoyable fall view.

Enjoy fall in your part of the world.

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Finished Fall Project

Bed frame in the garage before we moved it upstairs. It took us a while to figure out what type of feet to use so that we could measure for the wood legs for the main support frame.



Once we had the right length the wood frame and feet went together
rather quickly ~ go team us!









The only thing left to do for the bed project is to make a nice bed skirt and get out just the right quilt from the trunks. It is a full size bed frame (being old it was big for back then) and a modern size queen bed. We have been sleeping on a full size bed ever since we've been married so the queen bed feels huge, tons of room almost too much. I am sure we will get used to the space.


To finish out the room we still need to put the floor molding and door trim up and to find just the right lamps and make nice lamp shades for each side of the bed.

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Yesterday's Beautiful Day

Yesterday was a beautiful day!  

The view looking onto our front porch and the falling birch leaves.

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September 11th

Below is from an email I received. 

In God we trust!

On Sunday, September 11th, 2011, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States. Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this tenth anniversary of one of our country's worst tragedies. We do this to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds.

God Bless America!  

Bless and protect our service men and women who have served and who are currently serving for our country and our freedoms. 

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Friday Quiz

If you twitter and post tweets does that make you a twit?

Hey ~ I am not getting my tweets?!

Happy Friday everyone!

Fall Project

This bed has been in town a very long time. In fact as the story goes the original owner was about to toss it over the Wendell Street bridge sometime in the late 40’s early 50’s when a friend of my Aunt Karen’s and her husband were driving by and stopped to ask the fella who was discarding the bed if they could have it.  A few years back my Aunt Karen ended up with the bed and last year she gave it to me. 

These photos were taken after I had stripped off all the layers of old paint.  The layers were white then gold and a brassy copper color.  When I am finished it will be a semi-gloss black with the brass center piece cleaned and repaired best I can. 

We have to modify it some as it is for a full size bed and our new bed is a queen size. 

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