END OF THE ROAD

This USED to be the road I took on the way to work at the junction of 19 and 281 north of Minnewauken, ND.  Now my road is totally under water and there's no sign of the junction I loved so well.  Sigh.

This is a photo of the end of my road, blocked by a little dike and the big water behind it.  To get to my junction, which alas IS NO MORE, you have to take the long way around.  The town of Minnewauken lies mostly behind me and to the left from where I took this photo.  A bait shop, now almost literally on the lakeshore, would be just to my right and slightly behind me.  I was very glad to see it still there.

The last time I went to my junction I could at least still FIND it. 

This time if there's the slightest sign of it on the north end I never saw it, and I was looking.  I swear 'Devils Lake' is the most appropriate name ever for this place. 

The blasted lake SWALLOWED my junction.

Dammit anyhow.



ARTWORK: THE FIRST OF THE 'SERIES OF TWELVES'

It's a beginning.

In my attic hall I have hung a half dozen old tin ceiling panels, salvaged from an uptown building that is no longer there.  I'll use wood strips between them and around them to give them a more 'finished' look.  Into the dozen squares of the panels will go a dozen pictures, a series with a common theme of some kind. 

The first of these series is a no-brainer for me.  Among us four sisters we have a dozen children, the Dozen Cousins, and they will be represented as the first of the 'Twelves'. 

Being a lazy so-and-so I decided to cut Liza and Helen down to size and use the already-done silhouettes of them that have been hanging about, or lying about as the case may be, for years now.  The other cousins will get pictures, probably paintings (although you never know if I'm going to get REALLY lazy and use enlarged photos), that are representative of them as individuals from MY perspective. 

It's going to be a fun project, this first of the 'Twelves', and I'm very much looking forward to getting to work on it!



2012 AUGUST SCREEN WALL ACROSS FRONT PORCH

It needs finish work but the door swings clean and clear and is LEVEL.

Go ME!

Before we celebrate the screen wall TOO enthusiastically,

we'd better take a look at the OTHER end of the front porch!

Buried beneath all that STUFF are a few things I might want to keep, if I can find them.



ANGELS

I BELIEVE THERE ARE ANGELS AMONG US

Some of my first experimental back-lighting pieces.  These four angels represent the four daughters of my mother.  They are painted with acrylic and pearls on fabric, using the screens from the windows themselves, hinged together, as easels.  When cut from the screens, they fit right into the windows.  I'll try to get a photo without all the tree shadows...!

Here are the angels from the back side, as seen from inside the front porch with the morning light illuminating them.  The same effect happens at night, viewed from the outside, with a light on inside the porch.



WINDOW TO DOOR

First you choose a window that doesn't have a radiator in front of it, more rare than you'd think in 100 year old houses.  This one is in my new kitchen, which used to be the back bedroom.  It looks out into my courtyard on the south side of the house.

In order to get the window out, you have to remove the trim and moldings.  Sounds simple enough but they only come out in a certain order, so you have to see what can come off first.  If your house is as old as mine and as well built, be prepared for a lot of humongous nails.

These are the inside moldings, holding the windows in place.

Here goes the window sill.

Finally the window frame comes loose, after a lot of cussing.

These weights, with pullies, are built into the window frames and the framing beside the windows.  They make for incredibly easy raising and lowering of the lower and upper windows.  They're also heavier than you'd think.  I didn't weigh them but they have a number seven embossed on the ones attacked to the upper windows and a number eight on the ones for the lower ones.  I'm guessing that's how much they weigh in pounds. 

I don't kow if you can read this but it's the name L. Schwartz written on the top of the window frame.  Since the name Louis Schwartz is written on other dismantled parts of the house I'm guessing that he's the one who built the place.  If he were still around I would first thank him for building such a very sturdy house and then ask him if it was REALLY NECESSARY to use so MANY very BIG NAILS. 

Here's the top parts of the pullies.  Those knots and the top part of the cords fit into the top outer edges of the windows, in a hole hollowed out in the side for the knot and a slot that the cord fits into. 

At the other end of the cords are the weights.  They have their own space alongside the window framing.

Knocking out the wall beneath the window is easier than I expected.  My skilsaw cut through the outside siding and the wooden wall with a minimum of hand-sawing at the bottom since I didn't want to make the cut past the level of where I wanted to fit the door sill.  The lath and plaster on the inside was a pain in the patoot.

Looking from the outside in, you can see through the room to the door just opposite - it has one of those windows that open up on top of it; I forget what they're called ... it'll come to me one of these days.

Here's the screen door I put in.  The heavier one will go in when the weather cools off.  For now I'm just happy to finally have gotten my door into my courtyard!  Duke likes it too. 

And yes, the trim is going back on as soon as I recuperate from the stress of it all. 

Also, a special thank you to my big sister who stood by me through the entire ordeal, cussing and all!