Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2024 – Earlier this summer I constructed two wooden ramps to provide passage over two side-by-side fallen giants of the woods, each . . . two feet in diameter. The completed project looked simple enough, but in design and construction the operation required a fair among of engineering. As with most completed cabin …
AUGUST 4, 2024 -When the opportunity presents itself, I love boarding and inspecting old refurbished wooden yachts. My most recent encounter with such a classic vessel occurred last summer at the Annual Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut. What stopped our slow walk along the wharf was a 30-something-foot-long beautifully restored sloop. …
MAY 16, 2023 – For several months leading up to Christmas last year, I worked single-mindedly on a gnome home project for our granddaughter, Illiana. What had begun as a simple, rustic concept morphed into a kaleidoscope of whimsical possibilities—and engineering challenges. When Illiana’s delight at the unveiling of the magnum opus – gnomus domus …
DECEMBER 20, 2022 – Blogger’s note: I apologize for the length of this post, but the project it describes was itself a long one. Last summer I embarked on the haphazard design and construction of a “gnome home” for our granddaughter. I had no idea that the project would become a metaphor for life. Over …
JULY 23, 2021 – By last summer’s end, gnome homes had proliferated throughout our neighborhood. Captivated by these whimsically works, I joined the fad. I made two gnome homes and started a third. Winter halted construction, but while my building materials—natural “finds” from our woods—were in hibernation under the Red Cabin porch, I “built” gnome …
APRIL 9, 2021 – Between rain showers this week, I’ve been dashing over to the 20-year old, backyard cedar treehouse that I’m disassembling for its treasure trove of lumber. As I’m discovering, there’s as much art, engineering, and imagination involved in taking apart a structure of this size and structure as there is in putting …
APRIL 6, 2021 – I’d planned to resume writing about The Trial, but yesterday I stumbled into a large pile of scrap lumber. (See yesterday’s blog post.) More precisely, I encountered thousands of dollars’ worth of weathered but still perfectly serviceable cedar in the form of a grand “treehouse” in our small town. At the …
APRIL 5, 2021 – Being tree-hugger, I can’t stand a good piece of scrap of lumber going to waste. I caught this disease from my dad, who, in turn, had inherited it from his dad. My other grandpa collected scrap metal. Figures. He was an industrialist kind of guy. My dad and paternal grandpa, however, …
OCTOBER 19, 2020 – Those who’ve followed my stenciling project for signage in our Northwoods tree garden will be happy to know that over the weekend I hung the first sign. As it turned out, the hanging required ample engineering, way too many tools (and return trips to the cabin workroom), and boundless patience. Early …
OCTOBER 15 2020 – A few days ago I wrote about the art of the stencil. Yesterday, I moved on to the science of the stencil; that is, I took paint to stencil and boards on which I’d intended to make two dozen trail and landmark signs for my tree garden. The “art” part was …
OCTOBER 11, 2020 – For some weeks I’ve been planning signage for my tree garden—trail signs and markers designating regions where I’ve planted white pine seedlings. The project is a wonderful diversion from the discouraging plight of our country. The signage has multiple facets: size, design, colors, materials, and most important, names and directional arrows. …