Today was so awesome! I woke up around 7 a.m. to early morning ramblings from the party the night before that was still going on. Slightly nervous about accidentally waking up, stumbling into a party and getting drunk before my Wheaties, I went back to sleep until 9. Talk about sleeping in! Amolia and Sam were still up after my beauty sleep. We chatted and I internet-ed. Amalia went for a walk, I got showered, dressed and rode out to Brooklyn.
But first I needed to fix my bike. I have been carrying my bike pump around due to a slow leak in my rear presta valve, but Halloween morning I found a staple stuck in the tire that was causing a less-than-slow leak. It was time to buy a new tube and tire. New bike parts are the best! Bike Habitat fixed me up with an Armadillo tire, a tube, and a patch kit. The guy at the counter took some money off because it wasn't what I really wanted, so that was nice. They all seem nice there. And they have free air outside, bring your own presta adapter though.
The sun never sets on Brooklyn. This is the Willy bridge from Delancy.
Brooklyn was sweeeeet! I was in a good mood and ready to chill in my house. It was warm and muggy, damn near hot. Emily was up when I got in and she made some Bustelo for us. Later, she made more coffee and some garlic quesodillas that were really delicious.
The old cassette player had been serving me well, but it was time to upgrade. I busted out the computer, the receiver/speakers, and the record player. I finally got the Buke and Gass cd on my ipod! Those songs have been stuck in my head every day and now they are accessible at any moment! It's the future! It's the 90s!
Hell yes! we're only a bunch of food away from a Sunday-fun-day here.
The goal today was to build a hearth for the wood stove and tile the top as a fire barrier. The first step was to open up the stove to get some measurements. It was like Christmas in July on Halloween!
Stove Crate. It wasn't as heavy as it looks. Maybe it is. I don't know. It's broken down now. Maybe I should burn it today.
Semi-assembled stove. It looks cool and reminds me of Northern Wisconsin.
I drew up some rough plans for the stove platform. It was designed to be way over-built. Yet before building would start, I needed to go to HD and buy the tiling supplies. It was important to avoid cutting tile and do everything as simply as possible, so the final plans would be tailored to my materials.
On my way down the alley to go to the Depot, I knocked myself to the ground walking into Will's window's baby cage in the alley. It hurt like hell and left a dent in my head. It isn't the first time I've done this. Note to self- "Learn From One's Mistakes" There's styrofoam taped on the corners now, thank god.
I had a letter that needed to be mailed to my friend in Wisconsin, so I brought it on my walk to HD. Favorably, on Bedford there was a postman picking up from one of the big green boxes. I gave him my letter, but he immediately noticed it was completely void of postage. He gave it back, but then while waiting for the light to change, found a stamp in his pocket and accepted the envelope. It was nice! Love love love. I wished him a happy Halloween.
The tile colors available at HD were abysmal. There were some 12 x 12 tiles on sale for under a buck, and they were also the most "colorful" (earth-tones... with a little green) so that's what came home with me. It seems like all the large tile there is meant for patios and gardens, not trippy house-cabins. I also bought a 12 x 12 square composed of 144 little green and brown glass tiles to add a little decorative trim to the front edge. My plan is to add food coloring or something to the grout to add some pizzaz to this thing. The first finished project in the house must have some color! Color!
Shopping List:
12 - 12 x 12'' tiles
1 - 12 x 12'' glass mosiac tile
an economy trowel
an economy rubber float (for grout)
pre-mixed adhesive and grout combo
tile spacers
Once I calculated the platform size, the frame was constructed from left-over 2 x 8s and covered with 3/4'' plywood sheathing (left-over from the roof). I attached the frame to the floor with big angle brackets from the inside before the plywood went on top. That really firmed up the floor a lot! This was a promising sign- As more things are installed, the floor will get more sturdy. Right?
Tiling was pretty easy and there wasn't a lot of space to cover. This was all good news, because before I started we smoked a blunt in the house proper's living room. Sophie was chilling on my little round table the whole time, laying on some clothing that was an acting cat blanket. I moved it out near the door so she could watch outside. It started raining softly, then hard, then hardly, and back to softly. The weather was so amazing. I wore a t-shirt all day long.
Mock-up of tile. The space behind the platform is going to be filled in with stones and brick found in the house. The sides will have to get finished with something interesting. I might go with shag carpet after reading an article from the Home section of the Times the other day.
Sophie doing what she does best. Hearth frame in foreground.
Tile installed. Ain't no thang!
Detail. This will take 3 days to dry, then I can grout. I might need to put a space heater or one of the hot lights on it to make sure it dries. The house is pretty wet and those big tiles don't let a lot of moisture out. I want to stain the grout a brighter color- either green or a contrasting orange... orange might be supremely ugly. We will see.
Everything got done before nightfall! Stellar day. I chilled, listened to music, hung out with Sophie and went through my photos and negatives for a while before biking back to Bowery to start Halloween-ing. Good times. Can't wait for next halloween.
Aaa-oooooooOOOOOOO! Ah-Hi!
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