Thursday, October 22, 2015

Iffen' Grip

Here is a traditional Ohio trimming aid called the Iffen Grip. As in iffen' you be needin' to grip something, make one of these.


 
 
 
That's all, don't forget to tip your waiter.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Yellow Springs

Yellow Springs Ohio is one of my favorite small towns. It is very relaxed and progressive. It's kind of the Berkley of the Midwest. There are lots of artists in the area and every fall for the last 15 years potter and ceramic artist Lisa Goldberg has organized an open studio tour which is always fun to attend. Loads of new work, guest artists, treats, and nice people. I went up yesterday but you can still go today. Tomorrow( Monday) guest artists Didem Mert and Jenny Mendez are putting on a tandem workshop at Cornell Clay in Dayton. If you can get away, it should be a lot of fun and a lot of knowledge. Both of them do some pretty spectacular work.

When I headed out yesterday I forgot my camera but I did bring home some treats to share with you.

Didem Mert

Lisa Goldberg


Naysan McIlhargey

Bruce Grimes.

Between the plumbing repair I told you about last time and general chores, I have also been working on a new ( old) song
 
 
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Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Plumbing

Last night I came home about 9:30 and the kitchen faucet was dripping. I thought, " someone should fix that."Well. by morning, I had decided the old taps had seen better days so I might as well replace the faucets. Thus began a sequence of events that blends all my plumbing experiences with what is commonly called the DOMINO EFFECT. The smart plumber doesn't spend much time on his back, he pops out the sink, replaces the faucet set with a few turns of the wrist, puts down a bead of caulk and DONE. The smartest thing I could have done is let it drip. I went to Home Depot, bought a nice new faucet set and all the associated small parts I would need. When I got home and pulled the sink I was very proud of myself and pleased with how it was going. Then I noticed the underside of our 20 year old expensive composite sink looked like this.


 
 
 
It was too deep to epoxy and too bad to ignore. Back to Home Depot with Tina to pick out a sink. Nothing we liked, off to Lowes. Found a sink, bought every additional thing we could possibly need including extra 30 inch feed lines so I could extend the old ones and hook things up before I mounted the new sink. Got those fitted up and did a pressure test. The old lines leaked. Back to Lowes. Feed lines ok now. Time to mount sink. That is the end of working in a standing position. Try to connect the pipes under the sink. Drain from sink ends up about 1/2 inch to the left of the pipe coming out of the wall. Another trip to the store, leaks in the drain system. More trips up and down. Thank goodness Tina was home and helped run to the basement to turn on the main valve then turn it off again so I could chase another leak. I am exhausted. Nine hours and over $400 later, we have a drip free faucet with leak free drains.