ok, at least were starting to think about spring here ... the ducks came back to the pond on thursday, but after a cold but sunny friday, it snowed again last night, and its in the 20s again today.  the ducks are frozen out of the pond until it warms up again.  its pleasant today, but not like wednesday, when it hit almost 50 and the sky was that incredible blue.  springtime in vermont is something of a tease.  back and forth, forth and back, and on and on for a few weeks.  we should have crocuses in a week or two, but youd never know it today.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

 

weve had daffodils from the store on the counter for a couple weeks and they are alchoices welcome.

 but the back yard and the mountains are looking like winter still

 and then youve got the black and white days like this one last week, where the only color in the picture is the stop sign ...

no color at all here

 but the barred owls are calling ... nesting time for them soon , and even though the pheobes wont be back for a few weeks,we cleared their  nest off the cornice return this week ... 

 yeah, its as soft as it looks ... a work of natural art weaving for sure

theres wood to stack.  im outta here ...

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a round expanding table with a steel base

9/25 .. all done now
9/10/11 ... were moving along on the table were making from the model above. i posted that picutre, i think, in one i wrote back in june sometime. great concept; exceptionally stable for a small base/big top table. the 3" hollow steel tubing has a nice weight to it, and the 30 x 30 footprint under a 60" diameter top allows plenty of room for chairs and knees.
sam did a great job mitering and welding the pieces. he did have a nice jig that trevor made for him on the cnc, but i cant find the photo of it. it was a simple piece of mdf with a u shape the size of the base routed into it. it made mitering, fitting and welding the pieces of tubing a piece of cake.
add the aprons
and the top plate ...
and the moin equalizing slides ...
i think the model is 1.5" = 1 or 1/8 scale
these runners actually opened further than we needed them to ..
with the leaves in (96" long)
closed, and ready for the black conversion varnish that will go on the top. sam still needs to roll and polish a piece of 1/4" x 2" steel that will be attached over the 1.75" wood apron currently seen under the top and it will be ready to go. fun new concept. gold star to my client for her design input ...

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psychology getting their heads on straight

well, this was fun ... we got to do a little psychological repair work last week, you know getting their heads on straight ...
this is actually a pretty amazing story. my friend lisa bought this special shona sculpture called (i think) the family, for her new husband dave on the occasion of their marriage and the joining of their boys from former marriages into a new family. it resided in a special spot on their lawn for several years, and then one day about a year and a half ago, it just disappeared. gone ... not a trace ... poof! granted, it was on their lawn, on a quiet dorset street, but you wouldnt think a 3 or 400 pound sculpture would just vanish, but it did. it stayed missing for about 5 months, and then last thanksgiving day they got a call from the poultney police saying a deer hunter had found their sculpture on the edge of a field. back it came with some scratches and the two heads that were broken off, but it was back! .. they asked me to help them fix it this spring, and eventually, i did. a little special stone epoxy from eastern marble and granite supply, a couple steel pins, and a couple deep breaths while i was drilling ... good to go ... click the photos to enlarge them ..
getting the holes to line up in the matching pieces took a little trial and error, but the epoxy allowed for a little wiggle room .. above, we employ one of our best clamps, 1.5" blue masking tape.
with lisa, smiling achoice
and back together again ...
youd hardly know on this one, but the other head will require a little paint touch up
rover approves

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