Thanksgiving in Whitehall, 2025
Turkey-vision.
Posts Tagged "liz"
New Board, Games
A while back… I saw some advertisements for Board, an electronic board that interacted with physical pieces. It seemed like a combination of a lot of things I like – board games, with a bit of electronic tech thrown in.
Visiting Mark in Michigan
Before our trek up to Whitehall, we learned that the cabin Mark and Anna have in Michigan is fairly close by. We talked a bit about meeting up, and today ended up being a good day for us to hang out. And to check out their cabin.
Unfortunately, Anna ended up being out of town for work. But we still arranged to meet up for a tour, a walk around the grounds, and an early dinner.
First Fall/Winter Run
Now, with us far away and waiting for some new floors to be installed… what better way to relax than to go out for a run in the brisk, Michigan air? It’s chilly out, with some decently strong winds… but no better time than now.
Running to relax. What an odd thing to do.
Deerspotting
While we had several deer grazing, there was one of them that spotted me through the window. And kept a close eye on me, the entire rest of the time.
Last Night Before Flooring Install Begins
Big day, last day. Tomorrow is when the flooring guys arrive, and by the morning we need to have everything off the first and second floors.
So that means – everything is shoved into the basement. Or kitchen. Or bathroom. Or the small space between our walk-in closet and the bathroom, which we’ve colloquially referred to as “Harry Potter”.
Door Flip, Stain
Front door, looking colorful again.
Packing Continued, Flipping Doors
With one side varnished and (slightly) protected, Liz flipped the doors to begin working on the other side.
There’s a bit of a timing concern. Ideally, the exterior gets 3 coats of varnish, for protection. But with each coat, it takes something like 8-16 hours to dry. So while there’s a single coat on the interior, that’s enough. And now the challenge is to try to get enough coats on the exterior, before all the flooring work begins.
More Packing, Adding Spar Varnish to the Doors
Liz, showing how slick the doors are.
Double Door Spray
Big night for the door work. After several manual application attempts failed… Liz determined that the best way to apply her suspended dye/shellac mixture was to use a sprayer. So she headed out to Rockler in the suburbs, to pick up a unit.
In the meanwhile, I got the dining room ready to serve as a temporary spray booth. This meant covering up the walls with plastic, and making the whole area look like a serial killer’s playpen.
Double Door Prep
Prep work for the upstairs porch door: cutting painter’s tape, and protecting all the glass areas.
Flooring Delivery, and the Beginning of the Door Work
So the big news – we’re getting new flooring installed on the second floor. A big part of all the cleanup work we’ve started (with so much more to go)… is all about getting everything off the first and second floor.
While we struggle with that task, today we received a shipment of flooring (which needs a bit of time inside, to acclimate before install).
First Floor Cleaning Prep, Continued
The coat rack, which needed to be moved and broken down, to make space for the lab table. We’ve got lots of stuff, and not a ton of space to work with.
Halloween in Hyde Park, 2025: Plinko Board
We were pretty busy all night, with a constant stream of kids. This was one of the few moments where I stopped to take out my camera, and record one of the interactions.
Fireplace Work: Terra Cotta Tiles Removed
After removing the tile, Liz went about cleaning the mortar off – and in doing so, had a really amazing discovery. Two in fact!