Sunday, April 14, 2013

Back To Building


Yes, i know it's what many of you have been waiting on!!  I am back to building on the house!  It's not anything major but it is a step towards completing the living room and kitchen.  Now, what it is, is that I framed the little hearth that goes under the gas fireplace in the living room.  This will be sheathed in Durock and then tiled around the outside.  The top will be a 2 inch concrete slab, like the bath and kitchen counter tops will be.  Basically all I need to do now is put up my little edge form for the slab and pour that.  Then I can start the tile at the bottom and go up.  The tile will go all the way up the wall that the heater is installed on.  And yes, it will have some decorative parts, not just straight tile.
And just in case you see all that scribbling on the wall there, I did swap my mind on some stuff and had to lay it all out again.  I was going to make the hearth end close to the edge of the heater but Allen suggested that I extend it as far as I could so I could put a large vase or some such on either side of the heater.  I thought that would look pretty so I moved everything out.  I have to mark everything out sometimes on stuff like this because you have to account for so many layers of material; the framing, the Durock, the tile etc.  I think this is going to look pretty good when it's done, which will hopefully be soon.  BTW, that is 3/4 inch plywood on top and does have a few struts under it to support the weight of the slab.


Just more gratuitous pottery photos.  I though these leaf trays came out pretty.  I'm getting caught up in my stores, sorta.   The 4 outlets I have now do pretty good and it takes me a pretty regular schedule to keep them supplied.  If I were to take on any more stores I'd never have time to work on my house.  Hopefully my enthusiasm will hold out and I can get a lot done in these next few months.


I've had a terrible gardening bug since it has warmed up and usually take Sundays to just work on that.  And maybe some evenings after we finish with supper! ha!  I can't help it.  While I have the energy I figure I better take advantage of that.  We got some rain in the middle of the day but I still managed to backfill part of a stone wall I'm working on, plant a few flowers and then transplant about half a dozen wild hydrangeas down along the driveway.  Oh, and Chigger and I went hiking along the mountain in hopes of finding a dropped deer antler but no luck there.  I did see some beautiful wild azaleas that are blooming though.
Well, I'll be back soon hopefully with some more goings on.  Hope everybody had a nice weekend!!!

11 comments:

Pablo said...

Any secret compartments or hidden messages in your house? Stuff that people will find and marvel over 50 years from now?

pamit said...

Those trays are really pretty! Annie, do you ever make tiles, like trivets or just decorative things? Your description of tiling the hearth made me wonder.

My dog and I are always hunting for deer and elk antlers on this mountain. I wedge them into the stone wall on the front of my house, which the neighbors probably think is gruesome, but I like it.

HermitJim said...

I like the beginning of the hearth and the leaf pottery as well!

You just always have something going on! Cool!

MamaHen said...

Hey Pablo! well, if I told you..it wouldn't be a secret anymore now would it? haha! there are some messages written under the siding actually and we signed and dated the concrete footings. But hey, 50 years from now I'm still gonna be around so ain't nobody rummaging through my house!

Hey Pam! yes, I do make tiles occasionally and have thought about making some accent tiles for the fireplace area but for the most part that will be slate.
I think the antlers in the stone wall would be cool too!

Hey Jim! thanks man!

JMD said...

Oh I really like the hearth. Excited to see that finished.

Nice size coffee mugs. How much do you sell them for? Really nice...

We managed to get a few new plants in the ground so things are looking a bit perkier. In less than two years that we have lived here the place is beginning to take place. Takes time, eh?

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

The fireplace plan sounds great especially with the slate surround, Annie. Leaf trays are really nice and easy to see why folks appreciate your pottery work. Still like those mugs and when we finally relocate and get settled hope you will still be creating them. Yeah on being outdoors as we have spent a fair amount of time there the past week getting ready for an open house this weekend and hopefully folks wanting to buy our home.

JO said...

Can't wait to see the fireplace finished.
I love the leaf trays and the way you have painted your pieces.

MamaHen said...

Hey JMD! yeah, it takes a long time! lol!

Hey Bea! Oh, good luck on your open house! I hope it goes well for ya'll.

Hey Jo! thanks!

Island Rider said...

I really like those leaf plates. Very pretty finish on them.

Caroline said...

I found one of the buck deer who eats the pumpkins off my front porch gifted me with a shed antler which I found in our thicket. It is the first one I have ever found in 30+ years in this house.
I took it to school and the art class kids were using it as a subject for their daily sketching exercise this morning. Cool.

MamaHen said...

Hey IR! thanks! I thought they came out well too.

Hey Caroline! Yeah, very cool! I'm not very good at finding them either; I apparently have to about fall over them! In 7 years here I've only found one.