A visit from the fire department....

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Last night as we settled in for some TV watching John made a fire. He is a good fire builder and has a whole set of steps he goes through etc. He is always telling me how to do this in case I make one when he is gone which I doubt I would do. If I can't flip a switch for the gas fireplace it is doubtful I'll build one just for myself.

He heard a roaring whoosh sound as I noticed a fire like no other, no pretty flickery flames, just a sheet of flame. Upstairs we have 13 windows at the ceiling level that are high up in the stairwell and 2 bathrooms. Through the windows he could see red from the fire coming out the chimney on the roof!

I called 911 (which took wayyyyyy too many rings, probably 10+) and he shut the flew. Of course the house filled up with smoke and John broke up the fire and threw the logs outside. Many nice firemen came with many fire trucks. Apparently the creosote in the chimney caught fire. This was our third fire, why now, who knows. So we need a visit from people who clean chimneys even though the firemen think we probably burnt all the creosote out now. But we think an inspection would be good.

The house reeks of smoke. Need to talk to the insurance company and see what needs to be done. The fireplace chimney goes through our closets so I am sure clothes all need to be washed or drycleaned etc. Guess I'll turn the heat off, open some windows and pack up and go work at a coffee shop.

Luckily John did the right things very quickly and the firemen did not need to use any water so damage is mostly smoke...

Laurie and our Butcher Block Counter!

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Rae: We have a 30" x 50" butcher block counter as the pass through from the kitchen to the dining area. It looks its age with stains, burns, unevenness, and grime around the edges. Almost 40 years of other peoples grime. Ick.

Our friend Laurie was here this weekend. She brought some tools and woodworking related items so she could make suggestions to me on my Dad's desk. Well she took one look at this butcher block and knew she could fix it.

But we needed a few things. And she acquired this lovely Lie Nielsen plane. What a lovely tool this is.

John: So, here's our "guest"...slaving over the butcher block until around 1:15am...making it very pretty! We felt bad (but not TOO bad)...actually I slept like a baby! When Laurie starts something she won't stop until it's perfect, near perfect, or her fingers bleed...any two of those three. That said, I learned stuff from her...like when I need something done around the house, research my friends' interests on Facebook before I invite them for a stay.

Rae: And here she is using the little metal card scrapper.

John: This is the coolest thing and I can't believe I have never come across these little metal tools...or maybe I have and threw them away thinking they were scrap! After all I AM a MASTER craftsman! In fact, when she first pulled these metal strips out, I thought it was a prank! I know. I am one knowledgeable craftsman.

Rae: And here is a platter of the dust, dirt and wood shavings that she scraped off the butcher block.

John: I had a spoonful of this on my pizza before they told me it was shavings!

Rae: Thanks Laurie, you are the best!

John: This is causing us to rethink company...for those of you reading this who are thinking of a visit, place your dietary interests and tradesman skill levels on your Facebook page. We'll call when we have an opening.

Laurie: Be careful what you wish for.

Rae: I have to go fondle the counter top...

John: Damn. It IS smooth...and Laurie is now buying us dinner for allowing us to let her improve her woodworking skills.

Rae: And she fixed Dad's desk too!

She's my friend. I am not giving out her number, don't even ask.

Wall of wood....

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We live in an old part of Madison. It is densely populated and people use all of their yard space. We walked by this wall of firewood which we both thought was rather ingenious. John LOVED it, he wanted one. Even better he gets to chop up wood at the golf course and bring it home for free. And I can't believe it but I did not garage sale our lovely, matte black, contemporary, once expensive, nice fireplace tools. After 2 houses with a gas fireplace they almost went.

It is time for a fire.

It really is Fall....

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It really is Fall. And so far not the pretty warm sunny Fall. But we are getting some 50s this week with a little bit of sun. John is doing his Fall yard work this week. Clipping back all the plants that need clipping. He (all by himself) brought in the dock. I was amazed that he could do this alone. So this is it... Winter is just around the corner. Again. I think my Dad use to say in Wisconsin it was 6 months of Winter plus 3 months of bad sledding...

I feel bad that I am no help. But after a work weekend at my parents house I've spend the week on crutches. I've just graduated to a knee brace, heat packs and a cane. Ugh.