Newsflash: Man Starts Blog to Let the World Know All About What He Is Doing!

Okay, the occasion seems a little less glamorous when you boil it down to its basics.  Two of my friends have indirectly and in different ways urged me toward this blog.  I know there must be dozens of other blogs on the Interweb by now and some of them more interesting or informative than mine.   I know I’m trying to walk that fine line between cliché and trivial.  I’ve even heard that a blog is no longer the trendy way to try and occupy other people’s time online.  All that said, I’m beginning a blog in the year 2010 for a couple of reasons:

• I like to write and sometimes the things I write are mildly entertaining.
• I have a terrible memory and so this can be like a journal that I share with anyone who is interested.
• I am embarking on separate projects in the areas of stone walls and concrete counters.  At least one friend wanted some sort of advice, instruction or play-by-play on the counter project and I know a couple others are also interested.  This seemed a good way to share that information.  I’m not sure I could Twitter my way through the construction of a concrete counter.

You are asking yourself, “Why should I read his blog about how to do these things when the Internet is full of real people who actually know what they are doing?”  Good question, dear reader!  (By the way, I am, from this point onward, making the obnoxious presumption that there is an audience for this thing.  Otherwise, the writing style gets awkward if I’m not addressing someone.)

As to your question, you are free to leave my little cyber cul-de-sac for greener suburbs.  I can take it.  I’m not hoping to score the playing-with-rock equivalent of Julie and Julia.  I’m not watching the screen, waiting for my number of followers to rise, at least not yet, as I pen the first installment.  I suppose the real test will be when I’m procrastinating my monthly work.  Watching that counter might be a nice escape.

Well, this is meant to be a little introduction to me, the blog and my intentions with stone, both natural and man-made.  So here at the end of summer, 2010, I am planning to add a small retaining wall in the back yard to set off a fire-pit area.  Roughly two feet high.  Roughly 20 feet long.  I think I may create a raised flower bed on the high side and a couple gentle steps down. 

I also want to create our first concrete counter.  The guinea pig will be the old cabinets we have in the garage.  They would love to shed the plywood top they’ve been forced to wear for the past few years.  They might need to bulk up a bit if they are going to shoulder a 2½ inch concrete slab for the rest of their days.

I use the pronoun our to refer to myself and my wonderful partner and best friend, Kris.  She and I were both looking for something more while attending the architecture program at University of Maine, Augusta where we met.  We certainly found something and we’ve been trolling for projects and renovations to do together ever since.  A few years ago we hit the popular Concrete Counters class at the wonderful Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont (www.yestermorrow.org).  Or is it Waitsfield?  I always forget.  Perhaps down the line, I will take some time to sing the praises of Yestermorrow.  Until then, their website and tantalizing course catalog will have to suffice for you do-it-yourselfers and eco-conscious constructors.

It has been a long, roundabout route from the class to our first attempt at concrete counters.  We spent a couple of years renovating an 1861 Greek Revival farmhouse in Bethel, which we now rent out.  Coincidentally, a few paragraphs ago, Stan from the Bethel Historical Society called to see if we would open up our 35’ x 75’ three-story attached barn for the Bethel Barn Tour this September.  We’ll see. 

Now that our Bethel project is complete and we have a long-term renter in place, and since the tightened lending laws will not allow us to acquire another house project without tons of cash, Kris and I have turned our attention to our own house in Freeport, Maine.

We’re going to paint a few rooms, the kitchen ceiling and the old claw-foot tub.  I actually like painting, but I’m not sure I’m going to start a blog about it.  We’re also looking to steal the unused space behind the fridge and turn it into a little pantry closet.  The back deck might get replaced.  It might not, but some adjacent house trim is rotting and needs to be replaced.  Oh, and I’ve got to lay about 14 square feet of tile to replace the strange six-inch high floor shelf we unceremoniously tore out a few years ago.

Then we come all the way back to the subject of this blog.  I want to build some rock walls and maybe even do some sort of carving.  I also want to make concrete counters and maybe even do some sort of sculpture or fountain work.  I’ve been gathering some info about both media and I’m looking forward to getting started. 

In my next entry, I'll be sure to explain the particulars of the two projects, catch you up to speed on where we are, what tools we have and the few things that we actually know.  Then, the fun can begin.  I have to remember that it takes much less time to read an entry than to write it, so I hope you didn't get too bored, that you made it all the way down to this paragraph and that you might even be curious about what happens next.  You never know what (or who) will get caught in the cement mixer and embedded into the workbench countertop!  Stay tuned . . . please.

Okay, I might check the number of followers every now and then, but I’ll try not to dwell.

dave