Since the backer board went up on our twisted studs, I’ve spent quite a bit of time correcting the depth differentials of all the surfaces. Grr.
I was hoping that two days would be the most spent on this step. It’s taken six days. And since I didn’t read the installation guide until afterward, I saw that I should have put a bead of caulking in the corners BEFORE seaming with tape and thinset. So when you see the red lines in the corners, that would be me, compensating with a waterproof membrane AFTER applying the thinset. Fortunately, I hadn’t gotten to the ceiling joint when I read the guide, so I was able to get to that seam to standard. Hooray for that!
One of the biggest bummers about evening out the walls was the waiting! Thinset builds up and dries only so fast when you have about 1/4″ to level out in several thin layers at a time, so in the mean time, I’ve counted out books for my bee school students…
I will supplement with sample magazines and catalogs and a USDA booklet, show the 2015 Bee Culture calendar, etc. Additionally, I took some time to tailor the slide show — adding slides to help me stay on track with the book, slides that say things like “Chapter 4.”
I’ve also spent a tiny bit of time putting sketches from my Great-Grandma into frames….
I have a strong memory of her apartment on Van Dorn St. She had a great view out her window, and she kept an easel nearby with watercolors.
Because book club is coming up, I used a couple drying periods to read through A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold (and French Kids Eat Everything, by Karen Le Billon). I will close with a quotation from the chapter entitled July.
We grieve only for what we know. The erasure of Silphium from western Dane County is no cause for grief if one knows it only as name in a botany book.
I am not sure which Silphium he is referencing, but I do enjoy seeing a cup plant. It is so unique. It feels special to spot them and know them. Having a relationship is definitely what gives the plant its value. I wrote about this relationship value about frogs and toads.
What one natural thing do you know better than anyone else? Maybe a landscaping plant? Perhaps a particular fish or bird or tree? How many people outside of yourself would notice its absence?