Hypertufa Spheres - Part 5

Balanced Hypertufa balls.

I've been blogging about making Hypertufa spheres and what I did with the leftover Hypertufa. I had used anything I had available for a mold, and I still had a bit left.   I decided to make some hand rolled balls of Hypertufa.  I knew they would flatten out on the bottom because they would be sitting on something flat, but that was not really an issue since I was just doing something with the end of the leftovers.

Painted with heat set paints.

My first plan was to paint them to test if they could be painted with the heat set in the oven glass paints.  I have saved a couple for that purpose.  I used these paints on some stepping stones and the color have barely faded even though the stepping stones have been outside for years.  I use a dedicated toaster oven for this.  I am not sure if the heat in the oven paints will work for this project because I have concerns that the peat moss could ignite.  The oven temperature is low; the temperature is only 200 degrees Fahrenheit, so there is some possibility that it will work.  I'll let you know when I get that far.  This is definitely an outdoor experiment with a fire extinguisher handy.

Then I had another inspiration for the other Hypertufa balls.  I have seen from time to time artfully stacked stones.  Some of the stacked stones are actually balanced.  Other stacked stones have holes drilled through them and have rods to help them stay in place.  Since I have an abundance of premixed thin set mortar, I decided to dab a bit of mortar on each one and stack them like the stones.  For some reason, my husband was convinced that this was not going to work.  Guess what, it worked.  Once I can get back into my studio, I'm going to paint them to look like rocks.   If my heat setting experiments work, I may to heat them in the oven.  I am pretty sure one of them is short enough to fit.  If they fall apart, I have a place for them.  Our shed has a drip line from rain falling from the roof.  Our property is so steep in the back that we have a problem with erosion in this area.  It is covered with rock to help keep erosion to a minimum.  I'll just add these "rocks" to the other rocks. 

The blog platform is starting to give me trouble uploading photos and where the paragraphs should be placed, so there is more text below
the photos.  I'm not sure why it acts up, but
once it starts, there is no getting things right.
The platform is getting so wonky that it started
removing the photos when I started to type this.
It would not let me reposition the photos or move the text. Sorry about the messy look of the blog post today.

Hickroy heartwood laminate.

Just to give regular readers an update on the remodel after plumbing crisis: we have reached the half-way point.  The den and hallway have been painted, the new floor has been laid, and the molding and trim are now back in place.  The laminate we chose for flooring is quite different from what was down there before.  Reclaimed barn board is very hot in decorating themes right now.  We chose a laminate that looks like reclaimed barn board made from heart wood of Hickory.  It has simulated nail holes and knots, and even has slightly raised areas and beveled edges on the planks,so it feel like you are walking on planks rather than a flat even floor.  We really would have preferred a slightly lighter floor, but this is what the manufacturers are making at the moment.  Most of the other flooring in the stores was much darker.  One photo is of the long sweep down the hall.  The other photo is a close up of the flooring, so you can see how different one plank is from another.  We have not yet had a chance to clean up yet.  The sofa had to stay in the room covered, because it was so heavy that we could barely move it. 

This week we will be starting on the large bedroom.  The old floor has already been taken up in that area.  The company doing the remediation after the damage took the old flooring away and had steam cleaned the concrete.  After Bill and I laid the new concrete we cleaned the floor and walls again because of all the concrete dust.  We will paint and then lay the new floor and add new baseboard
in that room.