Back after a Vacation - Photos

My apologies to regular readers.  I have been on vacation.  Normally I try to have some content set up
to post while I am gone, but this time I just ran out of time before we left.  I have been home for several days but it has taken me this long to get caught up on everything. I think I have everything caught up enough to get back into the studio this week.

This last vacation trip was a working vacation trip up at the cabin. My husband and I finished stripping out the old flooring and laid down laminate through the kitchen, dining area, and living room.  There is a story behind the laminate.  Last year we had a plumbing disaster at our home. 
A pipe rusted out under the concrete slab.  We had to have plumbers come in to jack hammer up the floor through two closets and about fifteen feet across a bedroom floor.  Some of the flooring had to be discarded.  The rest of the laminate was still usable.  There was enough left that we could use it in the cabin.  We dismantled the rest of the flooring and brought it up to the cabin.

The laminate sat up at the cabin for a year before we reached the point in our renovations that we were ready to put it on the floor.  In the past year we have painted the walls and trim, repaired the porch
and screening, and put in a wood slat ceiling in the kitchen.  This spring we started stripping the old flooring out.  We also had to repair a couple of joists.  It seemed like it has taken forever, but considering that we are only up there for three four days at a time, we are making good progress.  This trip we completed stripping off the old flooring and under layment and put down the laminate.  It took longer than normal because we had to do some work on the floor to get it level.  Nothing is ever easy with an old cabin.  When
laying laminate, the floor must be level because if it is off more than an eighth of an inch it can cause the laminate to crack.  A lot of time was spent crawling around on the floor making sure that we had the old warped floor boards level enough to accept the laminate.

The laminate is a much nicer floor than we would normally have put in the cabin, however, since we had the laminate we decided to use it.  We still have some questions about how well the laminate will hold up in what is much of the time unconditioned space.  Time will tell.  It has been up there in boxes for a year and does not show any signs of deterioration.  This was laminate that was related for below grade areas, so it may hold up better than some laminates.  If it only lasts a few years then we will take it up and put in something else.  But for now, the price is right.

Since I have been back, I have not done any work on my projects.  I have had an idea for the walking stick project I am working on.  I think it wants to have dragons on it.  I have been looking at copyright free dragons online, but am hesitant to use them.  Many of the sites require a membership fee and the membership must be kept active if you want to sell the work in the future.  I am more inclined to purchase the Dover Dragons copyright free book.  At least that is a one time purchase.  I am planning on ordering it today.  It should be here in about a week.  If the dragons look okay I will use them on the walking stick.

Other than that, I have spent a few minutes painting a couple of art tiles.  The small size is great because they only take a few minutes and the projects don't need to have a lot of detail.  Or they can be as detailed as I want to make them.  This time I made a Zentangle orchid, painted a daisy, and played around with gel pens on a butterfly.