shadow forest spirits

Sunflowers Dec 27


Connecticut fog, my back yard
becomes a deep, surreal landscape
yet playful

ethereal sunset

soundless

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inside...

the Living room floor is still a mess but the walls are grand

Above the door to kitchen, I installed a mantelpiece-style molding, with crown molding flaring outward.

before molding (door to kitch on left), I took this photo of paint swatches & loose wiring. You can see that the door to kitchen originally had no molding

crown & door moldings, final!

cutting chair rail using compound-miter saw.

Cutaway of new door molding was needed for light switch. It works for me, I think it somehow makes the house look older.

switch plate installed. You can see how I cut the right side to blend into door molding.

light switches & wall repair. The wall repair was because there was only one switch before, & I had to widen hole.

drywall cutout in shape of hole around switch box, for reparing wall cut

cutting door side molding, to fit light switch

wall repair at a location where I split wiring to go to various rows of

recessed lights

angle view showing flared-out crown molding around door to kitchen, a 3-weekend project:

front door, closet, glimpse of chair rail up stairs

Rosette over front door corner. Georgian molding on left side of front door. Crown-molding corner half-finished.

Crown molding piece installed:

Brittania Blue, runner-up color. It is the warmest blue I could come up with but still not warm nuff.

before trying blue, experimenting with earth tones. Around October.

original room with front-door trim pulled off

happy pretty snow

looks like we're getting an inch

wilted sunflowers

unreachable apples remain on the tree

sneak preview of living room, showing hepplewhite ivory against white trim. actually the white is peach tinted. still a couple weeks from finished.

around town

It was as good a day as any to check out the foliage. I barely had to walk out the door. For this, I am grateful.

*** today is a Toofer! two posts today. be sure to read on about the recessed lighting! ***

pumpkin-farm down the street!

Glastonbury - Hebron town line

bliss on Foote's farm. Usually they are grazing but for this moment they strike a pose!

sun hitting leaves on Boston Hill Road

Rte 85 guess where

Burnt Mill Rd. on the way to Coventry

After the harvest!

Gilead is in a highland area, and Rte 85 runs along a ridge. Gilead is the northernmost village of Hebron. It is comprised of mainly...this

that white house is actually across street from church

Cornfield next to church!

Typical traffic situation!

More of downtown Gilead

Foote's again

Rte 94. Foote owns farmland on both sides of the road, and keeps the farm in immaculate shape! Foote family has been a big landowner in the area since ye olde times. Their land includes the woods next to my house.

recessed lighting finished!

My recessed lighting project took about 20 hours over 3 weeks, and has about 6 hours of wall repairs to go!

The original plan was four lights in a square. I ended up going with five lights, in a more whimsical offset pattern, inspired by a catalog.

Dimmer switch wired in, testing its proper function using the Christmas candle. Lots of running up and down stairs to turn breaker on/off, testing wiring along the way. All systems go!


Below, wall cutout showing new wiring and new switch box near baseboard. hole cut in wall with drywall saw, after starting a pilot hole by hammering a screwdriver into wall. Wire from right comes from switch. Wire at top goes up wall to first line of lights. It helped to make a smooth cut in one piece, because then you can use same piece of cutout to make the patch afterward.

Wire at left goes along bottom of wall then up to second line of lights. I drilled holes in wall studs with 7/8-inch spade bit.

Below, partially repaired typical of 8 wall cutouts for this project: Screw plywood pieces to inside face of sheetrock using 1-1/4 inch drywall screws. I cut several 3 x 8-in. pieces from plywood and scrap wainscotting lying around, using table saw. Next step, replace the piece of drywall by screwing it into the plywood.

Below: two repaired cutouts, and two cutouts not yet repaired. Two ceiling cutouts were needed to guide new wire towards lights. I installed two rows of lights, which had to go along (between) upstairs floor joists. The patches can then be plastered over & painted, with help of Wall Span Drywall Joint Tape & Wall Repair Fabric.

Below: Lighting installation products. The big box is 6-pack of light housing, 6-inch diameter, insulated-ceiling rated, remodeling style. Remodeling style-can be installed into holes cut in ceiling (new construction-style contains brackets and that are too big to fit thru a hole). The stack of red boxes are Recessed Light Trim, 6" white airtight reflector baffle trim. Trim is decorative, and fits in the housings. Trim is sold separate from housing so you can choose the style of trim you like.

Holes cut in ceiling with drywall saw. Light housings come with 6-inch paper templates so you can trace the exact circle size needed! It was scary reaching above the ceiling to run wires because who knows what's up there that might bite.

Housing connected to wire. Wire is 14-gauge. You can see insulation above the hole. The housing can stuck in easily, then little clamps come out to hold it up there!

Light bulb, housing (can you see why recesssed lighting is also called can lighting?), baffle reflector trim.

ta da!

another angle. makes me want to finally repaint the living room!

dimmer'd

Baffle trim.

A couple weeks ago, foliage at the end of the street was lit by sun set.

Hydrangea and more awesome foliage! The hydrangeas went from white to an antique-looking mauvish color.