Changes to the blog

A wallboard lift is my newest toy.

Hi followers and visitors.  I am experimenting with a couple of changes I want to share with you. 

First, you may have noticed that I have been trying to catch up on some 2012 postings that have been languishing while I attended to other matters. This means dumping several posts at a time that may be for events out of order.

Second, in addition to discussing trips, I plan to use the blog to highlight accessibility upgrades and universal home design ideas I’ve been working on.  This material was to be part of a companion blog for families that include persons with mobility disabilities, but one blog is enough for me at this point.

Finally, I have decided to tighten up the commenting criteria to allow only members to contribute for a while and to require those annoying perceptual tests.  The reason for this is that a couple of recent comments have provided links to porn sites and I’m not interested in promoting those sites and content. The comments look like spam, but in case they are not I will be monitoring any new members as well.

New England can be grand in the winter.

See ya. 

Homo Sapiens, the toolmaker

Nothing makes me happier than the creative process of building things.  Every now and then a problem comes up that requires a creative solution.  Usually the Internet or local tool supplier will have the answer, but every now and then a little ingenuity is required.   Now that I’m under less time pressure I can savor those challenges and sometimes come up with an innovative solution.

Any DIYer who has installed hardwood floors knows how difficult it is to tighten up the last several courses as you approach the wall. Specialty stores sell a little pry bar about ten incheslong but courses that have been tightened by face nailing often need a little more muscle.

By re purposing a shingle removal tool I may have found a solution. 

The picture shows a homemade flooring tool. The blue portion is a shingle removal tool with a small modification. The slightly curved blade and cast iron offset handle would be perfect for smacking with a hammer, if there was some way to lock the far end behind the wood. That need is met by a six inch piece of one inch steel angle iron fastened to the bar with a quarter inch bolt.   All it took to assemble this tool was to drill a single hole in the end of the shingle tool and fasten the angle iron. 

Gloria is demonstrating how to use the tool to tighten the last row of bamboo flooring. A piece of cardboard under the tool protects the flooring and a small block to protects the grooved edge where the tool rests. Gloria has placed her left foot on the flat end of the bar and struck the handle with the rubber end of the mallet used with the flooring nailer visible behind her hand.

This tool works a charm.  When I needed the shingle removal tool for its intended purpose I removed the six inch angle iron and was good to go.

Adopt a grape vine?

In late September we re-visited Taylor-Brooke Vineyards in Woodstock, CT. Thanks to my Brother Jim and Sister-in-law Judy, I am the adoptive parent of a grape vine.  Jim and Judy weren’t available, so Gloria and I took my Mom and sister Carol along.  The picture was taken before the wine tasting after which spirits were higher.

The promotion comes with a bottle of wine each year for several years and a tour guided by the wine maker himself.  We came after the grape harvest was concluded.  The picture below shows Gloria and I with my adopted vine.

Here we are checking out the wines and mixing rooms.I had been a little skeptical about wine with added flavors, but found that the process was a lot more complicated than I thought and very interesting. Definitely this was a worthwhile experience.

These adopt a vine programs can be very educational. Consider trying one along your route.

Accessibility upgrades- ramps

Quite a lot of 2012 was dedicated to DIY remodeling on our home. Here is my youngest son Andrew. He took time away from his job at First Niagara Bank, and duties as Secretary of the local Democratic Town Committee, Justice of the Peace, and sled hockey player to help me to screw down the sub floor on a porch renovation. I cut and glued the plywood sheets and Andrew used the collated screw gun to secure them.  We always enjoy working together but he tends to be busy and on the road a lot.

Those readers with sharp eyes and good memories will recall the reading and writing nook behind Andrew was shown in my early 2011 posts. At that time the walls were rough studs and the floors were rough pine boards.  The picture below shows what the area looked like before the columns were painted. The floor is solid 9/16 bamboo from the Cali Bamboo company in California. It's a great material to work with and hard as nails.

A system of ramps incorporated into the porch at the back of our home makes it possible for Andrew to easily access the house.  The main floor of the house, a raised ranch, has a rise from the driveway of 108 inches. This summer we have finally got around to making the ramp system more refined. The area over the bamboo is covered with triple wall clear Lexan. Fifty-five windows low enough to provide a view from a wheelchair surround the structure. The windows were purchased at the local Habitat for Humanity Restore for a fraction of the cost of retail.  

 The ramps, with a switchback on the lower level connect to a pool deck and, via a glass enclosed breezeway, to a detached garage with an automatic overhead door.  So AJ can drive in and enter the house in comfort regardless of the weather, or stop half way and take a swim with us in the summer.

Most of my forays into accessible housing have been long on function and short on aesthetics.  As I read more about universal design I find ways to make the house work for everyone and be attractive too.

July 22, 2012 Bush Meadow Farm & Taylor Brooke Winery

This road trip turned out to be a two for one. Our planned destination was Bush Meadow Farm http://www.bushmeadowfarm.com/home . Bush Meadow is home to a herd of Nubian dairy goats, a flock of chickens, and a tavern style restaurant featuring locally produced meats, dairy, and vegetables. Although we arrived via the scenic route through Woodstock, the farm in Union, CT is just off I84, exit 73.  We sampled farm made goat milk gelato (Gloria liked it), homemade beef jerky (my favorite) and goat cheese—some traditional feta style, and something called goat cheddar. 

I  didn’t enjoy fresh goat cheese in any flavor. To me it had a slightly bitter taste, possibly from the vegetable rennet used to produce it. However, Gloria used the cheddar to reproduce some of the excellent Greek dishes we enjoyed when on Crete, and the goat cheese imparted just the right flavor.  We took a few minutes to wander around the farm visiting with the goats and chickens. This was a nice trip, and judging from the happy faces of the diners, the meals are good.

Acting on a tip from my brother, we made a second stop, this time at a Woodstock winery. Taylor Brooke,  http://www.taylorbrookewinery.com/ is nestled in rural Woodstock. We enjoyed a wine tasting that was perhaps the best value we have encountered in a while.  For a nominal fee we tasted a half-dozen very good locally produced wines. Although we arrived close to closing time on a Sunday, the staff was welcoming, friendly and informative.  A few wines were flavored with what the staff call “essences”, which is something I don’t encounter much. The Green Apple Riesling was pleasant, but my opinion is that it’s a better idea to let the grapes speak for themselves without flavor additives. Woodstock Valley Red (St, Croix grapes) was my personal favorite.

While at Taylor Brooke we found some cheese in their cooler produced by a Meadow Stone Farm in Brooklyn, CT http://www.meadowstonefarm.com/ . The Gruyere style cheese was so good that we plan a personal visit to in the near future to see what else they produce and to see what else we can find along the way.



July 13 &14 2012 Taylor Brother's Farm

Today our search for artisan cheese took us to Plainfield/Meriden New Hampshire.  Gloria, my son Andrew, and I started the journey in south eastern Connecticut. We headed west until we reached interstate route 91.  For those of you who don’t know this part of the world, I91 runs right through New England from Long Island sound all the way to Canada. We picked up I91 in Hartford, Connecticut, about mid state. We drove north across Massachusetts, and followed 91 about half way up the east border of Vermont to exit 8 were we turned east into New Hampshire and nineteen miles north east, found Taylor Brother’s Farm on the Plainfield/Meriden border.

Two things impress me about taking a road trip in New England this time of year.  The first is the vegetation. The rolling hills are lush, green, and flowering. It’s hot today (low 91’s) and hasn’t rained recently, but plants really grow thanks to over 50 inches of rain, 100 inches of snow, and over 200 days of sun the region gets annually.  The corn is high, farmers are cutting their second crop of hay in many areas, and the transportation workers are fighting to keep the grass and brush off the highways. The traffic cops with their radar guns were numerous along the interstate.

The second impression is while the region feels rural, services and attractions abound. On this short trip, our GPS guide was lit up with icons for restaurants and gas stations with attached food stores strung together like strings of prayer beads. During the 177 mile trip we passed the New England Air Museum in Connecticut, the Basketball Hall of Fame, Volleyball Hall of Fame, Yankee Candle, and the flower covered bridge in Shelburne Falls, all in Massachusetts. Further north, the Vermont tourist information center off the highway provided brochures describing hundreds of visit worthy sights hidden behind the beautiful tree covered hills and valleys that surround the highway. I know from experience that New Hampshire, just east of I91 has an equal number of attractions, particularly in the north central White Mountains.

Via email, Cindy Taylor from Taylor Brothers Farm  
http://www.taylorbrothersfarm.com/
offered a tour but we were unable to connect with her.  However, Mat, a family member was manning the farm store when we arrived, helped us with our purchases, and invited us to look around the farm.  It was hot and dry but we enjoyed the visit. Relaxed, healthy looking cows with glossy coats and clear, inquisitive eyes wandered around in large shady structures stocked with ample water and clean hay.  It was our good fortune that Rob Taylor came in from his hay bailing and took the time to show us around.  Rob credited the quality of the cheeses made on the premises in part to getting the milk from the cows into the processing facility so quickly that it was being turned into cheese before it had dropped from the 102 (F) degree body temperature of the cows!  We purchased several pounds of cheeses, locally bottled maple syrup and maple roasted peanuts as gifts.

From Meriden we took a short trip north to Lebanon, a charming town with a lot to offer. Our sightseeing was limited to a short walk around the center and lunch and cold beer at the Salt Hill Pub which is definitely worth a return visit. 

From Lebanon we angled back southeast on I89, skirted the south side of Concord, merged with 293 south through Manchester.  Before connecting with Gloria’s sister, Pam, and her husband Richard in Bedford we stopped at a NH State Liquor store and picked up a couple of bottles of locally produced wine to accompany the cheeses we had purchased earlier at Taylor Brothers Farm.  At the tasting later that evening, Mill Hollow, a Gouda-like cheese, was the favorite, followed not too far behind by Cloverland Colby and Evelyn’s Jack Cheese.  

Sated with wine, cheese, and a great dinner prepared by our brother-in-law Richard, we spent the night at their home.  The next day we visited my nephew Shawn’s new home in New Boston. We missed niece Dawn who had traveled from Manchester to Meriden with her daughter, Mia, for a softball tournament. She planned to look for Taylor Brothers Farm after the game.

We drove back to Connecticut via I293 in New Hampshire, and took I495 and 290 to Worchester Massachusetts and 395 back to eastern Connecticut. There are interesting attractions along here, but we got a late start and drove straight through. Throughout the two-day trip, the roads were excellent, the traffic light to moderate, and services and sights abundant. Later in the season when the agricultural fairs and community festivals begin, this region will be even more enjoyable along the way.

July 1, 2012 Day Trips in New England

What smells like dirty feet and tastes like a bit of heaven? The answer is cheese, the subject of our most recent day trip. While crossing the country by car last year we sampled regional cheeses made in factories operated by large cooperatives in Oregon, (see the June 17, 2011 listing concerning the Tillamook cheese factory), and in Wisconsin.  These products were very good and different from the excellent Vermont and New York factory cheeses we eat at home. But in factory foods everywhere, consistency is prized over character. We didn’t know what we were missing until we discovered something called artisan cheese. 

Recently we followed a little sign off RT. 16 in Colchester Connecticut and ended up at Cato Corner Farm. The sign in the first picture is beside the unassuming driveway to the sales room. The building behind me with the weathered gray siding is the sales room which connects to the ripening cave and some processing areas in the rear. The cheese maker encourages tasting before buying because every batch is different depending on what the cows were eating and seasonal factors. We sampled Farmstead cheese, one of a dozen different varieties in the tasting room, and were hooked on cheeses made the old fashion way from raw milk.  The flavors ranged from the nutty, mild Farmstead to a blue cheese sharp enough to cut your tongue. 

The folks in the sales room and on the website (http://www.catocornerfarm.com/ ) revealed that the milk comes from free ranging cows raised with minimum exposure to antibiotics and no animal based feeds. The cheese is made by hand and aged in a cave on the premises. We also learned that although this may be a small family farm, their cheeses are national award winners found on tables around the country and in fine restaurants in nearby New York City.

 A little research on the Internet identified dozens of artisan cheese makers: a few in Connecticut, maybe one in Rhode Island, several in New Hampshire, and dozens in Vermont and upstate New York. Since we have put off a long road trip through the south until the fall when it is cooler, we decided to share some of our New England day trips.  With the region rife with farms, orchards, vineyards, and fish markets, I doubt that we’ll run out of food related attractions along the way.

David