Joiner's Musings

From the dock We would like to extend this screened in section  Well, we certainly are anxious to depart the east coast and head for central Canada to our cottage in Quebec. The weather there is not much different than it is here at the moment but it doesn't hurt to yearn for the cottage, you know, getting away from it all, relaxing with a drink on the deck, meeting friends and family and enjoying all that the lake offers. The first shot is a view of the cottage from the water, actually from the dock. So peaceful The plan this summer is to extend the screened-in portion seen in the second photo. It has, or rather it has always been a little on the narrow side at six by twenty. Yes, over the years we have enjoyed it but have often thought, it should be a little bigger so that we can use it as a summer country dining area and entertainment focal center. We would like to expand it to ten or perhaps even twelve by twenty so that we can enjoy the "outdoors" an...

It's a 2011 WRX (World Rally Blue) and it has been places, all across Canada in fact and back; all on the same set of tires. Along the way our son made many stops across central Canada and spent a couple of days in the Ottawa area, paying respects to his aunt whose husband passed away this past Easter weekend. He had Easter dinner with his uncle in eastern Ontario and headed out on his journey to Nova Scotia. Tonight he is staying in Quebec City and a place called the Fairmont Frontenac Hotel  that he says is comfortable and quite pleasant (it's probably a strip motel somewhere in or near Quebec City) and will continue on his journey to Nova Scotia. Quite the adventure for our son and the beginning of a new career in Halifax. Needless to say the car preformed flawlessly. It's a Subaru of course and made for the long distance drive across Canada or anywhere else for that matter.

This past week my brother in law passed away after a lengthy illness at age 74. I am sure that Fred was not ready to go but a number of health issues complicated his journey through life and the last couple of years were certainly the most challenging for him. Fred was a complicated man and I don't think he was very well understood. Sometimes when he tried to do the right thing his actions were misinterpreted but he always tried to do what he thought was best. I will always respect him for that even though some might not have completely agreed with his stance on some issues. Fred was dependable, reliable and predicable. If you needed something done, Fred was there to help. His general knowledge of construction, his attention to detail and his meticulous approach to any job large or small made him an invaluable help when you needed something done and done right.10 years ago I asked Fred to design an extension for our cottage which he did with great enthusiasm. We copied the...

Magnavox Speaker  As most of you know I am in the process of tearing down my Westinghouse console radio to do the refinishing. I am doing a partial refinish since most of the radio is in relatively good shape. However, I am a little concerned about the "plastic" dial face and how to refinish / restore / replace (??) it. Someone suggested the same type of material to recondition auto headlights but I am willing to entertain other ideas. Chipped edges The grill cloth is in bad shape as you can see (I was happy to see that the speaker cone is in really great shape). Again, the fabric is impossible to duplicate but I may go the same route as my Stromberg Carlson and try a fabric store for ideas. Discoloured dial face I am going to focus on the trim / edging only as I feel that is the area that needs the most attention. Generally the veneered surfaces look very good. Anyway, it is a voyage of discovery and we'll see what turns up as I disassemble ...

Rear quarter view driver's side Audi at cottage 2003 rear view of Audi Coupe  After a long winter sleep its time to get the Audi on the road. I managed to start it at least monthly through the winter just to keep it lubricated and the battery charged. For a 34 year old car it is in pretty good shape. Needless to say it was kept in a garage away from the salt and snow. 2005 photo of Audi Coupe GT On the list this year its to get it roadworthy, that is, safetied since much of the work to get it to that point has been done and to look into a new upholstery job for the front seats. The back seats are in okay shape having never really been used. I have the fabric which I ordered specially from Germany last year. A friend of mine knows somebody in New Glasgow that will do the job. Otherwise brakes were done last year and some tune up parts installed.

Belem Tower  I have tons photos of our trip and thought I would posts some unusual ones. The first is one of several balconies at Belem Tower. The tower is interesting but the tour of the interior is a little underwhelming. I guess I was expecting more of a museum than simply a spartan interior. However, the admission was free because we had our Lisboa pass. The mall area at night  The main mall, called Amorerias Mall is actually quite nice and reminded me of many North American malls with the wide variety of shops. While there we had one of our meals at the Block House restaurant and it was surprisingly good.  No, I didn't use this public urinal. I was not sure if it was functional or not but the prospect of being somewhat on display while urinating did not really appeal to me. Besides I did not see anyone else using it. Getting a head in life  Optical illusion? Getting a head in life. I looked at the man waiting for a bus and thought why is that he...

From Sao Jorge Castle  There are plenty of must-sees in Lisbon during the week we spent in that fine city. We managed to see quite a lot and I am pretty certain that we hit all the main touristy spots. We even managed to sample the food and thanks to www.tripadvisor.com we were able to find a few out of the way restaurants that we were glad we discovered. Sao Jorge Castle  I all, I took 2300 photos thanks to my recently acquired Panasonic G6 and older 14-45 lens. The camera was a joy to use, very light to carry and quite usable on the fly. I took three lens with me, my 45mm, my 40-150 and of course my 14-45. I ended up using the kit lens the most as the other two lens are not stabilized. My biggest challenge was selecting the right ISO setting for the interior shots, many of which are ISO 3200 and ISO 6400, though I tried to stay away from the much higher ISO settings. In the churches and museums you simply cannot use a flash. I shoot aperture priority and I like ha...