Thursday, March 17, 2016

redux: yard stuff good, work stuff maybe not so bad


I worked in the yard again all day Monday mostly digging grass and weeds out of the old vegetable garden here at the house and lining the edge with bricks. Didn't get all the way around. It's a mess. I've been planting stuff willy nilly in there and have stuff in pots that I plan to put in the ground if I ever manage to get it all corralled. It could use a yard of dirt all by itself.


the azaleas have been blooming

this one didn't give me a single flower last year

this little frog was hunkered down in a bromeliad

the jasmine over at the shop is gorgeous and the scent is so sweet

tadpoles have hatched

a friend was digging these bulbs up and throwing them away. I have no idea what they are but I picked up a few and planted them in a pot. They have put up these cool spotted leaves and a bloom bud of some kind.



I talked to my installer Tuesday about the job-from-hell and none of it was good. The slot, it turns out, is plenty wide enough for what we proposed but the 3” clearance between the edges of the glass and the marble columns makes it impossible to do what we proposed since there is no way to seal the edges of the glass to close in the 1/4” gap between panels. I did put forth another idea which, as my installer says, is theoretically possible but he would not guarantee how it would look or work as he has never done anything like that or seen anything done like that. I'll spare you the details.

I sent all this info to the art consultant as well as an offer to put them in contact with a company that could provide the 3/4” laminated glass with a graphic interlayer that the architect originally specified since the only installation we could offer at this point is the carved piece with the etched side exposed and facing towards the covered side of the wall. So, after speaking with her yesterday, that is what we are going to propose. The job is still on but we have to get approval once again. And I have to wonder at what the architect was thinking, having that 3” of space between the marble columns and the edges of the glass. Some body, a kid or an idiot, is going to eventually stick their arm through that space and get stuck.

In the meantime, I'm working on a proposal for a small residential job, simple contemporary designs that the interior designer picked from my book of available designs so all I had to do was redraw them to fit the spaces instead of come up with something new. I'm presenting the drawings to her today in the city.




11 comments:

  1. Let me say Ellen, I am in awe of your work. How in the world did you learn all that? There is nothing worse to me than weeding, but then I've never been near a crucible to fire glass.

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  2. This seems to be a very froggy post (those spotted leaves remind me of a frog too - ha!). I love that you find little critters in your leaves. It will be a while before we see frogs.

    I'm hopeful that your new proposal for the job will be accepted & go through!

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  3. This weekend we will be out in the dirt. Woo hoo.

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  4. so inspiring, if we only had weather conducive to growing exotic plants and frogs...You have a whole hand full of green thumbs! Well done, you!

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  5. Hopefully, that residential job will be a "go" and you can work on that until the other project from Hell gets approved. Ah, the life of an artist.

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  6. At least you have a reasonable job to balance out the troublesome one.
    How wonderful to see that things are blooming somewhere. Today we have a chance of hail, then sunshine, then possible snow on Sunday, with mid-60s by Wednesday. Sigh.

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  7. The mystery bloom looks interesting, similar to a hyacinth. I am putting in some tomatoes indoors this weekend.

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  8. Those bulbs are cool! I wish you could mail me some. I think they're a hyacinth of some kind.

    That picture of the frog in the bromeliad is adorable...

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  9. I'm in agreement -- I think that mystery plant is a grape hyacinth. Here's a wonderful page that shows the process of development in macro photography.

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  10. I hope it all works out. I would think (if I'm picturing it correctly) that there would be a way to narrow, if not eliminate the gap.

    Cute frog pic.. and lovely to see the tadpoles and flowers in bloom. Spring has certainly sprung in full there.

    I am curious to see what that hyacinth-like bloom will be. The leaves are unlike anything I've seen before.

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  11. Frogs and flowers and bricks around the edge. Your gardens continue to impress me with their variety of flowers and colors.

    Why do architects design without coordinating with contractors? The horror stories I've heard....

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.