Like a fresh loaf of bread....

...this block of foam came straight from Brooklyn one morning. That's right. Last week the block of 2# EPS finally got delivered to the distribution center in Brooklyn, so I drove up and got it before work. Of course there ended up being waves that morning, but I had to do it, I had been waiting for almost a month for it.

     There's the first blank cut from the block, with cedar stringer salvaged from some job. It was tricky cutting it the blank out; Jeannine had to take one side of the hotwiring device while I held the other, but it went relatively quickly with no set-backs to speak of. Gluing the stringer in also presented difficulties, but I've since devised a better way. I'm excited about shaping this board, as I've never shaped EPS, or worked with epoxy. The block of foam should yield a minimum of 10 - 12 blanks, if my figurin' is correct. Maybe more.

     Part of the reason I haven't posted in a while is because I've been devoting a lot of time and energy to exterior pursuits. We built a vegetable garden the other weekend, and we've been doing lots of work around here trying to make what looks like the post-war rubble of Warsaw into something a little more pleasing to the eyes. Been planting lots of seeds (the spinach will be the first crop the garden will yield, as the spinaches have already sprouted!) and doing lots of reading on gardening and growing vegetables. So, often times, at night, when the options before bed are A)do a blog post or B)read about companion planting or composting, B) has been getting the priority lately.
     Also, speaking of gardening, were you wondering how Henry has helped with it all?

    That's how. Henry, who has always loved to dig and roll around in dirt (but somehow never gets dirty), suddenly has a large quantity of gloriously rich mushroom soil delivered right to his backyard. So he rests right in the ways, covered in dirt. It's a dog's life, I guess. Of course, getting him to keep out of the garden has been a trying task.

Recently found this album at a thrift store, and it's pretty good so far (actually listening while I write this post). Buck Owens, "Tall Dark Stranger," off the album of the same name, 1969.