Mudroom Bench Build: Session One

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I planned to build a bench for our mudroom to replace the too-big-for-the-space cedar chest that used to be there.

This bench is my inspiration.

I drew up some plans and bought lumber for a bench that will be 42″ long, 19″ tall, and 13 inches deep.  For this project we only needed to buy the first 2 items on the list; we already own all the tools and other hardware and supplies.

Lumber list:

  • 1 – 2×2 @ 8 feet long
  • 3 – 1×2 @ 8 feet
  • old lumber to finish seat and shelf
  • Elmer’s wood glue
  • Paintable wood filler
  • 1 1/4″ and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws
  • 2 1/2″ screws
Tools:

                    measuring tape

I carefully measured the new wood.

                    square
                    pencil 

                    Kreg Jig™

Kreg jig

                    drill
                    compound miter saw

All legs were cut as one piece so they would be exactly the same size.

                     and power sander

Dash supervised Charlie’s search for old lumber.

Charlie went through our lumber cache and found a sweet pile of vintage boards.

Two identical frames used with wrong (flush) sides facing each other.

First I built 2 identical frames — front and back. (In the same way as I built our kitchen island shelves 9 years ago.

The wood for the frame was joined with pocket screws using a Kreg jig.

I connected the frames with vintage wood for the bottom shelf.

The mudroom bench is underway.

I’ll need another session to finish cutting and attaching the vintage boards.
Jo

Masking in NYC Theatres

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We saw 4 Broadway shows while we were in New York recently.

Two “mask up” signs were hand held and enforced (in a nice way) in the Winter Garden theatre

The owners and operators of all 41 Broadway theatres in New York City required and will continue to require vaccinations for audience members, as well as performers, backstage crew, and theatre staff, for all performances through April 30, 2022. Masks will continue to be required for audiences inside the theatre, except while actively eating or drinking in designated locations.

“Face mask” signs were highly visible in every theatre and enforced by roving ushers.

Every theatre and every show had dedicated staff to remind and enforce the masking policy.

Perhaps my favorite.

I asked one of the lobby crew if I could take his photo.  He was clearly delighted under his mask.

We unmasked to take a photo then immediately pulled our masks up over our mouths and noses for the duration of the show.

My takeaway is: “Don’t give up what you love, just be prudent”.

Jo

Long Weekend in NYC: Homeward Bound (Day 4)

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Charlie and I spent 3 days in New York City and saw The Music Man, Hamilton, Plaza Suite, and Aladdin on Broadway.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue at 50th.

On our final day, Sunday, we were given a complimentary late check-out time by our hotel so we spent our time leisurely celebrating Charlie’s birthday after attending a service at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral 2 blocks up 50th Street.

Brunch menu at Tavern on the Green

We returned to the hotel to pack up our things so we could leave after brunch.  Then we took a taxi from the hotel to Tavern on the Green at the southwest corner of Central Park.  Frankly this is the first cab driver all weekend that did NOT need to put an address into his GPS.  I told him we were impressed.

I’m still challenged by selfies.

We had reservations at TOTG but I had called ahead to see if we could arrive early and they were happy to oblige.

Many of the people around us also ordered French toast.

Since we were there for brunch Charlie ordered brioche French toast which he declared the best he’s ever had.

French onion soup rivals some of the best I had in Paris.

I ordered French onion soup which was not on the menu but is always available.  (It was so good that Charlie also ate a crock after his French toast.)

Charlie’s dessert was a treat from the restaurant with warm wishes from our waiter Jose.

I had arranged in advance that we were celebrating a birthday so, along with a birthday card, TOTG provided a special birthday dessert.

A generous serving of crème brûlée.

I ordered my favorite crème brûlée which was outstanding.

The Imagine mosaic in Central Park is in honor of John Lennon.

After brunch we walked a couple of blocks north in Central Park to Strawberry Fields where we saw the “Imagine” mosaic.  Someone had added “Peace” in sunflower seeds in response to the attack on the Ukraine.

We had a grand time.

We taxied back to the hotel, called for our car which had been in  valet parking all weekend, brought our suitcases to the lobby, wished everybody good-bye, then drove back to Maryland. We had a wonderful weekend in New York, New York.

Always nice to return to home base.

Home, sweet home.

Jo

Painting the Shore House Kitchen — FINALLY!!

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We’ve been working on the kitchen at the shore house for almost 2 years.

New drywall on ceiling, old lighting fixture.

After joint compound has been applied to ceiling.

My son installed the drywall on the ceiling in the kitchen, then we hired a man to mud the seams and repair any messy spots in corners.

The trick was to level the floor and match it to the existing floor.

Floor tiles will go in after the ceiling and walls are painted.

He and my son also finished installing the subfloor so it would be both level and sturdy.

The eat-in side of the kitchen was rotten and moldy from the water leak.  We removed this back wall to give more kitchen space.

A messy corner in the kitchen.

The messy corner drywalled and mudded.

The same corner primed.

Then my son primed the walls and ceiling in advance of a visit from Sug and me.

Mount Saint Anne is a slightly denim blue color.

I chose Benjamin Moore’s Mount Sainte-Anne for the ceiling — the same color we used on the living room ceiling.  My reasoning was two-fold:

  1. Matching the living room color would tie the two rooms together visually.
  2.  The kitchen ceiling is low compared to the rest of the house and blue is a receding color which will help to visually raise the ceiling.

Simply White for the kitchen walls.

The wall color is Simply White also by Benjamin Moore which ties into both the vintage white tile on the backsplash and the creamy cabinet we found on Facebook Marketplace.

After the back wall was removed we lost a cupboard in the kitchen and a closet in the bathroom but gained some kitchen floor space.

Now the walls are Simply White and the ceiling is Mount Sainte Anne both by Benjamin Moore.

What an improvement.

Here’s the remaining task list not necessarily in this order:

  1. Lay peel and stick floor tiles.

    Tiling the floor will be a huge upgrade.

    These tiles will lighten the entire kitchen which only has one outside window

  2. Add cove molding above the cabinets. 

    Cove molding will fill in the gap above the cabinets

  3. Add baseboard near the floor. 

    After flooring is installed baseboard molding will fill in the gaps.

  4. Add cornice molding around the rest of the room. 

    Trim will help finished this vintage kitchen.

  5. Replace the range hood. 

    A new range hood would help complete the makeover.

  6.  Replace and weather-strip  back door.

    We might want to paint this wood door before hanging it again.

  7.  Build and install cabinet on the back wall. 

    This heavy cabinet will add lots of handy storage space.

We’ve made a lot of progress but we’re not finished yet.  Our final tasks will be to give the kitchen a good cleaning, touch up the cabinet paint, and wash the windows.

Jo

Long Weekend in NYC: Second Full Day

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We left Maryland on Thursday so our second full day in New York City was Saturday.

I captured a shadow of the Empire State Building from the 102nd Floor.

We’ve already seen 2 musicals: The Music Man and Hamilton.  We’ve been to Grand Central Station, the NY Public Library, and the Empire State Building.  Saturday, however was planned as a marathon with lots of sprinting interspersed.

Charlie enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice at Un Deux Trois.

Charlie and I ate a leisurely breakfast at Un Deux Trois then headed over to the TKTS booth at Times Square to see if we could get some discount tickets for the evening.

We were a little early for the TKTS booth so we had coffee at Starbucks.

Starbucks was busy on Saturday morning.

MY first choice had been Company starring Patty LuPone but she came down with COVID.

We queued in Times Square in a line that switched back on itself about 5 times.

Instead I bought 2 tickets for Aladdin.

I wore all black except for a vintage yellow and black geometric print silk blouse.

We hastened back to out hotel to change into our evening clothes before matinee tickets for Plaza Suite at 2 p.m.

The grand drape opened to reveal the Plaza Suite scrim.

We found our seats in the dress circle of the Hudson Theatre.  The Neil Simon comedy starred Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker who were both a lot of fun.

We took in dinner and a cabaret at Birdland.

After the matinee we walked a couple blocks to Birdland Jazz Club where we were promptly given the best seats in the house.

We shared the audience with some special guests: composers and musicians.

The cabaret at 5 o’clock starred pianist Eric Comstock with Sean Smith (Bass) & special guest Barbara Fasano (Voice).  We enjoyed a light dinner while we watched the show.

The grand drape for Aladdin.

Our last stop of the evening was the New Amsterdam Theatre to see Aladdin for which we had purchased half-priced tickets earlier in the day.  This was Charlie’s favorite show of the weekend.

The boxes at the New Amsterdam are vintage art nouveau.

So different from the other theatres we were in this weekend.

The New Amsterdam is a gorgeous Art Nouveau theatre built in 1903.

How crazy is this little frieze over a door at the New Amsterdam?

We taxied back to The Benjamin after a really full day in midtown Manhattan.

NYC posts:

Jo

 

Long Weekend in NYC: First Full Day

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Charlie and I arrived in New York City on a Thursday and saw The Music Man on Broadway at The Winter Garden Theatre that evening.

This time we scored tickets to The Music Man at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.

So great to be back in The Big Apple.

Our room at The Benjamin hotel at 50th and Lexington Avenue was spacious.

We even had a kitchenette.

On the first full day of our stay I had planned a really full schedule mostly to show Charlie places he’s heard about but never seen.  I have visited NYC many times in my life but some places are worthy of a second, even third, visit.

We both ate a hearty breakfast. For our morning brew I ordered a cappuccino while Charlie had a pour-over which was satisfyingly more than 2 cups of coffee.

From the hotel we walked down to 3rd Avenue where we stopped for breakfast at Little Collins.

Inside Grand Central Station

Then we strolled over to elegant Grand Central Station which was well-guarded by local, state, and federal agencies.

A reading room in the New York Public Library.

After looking around Grand Central, we walked 2 blocks to the main branch of the New York Public Library.  Really, I could spend a day here, looking at the books, looking at the art and exhibits, admiring the architecture.

Other visitors took our photo in front of the “building” and we reciprocated.

However, we had timed tickets for The Empire State Building — floors 86 and 102.

I captured a shadow of the Empire State Building from the 102nd Floor.

I may have mentioned in past posts that Charlie does NOT like heights. (Eiffel Tower) (Grand Canyon) (Reykjavik)  But there’s no denying that the vistas of NYC from the top of the Empire State Building are fabulous.  (Last year I watched both An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle which feature the ESB.  So romantic.)

Serendipity is decorated like a quirky old-fashioned ice cream parlor.

The iconic “Frozen Hot Chocolate” at Serendipity. Enough for two to share.

When we were finished we made our way to the Herald Square and 34th Street subway station (a block or away) where we caught the R-yellow train to Lexington and 59th Street (about a 20-minute ride) to Serendipity.

My outfit was simple but I was wearing a fabulous, 3-D gold belt.

I inherited this beauty from Mother.

We strolled back to The Benjamin and changed into our evening clothes.

We queued outside the theatre for COVID ID examination but lines moved quickly.

We took a cab to the Richard Rodgers Theatre so we could arrive before our appointed time of 7:25 p.m. Ticket holders were assigned an arrival time depending on their seats.  Again we passed the COVID protocols without issue.

The set for Hamilton.

The show was Hamilton which I had postponed seeing until I could see it on Broadway.  I was not disappointed — so rich and exciting.  Now I want to read the book on which Lin-Manuel Miranda based his musical — the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.

“Face mask” signs were highly visible in every theatre and enforced by roving ushers.

We caught a cab back to the hotel.

Looking uptown from the 102th floor of the ESB you can see Central Park and beyond. (Central Park is the brownish space just past the foreground buildings.)

Another fantastic day in NYC.

NYC posts:

Long Weekend in NYC: Arrival Day

Jo

Long Weekend in NYC: Arrival Day

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We have not had a long weekend in New York City since 2017.

Last time we had a long weekend in NYC we ate at Sardis.

Then we saw 3 Broadway shows and ate at some of the city’s iconic restaurants.

This time we scored tickets to The Music Man at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.

Then the COVID pandemic hit and theatres were closed.  In August of 2021 there was a glimmer of hope that Charlie and I could make a winter visit to NYC when tickets went on sale for Broadway.  Hoping the worst of the pandemic was behind us, I bought tickets to Hamilton, The Music Man (starring Hugh Jackman) and Plaza Suite (starring Sarah Jessica Parker and her real-life husband Matthew Broderick).

We took a selfie at home at the start of our journey — Jo and Charlie.

At the same time I made reservations at The Benjamin hotel (diagonally across the street from The Waldorf Astoria) which is where we headed on a Thursday morning driving from Baltimore to NYC.

The kitchenette in our hotel room was a nice place to stash Charlie’s snacks in addition to providing a second sink.

After leaving our car with the valet we checked into our room which was a King Studio (room with a kitchenette).

The Russian Tea Room has not changed much since I was last here 30 years ago.

Knowing Charlie is always hungry we walked to The Russian Tea Room for a bite to eat.

This was delicious hot beet soup — borscht served with pickled red beets, seasonal vegetables and dill in a short rib broth and a braised beef pirozhok.

We shared borscht and afternoon tea.

The savory tray was followed by a similar sized sweet tray.

That was definitely enough food for both of us.

Curtain warmer for The Music Man at the Winter Garden Theatre,

We walked back to The Benjamin and dressed for a 7 o’clock curtain at the theatre.  We saw Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) and Sutton Foster in The Music Man.  Protocols were in place to not only check tickets but also COVID vaccination credentials.

There were two ushers assigned to walking around the theatre with signs that read “MASK UP” and reminded folks verbally if they did not comply.

We had both installed the “NYC COVID Safe” app on our phones so we were set.

50th Street at night in New York City.

After the show we walked about 10 blocks down 50th Street to our hotel.

A fabulous first day in NYC.

Jo

March, 2022: Intentions

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After a fairly messy winter we are finally heading into spring in Maryland.  We’ll be celebrating Charlie’s and Sug’s birthdays this month.

Now for my March list of good intentions:

  1.  Enact the surprise I decided upon last month.
  2.  Head to NYC for a long weekend.

    Last year we took a day trip to the 9/11 Memorial. This year it’s all about Broadway!!

  3. Work on a project at the shore house.

  4.  See a movie:  Hoping to see the movie musical Cyrano.
  5.  Get plane tickets for Hawaii trip.
  6. Read a book:  Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

    Around the World in 80 Days on PBS.

    I enjoyed the Masterpiece series on Sunday nights but suspect the book is different in many ways.

  7.  Get estimates for backyard deck.
  8.  Design and build a bench for the mud room.

    I should be able to build something like this in a compatible size for our mudroom.

  9.  Pick a word to focus on for the month. My word: CREATIVITY.
  10.  Write a goal list for April, 2022.

Jo

Mudroom Bench Design

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Back in 2013 I designed and built a kitchen island for our newly installed kitchen.

We built these shelves to enhance our kitchen island.

Using a construction technique very similar to the island shelves I am planning a custom bench for the mudroom.

This bench is my inspiration.

The first order of business  was to get some measurements and a quick drawing on paper so I could decide what materials I would need.

I changed the 3 by 3s to 2 by 2s and the 2 by 2s to 1 by 2s.

I’m planning a bench that is 42″ long, 19″ tall, and 13 inches deep.

We’ve moved this cedar chest out to make room for a more practical bench.

It should fit perfectly in the space behind the door in our mudroom.

I haven’t used my Kreg jig for a while but it will be perfect for this project.

I have come up with the following supply list most of which we already own.

Lumber list:

  • 2 –2×2 @ 3 feet long (or 1- 8 foot piece)
  • 3 – 1×2 @ 8 feet
  • old lumber to finish seat and shelf
  • Elmer’s wood glue
  • Paintable wood filler
  • 1 1/4″ and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws
  • 2 1/2″ screws
Tools:
                    measuring tape
                    square
                    pencil
                    hammer
                    hearing protection
                    Kreg Jig™
                    drill
                    compound miter saw
                    sander
Charlie and I need to go through our lumber cache to see if we have some vintage wood to make the seat and the shelf, much like we did for the vanity in the conservatory bathroom.

I’m hoping we have some of this weathered lumber stashed away somewhere.

And Charlie thought I was going to buy a pre-built bench. HA!
Jo

Moving Artwork Around — The Empty Wall

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After moving our large art from the bedroom to the mudroom, and then from the living room to the bedroom, we had a large empty wall in the living room.

This photo of Paris used to be in the master bedroom.

This seascape used to be in the living room.

The living room before moving the large painting.

These moves meant that new, formidable hanging hardware was necessary in each situation.

The wall on the left needs a little something-something.

The large wall in the living room not only had a few holes that needed to be patched and painted but also wanted some art or decoration.

At first I hung them with the bottom edges level.

I moved two portraits from behind the lamps in the living room (see 3rd photo above.)  I had never really liked them separated nor partially hidden.

The eyes of the portraits are on a level line. (Forgive the reflections from the windows.)

The portraits, one of me and the other of my son drawn about 30 years apart by the same artist, are slightly different sizes.  When I hung them with the bottom edges level they didn’t look quite right.  I was fairly sure making the top edges level would also be unsatisfactory.

The size differential is less noticeable now that the eyes are in line.

Instead I lined up our eyes.

Pastel portrait by Margaret Schiavone-Hill

Pastel portrait by Margaret Schiavone

This technique probably won’t work with every piece of art but in terms of portraits — the eyes have it.

Jo