Spring Pictures

I'm Published in Lifehacker and The Consumerist

My comments were published on Lifehacker and The Consumerist about an article on fixing broken snow shovels.
Make Your Own Replacement Snow Shovel

Ordinarily, Lifehacker is one of my favorite websites to visit, but I thought the article above didn't fit the "productively lazy" motto of their site.

jkarling says:

Oh my God! Repair a snow shovel with nuts, bolts, et al? If that's Lifehacker-worthy...we should hang up our collective hats! I must come up with 2 fixes a DAY that are better than that idea. Those of you pandering to the concept of repairing something old versus buying something new- how do you value your OWN TIME? Think about it. "I sure wish I could have seen some more waterfalls and rainbows in my day, but I was down in that basement trying to fix that @#@damn snow shovel!"

PS: Ben Popken: don't forget your tetanus booster!

04/25/07 06:59 PM

Global Warming Weekend

From April 13 to 15, business owners and citizens of the city of Saratoga Springs will be holding the first ever Saratoga Environmental Expo (SEE). The event hopes to educate the public about environmental issues and the benefits of green living. It will also highlight environmentally-friendly businesses, products and technologies. As itself is a carbon-neutral event, a wind energy company will be providing wind power for the expo.

Special guest celebrities, including Ed Begley, Jr. and Daryl Hannah, along with 120 vendors, will present information on how visitors can conserve energy, build green, prevent pollution, farm organic and consume natural products.

Although I think Daryl Hannah is a conversationally challenged whack-job, I respect Ed Begley's position on the environment. He has walked the walk even from his St. Elsewhere days, driving an electric car to the studio and living in a "earth friendly" house.

Attendance to the Global Warming Event was hampered, somewhat appropriately, by the cold weather! As Ed Begley said, "Sometimes, when you have a fever...you can also get the chills." The area is expected to get up to a foot of snow! See view outside my window to right...

Sisu- Renamed

OK, Polly and I have given up on the name Sisu for the new cat. He just doesn't look like a Sisu. He looks like he has a mask over his eyes, so every time you look at him you want to call him "Rocky", "Bandit" or "Zorro". So we have renamed him Siskko and have filed the proper NY State paperwork on his behalf:

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an Order entered by the Supreme Court, Saratoga County, on the 5th day of April, 2007, bearing index Number 2007118A, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 40 McMaster Street, Ballston Spa, New York 12020, grants Petitioners, John and Polly Karling, the right effective on the 6th day of April, 2007, for them to rename their adopted cat, born at barn in Melrose, New York, named "SISU" to assume the name of "SISKKO". Petitioner's present address is The Karlington, 4 Tait Lane, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866.

There! Nice and legal!

New Homesite

We've found a nice wooded lot to build our new house. We are working with John Witt of Witt Construction. They are a design/build firm with national design awards and John is personally drawing our new home.

The house will be built to take advantage of some views of Vermont to the southeast. Our thoughts are that we'll use local materials throughout the house: slate, birch flooring, cedar shakes, local stone, slate and danby marble countertops. There is also a granite called "fireblossom", that is quarried near Gore Mtn. The red bursts are garnet and the surrounding dark areas are hornblende.

Let's wait for the pricelists for all of this shall we?

Spring? Fooled Again!

Even though it's April- don't put the snowboards and skis too far back in the hall closet! We woke up this morning to about an inch and a half of snow. It's supposed to get colder and snowier through this weekend. Maybe one more chance to head up to Gore Mountain? Gore says they have Spring pricing in effect, so usually that means you get to ski for half off, since the snow is...well...half off!
Killington says they got 10 inches of snow last night, but Killington always embellishes their snow reports a bit. A bit? Actually, a lot! Killington embellishes a lot. Some ski hills around here will stay open into May. Killington has made it to June before!

Sisu- Possibly Explained

Sisu is a Finnish word that speaks to the character of the Finnish people. It could be defined as the determination of the indomitable spirit. It is a word that binds the people of a proud nation that has heroically weathered occupation and starvation. My Dad, who grew up as a first-generation Finnish American in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, would tell me of the suffering of the Finnish people at the hands of the Russians. The only thing that gave the Finns their edge? Sisu!
That was impressive to me. I wondered if I might also have Sisu. My Dad said that I did and that was all I needed to know.

We would watch the Winter Olympics and cheer for the Finnish crosscountry skiers. They would always win the medals- of course! It was because of Sisu...right? Yes, it was Sisu and, seriously, who else but Finns would bother with crosscountry skiing in the first place???

An interesting article on Sisu can be found here.

Check out brilliant Finnish design at Marimekko. www.marimekko.fi

New Kit in Town! Meet Sisu!

Sisu- Our Newly Adopted Kitten

Polly and I adopted "Sisu" from a Clifton Park animal shelter today. He was abandoned on a farm in Melrose, NY and is now very shy. He is a mix of a Birman and a Persian cat. Sisu is 5 months old and has very pretty blue eyes. We are hoping that Trixie, our 6 year old cat, will play a big part in his socialization!

Eastern Brook Trout

My favorite fish is the Brook Trout. It is also my favorite fish to fish. You can find them in tiny spring creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes. Wherever you find them, be prepared for some great scenery, because they only survive in the cleanest, freshest water.

My fondest memories of fishing involved going after brook trout. My Dad would have me out in the early morning dawn; mosquitoes swarming, black flies biting, nettles stinging. And...I loved it! Even falling chest- high through a beaver dam with my fishing hook snagged in the alder brush 50 yards back...I loved it!

The brook trout is a friend to children and beginning fishermen alike. Along with the bluegill, it's hard to imagine a fish that's hungrier or more opportunistic. Fly, spinner, or bait, the brook trout rarely discriminates.

As you can imagine, the range of the brook trout grows more and more compressed as property development continues. Coupled with the brook trout's need for cold, clean water, their numbers have been dwindling along the Appalachians up the East Coast for years. Recently, an initiative has been made to improve habitat and create public awareness. The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (EBTJV) is the nation's first pilot project under the National Fish Habitat Initiative, which directs locally-driven efforts that build private and public partnerships to improve fish habitat. The long-term goals of the EBTJV are to develop a comprehensive restoration and education strategy to improve aquatic habitat, to raise education awareness, and to raise federal, state and local funds for brook trout conservation. Seventeen states are currently drafting strategies to prioritize policy changes and on-the-ground actions to improve water quality and restore brook trout habitat and populations in their individual state using locally-driven, incentive-based, and non-regulatory programs.

If YOU would like to find out more and see what you can do to help, visit www.brookie.org

Shonda, Justin & Collan Vacation in Saratoga

Shonda, Justin and Collan Dimitri of Orlando, Florida, paid us a visit last week. The boys were hoping that there would still be some snow...and they weren't disappointed! A Nor'Easter came through on a Friday night, dumping another foot or so. We did a lot during their visit, from seeing the NY State Museum in Albany, snow tubing at Gore Mountain , ski and snowboard lessons at West Mountain, to even building their own sledding runs complete with ramps! Although Spring is well on its way now, it was good to have a last chance at enjoying some Winter weather.


Check out their video by clicking the arrow above.

Special thanks to Jim and Alex Fredell who stopped by the house to show off their French & Indian War re-enactor uniforms. The boys were impressed to with blackpowder flintlock as well as the attire that the soldiers wore back in the day.

Ken Scott's Cleanup Project- Another Victory

Ken Scott's Cleanup Project!

Today, the lot between the Fredells and The Karlington has been cleaned of the piles of re-bar and rotten construction lumber from another failed Ken Scott venture. It took the combined pressure of the neighbors and the City of Saratoga Springs to force Ken to clean up the lot. He has let his undeveloped lot become an eyesore, reducing his fellow neighbors' property values in the process.

Mallet Project

Another project completed was a chisel mallet. Photo collage shows 1 of 2 mallets created. The mallet head is a glued block of figured maple, roughly 3"x3"x5". The handle is just over 12" long and elliptical. Handle and mallet are joined by a through tenon secured with a hand-cut cherry wedge. All planing and bevels were done with handtools. The finish is linseed oil.

New Woodworking Project

This piece is a Jewelry Stand. It is solid cherry with a hand-cut mortise & tenon joint. The bevels were cut by a block plane. The piece was entirely hand-planed and card scraped. The finish is Linseed Oil, Orange Shellac, and Paste Wax.

March 5th- It's my Birthday!

Today is a special day...it's my Birthday!

Rosewood Studio

In late October, my friend John Gregg and I went to woodworking school in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. We were taught by Ted Brown and Ron Barter at the fantastic Rosewood Studio.
Ted is an alumnus of the College of the Redwoods and studied under James Krenov, one of the great master woodworkers. Ron has quite the woodworking resume as well, having done many commissioned furniture pieces in Canada and the U.S.

We studied proper design, measuring and planning techniques for various projects. All were given an introduction to proper setup and use of bandsaws, tablesaws, jointers and planers. I learned a great deal about using and maintaining handtools such as planes, chisels and scrapers. Sharpening chisels and plane blades is an art in itself and is the one of the greatest contributors to quality work. I'm sure another contributor has to be patience...skill comes to mind as well!

One of our "projects" for our class was to take a rough milled slab of poplar wood and create 4 properly dimensioned boards. We then handcut dovetails in these boards to create an open box.

As a new woodworker, I want my projects to be as perfect as possible, but it's easy to become mentally paralyzed by over-thinking every cut and angle.
One of the most memorable and liberating concepts that I learned from the class is the subject of "relative measurement". While there will still be some critical measures and angles to a project, it's important to remember that, "...if you are building a chair, it will need to be about the size of a chair!" Once you are happy with the first leg of a coffee table, the other legs just need to be the same size as the first one.

I highly recommend the Craftsmanship 1A class if you have an interest in becoming a "serious amateur" woodworker! There are a good handful of great bed&breakfasts within a short walk of the studio. I stayed at the "Blue Heron" and was treated like a rockstar! Some classmates and newfound friends also stayed at the Blue Heron, John from Toronto and Jack Giacomelli of Kingston, Ont.

Since the class, I have done a handful of projects that have been very satisfying. I created a lighted display case for my friend, Sarah Keefe's new business. The display carcase was an old maple wardrobe that Polly and I found next to a dumpster! I created the faceframe and shelf lips from 4/4 rough maple and used 1/2" birch plywood for the shelves. I hand-drilled the shelf pins using a template I created. The face frame was joined with dowels and screwed to the carcase. The screws were countersunk and covered by maple plugs. The entire piece was hand-planed and finished with polyurethane gloss. Each shelf is lit by its own xenon light which is controlled by a hidden dimmer switch. (picture to come)

I assisted John Gregg in producing some wall mounted racks for displaying sheets of paper. These racks started as 5/4 rough maple and used shellac and pastewax for the final finish. (picture to come)

I also built a couple more display racks. One rack uses a louvered door to display card samples. The back panel of the louvers were created with 1/4" plywood. The base designs of both racks were created by myself. (picture to come)

Ice Storm in Upstate NY!

Ice Storm!