random outbursts from my inner five-year-old about craftsmanship, books, family, bikes, wilderness, cookies, bees, building furniture, my dogs, travel, adventure, life, & all the rest…
I don’t think that I can read Monocle Magazine anymore. It is still an amazing record of Zeitgeist and fortune teller of new urbanization. I love the magazine, but it has gotten to a newsstand price point for an individual magazine that seems frivolous and indulgent: $18 per issue with tax. That is not a typo.
The quality of the magazine has not changed since I discovered issue #1 years ago in Hamburg (I still have issues 1-3). The writing is clever and timely, the paper that it is printed on is suburb, their City Guides, Livable City and Soft Power editions are fantastic and in the latest issues, there must have been 4 mentions of Basel, CH, my spiritual European home city.
While $18 ten times a year is not a major financial commitment, I can do a lot of good with that cash: give to Heifer International and MSG more, buy a book a month from my local independent bookshop, send my kids $20 out of the blue, a Moroccan mint tea with my wife at our local coffee/tea shop.
I hate that it has to be this way because I want to support what they do, it is just a cost thing for me at this point. Maybe I will look at a subscription price instead of getting it at my local newsstand, but that is another issue in itself.
I buddy who knows about my KLM house issue, fed the beast for my birthday and bought me KLM house #87 – The Het Peperhuis (Pepper House). It is in perfect shape in is a middle eastern route (alcohol free) version and the sticker is still intact. He made me and my inner nerd very happy!
House #87! One more house up on the collection shelf
Picked up a new 22″ Vision Kamado grill/smoker at Home Depot or CHEAP – I got a Smoking Deal (pun intended!) 1/2 the cost of the BGE and $300 less than a compatible Kamado Joe on “Sale” through Bass Pro Shops.
First smoke was 1.5 hours at 325F of hot-wings, then Chicken breasts at 350F for 1:25. Both turned out super yummy! Next smoke will be ribs and am working myself up to an 8 hour brisket – slow and low.
I am always cruising eBay for folks selling KLM Canal Houses that don’t know what they have. I ran across a listing titled “Colletion Of 9 Delft Blauw Hand Painted Canal houses” (sic) knew right then I was mining for gold. 6 were KLM houses, there was one ashtray (#23), and three small delft canal house flower vases (non-KLM).
I made a offer for 20% below asking price and the seller got
right back to me were an acceptance.
Looking at current and previous listings, I picked these up for about
40% of current eBay retail. I am pretty
stoked!
I then had to tell my wife that I bought some more delft houses and brace for the consequences… She was awesome and was supper sweet about my little touch of mania and congratulated me on my find. I love her so much!
I feel that I scored with my most recent KLM house acquisition: I paid less than $5, including shipping, for a 1970’s version of house #6 (first made in 1955), which was the only house of the 1st ten that was modeled after a real structure instead of someone’s idealized version of what a canal house “should” look like.
It is in perfect shape with the original stickers in place, the makers mark and house number on the bottom are clear and bright, the cork is intact and there is residue of apricot brandy still inside – as opposed to the modern genever, which I believe has led to the darker ceramic color and blotches. The detail on the form and the attention to detail with the blue glaze application is rustic to say the least, especially compared side by side with the same house from 1997, which is how they are now displayed.
The new vs. the old style and attention the detail
To get extra nerdy: This house is modeled on the now-demolished St-Petrus Hous – Achter het Hofplein, which was built in town of Middelburg around 1530. There is some some conjecture (including on the KLM app) says that the house is was modeled after the Het Houten Huys” (The Wooden House, Begijnhof 34, Amsterdam) but the world’s leading authority on KLM houses argues for the former.
I spent a week in Costa Rica and ate something on my last night there that made my flight home miserable and I got to go to the ER straight from the airport… At home now recovering for a couple of days.
My favorite book as a child was My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. I was 11 when I bought my first copy – a paperback, pulp paper, Scholastic Book Fair edition – and I devoured it. I wanted to be Sam Gribley with my whole soul – still do! It created a lifelong love of wilderness, falconry, and it was the book that REALLY lit my internal fire for reading and story telling. I devoured the book, read it 4 times, leaving the pages tattered, and passed it on to a friend that had the same reaction (We had a mini pre-pubescent male book club for a couple of years). I then read Julie of the Wolves, The Talking Earth, and so many other books of hers. I bought and read Sam’s tale again when I was 16, a couple more times as an adult, and own the two sequels, the 2 additional picture books, and the related cookbook. I have the Kindle and Audio book editions and a DVD of the 1969 film just for good measure. Side note: This was the first time that I experienced the “ I liked the book better than the movie” phenomenon that we all know so well.
When daughter was born, I bought a nice copy of Julie of the
Wolves for her with both original illustrations and supplemental maps and
wolf/artic photos. It was a major purchase
for me during that time in my young life.
Shortly after my son was born, I happened upon a nice hardcover of My
Side of the Mountain in a local bookshop and bought it for him. My hope was for us all to read the books together
when the kids were old enough.
I met Mrs. George briefly in 1995 and while I would like to
tell you how I went on at length about her contribution to my life and my appreciation
for her work, that didn’t happen… I was
awestruck and mumbled a ‘thank you’ before walking away with a stupid smile.
A few weeks later, I built up the courage to write her and ask
if she would sign the copies of my kids books.
She wrote back less than a week later, saying she remembered me and
agreed to sign the books! I was over the
moon and they went into the mail the next day.
Two weeks later I got back a neatly wrapped package containing the books
with not only a signature, but she had written a dedication to both of my kids
in the books and had made a small sketch of Julie in one and a full page
drawing of Sam and Frightful (READ THE BOOKS!) in the other. I ugly cried!
I fired off a ‘thank you’ letter and treasured the books for years in my
own secret book horde, before relenting and giving the books to the kids, along
with paperback reading copies and a tale of how special the books really were.
I should have taken pictures of the notes and illustrations before
I let them go, but I wasn’t thinking. I
do not have a picture of the Julie illustration, but I have ones of Sam and
Frightful that my son took with his phone and sent me last year. After a little snafu with some files and some
lost pictures, I figured if I put them here online that I would never lose them
and sharing this story warms me from the inside.
I will be forever grateful to Mrs. George for the words written, stories told, and the time she took to reach out and do something wonderful for my children and I. Read the books. Read them with your kids and grandkids. Give copies as gifts.
It has been 4 years since the Jeep wore its soft top. After struggling with it for 3 hours last night, getting out the heat gun, contorting my body into funny shapes in the back seat, and saying a battle-ship’s worth of cuss words – the deed is done. It was a bright and sunny Seattle winter day today and I drove her to work in all her Old Girl Glory!
My 1986 CJ-7 with a Gray BestTop Soft Top (OEM replacement) installed. I love this Jeep.
The US Department of Veteran’s Affairs is full of bureaucratic fuckery. I said it. It is my truth. You cannot convince me otherwise. In 27+ years of working with, dealing with, and interacting with almost all levels of staff, at multiple regional sites, I can say with all honesty and sincerity that not a single year has gone by without some sort of breakdown in documentation, communication, process, compensation, or care. That is not hyperbole, it is my experience of fact.
Currently, I am experiencing a problem with compensation that borders on Orwellian: I have been assigned a debt that I do not owe, had to appeal that issue, won that appeal after providing 10+ years of documentation, received official notification of a decision in my favor of that appeal, and yet there is no mechanism to tell the collection group of the VA (DMC) that the now-won appeal means a deletion of the debt that I didn’t owe in the first place. The path I have been given over the phone today is one where I am to file an additional appeal of “financial hardship” to cancel the debt. It is not a hardship, it is just bullshit over a relatively tiny amount of money.
I have called a VA representative 11 times in the last 3 months, faxed 212 individual sheets of paper, and written four different letters to each VA department involved over the minor accounting/records discrepancy. If I am having this kind of issue and have had similar complaints/challenges every year, as mentioned, then what about the folks facing real crisis or hardship? What does the bureaucratic loop look like for those vets? How do they handle the uphill battle, duplication of effort, procedure? How in the world does this personify the Abraham Lincoln penned VA moto: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle”? I get the VA is complicated and their mission is both underfunded and plagued by mismanagement and scandal (Google “VA Scandal” for a LONG read…), but how long is this status quo just accepted?
There are good and well-meaning folks at the VA that push and strive for those of us in their charge. I know some of them and related to a few. I have heard stories of their own struggles in dealing with the looping logic of the VA administrative officialdom. I don’t have an answer for problems that I have experienced, any salve for the wounds, I just need to rant a little and wish for a better process, better management, compassionate over-site, proper funding, and advocacy for veterans from inside the VA in an official form.
Just to reiterate, I don’t collect comic books or coins or baseball cards or vintage motorcycles – I collect KLM Dutch houses. It is not a widely held hobby, is full of esoterica, and REAL nerdy folk. If you want a favor from me or to tug at my heart strings, a KLM house will just about do it. If it is a special edition… Well, that will get you favors!
I just scored an ashtray version of KLM house #20 – the Edam Museum. It is one of the non-gin filled houses made for the middle-eastern routes and are much less common than their corked counterparts. My new house was produced by Royal Goedewaagen in Gouda in 1970 and is only one of the 15 types of houses made in the ashtray version – the others being: 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 14, 15, 17, 21, 22, 23 ,25, 26, 27.
It is in great condition. I bought it from an individual and did not pay retail/collector’s price for it, which is rare for me. I seem to always pay retail for stuff… I am stoked. It will live beside my standard 1980’s version that is still full of gin. STOKED!!
I had a good honey harvest this year. It was not a record breaking great one, but it was decent. Out of a total of six hives I was keeping and 2.5 that I was assisting with, I lost one to chemicals and one to foul brood – in the same bee yard unfortunately. One that I helped with also had a chemical exposure and once again (see previous post), my “Russian Survivor Bees” from Vashion Island were crap. They are still super mean, are not producing honey, and even the split from the first hive is behaving exactly the same way.
I sourced some sweet little glass honey-bear jars and I had some custom labels printed this year instead of using the generic “HONEY!” labels. I went through Sticker Mule and I need to say that they were perfect!! The artwork was spot on, the size and tolerance was just right, they were fast, and they were the cheapest source I found for that size and quantity in two colors. Their customer service in excellent and they have my business for all my stickers and labels from now on.
I have been an REI member since 2000. I have bought and used their branded gear for
years, in part because of the lifetime warranty. I was fine paying the premium retail price
knowing that if something went wrong, I could always get a new one. Ant it kept me brand loyal and from cruising
the internet for the “Best Deal.” I was
willing to pay that premium for peace of mind.
Taking that into account, I was a little butt-hurt about their change from
lifetime to a 1-year warranty in 2013, but I get it, there was some abuse and
people went to great lengths to game them.
People suck and some of them ruined it for the rest of us.
I have had some good experience since the change: I had
the soles fall off a pair of Vans snowboard boots two years ago and they
replaced them no questions because the sole failure was an obvious manufacture’s
defect. Same for a bike pump 6 months
later.
Yesterday, I took a rain coat in that had a lining that
was separating from the outer layer. I
was told that the issue was “normal wear and tear” and that it would not be
replaced. I took the pronouncement and
ALMOST just bought a new one, but decided to look elsewhere first. The more I sat with it and the more it stewed
in my brain, the more it irked me. $120 (original
cost) is not a small amount of money for me, so I decided to go back and argue the
point with the return desk.
I printed out the original product info (thank you
interwebs!) that listed the rain jacket lining as “permanently bonded to the outer
layer…” and I printed both the original warranty (pre-2013) and the current warranty
that lists product defect as a reason for full refund. If that didn’t work, I brought some excessive
firepower: a printed copy of the Magnuson-Moss
Warranty Act with the portion highlighted about a company having to honor
the warranty from the time of purchase.
I showed up and happened to get a sales associate who
again said it was normal wear and tear as currently described in their internal
policy instructions, BUT that he would honor the “sprite of the original guarantee”
and give me store credit for the full purchase amount. Things almost took a left turn when he had to
have a manager override though. The
manager showed up, looked at the jacket, and started to say no. I quickly pulled the Magnuson-Moss doc out of
my backpack, I started flipping pages and his eyes got wide. He asked if I was an attorney and I said, “Nope,
better: I am an engineer.” There were guarded
smiles and I was told that they were aware of the legalese I was about to throw
down and without admitting I was right or that the Act was applicable, he keyed
in his credentials and walked away.
I left my local REI with a new Northface raincoat, and
$10 left on my store credit. I am not
sure when I will spend that $10 as I will be shopping on-line for gear deals
and will darken REI’s doors very little in the future for gear purchases.
Another fine year for
the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.
It is one of the weekends that I look forward to all summer. My plan was to go early this year, like leaving
the house at 6:00 AM and fueling up on coffee and energy bars for the 2+ hour
trip from Seattle early. The best laid
plans of mice and men…
After a REALLY late
start and failing to meet up with a boat builder friend at the show, my wife
and I still managed to have a great day at the Festival. I think she went with
me to keep me from buying a boat that “ Just needs just a little bit of work…” Unbeknownst to her, I went to but a boat that
needed a LOT of work: I am building a boat this year and had 90% decided on the
Pygmy Wineglass Wherry. I showed up
planning to row the boat to make that number 100% and on taking one of their
stitch&glue kits home with me. It
was ON!
The Pygmy shop was really short staffed that afternoon and the person I spoke with initially didn’t really have the answers to show pricing, additional fiberglass, material for a sculling notch, etc… I was told to speak with someone else, but they were not available. Fine. I wondered down to the water for a test row and the boat was booked out with folks in line for hours. Ok. I am patient, I can wait.
I toured a few boats on the water and there was some stunners! Conspicuously absent though, was my favorite Puget Sound pocket-yacht, OPUS, an Ian Oughtred Wee Seal II design. I hope to see her later this month at the Lake Union Wooden Boat Fest.
After touring a few boats, we walked down to the Connecticut Light Craft booth and I happened into Jon Harris, the owner/designer for CLC. Even while tearing down the mast and sails for a customer to row a boat (talked to the guy later and he bought a kit) Mr. Harris took his time to discuss his design and answer my questions. His Northeaster Dory is everything I want the Wineglass Wherry to have after modifications (dagger board, sails, and notch) but is a little longer and is more money. After rowing it and watching how fast the sail and mast came down, I started looking hard at the Northeaster. My wife likes the Dory more, as does the boat builder friend we failed to meet up with earlier in the day, but I am not 100% sold (it is the additional cash and the kit delivery fee in all honesty), so I bought the Dory scale model and will build and paint if this winter to help me decide. In the end, I did buy a boat, just a 1/8” wooden scale model.
This year was Laurel’s first time seeing the CLC teardrop camper. She was all giddy and crawled around the thing like it was a big fluffy warm dag: all smiles. She has a new plan: She wants to split the cost of a kit and help me build it this spring. Really, she said those words. She is super into it! I guess we are now building a camper, but she stopped short of buying the kit right there. It was touch and go and I could see her Alaska Miles Credit Card vibrating in her pocket. The plan it to wait and save the cash up and build this spring for summer adventures.
In addition to buying a boat, my other hope/plan was to pick up another Clamptite from AKcooltools. They did not have a booth there last year, but I saw them on the vendor list this year. I looked for them some, but figured they hadn’t made it. My wife noticed their booth in a back corner, hidden away and asked me, “That booth says clamps, it is strange that we haven’t been there today.” (YOU CAN’T OWN TOO MANY CLAMPS!) Well, we/I ran right over, plopped my money down and now have a new stainless Clamptite to replace the one I dropped into Lake Union.
Like I said, These folks didn’t have a great vendor spot and I don’t think it was a great show for them, which isn’t really fair in relation to their level of customer cervicce, general attitude, and awesome products. Look them up, see if it is something you can’t live without. I am not affiliated in any way with the sellers, festival, tool, etc. and get nothing from this. I just really like what they are doing and don’t think they were getting the foot traffic they deserve. I made a YouTube video on using the tools as well.
At the VERY end of the day Saturday, I caught the two ladies manning the Pygmy test paddle area just before they put the boats up for the night and they were awesome about letting me take the Wineglass Wherry and my sweet wife out for a spin. The boat was really stable and tracked well. The wind pushed her a bit when not rowing, but that is to be expected from a 90 pound rowboat. I still really like this boat I love the lines and the transom. Like I said above, was almost sure I was going to build one with an added sculling notch, but I really want a daggerboard and a small sail. Both it and the dory are great boats. I have a decision to make…
Some things that would make me happy for my Birthday:
Pick your least favorite nutty political figure & donate to a worthy cause they would despise in their name. Send me a note in the comment section about what you have done.
Give to Heifer International: Bees (I really like to give the gift of bees) Goats, Chickens, Llama, or the whole Ark… Send me a note. A little cash to Doctors Without Borders/MSF Give blood and send me a post card 1000 followers on YouTube
SpeedHut Jeep Gauge Package Anything from my Amazon wish list A gift card to Hardwick’s Hardware in Seattle A set of ½ round molding planes from Matthew Bickford A set of snipe bill planes from Matthew Bickford Genetic genealogy testing from 23&Me A card from each of my kids Filson Wool Overalls A red Arkansas Razerback red ball cap Amber 2ga. Plugs (bonus points if they have insect inclusions!!) Any 2ga. plugs really
We have a really small kitchen, as most were/are in a 1928 home. My sweet wife wanted a kitchen Island, but we just didn’t have the room. I put on my thunkin’ cap and figured out that a butcher block in the center of the room would give us some additional counter space and prep area. A plan for a custom gift started forming in my narrow monkey brain. I got super stoked about it, designed it up, and went wood shopping.
‘My local hardwood dealer did not have the grade of maple that I wanted at a price that I was willing to pay, but that was a blessing in disguise. While still thinking and grumbling about just paying the steep price for the wood a week later, I found a company that sold semi-custom cutting board countertops and free standing blocks. Their second to the smallest one was exactly the dimension (24” X 18”) that I had planned to build for my wife and their cost, delivered to my dock at work, was about the same as just my material would be. That settled it. I bought the block and waited the 4 weeks for delivery.
I don’t feel one bit bad that I did not build the whole thing. I surprised my wife with it and she asked that I paint the legs red to match the kitchen walls. I bought a can of pre-mixed Holiday Red General Finish Milk Paint from Woodcraft (I REALLY like using Milk Paint!) and put two coats on the legs. After the paint fully cured, I put two coats of satin marine spar varnish on. The top was finished with 4 coats of tung oil, drying 24 hours in-between coats, and I will redcoat every couple of months.
The island looks GREAT in our kitchen and has given us both more space when making dinner. My wife is very happy with the addition and that is worth more than gold. The links the block company and my supplies are below:
Some people collect comic books, baseball cards, coins, or made in Occupied-Japan figurines. I have a friend that collects National Geographic magazines and another buddy that collects historical table gaming military figures. I collect KLM blue and white canal houses. An odd choice for a middle aged married Engineer with a woodshop, forge, and machine/fabrication shop, but it is what I nerd-out on. I am pretty far down the rabbit hole of this little pastime and am currently building a series of shelves in our kitchen breakfast nook, complete with lighting, to hold and display my little collection. It is fairly harmless though and I don’t think that my wife will leave me for spending our 401Ks on a specific miniature or for selling my sweet dad-bod at the airport to a KLM flight attendant that is my hook-up, my pusher. Neither is likely to happen.
A little history about the houses:
Once upon a time, when you could still smoke on airplanes and people got dressed up to travel, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) regulated all manner of aviation-related policies/laws in the US and before the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act everything from ticket prices to routes and schedules were subject to government approval. It applied to US carriers, foreign carriers operating within the US and US/Foreign airlines flying into and out of the US. The general idea for all the regulations was to ensure an equal playing field among airlines.
There were a number of rules that prohibited airlines
from incentivizing passengers, say offering a free hotel or free drinks to
passenger so that would choose one carrier over another as all carriers had to
charge the exact regulated price for any given route. Since and gifts or freebies or incentives
could be construed to have a monetary value, changing the customer’s overall
cost for a flight, they were not allowed by CAB rules.
All the Airlines of the day tried to bend, bypass, or ignore
these regulations in some way and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was no
exception. Starting in 1952, flight attendants
began presenting World Business and Royal Class passengers
small blue and white ceramic Delft houses, which paid tribute to the Dutch
canal houses. The miniature houses were/are hollow, and filled with Dutch gin (known as Jenever). This was obviously against the rules, or was
it…
KLM responded to the then criticism with: “Is there a law that tells us drinks have to
be served in a glass?” What the customer did with the bottle after
their sip of gin was up to them. The tradition
continues to this day and I am one of a small group of folks that are always on
the lookout for a new house, an older version of one I already own, or planning
travel specifically so that my trip will include the presentation of a new
house.
Today, the gin comes from the famous Dutch BOLS distillery, but before the 1980s, the houses were filled with liqueur from Dutch distilleries Rynbende and Henkes. Most of the miniatures depicts a real house in the Netherlands (with a couple of exceptions), with a new model being introduced on October 7 of each year.
Production
was random until 1994, with spurts of houses sometimes being produced in rapid secession,
then none produced for several of years.
Then in 1994, 15 houses were produced in honor of KLM’s 75th
anniversary. This brought the number to exactly 75 – Marketing…. The number
of houses in the series has kept
pace with KLM’s age ever since. The houses themselves were produced by
the Royal Goedewaagen in Gouda until 1995, but their manufacture was moved to Asia early that year. This year 2019,
will be the 100th year and I am currently chomping at the bit for
#100.
More
than 800,000 KLM-houses are produced each year and around 725,000 Genever-filled
and 79,000 unfilled KLM Houses are loaded onto KLM aircraft yearly. The
unfilled ones are provided for destinations in the Middle East due to alcohol
regulations in that area of the world. My very first house was an un-filled one from
a flight between Amsterdam and Abu Dhabi in 2003. In the past, KLM gave the Middle-Eastern
bound passengers miniature houses that served as ashtrays. When putting the
cigarette in the hole at the back of the house, the smoke would come out of the
house’s chimney. Houses: 1, 3, 4, 5, 8,
14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, and 27 all came in ashtray form. I would commit a serious misdemeanor to own a
complete set of the ashtray versions.
Seriously…
Apart from the standard series of houses, a
few miniatures have been issued without a number. The Royal Palace Amsterdam,
Goudse Waag cheese weigh house in Gouda, Paleis het Loo in Apeldoorn,
Koninklijk Theater Carré in Amsterdam, and the Hall of Knights in The Hague all
have a limited-edition, KLM
version of themselves. The only house so
far that was produced, but not based in the Netherlands is House No. 85. This
is a model of the Penha building, the most famous house on Curaçao, which is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
There is also an ‘unofficial’ miniature house, the Curaçao Cottage, issued by the government of the Netherlands
Antilles to commemorate 75 years of service. The house was filled with a local
drink instead of the customary Dutch gin. In contrast to the typically Dutch
and generally rectangular canal-side houses that make up most of the set,
Cunucu House has a rounded, thatched roof form.
This is not a super hard or expensive collection or hobby to get into. Friends and family know about my “little collection” and I have had friends pick them up for me on trips abroad. A friend and colleague once brought me one with two commemorative matching KLM coffee cups back from a visit to the Netherlands. He has since started collecting the houses himself, has began taunting me with his finds, and is now dead to me. We will not speak his villainous name.
If you get bitten by the tiny house bug you can, like me, hope for a flight upgrade or pick them up here and there at antique stores or Craigslist or flea markets. You could also go “all in” and get a 1-99 respectable set for around $1600 and then start hunting the edges of the internet for the hard to find, unique, and old versions of houses and buildings. Regardless of how you start or where you are in your decent into tiny Dutch house madness (I have the KLM Delft house app loaded on my phone…), all the collectors I have ever met in real life (a total of 6 people) and internet collectors have a hit-list of houses. The houses on my list are:
The above mentioned ashtray versions
The Cunucu Cottage
Early versions of houses: 47, 48, 87
Any version of houses: 95, 97, 99, and the #100 that will come out this year.
Royal Palace on Dam Square in Amsterdam, which is the jewel of any KLM house nerd’s collection. It was made to scale in Delft Blue by Bols, the creator of Jenever. In the 1970s and 1980s, all newlywed couples who flew on KLM received one as a gift. The series was limited to several thousand.
Goudse Waag (Cheese Weigh House) in Gouda, which was given to newlyweds flying KLM on their honeymoon between 1995 and 2005. These houses are no longer in production and I want one.
Frans Hals Museum, which formed part of a special edition that didn’t actually belong to the set. It is also not numbered. In 1962, the ‘Museum’ house was only awarded to tourists from Japan. On the flight from Japan to Amsterdam, they were given a special voucher granting them entry to the Museum. When/If they arrived at the museum and presented the voucher, these tourists received the complimentary miniature. There are therefore only a small number of these KLM miniature houses in circulation around the globe.
House of Bols
Ridderzaal (Hall of Knights), Only 300 were produced and were gifts to the KLM Management Board. I saw one for e-bay once that went for over $1700.
The Hotel New York
Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum)
Huis ter Kleef – “Blue Delfts exclusively made for Huis ter Kleef by KLM and BOLS. Not issued on board of KLM flights. HKDNP” is written on the bottom of the house.
Concertgebouw
Carré Theatre
Het Loo Palace
Then there are special issues like new a flight route commemorative house (1988 Vancouver to Calgery), The Las Vegas Sales Conference 2001, etc…
Links that help with the descent into Tiny House Madness:
I am a little blown away bu this one. I do have a love of fountain pens, making stuff and upcycling, but this is next level: The PauperPen is a fountain pen that is made/folded in just over 10 minutes from a soda can using origami techniques. Blown.Away.
My only son and youngest child graduated from High-school with honors this week. I could not be more proud of him, his achievement, his success, and the man he is growing into.
Second row, 6th one in.My tall, smart, handsome son. Wife very pretty too!The Fat old guy sure seems super proud and happy!
I got a crazy amount of stuff done last night after work. I was uber productive!
Checked on and watered bee hives at work (2 in community garden)
Drove home
Checked on and watered bees at the house
Boiled burr comb (extra comb the bees build in the hive boxes) and turned it into wax patties for candles this fall
Cleaned up front yard.
Moved new table made from a tree trunk slice into the front yard
Added three orange feet to the table
Took out compost, garbage, and recycling
Browned sliced almonds for dinner salad
Shocked and treated hot tub
Emptied hot tub water (only water left in pipes/pump has been treated)
Pulled hot tub filters
Replaced tires on band saw
Installed Wolverine sharpening guides and chisel grinder in shop
Patched nail holes in trim of basement tool organization board and printing press break
Installed 2 GoPro mounts in shop
Put final touches on two hand forged workbench holdfasts each (one for the bench tops and one for the legs) for a couple of friends who are getting into woodworking
Worked on a couple of YouTube films
Applied a the first coat of Silver Tip Epoxy to a canoe paddle
Finished an Audio book
Updated my bee hive performance/health tracking journal
Really sad. I have prayed in the nave of, attended masses, listened to the bells and organ, lit candles in the side chapels, attended a wedding , and cried in Notre Dame. I have taken my wife and my son there and have sent a books worth of postcards and letters form visits there. It is the heart of Paris for me. Below are some pictures I have taken in and of the church in the last 20 years. Just so sad.
At night in 2014At night from the Left BankMy son, summer 2013Inscription on the holy water vessel as you walk into the sanctuary Above left most front doorCenter DoorWinter 2012The Right hand front doorThe Sanctuary12th Century Rose Windowwinter 2014
Every homeowner in the middle of a city really needs 3.5 chainsaws. Well… maybe you only need 1, but having multiple saw options makes things a lot easier when a truck load of logs shows in in the driveway or when a tree in your yard needs to come down.
I have a neighbor who heats with wood and buys a couple loads of loads (5-8 cords) of wood a year. He bucks the logs and does all the splitting in his driveway. He is a great guy and hooked me up with a cord+ of free maple (and ¾ a cord of cedar for camp fires) last year. We have heated the house during all the really cold and snowy nights this winter with that free wood. As a way to be a good neighbor and to say ‘thank you’, I spent a few hours one recent weekend helping him cut a load of fir into rounds and prep for splitting. I took one saw over to his place with a bit of gas and bar oil and cut for 3+ hours on one chain sharpening. That would not have been possible with oak, cherry, or walnut, but the dry-ish fir cut like butter.
Speaking of saws, I currently have a stable that includes a semi-shitty Homelite 16” bar that was a $10 garage sale score that I couldn’t pass up. I put a good chain on it and use it for limbing trees, blackberry vine annihilation, and general yard/garden jobs. Years ago, I was given a battery powered Homelite polesaw when a neighbor moved away that I keep sharp and use it 3-4 times a year. The long reach makes pruning and trimming branches along the fence a breeze.
I scored a free (paid for with sweat equity) 50cc Dolmar last year, which is a fine little German saw, and it is my go-to for lopping up logs/firewood rounds and for lathe bowl prep. The Dolmar is probably my favorite saw currently and the very first one I will take if I have to lend a hand with a tree or firewood in the neighborhood. The beast in my quiver is a new Husqvarna 576 that I paid full retail price for and meant only to be used for serious ‘bidnes like dropping trees or for milling slabs. I have two different length bars and three types of chain for it: Rip, felling, and skip. When the chain is fresh, you can set this baby on a log and it will eat through it just using its own weight.
You will find all sorts of uses and projects that require a chainsaw when you own one: For instance, instead of paying an arborist serious $$ last year, I dropped a 40’ tall holly tree that stood on the fence between me and a neighbor. I had to put on a harness and rope up to top the thing, which I have done many times and once did it for a living for a short time.
This time I was like 4 months post-op from hip reconstruction though and my wife forbade me from “doing anything stupid” before she left the house to run errands. I seized the opportunity and started the cutting. She came home earlier than I had expected and caught me 20’ up in the tree, sitting in the harness with the saw running. Apparently, that was “something stupid” and I got in trouble. No, like real trouble and she had a fit in front of all my friends and neighbors. I had to go inside for the day and wasn’t allowed to come out and play with the other 40-something children.
This was after I got caught as was putting up my toys before I had to go inside for a proper ass-chewing.
Couple of quick points:
A chain saw will maim or kill you if you do not use it correctly. If you have never operated one, take a class or find a mentor, not Bob down the street that drinks beer in the front yard all summer and has a dusty saw up on a shelf in the garage. Someone that that handles a saw often and who is super safety conscience.
