Heather's Blogpile

Ducklips!

My upstairs speakers are based on a mid-70s pair of JBL L200 speakers. I loved the look of the cabinets, but the sound was a bit limited. So I added 2405 slot super-tweeters and built new crossovers to make them 3 ways. A few months back I bought a pair of JBL 2397 Smith horns - they are mid-range horns, made of grey painted MDF, and designed for a 2 inch compression driver, tho I'm using them with a pair of adapters and my (cheaper) 1 inch drivers. They replace the "round" horns that are in the cabinets, hidden behind the textured foam grill. They sounded very nice but the grey industrial paint was UGLY. So, I found an audio friend who offered to make me a pair in nice wood, and I chose walnut, to match the JBL L200 Cabinets they sit on. They look great and sound WONDERFUL!

From the Ashes - A reboot!!

Washington Blade shut down after 40th anniversary

Watch this space! http://savetheblade.com/

Meadows Celtic Festival and Highland Games - Richmond, VA

Had a great time over the weekend at our 3rd trip to the Meadows Festival and Highland Games. Last 2 times it was at the grounds of the Richmond racetrack, but this year it was at the Meadows site near Kings Dominion. Very cool time, even if it did rain most of the day Saturday! We got to see BarleyJuice and Rathkeltair, 2 really excellent groups with pipers, drank some beer, ate some great foot (Meat pies with HP sauce!!) and generally had a fun time with Emma's sister Dawn! Rathkeltair below, with Neil Anderson

Solar Decathalon is coming!

http://www.solardecathlon.org/

For three weeks in October 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy will host the Solar Decathlon—a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The Solar Decathlon is also an event to which the public is invited to observe the powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and the best in home design.

Exact dates of the 2009 event are:

Oct. 08-16 — Teams compete in 10 contests
Oct. 09-13 — Houses are open to the public
Oct. 15-18 — Houses are open to the public
Oct. 19-21 — Teams disassemble their houses.

Office nearly done!

Got the wall painted, emptied the old shelves, put the new system in place, and put everything back on the shelves. I still have a lot of stuff at my end (by the window) to sort through and thin out, but Emma has just done wonders sorting out here stuff! I even bought some 12inch oak board for additional shelves at my end! I did a quick Walnut stain and its darker that I wanted, but it'll do (once they fully dry). Wow - busy week and weekend!

'nother darned Modern wall system

Just got home after buying Greg's wall system - thank goodness again for the CRV - got everything loaded in! Its a tight fit, but after a slow drive around the beltway in rush hour, its here. With much help from Emma, its all unpacked and in the basement! Now all I have to do is empty our office, sand and paint the wall, reassemble the wall unit, and load all our books and software onto it. But, this is a good start!

More: the SCAN HG Furniture Wall Units

Here are the 3 Dressers for the Wall system. I currently use them stacked in my bedroom - Teak exterior and birch interior ...

]]> The system uses an aluminum track that gets screwed to the wall, and has wooden brackets with metal tips to support the shelves

The problem is the dressers, cabinets and desk unit have these hooks bolted to the inside - and they don't mesh with the aluminum tracks - so there must be some additional fitting or adapter that I don't have thats needed to hang those units to the tracks

HG Furniture Wall System from SCAN

Earlier this year I got an older Danish Modern Wall System. Its a very neat series of cabinets, desk and shelves, with aluminum tracks meant to be bolted to the wall and brackets to you can hang everything with. The seller said she got it at SCAN years ago, had moved around with it for ages, and wanted something new. On the back of the cabinets it's stamped HG - Furniture, Made in Denmark. I brought it home, wiped it all down with orange oil, and stacked the 3 dressers in my bedroom for all my things. I put the glass-front display cabinets and extra pieces in the basement until summer was over. Now its time to have a deeper look at it.

]]> It's Teak veneer with Birch drawer interiors - each piece is 35 1/2 wide, tho the height and depth vary.
There is a kind of desk unit with 2 half-width drawers and 2 cubbyholes underneath 35x16x6 1/2 tall.
There are 2 cabinets with glass sliding doors and glass shelves - 35x16x16
There is one dresser with 4 drawers - 35x16x16
There are 2 dressers with 4 drawers that are 19 3/4 deep
Plus a couple of shelves of varied depth 8 1/2", 11", 14 1/2

Shopping for shelves for our office wall

Emma wants to redo our home office shelves, on the wall behind us when we are at our desks. Currently its a collection of folding shelf units and such we accumulated over the years, generally nice wood, but mismatched. We had gone to IKEA but it looked like we would spend $950-1200 for a system the way we wanted it. And flat pack furniture from around the world isn't very green.
But then I saw this Modern wall system on Craigslist ... Its a little rough and the seller wants way too much money, but its flexible and doesn't rely on proprietary hardware like that old SCAN system I got in FEB ...

Pond changes for Summer 09

A friend gave us a small plastic pond, and this year I dug a hole for it, wrapped it with a rubber pond liner and formed an overflow into the creekbed, then stacked around it with rocks I found in our yard ... I put a few plants around it and laid some square slate pieces around it for a surround. Don't like the look of the slate, but it will do for now.

break the silence

yep - its been a long time since I last wrote. I'm not one of the webkids that blogs as a daily diary thing --- This isn't an automatic writing exercise for me, nor is it particularly cathartic. But, as the Moodies once sang, "another years useless energy spent" ... So, New Year's come and gone, Dad's birthday has come and gone (he's 87, thank you very much!), my Birthday has come and gone, and my back is out again ... Still ... I rise.

Paul Newman has died

Just click the image to see a larger size version.

I was reading The Washington Post this morning when I read the headline: Academy-Award Winning Actor Paul Newman Dies at 83

Paul Newman, 83, the actor and sex symbol who surged to stardom by playing loners as well as criminal and moral outlaws -- anything to downplay his astonishing looks -- died of cancer Friday at his farmhouse near Westport, Conn.

of course, I'll always remember him, cool and relaxed, waiting on the start line at Summit Point, from this photo I took many years ago ...

Doggone car is blocking the driveway!

Yeah - new addition to the fleet - found this up in Abingdon, MD - some kinda 1.8 liter econo-car from Germany - rated 38mpg on the highway ... Its not a NEW car - its from 1995 - but squeezing gas is a GOOD thing these days!

I've got a few things to do and get it through inspection, but - based on the nearly 2 hour drive getting it home, what a FUN car!!

Reverend E Lee Chattin has died, at age 87

I've just gotten back from my father- in-law's funeral outside Richmond, VA. He was a warm and generous man, a retired Methodist minister of 60 years in the pulpit, and the blessing of his passing was that it was brief, he was not in pain very long, and he died peacefully at home with his daughters beside him. His family has a Scottish heritage, (Clan Chattin) so it was only fitting that he be piped out in style.

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The Rev. Edgar Lee Chattin, 87, died June 20, 2008, at his residence at Moseley, Va.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Chloe Gwendolyn Rodgers Chattin. He is survived by two daughters, Dawn Gwendolyn Chattin and husband, Scott Nash, and the Rev. Emma Lee Chattin and partner Heather James; and grandchildren, Gwendolyn Chattin Prince, Amber Nash and David Nash; and chosen family members, Wanda Ladd, from whom he received devoted care, Jore Nash Cooper, and Daryl and David Durrett. He is survived by three brothers, Willie A., Robert D. and Rev. Norman S. and his wife, Bernice; as well an abundance of nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by two brothers, George and James W.; and three sisters, Bertha Willis, Elsie Bray and Minnie Griffith.

He began ministering as a boy preacher and tent evangelist, later joined the United Methodist Church, and served over 60 years in the pulpit at various charges and locations over the Commonwealth of Virginia. Although a retired Elder of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, he still continued to minister in various ways over recent years to every person that he met.

The family will receive friends on Sunday, June 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Bennett & Barden Funeral Home at 3215 Anderson Highway, in Powhatan, Va. There will be a brief gathering and Celebration of Life later at the family's home in Mosely, Va., at 6 p.m., with the Rev. Garvin Boyd officiating.

The funeral service will be held Monday, June 23, at 4 p.m., at Genito Presbyterian Church, 2910 Genito Road, Powhatan, Va., with the Rev. Fletcher and the Rev. Bob Young officiating. A brief interment will follow at the church cemetery nearby.

If desired, contributions may be made to the Hospice of Virginia or Genito Presbyterian Church.