Largest sassafras tree in Georgia

Recently I made a post regarding the cutting down of the largest sassafras tree in the state of Georgia. At the time I didn’t have an image to share. Now I do. One of our woodturning club members visited the farm and talked with Robert Asbury who said he was a caretaker on the property at the Sunflower farm. He is standing by the stump from the record Sassafras tree. As you can see it was not only large, but it was growing in a very awkward location.

This is one of my non-wood posts.

A few months ago, we had new tile laid in our master bath. We removed the old tile and backer board, so all the tilers had to do was lay the new backer board, lay the tile and grout. It was admittedly a tricky job. The room is a “T”. The entrance is the leg of the “T” with the bath tub straight ahead. To the left is a vanity on the right and the shower on the left with a small walk-in closet at the end. To the right is a vanity on the left and the toilet enclosure on the right with a small walk-in closet at the end. Hopefully that makes some sense.

The tiler and two helpers (plus some kids) show up and proceed to install the backer lay the tile. Again, the layout was somewhat tricky and laying the tile was tricky so as not to tile one’s self int a corner, or in this case a closet. However, that is why one hires professionals – which we though we had. The right side got laid pretty well, but they didn’t bother to snap a chalk line to line up the right side, depending on spacers to keep the tile aligned. By doing so, they got a slight dogleg in the alignment. This resulted in a grout line that starts out at about 1/4″ and runs to about 3/4 to 1″ at one point. That is in about three to four feet! When we noticed it, one of the tilers blamed in on the room being out of square!

To top it all off, two of the tile in the entrance have loosened and the grout has begun to break up. That’s when we decided to redo the job ourselves. When we began taking up the tile, we found that some of the tile could be removed without tools. Merely pulling up on the tile would break it loose. We found we could crumble the grout between our fingers it was so brittle. Also, they obviously did not butter the tile backs before laying them in the mortar and they neglected to place the backer board in a bed of mortar per manufacturer’s recommendation.

So, today we removed the tile and backer and set the new backer in a bed of thin set. We screwed the backer to the floor with six in spacing as recommended by the manufacturer – the tilers put screws at least a foot apart. Tomorrow we lay tile – again. A $700 job has now turned into a $1,500 job thanks to “professionals”.

That is how my day went. I hope yours was better!

Cowboy Poets Gathering

We attended the 16th annual Georgia Cowboy Poets Gathering last Saturday evening. (March 3rd, 2012) and it was great fun. Performers from the Douglas County Cowboy Poets as well as musicians Bill Turnipseed, David Fillingim, and Justin Hicks sang, yodeled and played guitar, fiddle and harmonica. There were Old West and traditional cowboy songs and the evening was dedicated to Bill Mattison, a Georgia Cowboy Poet and performer who passed away in 2011.

We heard great songs from the past as well as tall tales (some probably had a seed of truth in there somewhere). Some stories made you cry, some made you laugh and many made you do both. One of the best was about Bill Mattison wearing his wife’s panties to the doctor because he had no clean ones of his own. You can probably figure out how that one ended. It was apparently all over town by the next day.

I’m not a cowboy and never was one, but it is great to hear the stories about that time and its people. If you get a chance to attend a Cowboy Poets gathering, I suggest to not miss it. It is good, clean (well, mostly) fun for the whole family.

Image from the Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville/Douglas County website.

ShadowDogDesigns

Thanks to ShadowDogDesigns for including me in one of her collections. Find her blog post at: http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/blog_post/ShadowDogDesigns/6924.

Carroll County Empty Bowls

Linda and I took part in the Carroll County Empty Bowls event today. This is the fourth year we have participated. We unpack and put out the bowls and it is like Christmas as a kid. You never know what the next bowl will be. Each one is a beauty in its own way and there is someone who will love and cherish it.

We have the bowl sale where for a $10 minimum donation, you get to pick your favorite bowl, then get a small bowl of soup and some bread. The small portions are intended to remind one of what many people get by on for daily sustenance. In addition, there is a silent auction of donated art pieces by local artists as well as a boutique with some of the finer pieces for immediate sale.

Restaurants in the area donate the soup, a number of companies donate the clay to make the bowls and many people in the community donate their time to make, glaze and fire the bowls. Without each of these activities, this event could not take place, so thank you all!

The amount of money raised has increased each of the four years that Linda and I have participated. Last year, the event produced a donation of over $24,000 to the local soup kitchen. The number of bowls appeared a little down over last year, but the bid prices on the auction pieces seemed up some and the boutique sold out, so we hope that this year will again top the previous year.

We hold the event each year in late February at the Carroll County Ag Center from 11:00 to 2:00, so if you missed it this year, be sure to look out for it next year. There is live music, raffles and it is a great opportunity to get together with friends and maybe even make a few new ones. Come join us! Information can be found at: http://carrollcountyemptybowls.com/joom/