Blue Pine Coffee Table

Desiree is in the process of applying several polycrylic finishing coats to the tabletop we will fasten to our existing living room coffee table. The top started off as a slab of blue pine, cut from a beetle-killed tree felled some thirteen or so years ago.

The pine beetles don’t actually kill the trees when they bore into them to lay eggs. Instead, as the beetles move through the tree, they introduce the blue stain fungus into the tree's inner tissues. The fungus starts growing and spreading within the tree's vascular system, which is responsible for transporting water and nutrients. As the fungus spreads, it blocks the tree's water-conducting vessels and ultimately kills many of the infected trees.

In those places where the blue stain fungus colonizes the wood, it imparts a bluish discoloration to the affected pine trees. This is where the term 'blue pine' comes from. The slab of wood Desiree is working with displays swaths of grayish-blue throughout much of the inner grain.

Desiree Applying a Finish to the Blue Pine

—Mitchell Hegman

The Soft Side of Evening

June and September are my favorite months in Montana. I like September for the moderate temperatures and clarity of skies. June is filled with renewing life, green landscapes, and some of our softest skies. Late yesterday evening proved to be one of the most serene and colorful of the entire year so far. Best of all, a small rainbow appeared in front of the house.

Posted are two photographs I captured from the front door.

Soft Colors 6-5-2023

—Mitchell Hegman

Collateral Bedding

The term “collateral damage” refers to the unintended or incidental harm or destruction caused to people, property, or infrastructure that occurs as a result of military operations.

Interestingly enough, I inadvertently created collateral bedding: unintentional and potentially damaging bedding created by construction activities.

Desiree has a habit of rousing a bit later than me. This morning, as soon as she joined me after waking, she asked, 'What is this?”

I turned to find her holding a twelve-inch cedar shim. “That's a shim,” I told her.

“I slept with it last night,” she said. “It was in the blanket with me.”

“Oh,” I laughed. “I must have dropped it while working on the ceiling above the bed.”

“How well did you sleep?”

“Fine.”

“Alrighty then.”

Collateral Bedding

—Mitchell Hegman

Houseplant Training

I’m undertaking an unusual project. Using magnets, I’m teaching a houseplant to walk across the ceiling in my sunroom.

Before you walk away thinking I’m daffy, allow me to explain.

For starters, the plant is a hoya, a type of vine that will reach out and grab onto pretty much anything it can climb. When I moved my hoya into the sunroom, I fashioned something of a trellis so the plant could scramble up the wall. Before long, several runners reached out to find a purchase on the metal ceiling.

I thought to myself, 'What if I provided a path so the plant could extend across the ceiling?' That’s when I got the idea to use hooks with magnetic bases to direct the hoya where I want it to go.

I think the photographs I’m sharing should help illustrate what I’m doing.

My Hoya Plant

Magnetic Hook and Hoya Runners

—Mitchell Hegman

Postage Stamps (A Ceiling Progress Report)

Desiree has received two parcels from the Philippines via mail. In both instances, the post office in the Philippines affixed huge sheets of stamps – nearly covering all sides of the package – instead of attaching a small label citing the postage paid.

I actually thought the first package was gift-wrapped at first glance. Honestly, I find the stamped packages a little quaint and wholly charming at the same time.

Now we can talk about ceilings. A couple of weeks back, I posted a blog about a new (fancy) ceiling I am constructing in our master bedroom. In this project, as with all projects in my house, I will be placing personal items within framed hollows and permanently enclosing them for posterity as I apply the finishing materials. One of the items I will place in the ceiling structure is a sheet of stamps I clipped from the side of the last parcel from the Philippines.

I am sharing a photograph of the stamps and the ceiling framing as it appears today.

—Mitchell Hegman

140%

So, what do you do if you're eating a generous helping of something that will provide 140% of your suggested daily intake of salt, and additionally, the internet warns about your treat: 'Eating it may be associated with a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, COPD, high blood pressure, and certain types of cancer?' Obviously, you fry it a bit longer and eat it quickly.

—Mitchell Hegman

Noodlegate: A Potential Recipe for Disaster

Old Bridge, New Jersey, recently found itself entangled in the enigma of the century: someone unceremoniously dumped 500 pounds of spaghetti and macaroni near a local stream.

Mayor Owen Henry dispatched a crew to clean up the noodles as soon as they were discovered. It turns out that the pasta had been raw when dumped, but heavy rains soon swooped in, transforming the pasta into a mess of undercooked and unpalatable goo.

Mayor Henry assured everyone that no environmental or health issues arose from the heap of pasta dumped by unknown food-abusing perpetrators.

For me, the story leaves me with one burning question: should the noodles be considered litter or merely leftovers?

—Mitchell Hegman

Source:  apnews.com