Work, etc.

We've completed a few nice projects in the past few days... a couple of before and after are seen here.  The first one is a really nice carved wood antique Italian mirror that had sustained a bit of damage.  It had been repaired before (not by us) and the repairs did not hold.  Of course people sometimes don't realize how delicately these pieces should be handled.  We didn't do any gilding at all after restoration, just a little touch up to blend. 

This one was a major restoration project as you can see.  It is one of the pieces from the mississippi Department of Archives that was damaged when Katrina paid a visit to that part of the state.  There was so much ornamentation missing that we had to actuallt re-create some of it (mainly on corners).  After extensive repairs, we gilded with 22k gold, then toned using shellac and dark wax/rottenstone.  It turned out magnificently.

Enough about work...

This past week has been really strange.  It seems like every year around the holidays, we crave more entertainment.  Maybe its the extra time off (which is not that much when you have your own biz).  I tend to think its the short days.  It feels like you've worked a long day when you look outside and see that its pitch dark at 4 o'clock.  I find myself going to bed at 9 o'clock some nights... maybe its just being tired of the stone pain, and just giving in/giving up.  I always look forward to that coming to an end.  I think it just did.

Within those cravings for entertainment come movie rentals.  Man what a gamble that is.  This time of year you just grab anything off the shelf.  We rented this one called "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt".  It could have been great with a decent screenplay/better actors. It had Michael Douglas and Orlando Jones, and a bunch of other people who weren't any good.  I imagine Michael Douglas having to be put on suicide watch when this one finally came out of editing.  Sad.  I think it was and old story re-done... not sure.  That is just one example of a recent bad choice... oh yeah there are others.

Tell ya mama an'em we ax "how she durrin!"

Gotta get to work now... love... and bye

A Better Day

Yep... feeling better today.  I had to leave a friends house early last night because of... well you know.

Saw Sherlock Holmes yesterday... along with about a hundred thousand other people.  While I really do like seeing something I'm interested in on the BIG screen, I don't know why I let someone talk me in to going on opening day... especially when that day is Christmas Day!!  I've never seen so many people packed in to a theater before.  At least we didn't get stuck in the front row area (we were actually in the back row).  Sadly, since we usually take a few hours in the afternoon, mid-week, during non-holiday times to go to movies, I couldn't wait to get out of the place.  It really affected my enjoyment of the movie. 

The movie was okay... won't say much about it for now.  There may be those who want to see it and not have certain things spoiled.  Will say this, really liked the character development between Holmes and Dr. Watson. 

Micki and I went for a nice hike today on the trails surrounding Radnor Lake near Nashville.  Gorgeous day... sunny, about 50 degrees, lots of people (yuppies) there with their cute dogs.  They take really good care of that area. Its in a rather ritzy part of town which is no doubt one reason why it is well kept.  Oh yeah, we saw probably a dozen or so deer.  They were just a few feet away from us off the trail.  Reminded me of what we can look forward to... a world where no one tries to hurt the animals, and they have no morbid fear of man.  Very nice...

Take care for now... Eccl. 9:7

Blog title should be changed!

Yep... this blog should be changed to "The Wandering Kidney Stone"!!!

We're almost at 6 months now.  Same stone, different day.  Supposedly its close to passing... I don't know what's happening.  Everyone says "just take your pain pills and relax".  There's too much to do! You can't completely put your life, and the life of those who need you on hold.  So on we go. 

Maybe it'll pass today... maybe tomorrow, maybe next week... Arrrggghhh!

Updates!

Haven't posted anything new lately, so felt it was time to do so. Enjoyed a great Special Assembly Day last weekend in Cookeville, TN. Guest speaker was Leon Weaver Jr. from Brooklyn. Wonderful teacher. We used a new all-digital sound system for this assembly.. man was it nice. Very simple, excellent sound. That's saying something for this particular arena, because its basically a livestock auction arena. The floor is dirt, then they put this "grass" carpet over it... you know the stuff I'm talking about. Funny thing is... only occasionally do you catch a whiff of the normal day-to-day activities there. Since the sound dept. always sets up on the floor, we always freeze... it's cold. The only heaters are in the ceiling... works pretty well for general seating areas, but the floor is cold. They have these big-ass fans to circulate the heat... in fact their brand is "Big Ass Fans". Look it up.

Once again, we are experiencing grief in our area. Yesterday I heard of the untimely death of a young sister in the Nashville area... she used to be in our congregation, and her mother still is. Thankfully she has a large family who will support/comfort one another. Also, a dear brother in our "sister" congregation recently had a stroke and will likely not recover. He has been a long-time hard worker in the RBC in this area, helping to provide Halls for many brothers and sisters.

I recently gave a local needs talk regarding how that we needed more brothers to reach out to serve as MS's. We have 11 e's and only 5 ms's, (and their avg. age is about 60). As a result of these numbers, and with so many elders having to do ms's work, our shepherding had begun to suffer. While it got through to a number of brothers who vowed to step up their involvement in the ministry, one was irritated by it... too bad. Hope it wasn't the way I delivered it.

On to more positive things...

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we did some cool stuff. We went to Mammoth Cave with the Nichols... This would no doubt bring back fond memories to Sean/Amy!! After a really long cave tour, we settled in for a fantastic buffet meal at the Mammoth Cave Hotel. Photo is above... couldn't move photo around to here... oh well.

Then, a couple of days later, we took the Smart's, who were celebrating an anniversary, to breakfast at the Loveless Cafe, and on to a day driving down the Natchez Trace. We stopped along the way to enjoy the scenery... hikes, waterfalls, old towns, etc. It was great! We had apicnic together... good food, a little wine. Later, we brought them back to Nashville's Arrington Vineyards, where we watched the sun set, and enjoyed wine-tasting and an outdoor fire. Mmmm... cozy.

Once again... photos for these events are ALL at the top. Why can't I move them to a more appropriate part of this post!!!!? Oh well... that's all for now.

Love each other... Take care of yourselves.
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Somewhat overwhelmed...

So much going on...!!!

• Had a talk about an hour away from home yesterday... seemed to go well. If anyone got up and left they didn't make it obvious.



• Several dear ones have passed away here locally in the past week.



• Dealing with kidney stones right now... arrrgghhh!



• Spent the day with C.O. and his wife last Thursday. Had a great time, was a nice break. Got to show them around Nashville and some of our work therein... Parthenon, Athena, lunch (an awesome Indian Restaurant), then Belle Meade Plantation, etc.



• Although we're going to Disneyworld in a couple weeks, I feel like I should be going to some secluded area AWAY FROM PEOPLE rather than TOWARD THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE... but plan to have a good time anyway.

Of course I have to conduct the Bible Study this week having to do with the THE BIG "M". woohooo!

Goodbye to the Birds...

Finished up a job for the new Tennessee Governor's Residence... these birds will be positioned around/about another statue we haven't seen yet. Likely we'll have to do some gilding touch-up after they are installed around the main figure. These pieces were created by Sherri Warner-Hunter, and they are very cool. They are hollow bronze, with a wonderful patterned finish, and we gilded them with pure gold... 24 karat. Hopefully, if people can keep their hands off them and actual birds can keep their poop off them, they'll look this good for many years. Can't wait to get over to the grounds and see them actually installed! (Although the top bird appears to be dive-bombing the others, the photo just went in wrong @#$%^&!

Anyway... the sculptor came and got them today... bye bye birdies.

Wilson County Fair!

Last night Micki and I went to the Wilson County (TN) Fair. After spending 2 hours in the car (for what is normally a 40 minute drive), and traffic jam after traffic jam, we experienced a pure delight. The agricultural exhibits along with the standard "midway" activities brought back fond memories from childhood. It was clear that a lot of people work very hard to make this fair a success every year.

We were starving when we first arrived and headed straight for food. We each inhaled a pork-chop sandwich (boneless, marinated, grilled to perfection... mmm), and I added the side item of NACHOS!!! Tortilla chips, orange liquid imitation cheese product, covered with jalapenos. We chose to go the nutritional route.

The animal pavilions were incredible... there were bunnies, chickens (unbelieveable variety), cows, llamas, alpacas, and more. We worked our way through them all, especially enjoying our interaction with the cows. This wonderful domestic animal.

Oh... and in the interests of nutrition, we shared a funnel cake. :-P

There is so much more to this visit... maybe another time.

Ahhh... resolution

I guess there are still some conscientous people in this world. Got an email with ongoing apologies regarding the last post's situation. In it she recognized her mistake, asked that we not harbor ill feelings toward her, and that her husband also loved our work. That was likely the kicker... the husband. He has seen what she has already spent on it... and he loves it! Awesome!! Yeah for breadwinners!!

Dot your T's and Cross Your I's!

In business, it has become more important than ever before to give full disclosure to clients when preparing proposals. Whether they read them or not you better know what's in them. On monday we delivered a completed/restored frame back to the client that we had for a few months. The job took forever... but resurrections take time. When the client originally contacted us, she mentioned that the piece (a mirror and frame)had a few small areas in need of attention due to the piece having fallen off the wall and that it needed a new mirror. We thought nothing of it and asked her to bring it by when she could. On the drive over, she was involved in a pretty serious accident and the frame was nearly destroyed. You can see what I'm talking about in the photos.

After it was complete, we delivered it for almost nothing (we just wanted it to arrive safely back to the clients home!). Let me just say... one of the greatest things about our work is the "wow" factor that we're almost always met with when our clients see their restored pieces again (for the first time). In this case, we were met with... "oh... well it looks pretty good, but uhhh, the touch up material looks like paint. Didn't you say in your quote that you would touch up with gold leaf?" We replied "no... our quote wouldn't have said that, as we don't just touch up with gold leaf... we can only spot gild whole areas of a frame like this... too many areas of repair to be concerned about. After all, the frame had already been touched up with some paint in the past." She says... "NO, I'm sure you said you'd touch up with leaf! I'll go check my computer and find your pdf'd quote and show you!" She comes back not able to find it, and we said we'd look it up when we arrived back at the studio. For now, we left it with her, letting her know that it's important to us that she's happy with her piece. We get back, find the pdf quote, and sure enough is says "If you choose the touch up option, NO LEAF WILL BEE USED, ONLY PAINT-BASED PRODUCTS." We sent it to her... haven't heard back.

Like I said, Dot your T's and Cross your "eyes". =)

In the beginning...

Everyone is blogging these days, they said.. "try it!" "Let people know what you're doing, what's going on in your life." Why would anyone care? "People like to read things about other people's lives... compare notes and stuff." But I don't have a very interesting life. "Maybe, but you have an interesting profession!" So I put gold on stuff for a living. "Ooohhh, but there's so much more to it than that!" Well I guess that's partially true... we do get to see and touch a lot of really interesting pieces along the way. "Yeah... that's it, now you're getting it! Tell people about all that, and work in some stuff about your personal life too. Your likes, dislikes when it comes to music, movies, etc."



Alright already... so I'll blog!