Day Lilies & Darkroom

July 20, 2014July 20, 2014 Timothy Price13 Comments

We are getting a nice variety of day lilies with interesting colors.

A18W2326 — Sink with faucet and shelves. The black square in the wall is a light tight exhaust fan.

A18W2328 — The enlarger will go on this area. The silver top is a portion of an old elevator door. Old elevator doors make great tops because they have solid cores, covered with an 1/8 inch thick brushed stainless steel. So even this 34 inch wide top weighs about 60 pounds. When the elevator door top is attach to the walls it makes a very stable surface.

I Fought The Wall, And The Wall Won!

July 1, 2014 Timothy Price14 Comments

darkroom1 — The best 270º panorama I could come up with from the left L to the right L of sheet rocked inside of the darkroom.

I sheet rocked in the darkroom Sunday. I turned out to quite frustrating and painful at times, mostly because the heads of the sheet rock screws strip easily. I couldn’t find a bit that seated well into the screw head, which made the bit want to slip off the screw head, so I ended up unintentionally driving the bit into my fingers and palms of my hands more than once. Over the past several weekends, I got water into the darkroom, ran electrical, and put in a light. Laurie came up with the title, because she said all the noise from screw heads striping and me yelling about a resulting injury, unintended hole in the wall or broken piece of sheet rock, sounded like the wall was winning. I took Laurie into the dark-side of the newly sheet rocked darkroom to check it out, and as I swung the portal door around she said “I can’t see a damn thing!” It is dark inside, so I think I’ll go “soccer” on it and call it a tie!

darkroom3 — 180º panorama of the left L, portal in center and right L.

A18W1969 — Outside of the darkroom, all sheet rocked except around the top of the top.

Adobe Sculpture

June 14, 2014 Timothy Price12 Comments

Another garden on the Corrales Garden Tour had adobe sculpture in various states of dissolution. Adobe sculpture is a little like longer lasting sand paintings, but instead of erasing them at sundown, the adobe sculptures slowly erode back into the earth.

Rammed Earth & Native Grasses

June 13, 2014 Timothy Price19 Comments

“This integral arrangement — minimalist home of rammed earth walls, plus native grasses — works perfectly as a unit.” reads the introduction to the writeup on the Roger and Mary Downey Garden for the Corrales Garden Tour we went on last weekend. The house sits in the center of the property surrounded by native grasses. Since this is only late spring, the grasses are just starting to grow. The grasses are best seen in the fall when they have reached their full heights and display their varied colors — colors that are reflected in the rammed earth construction of the house.

RammedEarthHouse — South face of the house. The interior shots below show the rooms from left to right in this photo.

A18W1825 — Artists were painting various scenes.

A18W1820 — Stand alone bedroom with its one bathroom.

A18W1837 — Entry and long hall on the north side of the house.

A18W1842 — Long hall leading to the last room on the east end of the house.

A18W1839 — The last room on the right (east end of the house) has a display of figurines, a throw rug and a frosted glass table.

A18W1840 — Interesting ceiling in the last room on the right.

A18W1841 — Looking down the hallway back toward the entrance from the last room on the right.

Framed

June 8, 2014 Timothy Price21 Comments

After a lot of banging, bending, and creative work, I got the swivel portal-door for the darkroom I’m building repaired and working after the shippers had trashed it as best they could. Now I have the rest of the framing done, the exhaust fan installed, and the sink roughed in.

Hot

June 7, 2014 Timothy Price25 Comments

Hot summer afternoon at Le Café Miche in Downtown Albuquerque.

Desert Harbor Retreat — The Setting

June 2, 2014 Timothy Price17 Comments

Our stay at Desert Harbor Resort was a Christmas gift from Laurie’s parents, and we scheduled our stay for our 32nd wedding anniversary. Desert Harbor Resort is run by Raymond and his wife Wesley. Guests stay in a small house up the hill from the main house nestled below undulating cliffs among the juniper and piñon trees. The nightly rate includes breakfast, and guest have the option of ordering dinners as well. Guests can also get life counseling, time in a hot tub, and schedule messages for additional fees. There is a labyrinth guests can walk in and then sit in the center and meditate. On the other side of the cliffs the porch faces is a covered lookout, with a chair and a hammock, overlooking a canyon where one can relax, read or meditate. There are also trails for hiking in the canyon and beyond.