The Ice Dam Commeth

Try as I might to combat the problem—the problem is real and serious. I'm talking ice dams.

Despite my diligence of using a snow rake to remove most of the accumulation, I am realizing that my house has a couple of strikes against it. First, it doesn't receive direct sunlight until mid morning and, with the short days, not enough to melt the ice significantly. Second, the temperatures have remained cold; below freezing at night and barely above during the day. Third, we continue to get snow. This week, we received about 5 more inches.

I was talking with my friend Nicole who suggested I use Calcium Chloride flakes, something she learned from This Old House. The procedure requires you to fill a knee-high sock with the flakes, tie the end with rope, and position it on the roof perpendicular to the ice ridge. The chemical helps to melt the snow and provide channels for the water to drain off the roof. Looks like I'll be shopping for Calcium Chloride and knee socks this week.

Step up to the Beauty Bar

As you know, I have been experimenting with a variety of soap recipes lately and made my first batch of Oatmeal and Honey soap this weekend. I found out that I could use the water from the cooked oats (known as oat milk) in the recipe as well as include ground uncooked oats into the mix. I also found out that adding honey—even small amounts—to the cold process soap-making process can raise the temperautre in the mold to "volcanic" proportions if not measured and monitored. So, I measured and monitored.

While I am starting to enjoy the process of making soaps, what I really love is capturing the images of the contents and process: the beauty of the uncooked oats and natural honey. . .the oat milk that I collected by straining cooked oats. . .and the resulting color, texture and scent of the traced mixture as I pour it into the mold.

The soap was probably the fastest curing batch that I've made so far. I am sure honey had something do with it, but I am finding that my skill at achieving better trace has resulted in faster curing times overall. I am just waiting for the soap bars (pictured below) to harden to see if the oatmeal and honey will prove to be a true and marketable "beauty bar". I'll let you know.

Cold Process

The title of this blog couldn't be more fitting as it not only describes the technique of soap making that I have been experimenting with, but it also sums up our winter so far—a very cold process.

This Friday we got about three more inches of snow, adding to the four to five left from the last winter event. So I took to the outdoors to shovel the walkway, stairs and driveway and even hauled out the snow rake to remove as much snow as possible from the edge of the roof. I'd like to think that the chore of wrestling the snow rake's 16 foot extension to essentially pull the snow off the roof will lessen the chance of ice dams. Truth be told, I already have ice dams along the gutters from previous snow melts. I'm surprised that no one has come up with a removable gutter; one that would enable you to take down gutters for winter and re-install them come spring.

So, as I watched the outdoor thermometer hover 10 degrees both sides of zero, I turned to soap making. I removed last weekend's batch from the milk carton mold and, despite its sad appearance (right), discovered it produced another good result— well formed and consistent in color throughout. Cut into bars and trimmed, the soap will be fine for testing purposes (below).

I made another one-pound batch today using yet another recipe and will be anxious to see which of the last three batches will become my primary soap recipe. I've also lined the milk carton with freezer paper which should resolve removal issues and appearance. The batter for this last batch was amazing: rich, thick and velvety. We may have a winner!

More Soap

If you have been following this blog, you know that I have been working on perfecting my Trout House Soap recipe. The batches that I've made so far have all been good enough to use—a soft, creamy lather and subtle, clean scent. But, there has been a slight discoloration in the bars that I want to resolve before actually marketing the soap for sale.

Since I am a stickler for measuring the ingredients and making certain that the temperature for the oil and lye solution are equal before mixing, I believe the discoloration is a result of one of two things: either I'm not achieving the necessary state of trace or something is happening during the cooling/hardening process in the mold.

I have three new recipes that I am testing. Each one offers a slightly different mix of oils, water and lye (all adjusted with the help of the Majestic Mountain Sage lye calculator). I have also invested in a Hamilton Beach hand-stick blender to aid—and speed up—the trace-making process. And, perhaps my smartest move to date, is to experiment with one-pound recipes rather than four-pound batches. It will save me both money and time. I've even gotten creative in "make-do" molds. My new batch is curing in a milk carton as we speak.

The sample bars shown below are from a new recipe I tried last weekend. I just removed them from the mold yesterday and have them out to air dry. I won't know for a couple more weeks, but from all accounts the coloration looks consistent and the bar quality firm and nicely formed. I'll let you know how the experiments progress.

Did I do that?

A couple years ago I found this great solid wood table left for trash on the street. I remember the discovery as if it were yesterday. I was rounding the corner where I live in New York City and there, huddled with mounds of plastic bags, boxes, and other discarded furniture was this amazing solid wood table. I eased the car to the curb, looked the table over, determined it was salvageable and quickly heaved it into the back of our Subaru Outback. (I can't tell you how many times I wished that I had a pick-up truck just to tool around the city to pick up lucky finds just like this one.)

About a month ago I decided to pitch a wood refinishing story to AOL's DIYlife. I completed the project this weekend and am so proud of the results that I wanted to give you a glimpse of the "before" and "after" here. Once the story posts, I'll provide a DIYlife link with the step-by-step details.

Now, I don't want to allude to the fact that stripping and refinishing wood furniture is a fun or easy project. It takes patience, muscle and perseverance. But, if you put the time into doing the job right you too can achieve some amazing results. I am already looking for something else to strip and refinish.

White (Day After) Christmas

While we spent the month watching news reports of relentless rains in Southern California, record-breaking snow accumulations of up to 9 feet (that's FEET) in the Sierra Nevada's, and a slew of deadly and violent weather systems hitting The Great Plains and Midwest, we New Yorker's managed to make it through most of December unscathed. That was until December 25, when a major storm system brought 20 inches of snow to Central Park, paralyzing a surprizingly unprepared city.

The snow accumulations in The Catskills were not as serious and once everything was covered in about seven inches of snow, it was picture perfect. Of course, now that I've had the pleasure of shoveling my driveway, I regret having the house set back so far from the road (something that I considered a plus when I purchased it). It's the same feeling I get when I fire up the push lawn mower every spring--asking myself why I needed such a big yard. I guess the old adage...the grass is always greener...or conversely, the snow is always whiter...is true.

Here's some winter views of Trout House. Enjoy!

An Honest Solution

There are very few rooms in my house that haven't gone through some attempt at make-over (essentially the basement and an upstairs walk-in closet.) I started to work in the basement last fall—applying a sealer to the laid stone foundation and a fresh coat of paint to the floor—but had to stop short because of the increasing cold temperatures. You'll see more of that project when spring returns. As for the upstairs closet, I ran out of excuses not to tackle the project this month.

The closet was originally built into a low-sloping, front-facing dormer, giving it a generous foot print (5' X 9') but gradually diminishing height. Among its positive features, the closet was separated from the bedroom by a door and had a double hung window providing daylight and ventilation. The negatives were peeling wallpaper, cracking plaster, and three sliding doors that had become so warped that only one of the doors was able to perform the job for which is was named.

Here is the closet now (right). I hung drywall, taped and plastered the seams, and cut the doors, using the straightest pieces to create a make-shift wood frame to hold a hanging clothes pole. You can still see the brass thumb pulls that served the original doors.

My dream for the space would be to have a modern-day Shaker carpenter build a floor-to-ceiling wall of units with sleek, flat-fronted drawers, storage cabinets and compartments, and a door-fronted hanging closet. Of course, now that I look at the closet in this photo—uncluttered and clean, it already seems to reflect a Shaker-like aesthetic: necessary and useful . . . and in its simple honesty . . . beautiful.