I've been off work for a month and a half and I feel awesome about what I've managed to accomplish. I've been on a cleaning and purging binge, which, while still incomplete, has resulted in four carloads of donations to St. Vinny's, my old car finally getting donated, an almost humorous surge in our trash and recycling output, and five boxes of books waiting for me to drop them off at the library later today. Closet by closet, room by room, I'm managing to cull an amazing amount of things which are no longer useful to me. Of course, I'm about to embark on a trip halfway across the country to bring more stuff into the house... but these are meaningful, quality items, and Steve assures me they will either prove useful, or be given away. Steve's mom's estate has finally been settled. Later this week I'm flying to Atlanta, renting a truck, unloading a storage locker, and driving his heirlooms back to Wisconsin. I've managed to make arrangements to stay or visit with no fewer than eight people on my way back. (Including Jan & Robin.) It'll be a fun 4 or 5 day adventure... I'll be driving no around 3 hours at a stretch between visiting people. I'm still not sure on all the arrangements. Scheduling is a little tricky. My friends all have their own lives, and I'm counting on them not only being available, but being so in a sequentially convenient order. We'll see how it works out, but it should be an adventure! Oh, I got to see a local resident critter close up yesterday. Yes, they're supposed to be nocturnal, but they will move around in the day if they're cold, hungry, or if their house has been disturbed. Plus, I guess it's possum mating season, so he/she might have been looking for a date too. Regardless, rabies is exceedingly rare in possums because of their unusual body temperature, so I'm not worried and just enjoyed watching the little bugger. He almost came to our patio door before he noticed the dogs and I looking at him, then he toddled off to the neighbors. Isn't he cute?

Wow-this post is now almost five years old! I had a blast reading through it!!! Bet you didn't know what you were getting into Rini! I would be considered one of the "city folk" who moved to the country. I don't know if we'd be officially considered "the country" as we're just outside the city on 2.5 acres which is country to us! We moved here for the space, the gorgeous views, a less hectic pace to raise our son, and my love of gardening. When we bought the house we were told that five feet inside our property line was considered a common horse trail. Everyone who lives here gives up five feet within their property line but I've never seen anyone ride their horse on our property ever. There are several dirt roads (the roads are not private) a few miles up from our property that have ranches with 20-40 acres each and we love to take long walks back there. I have to be honest, I didn't know "country etiquette" but used common sense to make my son ask before he fed anyone's horses, goats, etc. I didn't even let him go to the front door because the houses are so far back on the property I didn't want to impose nor did I want to get attacked by a ranch dog! We like to take our dog off leash but trained her sternly the first year to stay on the dirt road and never venture onto someone's property. It helped that she got stung on the nose by someone's electric fence as she now stays on the road. We've had some ranch owners introduce themselves to us and invite my son to feed their animals anytime without asking and allow our dog to frolic with their dogs anytime. Others barely give us a nod. We respect both. We love it here and love our neighbors. When we were cutting down a tree all the neighbors came out of the woodwork and pitched in. Our basement flooded and another neighbor brought over waders and helped us resolve it. In return, I've watched their kids when in a bind, watered their vegetable gardens (these are big gardens compared to the city!) when they went on vacation. I've also learned to make jelly and can from another neighbor. I've had some great neighbors in the city but not like this. It's a breath of fresh "country" air. All of my "city folk" friends love to visit and we're even hosting a wedding here this summer! I feel so grateful to live here and don't get me wrong I still LOVE the city and go every couple of weeks. ;) Charlene

Well, I didn't want to be a nurse & I don't know about being a rescuer (whether in fights between friends or family members). And I don't think I had the urge to fix objects either. But my history includes a father who is a bit obsessive-compulsive, & definitely leans towards hoarding, so maybe I got a bit of that. LOL And hubby has a little of the noted tendencies & likes to fix & make things; i.e., furniture. I guess dear old dad is a fixer too. I know he took my broken Yellow Bird blow dryer from the trash in the 70s or 80s, fixed it & kept it. If I'd had known he could fix it, I would have wanted it back! LOL

QUESTION What makes a good mold? What doesn't? Why do some molds stick and others not? What materials make the best molds (and worst)? Where can you find good molds? ANSWERS Hello everyone! On the subject of good molds vs. bad molds. I have had alot of experience with bad molds. I always think that I can make something work even if people tell me it won't. Stainless steel happens to be one of the worst! Even if you grease it and use a plastic bag it still doesn't work for me. I just ruined my set of Wolf Man Puck mixing bowls my brother got me for christmas, I have tried every thing to get the tufa out well, every thing except a sledge hammer and running over it with the car. On the other hand, cardboard boxes, stryofoam, and any kind of plastic bowl or container works very well. And I always use plastic bags in what ever mold I choose. Wood is another good choice as long as you have the mold screwed together so it can be taken apart easily. So to all you new stoners out there, stay away from stainless steel for your molds! But don't be afraid to experiment with all kinds of different materials, you know that is all a part of the fun! Hope my two cents helps a little, Have a tufa day! ************************************************************* Look at any plastic vessel as a possible mold. Wastebaskets, bowls, vases, plates, platters, you get the idea. If it tapers, doesn't have any undercuts, has a pleasing shape, imagine it as a casting. My favorite so far is a plastic fish dish from a thrift store, placed upside down and forming the depression in a free-form birdbath. Looks a little like a fossil. Also did this with a large pot saucer. The saucer can be used as a liner to waterproof the finished birdbath. Tupperware, rubbermaid, buckets, tubs, give it a shot. Thrift stores and dollar stores are a goldmine. ************************************************************** One mold I haven't seen among the brilliantly clever ones used by our beloved tufamates is barrel stave rings. I have used those quite successfully for LARGE stepping stones / pavers.(you CAN move them, by rolling is easiest, but these are obviously more condusive to in situ projects) ************************************************************* Look out for like ridges in the molds ... sometimes your mold will get stuck if those are in there... and if you HAVE to HAVE it, cut that mold down its long side before pouring (tape together while molding) for easy removal. ************************************************************** Watch for plastic extrusions inside plastic trash cans and buckets. You can remove them with a razor blade or exact-o knife. Ridgid foam insulation can be cut into bottomless forms of any size, butt the edges together and push 2 or 3 large nails (depends on the size of the form)down the side of each corner and wrap duct tape (what to do with all that duct tape you bought) around the outside. Place this on a piece of plywood for a removable base. This is a reuseable form. Learned this one from Joyce Fingerut, (North American Rock Garden Society) co-author of "Creating and Planting Garden Troughs," an excellent book. You can use metal bowls, pans or pots as long as you line them with plastic and keep your grubby hands off the outside. Children's beach toys - love the shape of beach buckets. They have a nice shape and are available in many sizes. If you can find them with a flat pourspout, you can make a cascading fountain. Plastic soap and candy molds make nice embellishments for wall plaques and pots. And no matter what form/mold you use, as soon as you unmold, clean the mold so you can reuse it. I keep a sponge, a piece of scotch brite and a bucket of water handy. If you leave any 'tufa on the mold it makes it more difficult to use next time. ************************************************************* I used a round metal cake pan mold yesterday to make a sphere. I'm glad I asked about it first. Now I see what everybody means about metal and cement. I was glad I used plastic wrap as well as a release. Even in the metal cake mold, one little spot on the bottom turned flat, about the size of a quarter. I guess this mold is not strong enough to take the weight of the tufa. So anyone doing round objects should always place them in a bowl or something. However, it did make a nice round shape. Another thing that I like to use quite a bit are silk leaves, ones that have plastic veins on the backs. I know these aren't molds but they leave quite a nice impression. ************************************************************* I have used the dug into the ground method for a variety of hypertufa or stepping stone ideas. I did large sea stars with beach rock in them. Used a cardboard pattern, layed it on the ground cut around with a half moon edger and sharp ginzu (fair item) knife. Patted in my concrete mix, splayed squished coat hanger wire across and into the arms of the sea star, then patted more concrete on top, added my rocks and covered with plastic for a day, came back and misted with water, have also done large sand dollars and a couple of birdbaths the same way. The bird baths I did take out of the ground, and either filled in the spot of used it again. Easy to do. If the day is hot/warm, be sure to mist the area that you are using as a mold, it will wick the water out of your mix. ************************************************************* I have a plastic child size disc (used for snow sledding) about 2' in diameter. I'm thinking it might work for a birdbath... ************************************************************** My idea is for making a rough-hewn celtic cross out of Tufa, using steel rebar for reinforcing it, and digging out a mold for it in the sand horse arena. I got this idea from an ancient method of casting bronze, as well as some lost wax methods and decided that since I didn't need a very sharp impression, why not? I want it to look a thousand years old, and I figure with my basic mudpie skill level, that shouldn't be too hard to achieve something crude. They made sand candles this way back in the 70's (or was that the 80's?) The idea with the bronze casting was to moisten fine sand and pound it tight before pouring the molten metal. My adaptation is to pound the wet sand with sledge hammers and pieces of 2 x 4 to make a smoother face, form the rebar reinforcement, pour half the cement, add the rebar in the middle, then pour the other half, and wait. I figured that mold release would involve a shovel (and I now have a Bobcat at my disposal as well) primarily. My further thoughts have been that some carving may be in order to get runes in it, then a good stiff wire brush to age it, cover the works with wet maple leaves to darken and mottle it, then spray it down with buttermilk & moss whizzed up in the blender. If I have enough time this summer, I'll even find out if it works. ************************************************************** My favorite place to find molds is the plastics aisle at Goodwill. I have found so many different shaped containors and bowls and such that make great molds. Last week I found a plastic salad bowl made to look like cabbage leaves with the veins on the inside! That is going to make a great little bowl planter. Other bits of tupperware or even wastebaskets can all be adapted to be molds. I've even had an easy time of finding two similarly shaped containors so the 'tufa can be molded between them to give a nice even thickness (something I personally have a problem achieveing free-hand). ************************************************************* I guess, to answer the question, what makes a good mold 1) shape 2) nonstickability (is that a word???) and 3) CHEAP!!! ************************************************************ Plastic RULZ! Just be sure that the top of the mold where the casting has to exit, is larger than every part under it, or the casting will not be able to fall out. *************************************************************