1859 Lithograph – England and America – The Visit of Her Majesty Queen Victoria…

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Ok, this is just getting crazy now. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m helping a friend of mine deal with his late aunt’s estate. I’ve been friends with the family most of my life. During this process, he has offered me a couple of the items in her collection. Perhaps as a thank you for the help, or just because he knows I like this sort of stuff. Regardless, I’ve acquired a couple of absolutely stunning antiques.

The latest is this:
england-and-america-1

From what I can tell it’s the real deal. I’m no expert, but there are pictures from the late 1800′s with this item on the wall in the background. I can see the impression from the plate, and after studying it for some time it’s pretty clear (at least to me) that it’s an authentic, 150 year-old engraving print.

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1857 Engraving – The Return (First Class)

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For the past two weekends I’ve been helping a friend deal with his aunt’s estate. While cleaning out some items, he gave me what appears to be an original 1857 print titled “The Return (First Class)”. I’m not an antique specialist by any means, but I have a decent interest in this sort of thing, and have definitely seen my share of Antiques Roadshow.

I know a lot of these are reproductions, but I took a closer look when I got it home (out of the frame) and the image is actually pressed onto the paper. There are no “print dots” or signs of mass-production. In fact, you can clearly see the impression marks around the border from what I assume was the engraving plate.

I’ve done a little research, and learned the image was originally part of a set. The other (I don’t have) was titled “The Departure”, and my friend thinks he saw that in the estate as well. He’s looking for it for me.

The paper is great condition, and only has minor discoloration. I can’t believe how good condition actually, considering the “assumed” age. On the back of the frame, there are some papers glued to the wood. One is a letter to the directors of the “Branbury and Chatham Railroad”, dated 1875, requesting some sort of railway extension or something. It’s pretty cool.

I have no reason to think it’s a fake, it came out of an incredible collection of items from 1700 – 1900. I’m wondering if anyone has any information on this sweet Victorian-era antique? I’d love to learn more.

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Finishing a Stone Wall Basement – Phase 1 complete: Framing

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Nearly two years ago I wrote a post about “my attempt to finish a stone wall basement“. It was shortly after I purchased my first home and was overwhelmed with the desire to start some projects. Well, it didn’t really even get started until about two and half months ago, but the project is now underway. With our first child quickly approaching, I figured it was time to dive in and start the home-improvement basement project while I still had some free time.

It’s the biggest home project I’ve ever attempted, so I wanted to be sure and plan everything as well as I could. I’m not new to construction, but I didn’t want to half-ass it.

My basement is dry, but has a stone wall. That presented a number of unique challenges, and I was not sure of the best approach. I drew up some plans and talked to the local building inspector. He told all about the code requirements and limitations for the “proper” usage of the space. The ceiling was already finished, but is too low to actually declare the space additional “living space”. Instead, it’s going to be used as “storage space”. Granted, I want carpet, drywall, crown molding and an electric fireplace in my “storage” room – maybe I want my stuff to be comfortable. ;)

One of my biggest concerns was the ability for the foundation to breath. I’m going to vapor barrier and drywall, so it’s not going to be very easy to get access to the stone if there is ever an issue or moisture problem. My solution was to build the walls about 3-6 inches from the stone. This allows for a cavity of air between the wall and the foundation. I’m then going to put a ventilation fan at one end of the basement to pull the air from that cavity and vent it outside. This way, I can occasionally turn a switch and change the air. Got stale air? Not me.

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Vending machine has issues… big time…

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It’s Tuesday, and it’s like a million degrees out. All I wanted was something cold from the vending machine. I don’t ask much.

I walk out of my office and down the hall to the building’s community vending machines. I look at the selection of fluids and decide that some sort of cold energy drink would be totally sweet right now. So I reach into my wallet, take out my funds, deposit them into the machine… and click E9.

After a second or so, two of the little gates holding the bottles back clicked open and spew two cans of “Full Throttle” energy drink on to the little conveyor belt that carries the purchase to the shoot. I was like “whoa… jackpot!” and watched them drop into the opening that delivers the purchase to me.

Then, thinking that this must be some sort of special or something, I put in some more money and clicked the same set of buttons. To my surprise, it did it again. Two cans of energy drink fell down on to the conveyor belt and began to be delivered to me. But, there was a big problem this time. One of the previous cans had become lodged between the exit slot and one of the channels holding more drinks. As the little belt driven shelf came up, it ripped the can open and covered the inside of the machine with energy drink.

vending-fail

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Camping on my day off… fail.. fail… fail…

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I took last Friday off with the intent of going camping in Pawtuckaway. Well, let’s just say it didn’t go quite as I planned.

I woke up early (normal work morning ritual), did some things around the house, and then called Pawtuckaway to see if they had any spots available. This very friendly girl said she had three spots left, but they are “first come, first serve,” so I better get there fast if I wanted one.

I thought sure, I can be there in just under an hour including the time it takes to pack my jeep. It was still early on Friday. I’ll beat the weekend crowd for sure – no problem.

I went outside, loaded up all my gear (tents, chairs, stuff, bags, beer, etc.) and headed to the park to get my spot. After about 30 minutes of driving back roads into New Hampshire, I pulled into the main parking lot at Pawtuckaway State Park. I parked my Jeep, walked inside the main building, and just as I stepped up to the counter – the girl put out the “campground is full” sign…

I said “awe, c’mon!”, and walked back out to my truck – defeated. I had missed my chance, but was not going to take it lying down. I was already in NH, had a Jeep packed with gear, and my Viking instinct was craving fire burgers and beer. There had to be somewhere else I could go.

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Camping this weekend? Take a day off? Awe yeah!

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Missed band practice last night. At like five o’clock I got dumped on with work that needed to be done. I couldn’t really bail on work, so I bailed on practice at the last moment. Yeah, I’m dick… I get it. Oh well, I was pretty much cranky anyways and didn’t feel like driving 50 minutes to practice for an hour, then drive 50 minutes home. No thanks…

I put in for a day off today! This may not sound like a very big deal, but I’ve used almost no time off this year. I’ve been saving my hours for when the baby comes. But, seeing I have a ton of time saved up, and could really use a day off before the baby comes (and takes up all my time), I’ve decided to take Friday off and go camping for a couple nights. I’m pumped.

I’ll probably go by myself for the first night (Friday), and Dan and JG will said they may come down on Sat. for a bit to have some beers and play some guitar. Danielle would come, but she’s like mega-ultra pregnant right now and would probably rather chill on the couch. I can’t blame her.

I love to camp. I do it as often as I can. I also don’t think you need to drive way the hell up north to get a decent camp site. I usually go to Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham NH. There are decent spots, great hiking, and if you get a lakeside spot – very nice kayaking right from the campsite. I suspect I’ll get there at about 3pm, set up, and be settled in with a fire and a pint in hand by 4. Pawtuckaway is like 30 mins. from me, so it’s really a piece of cake.

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