Countertops.

Done.





A little caulk, a bit more paint, a good thorough cleaning, and I'm going to be finished with this room.

The First Pour

I decided to pour the two smaller countertops first, as a test. A grinder on high speed vibrates the floor and molds. Sanders without paper and the gentle rap of a hammer were used for a while during the pour and after.



30 minutes later, bubbles are still rising with just the grinder. I can feel the vibrations in the back bedroom.



Now we wait a week.

It is raining like crazy.

So I've been in the basement most of the day. It's 55 degrees and pouring.

I had a couple bags of TopSoil. It's not the best stuff in the world to use, especially with indoor container plants. It compacts, has a lot of wood chips, and no nutrients.



So, like you do, I screened it.



Then added some perlite.



I've got a 5 gallon bucket of mulch now.



I repotted a lot of the brugs. The soil I used for those just wasn't re-wetting when I watered. I lost a few cuttings. I still have at least 16 of the yellow and white. I've got 6 nicely rooted pink cuttings. One is struggling.



I also potted the Confederate Rose. It's pouting.



There's lavender that rooted in the cloner. I'll move it out to the hoophouse when I put it up next month.



All told, I've only lost 6-8 cuttings so far. Everything is growing like nuts. I'm going to have to prune some things soon. It's so hard to toss the cuttings. I just know I'll stick them in the cloner and need another light rack by New Year's.



The larger brug cuttings are doing well too.



And because I was bored, and had the concrete, I've made a small birdbath that I'll bury in one of the beds in a few weeks. I topped it with sand and used an old light fixture shade to make the depression. The large bowl is smooth and I'm hoping the concrete slides right out when hardened.



It's almost time to eat now. It's been a fantastic day. Good music, good coffee, good plants, it's almost as nice as working in the garden itself.

I forgot. I also sowed seeds of Winterberry, collected on Thanksgiving day from a tree near my parents' house. I sowed more Cornus florida too. And then I sowed Frasier fir seeds collected from the Christmas trees at the store. And finally, Japanese Maples. I had them inside in a baggie. In just a week, I've had some mold develop. I hope they'll survive. Sorry Kris, I'll have to send you seedlings instead.