When it's Too Dark to Garden - Restoring a Window for a Friend

Or - How to repair  an old window in a few (13) easy steps and a month of Sundays...

My friend and gifted musician brought me this window with several pieces broken  and asked "Can you do anything with this?"

It's a fairly simple 120 year old panel. The leads were so worn and weak that they all had to be replaced.  The most difficult part was trying to find matching glass.  Fortunately, my pal and stained glass guru, Florence, had glass that was very similar.  Okay, the first real step is to cut replacement glass.   If the broken pieces are present, use contact paper or masking tape to put them together to use as a template to mark and cut the new glass to fit.

Here's how you do it:  

1. Make a rubbing of the window so that when you pull it apart, you'll remember how it goes back together.

2. Remove all of the old lead.  (It's there in a pile on top of the picture.) Do not throw the old lead in the garbage, it needs to go to the hazardous waste area of your local solid waste facility.  You can see the new clear pieces of glass placed on the two ends.  Once the old glass is cleaned up it'll look a little closer in color to the new pieces.  The broken border pieces were easier to match exactly.

3. Soak all of the glass pieces in a powerful cleanser (I use Orange Sol) for a day or two to help soften what remains of the old putty, dirt on the glass, and years of paint on the edges.  Clean, scrape and dry the glass.

4. Re lead the piece.  Note that the rubbing is used as a guide beneath the panel.

All assembled and ready for step 5. Solder the joints on one side and then the other.  Important: curse because you left the wider solder tip you wanted to use at the glass studio where you teach but decide to make do with what you have because you don't want to drive for 40 minutes to get the right one. Worry the whole time you're soldering that you made the wrong decision and wish that you'd made the trip.

6.  After soldering the joints, you can either wash the window to remove the solder residue or go right to puttying  (also called cementing.) Putty must be forced into the flanges of the lead on both sides to waterproof the window and make the whole thing stronger. I thin the putty a bit with mineral spirits and use a brush for this but some people apply it with their thumbs which takes way too long for me.

7. Apply whiting or plaster of paris (one can also add fine sawdust) which helps set up the putty, removes excess flux (used in soldering,) oil, and putty.

8. Wait for a week or so until the putty is at least leather hard.  Moving to the next step too soon will cause the putty to ooze out and you'll have to let the panel dry, clean it up, re putty, and wait again.

9. Take a skewer or sharpened chopstick and run it along all of the leads on both sides to clean up any putty remaining in the points or outside the flanges of the lead.  Make sure that you don't remove any putty from underneath the flanges.

10. Rinse and wash the panel.  (We use Jolt Cleaner) Small panels can be done in a sink or bathtub but for larger sizes, like this one, I move outside and use this metal grid (slotted wood is preferable because it won't scratch the leads and you don't have to be as careful.)  Rinse all the soap off.

11. Apply black patina.  If you do it when the window is wet and then wash it off, it can be poured on and spread with a brush.  Rinse the patina off.

12. Allow the window to air dry.  You can speed it up by using a hair dryer if you're in a hurry.  In the process, the leads will look oxidized and even rusty and you'll wonder what you've done.  Fear not, when you buff the window,  it'll  be fine. You can use a natural bristle brush like this

or find an old floor polisher that makes it go a lot faster. 

The lead and zinc will now be shiny and black and you could stop there or go on to step 13. Apply stained glass finishing compound which must be allowed to fully dry. Then you'll buff the window again and use a towel to finish it off and remove any extra wax that may be close to the leads.

There, that should do for another 120 years or so.  This is as therapeutic as gardening.  Shameless plug:  If you're in the area and want to learn how to do this, call Mandarin Stained Glass, sign up for a class, and I'll be happy to guide you through the steps to creating or restoring your own windows. 

Now, I'd better get busy on those fused glass pieces for my sister!

Thank You Veterans!

Nobody likes war and I'm disappointed in the human race that we have not yet evolved beyond such a thing.  However, I am grateful every day for the freedoms I enjoy which I know have been won at great cost.

Stained glass panel created by Harley Pyle.

To those who served or are serving in the military, we set this day aside to remember you, your families and the sacrifices you have made for our country.   Armistice day, Remembrance Day, Veterans' Day, originated with the signing of the armistice between the Allies of World War I and Germany at "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month," at Compiègne, France. for the cessation of hostilities on the western front of WWI. 

There is a British patriotic song called, "I Vow to Thee, My Country" with music by Gustav Holst and words by Sir Cecil Spring Rice.  Here are the lyrics:

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,

Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best; 

The love that never falters, the love that pays the price, 

The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,

Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;

We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering; 

And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase, 

And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

Z. Randall Stroope, an American composer added some lyrics and created a great choral setting which has become quite popular. Click the arrow below to hear the piece.

The first verse is the same but the two that follow are different.

Though the road has bends and turns, and my spirit suffers,

Humans fail, systems fail, shadows fall.

But the ruts run deep, cut by the blood of faces above,

And voices now silent...

But the message loud is heard:  "Homeland, homeland,

Renew your youth, restore your soul!"

Homeland, the country that I love, hold out your arms to me,

I strive for you and give you the best I hope to be.

May your wisdom be your armor, your compassion be your sword;

May your strength be forged with mercy, your courage lives restore.

Homeland, the country that I love, forever reign supreme;

And when time stands still my country, may heaven hold your dream.

My homeland, be my dream, my hope.

Homeland, homeland.

Thank you to all veterans and their families for the sacrifices you've made and continue to make for our country!

My Favorite Thing in My Garden This Week Isn't a Plant

I'm joining with Loree at Danger Garden in her Favorite Plant...This Week meme and breaking the rules a bit.

The spider webs continue to look gorgeous although with the heavy rain and wind we've been getting some a looking a little tattered.

While this is beautiful, it's not my favorite thing this week.  What could it be?

It's the door of my greenhouse which Tom and I installed last night after dark using a lamp attached to an extension cord from the house.   The background reminds me of a spider web. The electricians were here all day yesterday and will be here again today, and due to a slight delay, the gutter guy will be coming today as well.  So, we should have power by the end of today and be able to move plants on Sunday afternoon.  I'm later than usual in posting today because I was waiting for enough light to be able to take a photograph of the door.

 About 16 years ago, shortly after we started working on our house and I'd taken my first stained glass class, I found this new  door at the Habitat for humanity store and thought it would be great to use inside the house somewhere.  I took out the new double pane clear window and made this piece of stained glass to replace it.  We decided not to use the door in the spot I had in mind so the window sat upstairs for years.  It's full of beginner mistakes and does not represent my best work but it's just right for my funky garden and it's nice that it's seeing the light (albeit just at dawn on a gloomy day) of day again.

Probably would look better without a flash, right?

With the door in place, the greenhouse is now fully protected from the weather outside.  I look forward to next weekend when I'll have a whole Saturday free to play with plants out there!

Happy weekend everyone!

There's Good News and Not so Good News this Wednesday

First, the good news:

Look what was waiting at my door when I got home from work last night. To non gardeners, a box of paper bags might not seem very exciting but for a gardener, a box of bags full of bulbs from Brent and Becky's is a reason for celebration!  These contain a few different varieties of colchicum to add to my collection. 

 

 

But wait, there's more excitement.  I'm really pleased with this combination of plants that came from Vassey and Watson's Nurseries all on sale.  This will look good for the whole winter.  The chrysanthemum will only bloom through fall but the rest is evergreen.  Maybe the mum could be replaced with a purple flowering kale when it's done blooming.  Now they just need to find a pot so that they can get off of the patio table.

 

You may recall this gate which was one I found that I put up many years ago too keep people from coming into the garden and stealing everything (really, one time, everything that wasn't a plant was stolen from my garden, including pots which were unceremoniously emptied on the ground and people would come in and vandalize the plants.)   It later got painted blue as was one wall of the garage in what Tom calls my blue phase.  It was in such bad shape this spring that pieces of rotted wood came off in my hand when I closed it.

 

So Tom replaced it with this temporary gate that he built.

 

On Sunday evening, we replaced it with this gate which Tom built. The idea of a window in the gate was stolen from my pal Alison's garden.  Should we stain this or leave it alone to fade to gray?  Maybe paint it that bright blue color of the first gate?

 

 

 

I was going to build a glass panel for it but didn't want to take the time to do something really intricate that would take a lot of time, I considered buying one but the dimensions of most that I liked were too big.  Then I remembered this panel that Tom started when we took our first stained glass class together about 15 years ago.  It was never finished as he wasn't all that fond of the craft.  Thinking that it would be sweet in the gate, I finished it just in time for the gate to go up.

 

 

It's a rather sweet panel and looks lovely in the gate.

 

Still more exciting news - We finally have a contractor and a date to replace the roof and a wall of our garage with polycarbonate so that it can be used as a greenhouse.  I'm elated.  What could be be not so good about this?  Well, they'll be working two weekends to get the project done and can't start until September 27 which means that on the next weekend, October 4 & 5 they'll be finishing the job at exactly the time that the Oregon Garden  Bloggers' Plant Exchange is scheduled to take place at Alison's garden with dessert at mine.  Because the entire contents of the garage have to be removed for the job, it will be sitting all over the garden.  "My what a lovely foliage combination and that table saw covered with a bright blue tarp really makes a statement."  I had hoped to have this done before the exchange and started working on getting the project going in July but with various schedules, things kept not happening.  

 

All in all, a pretty good day!

 

How Tacomans Know it's December

A few years ago, something caused the S in Tacoma Self Storage's neon sign to stop glowing in December.  The owners have decided to make it a tradition and now this lighted sign that can be seen from the freeway coming into or out of town changes to Tacoma Elf Storage during December.   Interesting as one would think this would be the busy season for elves, not a time to store them away but what do I know?

 

Here's a much better picture than mine and a humorous take on Tacoma Elf Storage. http://www.theviewfromrighthere.com/blog/?p=5642


You can also tell it's close to Christmas when glass fusers are busy making gorgeous glass snowflakes like these by Sandy Rose, a wonderful glass crafter.

Sandy took a fused snowflake class at Mandarin Stained Glass and came up with these fabulous color combinations that look wonderful on Lani Neil's designs!

Where's the Snow?

In the Pacific Northwest, we've had a week of dry cold with another on the way.  The frost has been lovely but I would love to see a few inches of snow just for fun.  I'm getting so tired of waiting that I'll just make some snow of my own!  If you want to join me, here's what to do.  Find some glass in your basement, cut out some shapes and throw them together on a kiln shelf.

Heat the kiln to about 1425 degrees F. and voila - snowflakes. (Glass fusing is the new macrame/stoneware throwing/slip cast painting. If you can bake cookies, you can fuse glass) 

Now go outside and pretend that they're falling from that sunny sky.  I think they're sticking to the tops of cars.

That first snowfall on the ornamental grasses always makes one wonder if they'll remain standing or topple over under the weight of the snow.

When enough snow falls, the landscape looks like this, they close schools and I get to sleep in. See why I like snow?

"Winter" by my pal Florence Welborn hangs in my front window. 

A pane in the glass

Some of you asked me to post some of my glass  stuff so here it is. (You may be sorry!)

It all started 15 years ago with this, a round room on the back of our house, which we bought as a derelict.  There was this woman who was restoring the house next to ours who I was told did stained glass.  She and her husband turned out to be fascinating people & I asked her to give me an estimate for doing the twenty windows that make up this circular room, rotted from the sills down (now where my plants spend the winter.) She looked at me and said, "Honey, you'd save a lot of money if you did it yourself."  Ugh...ANOTHER thing to learn, geeze, I wasn't really interested but this lady was persuasive.  So I began taking classes at Mandarin Stained Glass which she owns. 

The lady was none other than Florence whose garden you can read about here  and who became my glass guru and dear friend.

A year or so later, I was hooked on glass and the plant room looked like this.

I'm now an avid hobbyist & teach classes at Mandarin.

Here are a few more things I've made on this learning journey.

A green man stepping stone where three paths meet in my garden.

Another stepping stone

Fused glass plate.

Stained glass panel

"Thirty pieces of silver"  There are 30 pieces of mirror because it's all about the guilt. 

Fused glass plate

Door that will probably never get installed.  Our interest and energy is waning  for our Queen Anne Victorian house restoration.  Anyone want to buy a garden with a really cool project house in the middle?

 The second glass thing I ever made.  Don't look too closely, the craftsmanship is hideous!

Another fused glass plate

 Mosaic bust

Sandblasted and slumped plate. 

Experimenting with dichroic glass

 Another sandblasted piece

The goddess Flora to whom we are slaves.

 Our front door - replaced a single piece of textured glass from the 50's.

Always had a thing for fleur de lis.

 Back outside - Blue flower

 More flowers.  The one on the right is made with mostly thrift store buys.

 Once, I was on a "glass basket" kick.

Hope you've enjoyed looking half as much as I've enjoyed learning and experimenting.