Once More Into the Breech Granada

Again with the trip outta the country to satisfy my legal status, and this time I managed to remember to take a few pictures:

At the border (on the Nicaragua side), waiting for the immigration process to finish...

They're redoing the immigration station on the Nica side....

Most of the houses in the old part of Granada have blank outer walls, with only a large door opening on to the street.  Not so this house, which has been under renovation all the times I've been in town.  I think it's done.

Part of the second floor of the house, open to the breezes (and views)

The rest of the front of the house.  Not modest, at all, eh?

The "new" pedestrian mall just to the east (that's the lake side) of the Parque Centro, just behind the yellow cathedral.

another view of the mall.  I had dinner in the restaurant in the right foreground (where the menu lectern is).  They had a whole page of tipico (typical) Nicaraguan plates, and the food was quite good.

Looking back on the ped mall, as the day ended....

Looking toward Parque Centro (cathedral on the left) and the west, as the sky darkened

The courtyard of Hotel El Club, where I always stay.

The rest of the courtyard.

Part of the wind farm just north of the Costa Rica - Nicaragua border.  On the other side of the highway (and the other side of the bus, hence no picture) is the rest of the farm... and Lake Nicaragua with the Ometepe voclano in the middle  (here's a picture I didn't take, showing that view)

Waiting in line on the Costa Rica side of the border....

Waiting for customs to search the bus (and all the luggage... except mine for some [*cough* Gringo *cough*] reason)...

Finally, back in Costa Rica for another 90 days, the sun setting over Guanacaste.

Framed!

As mentioned earlier, I'm working on a rolling board, as all our counters are tile with 1/8"+ grout seams, which, if I wanted a large waffle design on my biscuits and such would be fine.  Since I don't though, I make this:

Here's the four pieces of the frame laid out after cutting.  Not bad for doing it without clamps and such.  (Also shows the dining table which was out in the "shop" for a couple new coats of poly)

In the previous post I showed the blocks in the "cut" arrangement.  Here they are in the "hold the pieces in place for drilling" arrangement.  I simply screwed them to the worktop.  This is the final corner, and it came together pretty well.

Closeup of the above, showing ... it closer. (also note my carpenter's calculator at top :) )

After putting the frame together I realized I needed a center crosspiece, so I half lapped it into place (should have been done before assembly, for those keeping score, but I managed to not break anything) and then glued the top onto the frame.  Then stained and poly'ed the underside.

And here's the thing on the counter, waiting for me to use it (the plywood top is poly'ed, but not stained).  Pretty, eh?

And now I think I'll go make some cinnamon bread.

Half a Lap Is Better Than No Lap &etc....

So what has Bob the Builder been up to since finishing the bunks, you might ask.  If you did, then here's the answer -- with PICTURES!!

(and if you din't, then why are you reading this?  Huh?)

Okay, I didn't do this, but I took the picture:  Looking north from the front door (and across the neighbors privacy wall)

...and looking west.

Then I knocked together a "Tater Bin" -- happy coincidence was that I didn't have to do any cuts at all, these pieces were all cutoffs and ends from the bunk bed

Tater Bin (showing workbench -- which I think is so pretty... shame it's gonna get all beat up as I continue using it, but that 's the nature/purpose/ "raisin deeter" of a workbench

Tater Bin laden (that's LAY-din) and in position (the counter isn't level at that point, which exaggerated the angled rough end of the back board and makes the thing look somewhat Dali-esque, I think)

Today I'm working on a frame for a rolling board -- all our counters are tile, with depressed grout lines, so it's hard to roll anything smooth.  I've got some leftover plywood from the beds (see large piece in background above) and I'm doing a half-lap frame on which to mount the ply so it stops curling (it's only 5mm thick).

What you see is what I've got -- no clamps yet -- so I've rigged some blocks to hold the pieces as I cut the laps.  Then I'll move the blocks around to use as a "frame holder" as I do the assembly.

My "workshop", showing the one power tool - a non-reversible drill.

Now That's a Bunk Bed