Monday, June 22, 2009

Working on the back porch again.

.... I've actually got a bit of work done on the back porch this weekend.  When I first built it I had no intention of closing it in, so the roof wasn't build waterproof.  Then I screened it in and retro-fitted some roofing to keep out the water.  Didn't work so wonderful, leaks here and there making sitting out in the rain not as much fun.  So, I tore off all the decking on the roof and I'm going to plywood, tar paper and re-deck it so it won't leak anymore.  Got it all torn apart, now just have to put it back together.
.... I also added a little art work to the inside of the porch.  It's called a Tapa Cloth.  Made from the bark of the Mulberry Tree.  At the end of last week I got together with the other 2/3 of the Triumphant Trio of the IDET program (the two I went through Master's program with).  I met them up in Layton (pronounced "Lay-n"), where Leilani lives, and we went out to dinner at this great little Italian dive called Paisano's.  Seriously, we thought about leaving as soon as we walked in (only one elderly customer there at 5:00, tacky Pizza-Hut-turned-Italian decor, sticky tables and a waitress that looked 12 and a half).  Ok, maybe 14.  Anyway, we decided to stay and were glad we did.  The food was great.  I won't go into details, just try it if you're ever in Layton. 
.... So we get back to Leilani's apartment and she had this huge painted cloth hanging on the wall, and I commented on how cool I thought it was.  Turns out she made it herself, smashed the cloth out of Mulberry tree bark into this huge piece of cloth and then hand painted it.  I think the piece she had on the wall was used in her wedding ceremony in Tonga.  So she asked me if I wanted a piece, and I said sure, figuring on a one foot square.  She pulls out this huge roll of the stuff and hacks me off a 5.5 foot by 2.5 foot piece.  Way cool.
.... I thought and thought about where to put it, realized it was just about the right size for one of the pieces of glass I harvested from the old storm doors I replaced a few years ago, and that I had a bunch of clear plastic contact paper laying around the house.  So I cleaned up the glass, taped the cloth to it, put enough contact paper on the back to keep it protected from what little weather it will get and hung it up inside the back porch.  Looks good, if I do say so myself.
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P.S. Leilani, thanks again for the Tapa Cloth!

7 comments:

A Paperback Writer said...

Ah, summer. When all teachers do all the cleaning/repair projects we can't do the rest of the year.
I cleaned all day and sent off a bunch more query e-mails to lit agents.
But I don't have any spiffy tapa cloth stories (although I did know it was called tapa cloth).

Max Sartin said...

My problem is that instead of cleaning the house, I pass up the mundane things like laundry and dishes for more fun stuff like ripping the roof off.

Jannx said...

An interesting blog entry. And yes, the tapa cloth does look nice. Max is quite the handyman.

Anonymous said...

I believe that's "Laytn"

Max Sartin said...

No, there's definitly no "t" in it. At least the way I've heard it.

laninaki said...

Oh! That tapa cloth looks great where you hung it!

Max Sartin said...

Thank you. I was sitting on the back porch and it occurred to me how well the wood would go with the colors on the cloth. The only problem is that since it's made from a storm door, it's just the right size to fool me. Keep banging my head trying to get out. (Just kidding)