bird and feather

if I'm lucky enough that you are still checking this site...

2010-08-30T15:01:00.005-06:00

The new site is up and will continue to be a blog as well as a portfolio building site as I go through school. Most likely it will be 90% blog, 10% work but should be fun. See you there and thanks for checking!

New Post Box

2009-12-22T08:50:00.004-07:00

Approaching our front door these last few days, I have been tickled to see our finished entryway ensemble.
I designed this post box a month back and took it to my favorite sheet metal shop down the street. They do amazing work and I got the call this week that it was ready for pickup. Now we have the full setup: galvanized barn light, handcrafted aluminum numbers on cherry, and the post box with vinyl letters.

We have an old mail slot (now covered) but this looks much better from the street and will definitely help keep the heat inside our house.

Soon to come: my magnetic shelf to cover the inside of the old mail slot.

good day in the shop

2009-02-13T17:00:00.002-07:00

This afternoon I worked in shop getting some more wood things ready for the studio shop. Here are three hand and dish soap holders just before being oiled. I love the different shades of the woods. Most of the woods are ready to go onto etsy so I will post when they're up. Hope everyone is great!

Harriman Ranch Weekend

2009-02-03T21:51:00.008-07:00

We headed down to the Harriman Ranch in Idaho for a weekend of cross country skiing, cooking great meals, and hanging out with a great group of people. The Harriman is really an oasis. The compound of a few cabins, a large community house, and a really large bunk house are about a mile's ski in. We reserved the community house for cooking, and general hanging out and the bunk house for bunking. There were about 30 of us and it was a great time.

Fence posts covered in deep snow on our first ski
There are miles and miles of trails. Ben, Becca, Sara and I took a ten and a half mile ski on Saturday afternoon.

Here is Becca skiing away from Ben as he is taking pictures of the swans.

the swans

Sara and I pulling a sweet ski move

An outhouse with a snow hat

And a barn, just like they say; a post with a barn sure beats a post without one.

Finally

2009-01-04T02:00:00.007-07:00

I had this idea that I wanted to build Sara a bed for Christmas. Unlike most of my ideas, I started with ample time to actually do it. I met with my friend Anna who is a great woodworker to talk about my design and to get advice on wood stuff. And so I designed it and got the steel, cut it, and took it to a few welders, one of which said, "sure, that'll be simple enough." So I was off. By this point, it was the beginning of November and I was waiting on the frame, trying to figure out how to pay for expensive stuff like the wood without Sara noticing the bank account and going to the pub quite frequently. One day I went into the basement of a building Mike owns and was just taking the tour of the work they were planning. In the next week, they were going to take down the walls of the basement, huge fir boards, and replace them with steel supports. The building was built in 1892 so that makes the wood pretty dang old and pretty much the kind of wood we will never see again as those forests are gone. So I asked if I could have some and Mike told me it was mine if I hauled it out. So I did and used a bit of it to make our new bed.
I left raw edges so you can still see where it was nailed into and they headboard is an amazingly thick heavy piece filled with colors and sap. I surprised Sara the day before we left for Colorado for the holidays by presenting all the pieces to her and finally finishd painting the base, oiling the wood, and assembling it yesterday. The most difficult thing about actually being prepared was the inability to post about or talk about the bed with Sara for a long long time. Here it is.

cut steel on the way to the welders

the headboard in the shop

the basic frame laid out in shop

a view of the slats with marks of the old wall strips

the bed in its final position in our house

The bed project is done and I am excited to get working on a few projects in the bird and feather studio. I hope everyone is well, Happy New Year.

bird and feather handmade goods

2008-12-13T06:48:00.009-07:00

It's official bird and feather is an actual place with an actual address.
Two days ago, Lori and I rented 119 Reeders Alley in Helena, MT for a studio/shop space. My half will be the physical bird and feather studio where I can work and maybe even sell bags, art, wood projects or whatever I am doing at the time. The same items will be available online through etsy so check it out, I created my store yesterday and I will be adding items today.

Here is the studio, we are on the street level.

I spent all of yesterday working on a few cowboy bags. The space is very small and has this fantastic stone wall for displaying items.

I owed my grandmother a new bag so hers was the first project in the new studio. She wanted a closure on top and I decided on a slightly different design which makes it more of a cowboy purse.

Here is a detail of the zipper. It turned out nicely.

One of the nicest things about the studio is it's location. It is right in the downtown and such a historic piece of Helena. Here is a brief history of the street:

Begun in the early 1860's, Reeder's Alley was carefully constructed of native materials and brick, brought to the new mining camp from Fort Benton. The need for lodging in the new camp called "Last Chance" prompted Lewis Reeder to begin a series of small buildings at the extreme west end of what was known as 'Bridge Street.' As demand for lodging increased so did the size of the Alley. For nearly twenty years, Reeder continued to expand his hostelry. A series of devastating fires brought the demise of 'Bridge Street,' but the Alley was spared each time. Today, Reeder's Alley is a restored miner's village with offices, a barbershop, a few restaurants, and small shop spaces.

Pie Party

2008-12-08T03:51:00.012-07:00

We woke up Saturday giddy just thinking about all the pie that would be in our tummies as we went to bed that night. Yes, it was the day for our 2nd Annual Pie Party.

Sara rolled out the dough for her mini pies and I helped make one.

Here they all are lined out ready to be made. Mine is the closest to the camera with the hole, it was an Obama pie though hard to tell.

We readied our ballot box for the evening and sealed it like a piggy bank.

My sister Lindsey and her boyfriend Brad were here so we took a hike in the South Hills in the beautiful afternoon.

Sara, Kota, Lindsey and Brad on the mountain.

Liv, Mike, Sweet Rita, and Baby June enjoying their pie.

It also happened to be Ben's birthday as well as pie day so Becca (his girlfriend) decided to pie him in the face. Just after we all toasted him for being a jolly good fellow.

and here he is.

The party was a house full of great people and a good chance to hang out with people that we don't always have over. JP and Karen's "Family Style Chicken Pot Pie" won the contest and they took home an Emily Free Wilson Pie Pot as the prize. Thanks everybody for coming and can't wait to do it next year!

Red Things in the Snow

2008-12-05T18:56:00.004-07:00

We got a lovely snow a few days ago and I took a few pictures on my way to work.
Here are some things that need to be said:

Grattis pŒ fšdelsedagen Anders! = Happy Birthday Anders!

Lindsey (my sister) and Brad (her boyfriend) are coming over from Missoula tonight. We are all going to hang out for the weekend.

Tomorrow night is our 2nd Annual Pie Party and should be a blast.

Anna and Corey are back from China and I am really excited to see them.

Lori had her last day work today and I am going to miss her.

There should be plenty to post about and everyone (except Anders sadly) should be at the Pie Party sporting a pie, an interpretation of a pie, or an invention that simply is called "pie" because as an inventor, heck you can do whatever you feel like.

608 Knight St.

2008-12-02T18:06:00.003-07:00

I sketched out an idea for adding a small front porch to our rental house. I am meeting with a friend tomorrow about doing it. I mostly just liked the line drawing of the house. I did it while sitting at work and it is pretty close to the actual house.

Beautiful Thanksgiving Morning

2008-11-27T10:08:00.007-07:00

it was magical this morning
as the frost was everywhere
it stood up on the ground
and hung on in the air

the light was strong this morning
the sun was sitting low
it casts its shadows long
full of colors pale and dull

but then the sun would catch
at an angle, just so
and at once the world would burst
into yellow, orange and gold

happy thanksgiving

click on the pictures to view them large

Jackson

2008-11-25T22:22:00.002-07:00

Happy Late Birthday Jackson!
he is three years old
acts like he is three days old
and man is he cute.

This is what I want to do.

2008-11-19T09:10:00.005-07:00

These images are from John Pawson Architecture and he does what I want to do. He makes all sorts of beautiful things. First off he designs buildings inside and out which is sort of an architect but more like an architect, interior designer, and artistic director all rolled into one. His website is amazing so please check it out.

Then he designs things like concrete benches, salad servers, wooden beds, candle holders, and probably whatever item he feels could just use some good design.

Oh and also does some installation type architecture. It is definitely inspiring and I'm hanging on to this example so I can say, "oh sure, it can still be done."

Sunrise This Morning

2008-11-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

Annah's Cowboy Bag

2008-11-16T22:01:00.008-07:00

For a while now, I have been promising our friend Annah that I will send her a new bag. A few years ago I made her one of my first ever Cowboy Bags. She completely wore it out and so the new one was going to be a present; first a Christmas present, then a birthday present, then a happy summer present but it never quite happened. I really have no idea how long it has truly been but today was the day.

the original cowboy shirt

the inside fabric

Annah's Cowboy Bag complete with fold-over pearl snap closure (a new feature) and a sweet pattern if I do say so myself.

It has been a while since I have made a bag and it was great fun. My friend Lori and I are talking about doing a joint art show and I think I will make a few for the exhibition.

Fall Art Walk

2008-11-14T07:57:00.011-07:00

Tonight from 6-10 at ExplorationWorks: stop by if you can.

Bikers Beware

2008-11-10T08:04:00.002-07:00

We were walking around NW Portland last night and saw this fantastic road sign. I also saw three yes, three custom bike shops in the area. I was like a kid in the candy store window dreaming up my own shop with colorful parts hanging from the ceiling, small bits in glass jars on homemade shelves, and a few beautiful frames just waiting to be taken home.

We are touring Lewis and Clark College this morning and then heading up to Seattle directly in hopes of seeing one of the Seattle schools too. We'll stay the night with Sara's aunt and uncle then get up and drive home tomorrow. Hope everyone is well.

780 Miles

2008-11-08T00:07:00.008-07:00

Helena, Montana to Springfield, Oregon: 780 Miles

a truck carrying a bunch of tubes

a bridge on the columbia river and a fog-strung mountain

Alyx

Daniel, Lindsay, and Sara at the newly purchased house of
Danny and Lindsay Ramirez in Springfield, Oregon

Quintus the cat with his toy mouse

My alarm rang at 4:53 am. It was the beginning of a road trip, a visit to old friends and a new step into premature adulthood: our first college tour trip as chaperones. Alyx R, one of our good friends, is a senior in high school and looking at college options for next year. As I drove and Sara slept, Alyx read. The fog drew in close to the road as we climbed passes and crossed state lines and Alyx slept while Sara read. We listened to music and radio shows all day long pulling in to Springfield about 5:30 to stay the night with Danny and Lindsay. The Ramirez' recently bought a beautiful house in Oregon and I was very excited to meet Quintus their cat who I like very much (that is saying alot because I am definitely not a cat person). While attending school in Oregon at Willamette University I met at both Danny and Lindsay. We will stay with them today and tommorrow while touring both the University of Oregon in Eugene and Willamette University in Salem.

Yes We Can

2008-11-05T20:52:00.004-07:00

A great day! I talked to Anders in Uppsala and he stayed up most of the night watching the election results. He said something like 90% of the Swedes were pro-Obama and so it was pretty nice celebration there too.
Everybody I talked to (including myself) seems relieved, excited and as Phil said (in an Australian accent which only makes it better), "a little pumpkin-headed".
Cheers

VOTE!

2008-11-04T08:09:00.002-07:00

Go Obama!

Hay Bales

2008-11-02T12:08:00.011-07:00

There aren't many things finer than driving down the road, looking out and seeing a field peppered with hay bales. I saw these beauties near the wheat montana farm and stopped to take a few photos.
(click on the photos to view larger)

1968

2008-11-01T08:04:00.004-06:00

Colleen Roberts, age 7

While cleaning out Sara's Grandma's basement, I found a few old rolls of film that her grandpa shot in 1968. They were labeled "Colleen". In fact, there was only one picture of Colleen, but it is a great shot.

I also had some medium format film that I shot last year scanned in and here is one of my favorites with the negative edge peaking out at the top.

They are incredibly grainy and nice, go to flickr to see em.

Happy Halloween!

Bozeman, Montana

2008-10-30T21:35:00.003-06:00

a nice bike rack with a Penny Farthing center

Sara was working this week in Bozeman so I drove down Wednesday to be with her. We went to an amazing Martin Sexton concert last night and I spent this morning looking at all the great houses and hanging out with the dogs.

a little change

2008-10-29T17:45:00.003-06:00

One man, two wheels and a handlebar mustache is now....

"bird and feather"

christaleff.blogspot.com is still the same old blog, only I don't have a handlebar mustache anymore and it was time for a change.

October Collage

2008-10-27T22:56:00.001-06:00

Seeing as my posting of late has been less than adequate and hoping that there are still people out there randomly checking this site I am putting together a comprehensive post.
here it is:

Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness
We decided on doing one more backpack this season with a one-night trip into the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness. Sara, Jackson, June, and I left Helena at 5:00 on Friday night, driving to the trailhead where we were to camp for the night.
We went to Phillipsburg for dinner and headed along the Pintler Scenic Loop South toward the Continental Divide. We saw a red fox and a huge moose, we listened to music and it seemed like a sweet all around time. Just as we neared the trailhead, Sara got a call from our friends, Ali and Alan. Being the children of the night that they are, they were wondering what we were doing at 11:00 on a Friday night. We told them, "Well we are going backpacking, you see." They were excited and said "Maybe we'll come!" (now mind you we are 2 1/2 hours away from Helena on some backroads with a moose and a fox) So naturally Sara said, "We are going to Phyllis Lake in the Pintlers and you should come!" They got excited and thought they might for the next two seconds before we lost service completely.
We set up our tent and talked about whether or not they would really come and if it was even possible to prepare and get maps so quickly. Deciding that there were just crazy enough to try it, we thought to sleep in and if they were there when we awoke, great. If not, we'd go it alone.
We woke up about 9:00, took our time with breakfast and packing up and hit the trail at 10:00 with no sign of the friends.

Jackson was using his backpack for the very first time and just feeling great carrying both his and June's food and water. We made it to Phyllis Lake and Sara (who had brought her phone still not giving up hope) got quite a few text messages. They spanned most of the night and it seemed that Alan, Ali, and our other friend Brooke had arrived about 3:30 in the morning, but at the wrong camp site unbenounced to them. They had been searching all morning for us.
So we were at Phyllis Lake, it was starting to get cold and we were realizing we could have made a mistake because we weren't really stopping at Phyllis Lake. We planned to cross the divide to another lake a few miles away. We decided it was best to go back the same way we had come and either meet the friends or head to a hotsprings for a soak. Two thirds of the way back down the trail, there they were. The sun came out, we took off our raincoats and covers and everything felt like it was meant to be. All together we headed back up the trail.

Sara on the trail with the dogs.

Lower Phyllis Lake

Overlooking the Continental Divide

Here we are all together. It's not a great picture I will be the first to admit, but it is the only one of the group. Here we are pretty happy even though it is raining because it hadn't started to pour...then hail...then snow all night long.
So altogether Sara and I and the dogs pulled about a 12 mile day and ended up freezing but it was tons of fun. We headed directly to a pub the next day.

Green Building Tour
Sara, Anna, and I joined a group of bikers for the Helena Green Building Tour in support of National Solar Tour Day.

Here we are taking off from the Myrna Loy Center on our way to the first house.

Our first stop was Beth and Melissa's house. This is one of my favorite houses in Helena and is also owned by my boss and her partner. They did an amazing job adding a corrugated metal master bedroom to the existing brick structure and making the warm and stunning. I pretty offer to buy Beth's house everyday.

Beth and Melissa's tree in full autumn colors.

The next house was off the grid in the middle of town. They installed a solar tracker that you can see in the top right corner of the picture. The house itself is fairly unchanged but they track their energy usuage very closely. You can also see the clouds coming in and we just finished with the last house when the showers came.

It was a great day and the best part was the way that each house had been approached differently and each person's idea of becoming more green fit with their lifestyle.
October 6th was National Solar Tour Day and I highly recommend going on the tour of your town next year.

Kitchen Counter Top
One of my fall projects was making a counter top to go above our small fridge. I used maple veneered mdf and finished itto a glassy shine. I also used the same material for cabinet doors in our bathroom and it really is dynamic with the light face and dark edges.

Bread
I have been making loads of bread this fall.
I just finished a halepeno cheddar sourdough loaf and a sourdough daily bread.

The Nightmare Affair
Last Saturday was ExplorationWorks first annual costume ball. Lori and I spent tons of time decorating and setting up. The Clumbsy Lovers played great music and everybody danced the night away.

I just thought this was a crazy cool picture.

We were badminton pros. (thanks for the idea Zygi and Julie)

So we still have to get to the real halloween and then Sara and I are heading to Washington and Oregon for a few days with our friend Alyx. We are taking her on her college tour and visiting Danny and Lindsay in Eugene.

Hope everyone is well and thanks for checking.

A Nice Saturday

2008-09-27T20:00:00.000-06:00

This picture is really just to say, It is Fall in Helena
I went on a walk up on Mount Helena this week with the dogs and it is true, fall is here. I love fall and I am glad it is here. That is all I have to say about that.

Our friends John and Annette went to Mexico with Sara's parents for vacation and for the last weekend of their absence, we said we would take care of their girls. We had a stellar day and I had to post about it especially considering my prediction that each of the girls will be an actress one day, a famous actress.

We got up this morning and stopped by our house on the way to the Saturday market in time to catch a chicken and gather some eggs.

Here is Emma with two eggs.

And Isabelle presenting her find.

Emma Jane Rausch, the Cauliflower Queen

We dug up some vegetables from our garden because as the girls said, "We can definitely sell these." Finally about 11:00 we made it to the market and got ourselves a nice spaghetti squash for dinner.

I was beat and luckily the girls both have had experience in salons so I was given a full body massage. (I am not being clever, I am not making jokes, they actually told me this. All of it.)

Also fortunately for me, they are professional hairdressers, though out of practice, and were eager to get reaquainted via my hair. Sara did the finishing touches and it is quite nice.

And finally before dinner, they were excited to have found "The Love Carrot" or "The Chris and Sara Carrot", whichever you prefer. The day was truly stellar.

The Long Road to Colstrip

2008-09-11T14:52:00.000-06:00

Sara told me she had to go to Colstrip on Monday. She had to drive to eastern Montana to work for 3 hours and was a little bummed. I thought, "a day off of work and a road trip with paid gas. sweet." so I went along with her. We made a great trip of it staying almost solely on small roads and making stops all along the way. One of our first stops was the town of Lennup.

This is the road leading into lennup. I think at one point the building on the right was a general store from the looks of it, that was some time ago. I love the idea that the two town buildings are the same color. It reminds me of coming into small towns in Ireland. Really with the exception of these two structures, there was a school off to the left and a church just down the road.

The church had a sign that said "Services held every other Sunday". The church is quite beautiful and I think the thing about the scene is the fact that the church is in the middle of the nature. There is no parking lot and I wish that were the case more often, it feels nice.

Our initial reason for turning off the highway at Lennup was to drive the road up to Castle Town. We had only seen the marker on a map and always wanted to go. It is labeled a ghost town and it was. The trouble is, Castle Town is now on private property with no trespassing signs everywhere. We snuck a few pictures but sadly, it is not really a place you can explore.

Further on down the road we pulled off at Dead Man's Reservoir. Sara's parents told us a story a few weeks back about her being a baby. They were poor and driving out to Miles City for a funeral. They didn't have money for a hotel and they were tired and they decided to camp at Dead Man's Reservoir on the way. By camping I mean laying down on the ground without a tent or sleeping bags and making the best of it. They said "there's nothing there." and they were right.

Sara on the edge of the reservoir. Even though it is barren, it is beautiful and has nice shorelines.

The dogs took a swim

I took a picture of my shoes
and we left

Around sunset, we pulled into Ingomar, Montana. It was another quiet place.

Here is the Ingomar central park

Sara has a shirt from 1980 or 1981 that is a hand drawn logo and says "The Jersey Lilly". The Jersey Lilly is still going strong and we had a beer and some dinner there before making our way to Colstrip. Really at this point we are about halfway to the hotel so we truly did take our time.

Sara gave her workshop in the morning and I walked around Colstrip with the dogs and then we headed back on a different route.

The Little Wolf Mountains. They are gorgeous mountains with striations of rock capping off in reddish orange stripes. The whole drive was like this, incredibly different landforms at every turn.

We stopped at the Battle of the Bighorn National Monument. This is a nice native american piece there. I definitely recommend stopping if you haven't, it is nice and thorough.

We turned North to head up to Rapleje. Here is the school.

Anna told me about these incredible grain elevators on a piece of land that is for sale. They are incredible! and I think they could be beautiful repurposed. Maybe a hostel or a destination bed and breakfast. It is a very isolated place but still tempting.

An elevator and pallets

Continuing on North, we took a dirt road to Ryegate. This road was amazing. Just a few farms and incredible views not to mention a phenomenal road that climbs up a small mesa and the comes down to a new landscape on the other side.

a picture from the road

And sunset. we got back home late.

Back Pack

2008-09-05T14:41:00.001-06:00

Sara and I just spent 8 days in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness with our friends Angie and David. We literally spent the first half of the first day and the last half of the last day on the trail. Other than that, we were climbing mountains, finding flat spots for camping, choosing which mountains and saddles to cover and overall feeling like pretty tough cookies. It was a blast! In fact, it was so good that we were planning next years trip the very day we came out. I also shot black and white film so those pictures will be coming soon.

Night portrait in the tent. I especially like that it looks like we are ready to explore dark caverns but really we are in our sleeping bags.

Angie and David in front of Upper Aero Lake on the second day of our trip.

Crossing a snow field on our travels. We had a day with a little snow and some hail. Most of the trip was beautiful.

My mountain man portrait. Check out that stache.

Ready to dive. We were big into the Alpine Dipping. We pretty much went in every lake possible and the Beartooth is full of lakes; cold refreshing alpine lakes. We all decided to start an Alpine Dipping Blog (coming soon)

David looking down at us while retrieving the bear bag. This incredible rock was just above our campsite on Fossil Lake.

Beautiful clouds and our pristine swimming hole on Fossil Lake.
Hope everyone is well.

Happy Birthday Obama (and me)

2008-08-05T12:05:00.000-06:00

As I am sure you all know, yesterday was the birthday of hope. We had a party. Barrack Obama and I share a birthday along with Louis Armstrong, Billy Bob Thornton, Roger Clemens and many other names I don't recognize. Everybody went all out: Sara sent out invitations and made shirts with Mckenzie. Kev made a sweet "the new hope" poster featuring me.

Mike dressed like "Chris twenty years from now" and it was frighteningly accurate and really really funny. Check out that soul patch.

In addition to the party, Sara took me on a great three day Southwestern Montana trip.

Right before leaving, I went to give the Chickens water and decided to check for an egg. There it was, a sweet little egg about half the size of a normal chicken egg.

the first egg

Sara sizing it up.

We left the first one for Kev and Mckenzie since they were working and we figured it would be a nice welcome to the weekend present.

Friday, we went to Norris Hot Springs and camped nearby in the middle of some incredible large rocks. It's a normal sized tent there in the picture, I promise.

Sara choosing a spot with June.

Nice red Montana flora

The Rock we woke up to with the sun shining on it.

Saturday we went to Pony Days in Pony,Montana and on our drive we saw this old stone building, maybe an old house.

A big crack but a beautiful structure.

Next we hit up Virginia city to go the Follies show Saturday night. Keving met us there and we all road the steam train which runs between Virginia City and Nevada City on the weekends.

Inside an old school house in Nevada City.

the end of the trip.

We camped Saturday night outside of Virginia City and went to the Patagonia Outlet in Dillon on Sunday. Pretty nice birthday all around.

Finalizing the Bike

2008-07-30T10:45:00.000-06:00

My new wheels finally arrived. Kevin came over and helped me put them on and shorten the chain; the finishing touches. We overcame a few minor setbacks with some good ingenious ideas and late in the evening, I rode around barefoot on my new old bike.

Here it is against a nice red wall. I had to adjust the fenders a little so they follow the curve of the tire but I am pretty sure I will be taking alot more pictures so its alright, you can see this one.

Nice view of the saddle and handlebars against a barnlike garage.

there it is, again.

And a nice shot of some onions from our garden. Who doesn't like garden pictures right? At least it changes things up a bit.

Bicycle Project Progress

2008-07-27T09:45:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of the Eagle Glider's ongoing transformation. This is the bike I have been riding for about 3 years and found one day as we were driving through Helena. This week, I made some wooden fenders and ordered some great cork grips from Rivendell Bicycle Works. They are probably my new favorite bike site with great commentary on pretty much everything.

The original state of the Glider six speed.

I created this pvc - garden hose - tea kettle steam bending setup when Sara was at work and steamed up my wood for my fenders. It was a pretty stealth operation; her having no idea what went on in our kitchen. Then she saw the picture and said, "well at least you cleaned up really well."

When it got nice and flexible, I bent it around my newly crafted form and clamped it for a couple hours.

Here are both the oiled fenders, sittin out in the sun getting nice and dark.

I was so excited to get them on the bike that I couldn't really wait but they got a little color even just from one afternoon sitting outside. They are made of cherry and I think they came out nicely.

Here is an image of one of the cork grips with a coat of laquer on it.

And the rear fender.

Here we are, the whole banana. I am still waiting for my new rims to come in as well as my seat post. I am moving to a single speed with a coaster break and I am just gitty to get riding. More to come soon...

My First Brooks Saddle

2008-07-24T13:35:00.000-06:00

It's an exciting day folks. I pedaled home from work to find a package on my doorstep and it was...

a box

Truthfully, I pedaled very quickly because I knew it was coming and I was hoping it would be home when I got there. It was so I popped open the nice blue box and saw,

one of the most beautiful hand made pieces of equipment I have ever seen, a B68 Brooks saddle. I'm off to get a seat post.

As soon as it's on, I will post some pics of the whole bike.

The Printing Press Project

2008-07-23T10:40:00.001-06:00

Luckily I have a fantastically cool brother in law. We were sort of made from the same stone or something. When something old, sturdy, and possibly outdated is sitting around, we automatically want to learn how to use it, to do it the old way. And really we want to have it. We usually ask.

Having Kevin as a brother is a lucky thing for a couple of reasons. First off, it means we can cheer each other on when most of the people around us are saying, "hey man, what are you gonna do with that stuff? where you gonna put it?.

Second, it means we have alot of cool ideas and we can do some of it together.

Up at Mike and Colleens house, there was a press. It was Kevin's from a while ago and he did what we always do: he showed interest in it and someone said. "I've been waiting for you kid. Go ahead and take it." So he did.

It sat up in the garage for a while, but no worries, its already old and getting old isn't really hurting it. Then yesterday we packed it up and brought it down to the Ewing Street Studio(our house). We organized the letters, numbers, and punctuation marks until late. Then we made a matchstick proof.

Now we have another project. It is all ready to go and we can make some things like cards, small posters, invitations, and so much more. If our adventure coincided with you craving a good old letter-pressed card, let us know and we can probably make it happen.

Uraguay

2008-07-22T10:50:00.000-06:00

We crossed the Rio De La Plata to Uraguay and ended up in a small town called Colonia. Here is a street leading up to the Church. The old town is full of cobblestone streets and beautiful old buildings. It was a nice relief for the citiness of Buenos Aires.

Window planters on one of the streets

Here is a section of an old rail car. There were a few of these old buggies in a field just outside of the city.

A huge dock rope from above.

Here is a stone wall in the old town. Looking out we are facing Argentina.

Pigeons on a line with great shadows

Here is one of the more famous street called the Street of Whispers.

A beautiful stone wall with window plants.

On a completely different note, last night we went to the Myrna Loy Center here in Helena and watched a Hand2Mouth Theatre production called Repeat After Me . They are based in Portland , Oregon and put on an amazing show. If you have a chance, see this show. It even made Sara want to do theater again. It almost made me want to.Life in Helena is going great and I am in the process of making two wooden fenders for my bike, my first wood bending experiment. I will post cause it is a pretty macgyver like setup. Hope everyone is well.

Buenos Aires

2008-07-17T09:54:00.000-06:00

The Family minus Mike in front of the Pink House, the main government building.

Street Corner in La Boca - La Boca is one of the Barrios of Buenos Aires. The people traditionally used left over boat paint to finish their houses making the neighborhood an area of bright, multi-colored houses. La Boca is where Tango Dancing began.

El Puente De Mujer - a bridge by a Spanish Designer who made the bridge to resemble a woman in the midst of a tango dance. It is sleek and beautiful and middle section swings open to let ships pass through.

San Telmo - Biking through the streets of San Telmo here on a tour. San Telmo is the location of the first battle in which Spain did not help Argentina and the Argentines realized they were strong enough to defend themselves against invaders.

Arriving at the Bank of the Rio De La Plata: The river that separates Argentina from Uruguay.

Las Bicicletas Naranjas all in a line.

Argentine Flag

Another government building I think, really beautiful.

We are back from South America now and happy to be in mellow Helena again. While there we had an awesome time with my Brother Mike and we got to know his girlfriend Danae. They were amazing tour guides. One day we crossed the Rio De La Plata to Uruguay. We visited a small village called Colonia. It was beautiful and I got some nice shots so I will post those soon. You can see all the photos on my flickr page if you are interested.

2008-06-30T14:51:00.001-06:00

This is my first post on my new blog.
ChasingIxias is now toast and it is
just as well, it was time for a change.
Friday I decided to make a rear carrier
for my bike and here it is:

the trusty eagle glider

a close up of the box fashioned
with rubber band bungees
courtesy of Sara Rose.

Me pulling back into the drive
after its inaugural run.

Friday night, we packed a
picnic and rode to the park
for music, beers, and all sorts
of salads. It was a successful
transport with no casualties.

Thanks for checking out the new site. Sara and I are heading to Buenos Aires tommorrow morning and I hope to post a few times from South of the Equator. See you.