Pantry Door Updates

I continued the rubbed oil bronze updates with our mirrored pantry doors that are off to the side of our living area of the main floor. We removed the doors and the top trim piece so we could take them outside to paint. I then taped newspaper over the mirrors. Since these doors get used multiple times on a daily basis we primed and sealed them as well.  

Before painting the doors, I cleaned them up really well and lightly sanded the edges.  I put a coat of Rust-Oleum White Clean Metal Primer first.  After about 10 minutes it was completely dry.  Next I did one good coat of Rust-Oleum Rubbed Oil Bronze Metallic to match our light fixtures, vent covers, outlet covers and switch plate covers. I let that coat dry for about an hour and then sealed with Rust-Oleum Matte Clear Enamel.  I let the sealer dry for an hour, even though it was ready well before that.  It's a small change, but makes a big difference for an eye sore in the room.

Before

After

I had initially also frosted the mirrors with this design using Rust-Oleum Frosted Glass, but since I frosted while the mirrors were laying flat it turned out blotchy and I ended up scraping it all off.  ( Disclaimer: This was user error - this product works really well when done correctly and I'm very pleased with the frosting of our bathroom window. ) I may give it another shot now that the doors are hanging back up. I really want to tone down the mirrored look, but for now the edging helps enough to make me content. If I end up redoing the frost I'll update with a link.

Kayaking Floyds Fork at The Parklands

This past weekend we tried some moving water kayaking at The Parklands of Floyds Fork.  We put in at Creekside and paddled to the Fisherville takeout. The water, running at 94 CFS, was up just enough for us to do a four mile run without having to walk the kayaks over low areas along the way. We did get stuck a few times but were able to scoot ourselves over the shallow areas enough to keep going.  There were many areas of fast moving water followed by areas of flat water we had to paddle until we got to the next moving water area.  We even timed it where we floated under the train bridge just as a train was passing overhead.

We loved trying something other than the flat water lakes that we have been to since we purchased the kayaks. The Sea Eagle SE330s did great, even with the shallow rocked areas we came upon, and is a great boat for this type of water. I almost flipped once due to going down a small rapid sideways, but managed to save myself at the last minute.  Christina, in her hard shell Perception Swifty kayak, wasn't so lucky and dumped out just around the corner from our takeout spot.  Her boat filled up with water so we had to get her dumped out before continuing on. It was a tricky area with fast moving water and a tree in the way, so I'm surprised she is the only one that went overboard!  She managed to save everything except for her sunglasses, which are now somewhere at the bottom of the creek.  Win some, lose some!

I didn't feel safe taking my camera on this trip since I don't have a waterproof case for it, but I did get some great photos with my Samsung Note 3 phone, which I do have a waterproof case for.  You can view the photos on my Flickr account. I will be adding to this album once the water is high enough to go again, which at this point may not be until next spring, it just depends on how much rain we get through the rest of the season.

Jason in the Shallows

Watching the Train Above

Pulling Over After Christina Went Overboard

Zooming Down the Creek