Yesterday Was Just... Weird

My day started off in the crapper! I don't care to elaborate, because this is "happy" hour, not "blow steam" hour. After that, I went and set up shop at Joslyn Castle, to do some tile restoration. I'll be there for the rest of the week, and then in the future, when we find the correct tile to work on two other areas. So, I'm sitting in the foyer of the castle (as referred to by the employees), on my butt, carefully chiseling out 100+ year old broken tile, and being extremely careful not to break the good pieces. The tile is an unglazed, very extravagant 1/2" square mosaic, with a handmade border in different colors. To do a tile & stone job of this magnitude today, would be so expensive most people would opt for lesser quantity or quality. Two small tours were given while I pecked away at the broken stuff. The people visiting just poked their head in and acknowledged my presence, not really that interested in what I was doing, or wanting to help. Late in the day, a group of musicians arrived to set up for an evening gig. They were enthralled with the castle. The woman working there gave them a quick tour with a brief history and some facts about the castle. One fact of note, the woodwork on most of the main level, which words can't describe, is Cuban mahogany, which is either extinct, or just illegal to ship to the US. I didn't quite get that part of the explanation. I must have been making pinging noises with the hammer and chisel at the time. The band was an extremely curious bunch, wanting to see what I was up to, almost walking on fresh set mosaic. I almost had to go postal, fortunately, it was a cute little blond - that may have saved her life! After the close call, they were asking all types of tile questions, and me, being the walking encyclopedia of tile, tile products, tile history, and BS, was happy to oblige. I stepped out of construction worker mode, and put on my tour guide cap. Three of the members, Rachel, Brandi, & Sam, stood and gabbed for about 15 minutes. Brandi asked if the style of the house was Arts& Crafts, or Art Deco. I didn't think it was either, because the time the castle was built was before both of those eras. I thought it was Victorian, but then it dawned on me, it was Art Nouveau! We all agreed. Well time was dwindling, so I thought I had better clean up, and get out of the way before people started showing up for the performance. I got home and told my wife about the "fun" portion of my day, and realized I failed to get the name of the group that was performing. She looked it up, the name of the group is The Dixie Bee-liners. They sing a pretty cool rendition of blue-grass. There is definitely one song I've heard that's had radio play, and I don't really listen to that type of music. Check them out. All I've got to say is, I'm glad I didn't just go home and curl up in a ball after the rocky start to my day. I stuck with it, and it brightened up by the day's end. http://www.myspace.com/thedixiebeeliners