Great Grate

I've been meaning to show off my father's handiwork for several months now, but have gotten sidetracked with, oh, everything. But what better day to show off his work than on Father's Day?

Many thanks to my father's creativity, skill, craftsmanship, and perseverance, we now have the most beautiful floor grate imaginable. This hole once housed the "central heating" for the entire house - one big, inefficient gas heater - until we discovered it leaked gas. Now it's the cold-air return for our "central heating system". Until April, though, it was covered by a metal floor grate that was not only really ugly and difficult to walk on, but also had terrifyingly sharp edges and corners.

The retrofit with the wood grate was not at all easy (is anything ever easy in a nearly 100-year old house?), but the end result is wonderful.

Happy Father's Day to my father, who has given me many things, including an appreciation for finely constructed details and clever solutions to construction conundrums .

(thanks also to Jen + Brandon for providing the metalwork)

Pictures: Molly & "Fella" racing to a fire (over the grate); Molly & "Fella" taking a break on the grate.