Laying a stone tile floor, part 1

While I know this isn't woodworking per se, I did write a post once about how those skills have helped translate into other projects, so this is a callback to that sentiment. Anyways, we decided to redo the "sunroom" floor after the dog finished off the old carpet that was in there (in fairness, he really just put it out of its misery.) and it was decided that we would be laying travertine. So we ripped the carpets out and pulled up all te carpet tacking. I checked to make sure te floor was level (it was) and flat (it mostly was) and we are now dry-fitting the cement board underlayment. Now, I read many various posts about skipping the thinset mortar under the backer boards, and ultimately the final word is "don't be lazy, fool!" which is what the manufacturer says to do, too. (Hardieboard). Additionally , I'm hoping the additional layer on thinset will help offset the extremely slight crowning at the middle of the room and allow a more flat surface when screwed down. We shall see...

Small Rack

Small rack to hold dog leashes in the laundry room. This is a piece of aspen that really fished well. The dowel posts are poplar. Stain is "gunstock". 

I chamfered the edges and used a Forstner bit on the drill press with the board propped on a similar thickness board beneath it for the angle. Top coat of de-waxed shellac.  I really had no idea aspen had such a nice grain to it.