Monthly Archives: September 2011

Wednesday Woodworks – Garage Doors

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TC Millwork is well known for our custom built doors; arched, louvered, raised panel, glass framed, exterior, interior, sliding, French, bi-fold . . . . our portfolio is extensive and could go on and on.  A few months back we had an unusual request that we jumped at the opportunity and the challenge.
This client had the standard white PVC garage doors, but after undergoing this extensive of a renovation, they no longer seemed appropriate for such an otherwise gorgeous front entrance and first impression of the spectacular home.   The PVC panels were removed and then replaced with custom built wood paneling, all the hardware and the operating system was salvaged.  The opposite smaller garage door was also replaced with a pair of custom carriage house style doors.

Wednesday Woodworks – Gansevoort Entertainment Additions

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The Gansevoort has been one of the hottest, most popular new resorts to hit theTurks and Caicos. TC Millwork has been fortunate to have been a part of making this resort the chic, stylish destination it is today.  Among our many custom built contributions;
Image from realtravel
Reception desk featuring unique stone face front,
Image from booked.net
earthy spa reception desk and beauty product display,
Bagatelle Bistro Bar, which so many people have complimented that it still looks
 this flawless after countless party nights of tabletop dancing (sans stilettos we hope).
All units feature our custom built closets and a few bedroom layouts, these sliding panels shown above.
Image from realtravel
Now there will be a small modification that will create a nice improvement.  The image above depicts a typical Gansevoort bedroom, notice the large looming empty space above the flat screen television?  All that is about to change.
No more empty space!  The televisions will soon be encased in a shelving unit which will allow space for display on top and a tidy little nook for the dvd unit below.   

Caribbean Wellness Day & TCI Rubbish Runners

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Images above from a turksandcaicosproductions shoot for self

 Today, Saturday Sept.11, marks Caricoms third annual celebration of Caribbean Wellness Day.  This years theme is “Love that Body, Make it Last.”  To read up on how this great initiative was started, and the top illnesses affecting the Caribbean region, please see the official press release.  Participate in the Turks and Caicos, see the schedule of events here. 
  The TCI Rubbish Runners are 100% behind Caribbean Wellness Day, and thanks to the recent article in the Free Press (quoted below), hopefully more of the community will join us in keeping lean while keeping TCI green!
“While many of us have finished mopping up floors, moving furniture back to its usual locations, and clearing debris from yards, the evidence of Hurricane Irene’s aftermath is still lingering on our beautiful beaches. One community group is working diligently to get our shores back in shape while keeping in shape is the TCI Rubbish Runners. Begun as a branch of the TCI Environmental Club nearly a year ago, the group aims to spread awareness about littering and other environmental issues impacting the Turks and Caicos Islands while encouraging healthy living. Founder and recreational runner Stacie Steensland believes a great recipe for living a healthy lifestyle involves time spent in nature, daily exercise, and making a positive impact
in our community.“A rubbish runner can accomplish all three in as little as 20 minutes per day,” Steensland says. “The club invites all individuals in the community to partake in weekly exercise, but instead of focusing solely on your own health, spend some energy on the health of the environment you are enjoying.
“Litter plagues our planet, and here in this biodiversity‘hot spot’ with thousands of species to protect and preserve, it is all the more relevant to eradicate it.” Steensland emphasizes that all anyone has to do to become a Rubbish Runner is to pick up trash — on a morning stroll, on a post-work jog, on a play day at the beach, or even while “running”daily errands. That’s it. No meetings, no fundraisers, no collective decision
making. Membership is as easy as enjoying the great outdoors and leaving it a better place than when you found it. Public trash receptacles, virtually nonexistent until recently, now make rubbish running even easier, thanks to TCI Waste Disposal Services’ placement of both garbage and recycling bins at several beach
accesses.  Steensland, who began picking up litter regularly in Providenciales in 2006, says the practice came to her as second nature, having watched her father pick up trash all her life. “When I was young, I found
his habit somewhat embarrassing, especially those times in busy parking lots where many bystanders would raise eyebrows. Now those bystanders look oddly at both my father and I, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Steensland, a creative designer for TC Millwork who specializes in refinishing and reclaimed wood furnishings and cabinetry, in some instances converts the trash she finds into treasures. Recently, stray planks from a shipwrecked sloop were transformed into a kitchen island, and a downed tree was made into a table base. TCI Rubbish Runners could use your help to make the TCI a cleaner, greener place to live. To find out more, visit the Rubbish Runners facebook page or see http://www.pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/.

Field Guide Fridays – Pork and Doughboy

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Acacia Acuifera, locally “pork and doughboy” 
“Acacia acuifera only grows in the Bahamas archipelago including the Turks and Caicos Islands. It grows in coppice around the coasts of the islands. Coppiced woodland occurs when trees are regularly cut back to ground level with young shoots reappearing from the trees’ stumps. Its common name is pork and doughboy, possibly describing the sausage-shaped fruits. The tree is a favourite food source for the endemic Turks and Caicos rock iguana (Cyclura carinata) which feeds on new leaves, flowers and ripe pods. When the trees’ seeds have passed through an iguana’s digestive system, any beetle larvae which might have infested them are killed off and the seeds germinate more easily. Seeds collected from Acacia acuifera have been put into storage at the Millennium Seed Bank and seedlings resulting from germination trials are being grown on at Kew for eventual display in one of the public glasshouses.”
Above information from kew.org

Acacia Acuifera is found on calcerous soils, is classified as a shrub or small tree, and is described as having alternating leaves and reddish brown to grey twig like stems.  Their bright yellow ball flowers remind me of miniature craspedia or Billy Balls and they bloom all year long so are easily identifiable.  If you would like to see this species, the following habitats migh be explored, information from anbg.gov:

“East Caicos:
rocky headland adjacent to Good’s Hill, SE corner of island, 31 Mar 1978, W.T.Gillis 14459 (GH).

Grand Turk:
beach coppice near Gun Hill, 20 Dec 1975, D.S.Correll 46560 (F, FTG, NY);
Waterloo and vicinity, 20 Feb-24 Mar 1911, C.F.Millspaugh & C.M.Millspaugh 9025 (F, NY);
27 Aug-1 Sep 1905, G.V.Nash & N.Taylor 3775 (F, NY).

Middle (Grand) Caicos:
pineland E of Conch Bar airstrip, 3.5 miles ESE of Conch Bar, 14 Jun 1974, W.T.Gillis & G.R.Proctor 12331 (A, IJ).

Parrot Cay:
sandy soil between dunes, 3 Mar 1911, C.F.Millspaugh & C.M.Millspaugh 9204 (F, NY).

Pine Cay:
dry thicket, 26 Sep 1973, R.G.Anderson 45 (A, FLAS);
NE side, 26 Aug 1974, D.S.Correll 43193 (FLAS, FTG);
E of airstrip in open scrubland, 23 Feb 1973, W.T.Gillis 11830 (A);
stable sandy flats, scrubland behind dunes, 24 Jan 1993, P.H.Raven 28203 (MO);
sandy flats N of Meredian Lodge, 27 Jan 1993, P.H.Raven 28273 (MO).

Providenciales:
dune coppice, Turtle Cove, 14 Dec 1975, D.S.Correll 46353 (F, FTG MO, NY);
coastal coppice near the Bight, 24 Jun 1990, B.A.Neis 164 (FTG).

South Caicos:
rocky limestone coast S of Cockburn Harbour, 21 Apr 1971, D.Burch 4227 (MO, NY);
ridge running between Cockburn Harbour and airport, 11 Feb 1978, D.S.Correll 49450 (FTG);
vicinity of Cockburn Harbour, 17 Jun 1954, G.R.Proctor 8835 (A, IJ);
G.R.Proctor 17496 (A);
14-16 Dec 1907, P.Wilson 7591 (F, GH, NY).

West Caicos:
NE of Company Point along N coast with thatch palm, 3 April 1975, W.T.Gillis 12404 (A, IJ, MO).”

DIY Pillow Cover

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Before: placemat
I am a huge fan of recovering throw pillows.  Fresh covers can update a room or piece of furniture easily and affordably.  Here is one of the quickest conversions I have used time and time again. Purchase a double sided fabric placemat, take out a 2-3 inch section with a seam ripper, stuff and restitch the seams together.  These two ivory and black pillows took 25 minutes!
After: Decorative Pillows