The Apostle St Paul was beheaded in this small spot between an abbey and a (now) church. 👼🏻 The cream building called the Scala Cceli was Paul’s last prison. 😢 The top floor is now a church, ⛪️ while the basement holds the original cell. When we visited there were several nuns also visiting, praying, & singing.
The courtyard and the spot to the left of the photo shows where the beheadings occurred.
There’s also another church where those People are walking, so Left- abbey, right, prison turned church, middle back- church to remember St Paul.
The prison Santa CCeli! The prison turned chapel.
Head downstairs for the Prigione or Prison. It's a small space, with an alter for worshipping now.
Behind the barred windows you will find two jail cells that would’ve been filled with people.
This is the only entrance to the cell.
They are very small- I can’t imaging these tiny spaces filled with prisoners.
And finally, there were several nuns there at the same time. They were praying, singing and worshipping! What a cool experience.
In this post, I want to focus on some of mother nature's best tricks. See, all trees have something inside of them called, tannic acid. This is the trees immune system. Much like our white blood cells, when the tree gets cut, the tannic acid rushes to the site and puts up a protective layer of resistance. This layer heals the tree and also prevents further damage. If it weren't for tannic acid, I wouldn't be able to gray out this door below-
And the best part is that each species will yield a different color. I can show you what species you should use to get these gorgeous driftwood results. This is a trick for raw wood- you can see raw alder corner door above. And then the stained and topcoated version. I can walk you through how easy it is, for you to achieve this gorgeous driftwood gray.
Materials
- Weatherwood's Reclamation stain - Save 10% with Code: WELCOME10
- Weatherwood Varnish
- Raw Alder, Birch, Beech, or Maple
- Sandpaper
- Sponge Brush or Spray Gun
Directions
1.] STAIN: In these photos and videos I used alder. But you could use alder, maple, birch or beech and get these same driftwood results. If you're trying to age a different species, just check out the Color Chart.
This is a trick for raw wood. Most stains, especially stains as natural as this one, cannot penetrate existing finishes. You'll want to start with sanded wood. The best method for application, sprayer or brush, depends on your project. But both will work. You can with stain with a sprayer, see below video:
Or you can use a brush- the video below. The application is very simple. Just apply, make sure the wood is really wet and don't wipe the stain back off.
2] TOPCOAT: Now- let's talk topcoats. For cabinetry we recommend 2-3 coats fo Varnish protectant. This is Satin.
That's all there is to it. This project is one of the easiest I could show you- but the look it to die for. You can use this look on everything from furniture, doors, walls, and floors. Questions? Leave them in the comment section below.
