Small Projects

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Ben showing off one of his completed Christmas projects

I’ve had a couple of evenings and a full Sunday to work on small projects in the workshop. Some of the projects are my (continual) reorganization of the workshop, and cleaning up from house projects.

But I was able to get some work done. The boys and I worked on their Christmas projects. We almost ran out of time to finish them – it has been a busy month and they are missing two weekends in a row here.  We get lots of time after Christmas, but that doesn’t help with the Christmas projects.

My friend, Mark, has been over and we have been working on his drunken cutting boards. We should be able to finish his boards tomorrow – then it is time for me to make my boards.  They will have to be “after Christmas” presents.

Last weekend I built two sets of Jenga blocks and boxes. One was made from sapele (or mahogany) and the other from cedar. The sapele on is pretty heavy – we have to play it on the floor or risk hurting people when it collapses.

Will working on one of his (and Ben's) Christmas projects. No one likes to sand, but it is a needed evil.

I’ve been building a better (now my third try) clamp rack in the workshop. The last one wasn’t bad, but took a lot of wall space. I’ve also been trying to add some insulation – just enough that my kerosene heater will be able to warm up the space.

It is starting to look like I’ll have the entire week off next week.  Lots of time to finish the kitchen and get some workshop projects done. Susanna is still waiting on an island for the kitchen.

So it starts…

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One has to love fourth grade. Will announced today that he has a girlfriend. Okay, not quite announced. Maybe it was more like an admission.

Apparently he asked her a couple of weeks ago. He even gave her a ring. According to Will, “That took a lot of courage.”  He won’t tell us who she is (though I think we figured it out). Today on the bus she called him her boyfriend. Will said, “it was like an early Christmas.”

Kitchen Cabinets

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The upper cabinets hung and painted

It has been a busy week. The boys weren’t with us last weekend, so we had some time to get chores done. The missing upper cabinet didn’t get in until Tuesday, so no kitchen progress. But I did get lots of time in the workshop on Sunday. I haven’t had a full day to work in the shop in a long time. It seems that most free days are filled with home improvement projects. It was nice to take a break from home projects.

We picked up the new cabinet on Tuesday, and hung the cabinets that night. Susanna painted the cabinets and the doors this week, and tonight (after the boys went to bed) we reinstalled the doors.

I still need to finish the wall under the cabinet, and caulk the joint between the counter and the wall, but the end is in sight.  It is already a much more useful kitchen layout. Next, I’ll have to finish the island that I have in parts in the workshop. Maybe I can get that done in early January.

I’ll post pictures from workshop projects next week. The boys and I worked on Christmas projects, so I don’t want to post pictures until after the holiday.

A nice view of me installing the upper cabinets.

Let us mourn

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Let us mourn for the senseless tragedy at Sandy Hill Elementary School in Newtown. It is often far too easy to ignore violence when it takes place on the other side of the world, or even half-way across the country. It is much harder to ignore when it occurs close to home (on the other side of the state).

Friday’s events were too close. From the initial panic when seeing a news flash of an elementary school in lockdown in Connecticut – knowing that both Will and Ben were in their elementary school at that time. To the relief on finding that it was on the other side of the state. Then the sadness as the news of the real horror of what happened started making it to us.  As we collectively grieve the horror, we should not forget those who are grieving a personal loss today.

Remember those that were lost:

Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Rachel Davino, 29
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana M Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Dawn Hocksprung, 47
Madeline F. Hsu, 6
Catherine V. Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Lauren Russeau, 30
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Soto, 27
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison N Wyatt, 6

Kitchen Progress

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First lower cabinet installed

I’m still waiting on the missing upper cabinet to arrive. This gives me time to work on the lower cabinets.

I ripped out the existing cabinet. It is in pieces in the front yard (here’s to hoping that Susanna gets time to move the debris under the garage tomorrow).

I was able to get the lower cabinets in and get the counter and sink installed. Our original plans were to take the evening off and watch a movie, but decided instead to see how far we could get on the kitchen instead. Tomorrow I’ll make a trip to the store to get the last piece of piping to finish the sink drain and we can get a working sink back.

And (for those following the story), Tucker spent all day sleeping on the dog bed. He got up to go out twice and eat dinner. He is still sleeping. Serves him right for disappearing for 15 hours.

Kitchen with new counter and cabinets mostly installed

Sunday Projects

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Putting the ceiling fan back up after adding the ceiling medallion

I spent some time this morning finishing up a project that had been hanging over our heads for a while.

When we repainted the living room, we had discussed adding a ceiling medallion. So I finally got around to ordering the medallion. It arrived last week, and this morning I installed it.

Fan and medallion installed

 

Disappearing Dogs

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Yesterday, the Targa and Tucker decided to take a little vacation from hanging out at home. They took off on the hike I took with the boys and them. We were pretty far in the woods when Tucker got a scent of something and off he went. Targa went in pursuit.

It was early afternoon when we went hiking. They hadn’t returned by nightfall, and we all were starting to get worried.  The boys started talking about putting up “Lost Dog” signs on every third telephone pole on Sunday if they didn’t come back before this morning. We even took a drive around the block to see if we could find them.

Nothing. Not even a Tucker bark.  We went to bed in an extra quiet, dog empty, house. Will woke up a couple of times in the night to check if they got back. I had strange dreams about finding the dogs, only to wake up to discover it was a dream (but thankfully they were dreams – I also had a dream where Will and Ben decided to steal from a toy store – maybe I had too much wine before bed).

Finally about 4 AM I woke up to the distant sounds of Tucker barking.  Yes, he is loud enough to hear through the window when he is far away in the field across the street. I went outside and called for them, but it was too dark to go looking for them.

Will woke up at six and went downstairs to find the dogs sitting at the back door. Dirty and very very tired. Tired enough to not protest a bath.