Coffee Table (Finally)

~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes it is easier to start projects than to finish them. Okay – it is almost always easier to start than finish. The new coffee table was no exception.

I had the table frame and top constructed in May. Then life came in the way. We had to complete some house projects and replace windows. Travel for work. Yard projects. Time with the kids. It is easy for the days to slip to weeks and to slip to months. But the project is finally finished and in the living room. It isn’t perfect, but it is the most complicated project I have made to date.

It is constructed of solid cherry – with the drawer bottoms made from 1/4″ plywood (I was running out of wide cherry, and the plywood bottoms can be glued into the drawers and won’t move with the seasons. I finished the project with a single coat of shellac and then Enduro-Var as a top coat. This is my first project using Enduro-Var, and it is great. The water-based finish dries quickly and looks great. I think I have my new go-to finish. Next time I’ll try spraying it.

Cherry coffee table – drawer detail.
Cherry coffee table – completed.

Sunday morning at Mystic Seaport

~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

We got a membership at Mystic Seaport at the beginning of the summer to allow Will to volunteer there. With a membership, I don’t feel bad making a short visit, and I have gotten in the routine of taking Izzy (and sometimes Will and Ben) for an hour or two on Sunday mornings while Susanna goes to the gym.

Exploring the ships at Mystic Seaport
Looking over the stern of one of the boats at the Mystic Seaport
Playing in the gravel near one of the anchors on the grounds of Mystic Seaport

Mystic, Monday Morning

~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

Today I dropped Will off at the Mystic Seaport so he could start his week as a junior volunteer (helping with a summer camp). After dropping him off, I went to the Mystic Art Museum to drop Ben off where he is an assistant during one of their summer camps.

Izzy and I spent a few minutes hanging out by the water by the Museum, then went home to grab stuff that Will had forgotten, and back to the Mystic Seaport until lunch time. Izzy was a very tired girl from the beach yesterday – but she loves the Seaport. Lots to walk around and explore.

Playing with the gravel outside of the Mystic Art Museum
Playing at the children’s museum at the Mystic Seaport
Walking at the Mystic Seaport

Sunday morning

~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

Susanna takes yoga every Sunday morning, so I get a morning alone with Izzy the weeks the boys are at their mom’s house. This morning we (I) picked up the house and ran the vacuum and Izzy and I headed out to the Preston Park. The weather was perfect, and getting to the park at 9AM almost guarantees that we will have the playground to ourselves.

Figuring out how to climb through the tunnel on the playscape.