Susanna and I took a short escape to the Berkshires this weekend. We spent last night in Lenox, MA and enjoyed a tour around western Massachusetts today. Here are some pictures from the trip.
A short escape to the Berkshires
The next project
Although the workshop reorganization isn’t totally complete – the workshop is looking pretty good. And since, I don’t want to only spend time cleaning and organizing the shop, I started the next woodworking project today. And yes, part of it is because it is more fun to start projects than finish them. But I plan on trying to keep putting away and sorting out the workshop as I build this project.
I am starting to build two nightstands for the boys (one each to start with). I started with a classic shaker side table plan from Fine Woodworking, and modified the design. The tables will be a little narrower than was in the magazine.
The fist step was to take the plan and make a story stick with the appropriate measurements. That way I don’t have to use a tape measure and risk cutting things to the wrong size. I just have to take the story stick and mark out each part. The story stick was a scrap piece of oak I had in the workshop.
The two tables will be made from red oak. If they turn out nice, I will make another pair out of cherry for our bedroom. After marking out the dimensions, I made an estimate of how much wood I would need and headed out to the barn to pick out wood. I am using a tree that I had cut into boards a couple of years ago. The lumber is beautiful. It is clear and the boards are thick (probably 1 1/4″ thick each for the thin boards) – so it should be no problem getting nice wood for the project. There is enough lumber from that tree to make several more matching pieces of furniture for the boys.
Of course the lumber was on the bottom of the stack in the garage. I had to unstack the pile, pull the lumber I needed out, and then re-stack the pile. I think Tucker was the only one that enjoyed that part of the project – I uncovered a mouse nest which is endless fun for a beagle to dig through.
After getting the lumber out I started marking out the boards. The next step is to cut the boards to rough size. This will allow me to easily mill the boards (it sucks to try to mill a 10-foot long board), and I can plan out the nicest looking pieces for the most visible parts.
A couple of things that will be a challenge for this project:
- Each table will have a drawer. I haven’t built drawers before, and will plan on hand dovetailing the drawers.
- I will attempt to resaw the sides of the drawers (they only need to be 1/2-inch thick). If I can’t do the cut on the bandsaw, I will try to resaw by hand. It is a waste to use the planer to take a 5/4 board down to 1/2-inch thick.
- The legs will be tapered. I haven’t figured out how I will taper them yet. The magazine shows a jig for the tablesaw. I’m thinking I will either taper them on the jointer or use the bandsaw (followed by a hand plane).
Workshop Progress
Today wa a chore day. The boys had friends over and, for the most part, spent the day playing rather than fighting. I spent time organizing the garage as well as the wood pile under the workshop. The chilly morning encouraged me to install all but two of the storm windows.
After morning chores, I spent time picking up and organizing the workshop. I have most of the bigger power tools where I want them (or at least where I think I want them). I have as much of the floor put down as I have lumber for right now. Now it is time to clean up and find a home for everything. It helps me keep somewhat organized if everything has a place. Not that I always put things back in their places. Actually, it is a challenge to keep any space organized. But having a home for everything helps.
I added a small “desk” in the corner. I’m not sure I’ll use it too often, but I like the look. It is just a deep shelf at desk height, nothing complicated. But it will give me a place to plan projects. At least in theory. I’m sure I’ll mostly plan projects sitting on the couch in the living room. I’ll also now have a place to put the chair when it isn’t in use.
I am nice and tired tonight. So are the boys. And the dogs. Back to work tomorrow. At least it is a short work week.
A Pokémon start to the day
Maybe they got their fighting out of their systems yesterday. Probably not. But at least the boys are starting the day off by playing. It gives me time to do chores.
Sunday morning bike ride (and other nonsense)
While the weekend may be almost over for Susanna, the boys and I have one more day off. The boys even had a half day of school on Friday, so it is an even longer weekend. Although, Will and Ben spent most of Friday afternoon fighting, so it wasn’t really much of a gain in that department. I, at least, got to enjoy an extra afternoon off of work spending quality time with both of them. Mediating the fights. Maybe they are just trying to emulate our elected officials in Washington. Okay, the fights weren’t that bad.
The boys had soccer Saturday morning. They lost. Again. But only 3 to 1. They had friends over in the afternoon, and only spend about half of it fighting with each other (hey, still doing better than Congress). I even took all four of them (Will, Ben plus two friends) on a short bicycle ride around the corner to a local cemetery. I was very thankful that none of them crashed (or was hit by a car). So, overall, it was a successful bike ride (i.e. no one killed, and not all of my hair is gray – yet).
By this morning, I think they had tired of fighting with each other (mostly). After breakfast, Susanna, the boys and I all bicycled up to Norwich. The boys got a snack (second breakfast) from Dunkin Donuts in downtown Norwich, and we returned home by late morning. Again, a successful bike ride (for the same reasons mentioned above).
In the afternoon we headed to the Connecticut Renaissance Faire (again in Norwich – but this time we drove). We enjoyed the shows and the boys did a little shopping in time for Halloween. I was surprised that the boys sat through three of the shows. I was even more surprised that Susanna made it through the “Cirque du Sewer” show – a rat carnival. Of course Susanna and I sat near enough to the back that she didn’t have to get a good look at the rats.
We rounded out the day with a game of “Settlers of Catan,”, which I finally won. Hopefully the boys will sleep in tomorrow morning. But who am I kidding. They are up at 6am on the weekends, but need someone to kick them out of bed in time to catch an 8am school bus during the week. I’m sure it is some sort of karma for my own childhood.
Glasses
I had to pick Will and Ben at school a few minutes early today so we could make Ben’s annual physical exam. In order to pick up the boys, I had to check in with the main office and sign them out there. As I was waiting for them both to come down, a teacher I hadn’t’ met before was in the office. She introduced herself as Will’s teacher.
While talking, she mentioned that she wanted to meet Ben. She said that she had heard that Ben looked a lot like Will, but wore glasses. I said, “Oh, Will wears glasses as well.” Will promptly walked into the office without glasses on. He had left them at home this morning. Of course, a few minutes later, Ben arrived wearing his glasses.
That was today’s hint that Will isn’t wearing his glasses at school as often as he should be. Or just chalk it up as another one of those ADHD moments (though this one was Will’s moment).
ADHD
I love going back and reading my old posts. I almost never have two posts in a row on the same topic. I would like to think of this blog as a great canvas, where I can paint a wonderful picture with my thoughtful words and insightful ideas. However, it is more like an out of focus picture. But at least there are nice colors in it. And it is my picture. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
William likes to say that all dogs have ADHD. So, maybe this is more like a blog that a dog would write. Though not a beagle, I’m pretty sure (not enough smells, and too many colors). However, if you read Will and Ben’s blogs, you will see that their posts wander more than mine. But they are 9 and 10, so they have an excuse.
It really is kind of fun to go back and look at what I wrote. At least it is for me – I can’t say that it would be fun for anyone else. Heck, Susanna has read them all once when they were written. I’m sure reading them all once is plenty. Well, I assume it is. Someday I’ll have to read them all myself. Granted, I wrote them all, but clearly there are posts I never read before posting. Hopefully my writing would have been better if I had actually proofread them.
As I approach 300 posts and 3 years writing in this blog, I hope I will find the focus to write 300 more posts over the next three years. Maybe one of these days I’ll actually find something interesting to write about. Once I do that, I’ll then have to try to find words that make me sound like I know what I’m talking about. What are the chances of that happening?
Round two (or three) with the workshop.
I am rearranging the workshop. Again (or rather, still – if you read my post from last week). I am making slow progress on the project, but am getting to the point where the workshop is getting back to almost usable.
I have enough of the floor installed to have most of the heavy tools back where they belong. The next project is to go through the pile of way too much stuff that I moved from the back of the workshop to the front. Hopefully I can find homes for everything, and maybe even find a way to get rid of some of the stuff.
I am only insulating the bottom half of the walls. In public, I would say that I am only insulating the bottom to preserve the look of the old walls. But, just between you and me, I am pretty lazy. It would be a lot more work to do the upper half of the walls (all the electrical wiring is run on the upper half of the walls). Maybe next year if I am inspired to insulate the rest of the space. I’ll see how bad it is to heat this winter.
The new layout certainly opens up space in the back of the workshop. I used to have the workbench out from the wall, which made it a little cramped between the workbench and the outfeed table of the table saw. I also had all the hand tools on the side wall, which meant always walking away from the bench to get tools I needed. The tools are all hanging (or will be hanging) on the back wall, over the workbench.
Maybe I’ll build a new outfeed table, and some nice shelves for all the woodworking books I have (that are sitting in a pile in the front of the workshop). I’ll see what I feel like attacking once the shop is cleaned up. Maybe I’ll just reorganize the shop again. It would be so easy to just turn into one of those people whose only connection to woodworking is reading magazines, rearranging the workshop, and periodically building shop furniture.
Ignore the pictures. The workshop is still a disaster. But an improving disaster. To keep the rest of the family busy, I arranged playdates for everyone. Will had Shane over. Ben had Slater over. Susanna got to babysit Michael. Targa and Tucker, well, life is just one big playdate for a dog. My playdate was with a bunch of air-dried pine 1×10’s and a hand saw (not to forget the cordless drill).
A crowded Sunday
Ben has his friend Slater over. Will’s friend, Shane, will be over shortly. Susanna is in heaven, watching Michael. I’ll get some peace to work in the shop. It is turning out to be a nice day. Here is Will helping feed Michael:
Mid-September update (or rather, random thoughts for the night)
I haven’t found much to blog about this month. It isn’t that I have been bored. I have been very busy. But I think I’m still working on getting used to the fall routine. I have to keep reminding myself that writing is a good way to focus on things at home. It gives me motivation to finish projects. It is certainly fun in an ADHD way to start projects. But it is no fun to only blog about starting projects. It is much more fun to write about finishing projects.
I decided to do a little more than just clean the workshop. I am doing a reorganization of the entire shop, and adding a new floor (just rough pine 1×10 boards on top of the existing floor). I moved my workbench to the back wall, under the window. I will move the table saw back a foot or two to allow for more room when cutting long boards. So far about 1/3 of the floor is installed. I’m also adding insulation around the bottom half of the walls. Pictures will follow when the workshop no longer looks like an example of typical ADHD organization (or a 10-year old’s room). Really, I will get it organized. It will just take some time.
I haven’t finished too many of the house projects that are still hanging out there. So, they are still sitting out there. But at least they aren’t in the way. I have been focusing on getting the workshop finished. I think the workshop had been enough of a mess after building the chicken coop, that I figured I might as well just do the walls and floor now. Nothing is as much fun as starting a new project. The trick is to finish them. Or at least mostly finish them. A workshop is never really finished.
Maybe this week I’ll find enough focus to finish the workshop and maybe even one of the smaller projects hanging out around the house. I’d be happy with just getting the workshop back to a usable space.