Ok. It is January.  And I was outside in a short-sleeve shirt working in the yard.  I would say it is quite a welcome change from the bitter winter we had last year, but I’m probably not really thankful for the (probable) cause of the extreme weather we have been having.  It was 59 degrees out this afternoon.  I guess on the good side (in the whole carbon/global warming picture) is that I’m burning a lot less oil this year to heat the house.

I took Will to get his hair cut this morning while Ben was at his piano lesson with Susanna.  For the past year or so it has been a fight to get Will to get any hair cut off.  And when he goes to get a hair cut, he wants the smallest trim that I’ll allow him to get away from.  I told the hair stylist that I wanted to make sure that she took 1-2 inches of hair off – but make it closer to the two inches.  This time I must have let his hair get long enough to really bother him.  He had the stylist use clippers.  She showed me a picture of what he wanted and asked if it was ok to cut it that short.  I said that there was a minimum that I wanted to take off, not a maximum.  She could cut it as short as he wanted it.

Of course I didn’t take a picture.  I’ll get one later and post it.

This afternoon was dedicate to yard work.  We (mostly I – but Will, Ben and Justin did help a little) cut out a couple of big thorn bushes in the back.  We were clearing a path to where we plan to build a new bridge over the stream (it is in the woods – just upstream of the old stone wall crossing the seasonal stream).  I made a fire in the fire pit – it is always a pleasure to burn the thorn bushes.  We cleared a pretty good path, but I think a better approach for the summer may be to try and borrow Mark’s tractor to clear out the other thorn bushes.

We went under the barn and dug out 4 pieces of white oak (8 feet long, 2″ thick and 7-8 inches wide) for the bridge.  I bolted them into 14 foot lengths and Susanna helped me place them for the bridge.  The next step is to finish the frame and put the planks on top (that should use up a bunch of the scrap red oak).

Again, I failed to take pictures.  Maybe tomorrow if the weather supports.

Ben had his best friend, Anthony, over for dinner tonight.  Will was a little upset that his friends couldn’t make it over today, so he convinced Susanna to take him to the arcade at Foxwoods casino (that and a nice dinner out).  For once, Will stressed that he couldn’t find a nice enough shirt to wear out (he hasn’t tried to wear a button down shirt in a year, so he doesn’t have one that fits).  With a little help, he was able to find a presentable outfit for a night out on the town.

Susanna’s sister, Sofia, is taking most of this year to travel around the world with her friend Linda.  She has a break in employment and decided to take advantage of it.  They are heading east from Sweden, and we hope to have them visit here this fall.

They are blogging about their journey.  You can read about it here: http://lindaosofia.blogg.se/. For those of you who read Swedish as well as I do, you can use Google translate to read it in English here.

It was a nice surprise to get home to a newly reorganized library (or rather study – at least until I get bookshelves built for it so we can make it a library).

It was inspiring.  So tonight, after dinner, I headed to my own personal craft space (aka the workshop) to see what kind of shape that space was in.  Not so inspiring.  Maybe needs a little work.  What do you think?

So tonight I decide to take a little time and… well, no not organize the workshop.. take some time and come up with excuses on why it is so cluttered.  Here is what I have:

1. I am a little bit disorganized.
2. I just finished a project (well almost finished it).
3. It is just too damn cold outside to clean the shop.
4. I think I may be a little disorganized.

I started out the year by catching the cold that Ben has been fighting for the past week. A fine way to start a new year.

What are my goals for the new year?

I want to be better at finishing projects. I left a couple of projects unfinished at the end of 2011 – It is easier to start projects than finish them.

I want to build at least 6 pieces of furniture. Right now I’m planning a bookshelf and desk for the study. I’ll have to see what else pops up on the list as the year goes on.

Some other things I want to do this year (in no particular order): Go camping at least 3 times, take the boys to Six Flags, paint the house (yes big house project), take lots of hikes with Susanna and the dogs, bicycle into work more than I did this year.

I did start the year by finishing one of the projects left over from last year. I painted and installed the storm window in Ben’s room. So finally the scaffolding is down and the last storm window in the dining room installed. I also put primer on crown molding for the living room. I probably would have gotten more finished if I wasn’t fighting a cold.

I’ll post pictures later this week.

A quick review of what I did last year (and I’m sure I”m forgetting things as well) in no particular order:

• Started posting on this blog more regularly (it is really a journal for me to use and look back on what I have done, but posting it on the internet gives me more incentive to write).
• Went to Six Flags with Susanna, the boys, Mark & Jessica, and Sarah and Nick.
• Drove to West Virginia for a family vacation.
• Visited Washington DC (on the drive to WV).
• Took the boys to NYC to watch the Lucia concert
• Spent a very fun week in San Diego with work.
• Replaced the front shocks and brake lines on the jeep (with lots of help).
• Got a new car.
• Did lots of hikes in the woods with Susanna and the dogs.
• Visited NYC several times.
• Went camping twice with the boys (once with my dad and once with Susanna) at Selden Neck State park.
• Went to Australia
• Visited Stockholm
• Did a 5k fun run with the boys and Susanna.  Also did a second 5k fun run with Susanna (without the boys).
• Visited with family (many holiday dinners at my uncle’s house and had both of my parents visit).
• Did hikes with dogs on Sundays.
• Watched a good friend fight a very serious illness – and thankfully survive and regain his health.
• Planted a garden with Will and Ben.
• Stressed that Susanna had to deal with the hurricane by herself while I was in Australia (thanks again to everyone who stopped by to help out).
• Purchased a canoe (and repaired the seat on it).
• Took an underwater acoustics course at NUWC.
• Replaced the battery in my iPhone.
• Switched from a long distance relationship to having Susanna live with me.
• Found and lit sky lanterns with the boys.

I did lots of projects around the house (I had lost of help on some of these from Susanna and my dad):

• Painted the barn.
• Finished Ben’s Bedroom (complete renovation).
• Painted the dining room.
• Painted the living room (including a new ceiling and wiring)
• Added railings to all the stairs.
• Painted the porch trim.
• Built a patio.
• Refurbished and installed a bunch of storm windows.
• Installed a high-bay light in the workshop loft.
• Built shelves in the garage and workshop.
• Built a compost bin (a good way to get rid of not-so nice red oak).
• Improved the compost bin so Targa couldn’t jump in it.
• Improved the improved compost bin when Targa figured out how to jump in the improved one.
• Used the hose on Targa twice after he figured out how to get into the improved improved compost bin so that he no longer wants to jump in the compost bin.
• Repaired a window with Will (one that he broke by accident)
• Had the roof replaced.
• Cleaned out the storage loft (mostly).
• Got a piano (and had it moved into the house).
• Purchased a couch for Will’s room.

I also worked in the woodshop:

• Built two shelves (one for each boy).
• Built a fence for the router table (after watching Mark struggle with the crappy existing 2×4 oak board used as a fence).
• Submitted my desk design to the Design Matters Blog for a design critique (and got lots of good feedback).
• Built a lumber rack (pile) in the garage for the red oak I had cut in the spring.
• Built a shoe rack for the mud room.
• Built a finishing table for the basement.
• Built breadboards for Christmas.
• Built a bunch of wooden swords and guns for the boys.
• Built a storm window for one of Ben’s room.
• Took a class on saw sharpening.
• Made a saw bench.
• Drove to western Massachusetts with Susanna to pick up a trailer load of cherry boards.

I also left a couple of projects unfinished at the end of the year (but I’m doing better than in the past):

• The living room crown molding.
• The storm window for Ben’s room (needs paint).
• Finish cleaning the storage loft.
• Repair the keys on the piano.

Susanna had the week of Thanksgiving off from school.  The boys were at their mother’s house for the holiday and long weekend.  It seemed like a great time to start another house project.  It was supposed to be a quick repaint of the living room.

The room started as a wonderful sponge-painted purple with green trim.  The ceiling had a piece of drywall over a corner where the plaster is in bad shape.  The ceiling fan and light had no switches.  Yes, the light had the original knob and tube wiring hooked up to it.

I figured if we were going to repair the ceiling, I may as well run new wires (and add switches) to the ceiling light.  Susanna decided she didn’t like the patched wall under the bay windows.  So, early that week we took a hammer to the walls under the windows.  After I punched a couple of holes in the wall, I left the rest for Susanna to finish (while I ran wires).  Soon, the project became more than just a quick weekend project.

On Thursday morning I got some of the new wires run.  I had to cut a couple of extra holes in the ceiling, and one in the wall.  Thursday afternoon we took a break and went to my uncle’s house for dinner.  Then Susanna dragged me to see the new “Twilight” movie.  That was painful – it was more fun to put the drywall on the ceiling.  We decided to not do any black Friday shopping, but we did drive by the Best Buy to see the line around the corner 5 hours before the store opened up.

The electrical work was challenging.  It took all of Friday to finish the wiring.  I put in two three-way switches.  The only challenge was to make sure that the fan had power all the time (and only the light was switched.  I ran regular 14/2 wire to the first switch – but had to run two 14/2 wires between the switches (two for the switched power, one for the always on, and one for the neutral).  From the second switch to the light I ran a run of 14/3.

I also took the time to put in a fan box in the living room, and ran new wire to the dining room light – but no switches to the dining room for now.

Susanna spent Friday adding insulation under the bay window.  a couple of cans of foam sprayed on the bottom, and then R-13 batts of insulation to fill the rest of the cavity.

On Saturday I headed out to Home Depot, rented a drywall lift, and picked up 8 sheets of drywall to do the ceiling.  We spent all day putting up the ceiling and covering the section of the wall we had removed.  It is nice putting drywall up over plaster – you don’t have to worry about where the joists are – just make sure the screws hit the lath. I also made the mistake of cutting out a square opening for the fan box.  The round cover from the fan didn’t cover the corners of the box.  Time to get out more joint compound (and later change my mind to put in a ceiling medallion to hide holes).

It was pretty clear by Saturday night that we weren’t going to finish painting that weekend… so the mess in the house would be around for at least another week.  We talked about painting the floor.  I suggested that I could sand the floor and refinish it this weekend.  Finally by last Friday we decided to not do anything with the floor, and cover it with a large area rug until we could have someone refinish it this summer (as well as the dining room floor).  Sometimes it is important to just finish the project and regain your life – an old house can be one long project with no start and no end.

Sunday was spent putting up the joint compound, sanding and more joint compound.  The following week was spent putting up joint compound, sanding, priming and painting. We finally finished the painting last Sunday (a week later than we had originally planned).

The room is mostly done.  The furniture is in the room.  We still have to hang up paintings, and I have to put up the crown moulding and install a ceiling medallion around the ceiling fan.  But the room looks great.  All the outlets have been upgraded to a new 20amp circuit (Ben helped me fish wires to all the outlets on the first floor – now there are two 20 amp circuits for the first floor – not including the kitchen and bathroom circuits).

A weekend without the boys.   They went over to their mother’s house on Saturday morning.  What to do?  Maybe a weekend full of parties, drinking, and other adult entertainments?  Or a night out dancing?  So, to make full use of the free weekend, Susanna went to NYC to volunteer at the Swedish Church, and I took a saw sharpening class (taught by none other than Matt Cianci of the Saw Blog).  Yes, I am a dork (hey, someone had to be on the math team in high school).

I spent Saturday morning putting an iPod adapter into the new (to me) car.  Then drove to Rhode Island for 5 1/2 hours of saw sharpening.  There were four of us in the class, and we got through sharpening a single rip saw- it was a lot more work than I had expected.  I’m still working on a crosscut saw I started on Sunday.  It would help to have a better saw vice.  But at least I have one sharp rip saw.  Not that I really want to rip lumber by hand (that is why I have a table saw).

I don’t exactly remember, but I’m sure that we decided to go out and be crazy on Saturday night after Susanna made it back from the city.  Oh, no, wait, I must be thinking of someone else.  We hung out and watched some TV and went to bed early.  I had to get up early to clean up the workshop so Mark could come over and make some sawdust and construct a cribbage board/box.  On a bright note (pun intended) – I did get one of my 400 watt low-bay lights installed on the second floor of the barn.  It is brighter than the sun.  I have a second light.  I’m afraid to hook it up.  Not sure the circuit breaker can handle it.  I also don’t need to wear sunglasses in the workshop at night

Susanna and I finally did take some time to ourselves that afternoon.  We took a nice drive down to Niantic, had lunch at Skippers Seafood.  We enjoyed the unseasonably mild weather by walking at the beach, followed by a nice drive up to Middletown and back – exploring a couple of the smaller stores on the way.