Finally feels like winter

Another week has passed and we finally saw some snow. This means one thing to me. Cross country skiing!! Alas, we still have to work and clean house and buy groceries. I try not to let that stuff get in my way too much.  As I've told most of you, my job is pretty cool, and the work load is similar to what I did when I was teaching.  On the other hand, I have a lot less control about how I use my time after school hours and am often at the school until 8 or 9.  Honestly, the work is usually somewhere between fine and fun, but it does take a toll on me to be away from Sarah, the dogs, and my home.

We had teacher appreciation night last week at one of the girls basketball games.  It was really cool and lots of teachers showed up for the game.  We all wore red to show our support for the team.

The action was intense.

We had a house guest last weekend.  That's Carli in the background.  I love her.  She is such a dog.  Sarah nailed it when she said that Carli reminded her of the dog from Up!  She wanted to go for lots of walks and was a good natured pest about it.  So that's what we did.  Jonas was a little pouty about the attention she got, but he also played a little with her and benefited from her walk demands, so it was really a win win.

Walking the gingers... for like the third time in one day.

Margaret was kind enough to get us our first children's book.  It's got cardboard pages and is scratch and sniff!  I'm sure the kid is going to love it.  I like it alright, but it sure makes me thirsty!  Notice Carli in the background crashed out on Eva's queen bed.  It was quite a spectacle to watch everyone vie for nap space.

SNOW!  This is how I like it.  No tracks.  No people.

After I went skiing, and had to keep stopping to cross logs, I went home, got Carli (because she was at the door polishing the floor with her tail), and headed back out to do some trail maintenance.  My shadow was pretty cool with the axe slung over my shoulder.

Undercut champion.

Nathan gave me this awesome horse skull a long time ago and it sat in my shop.  It didn't look bad sitting on my desk, but I always wanted to figure out a way to hang it up.  Since Sarah got me a bandsaw for christmas, mitered joints have become a lot easier, so I slapped this frame together real quick and made some space on the desk... which I immediately filled with something else.

And on to another project!

Night skiing.  Because that's when I get home and it beats sitting on the couch watching TV.

Morning skiing!  Because it's awesome.  Still no tracks!

Afternoon hike with Jonas.  "You didn't finish the job, dummy."  

"Well, I got tired.  The axe isn't exactly meant for this kind of work."

"Excuses, excuses.  Get up here and fix my trail."

"Ok"

Note that I only cut it wide enough to walk or ski through.  No snowmobiles!

Gobble gobble!

The End Table

Sarah and I are going to build a kitchen table this spring, but we haven't made much progress on it.  It's going to be a big (and messy) job.  In the mean time, along with the leather working, gardening, pruning, etc. I built a little end table out of some of the scrap barn wood and a pallet.  Mostly I wanted to practice some of the skills we'll be using for the larger table.

I started with a chunk of wood about two inches thick in some places and not so thick in others, and 14" x 20".

The board was a little bowed, a little twisted, and a little warped.

The bench vise has been a great addition to the shop.  I feel so cool using it with my hold fasts and even made a rough bench dog to help at times as well.

After quickly squaring up the sides, the real work began.  A lot of material had to be removed in order to get the bottom level and ready for legs.

I wanted the worn surface to be the one that was exposed, but obviously that side wasn't conducive to holding glasses vertically.  So what I came up with was the idea to build a frame around it and use a bar top epoxy to create a level surface.  I tried to make dovetail joints, but it didn't go real well.  I wound up with some decent box joints in the end.

Harrington's Wood Shop: Sawdust, shavings, and other fine wood products

I'm not sure it's done yet.  It probably needs a coat or two of finish on the legs, and Sarah says it can't stay in the middle of the floor.  I can't imagine why.  I'm pretty happy with it, and happy to have it done.  Next up, a huge circular kitchen table.  I'm sure we're ready.

Pruning and Building a Seed Rack.

So regardless of the continuing snow, wind, and cold weather, Sarah and I have begun preparing for spring.  A couple weekends ago we took a pruning class together at Cornell Plantations.  The guy that taught it was awesome, and Sarah had met him in another class she took on gardening.  The class lasted most of the day and began inside with a detailed account of the four defense systems of a tree and how they relate to each other and to pruning.  We went outside then and about 12 or so of us were turned loose on the shrubs and trees along the main pathway into the building!  Needless to say, we all started out relatively hesitantly.  We snipped little pieces here and there.  By the end, we were suggesting the removal of large limbs and even entire conflicting trunks!  It was great.  Sarah and I couldn't wait to get home and put our newly developed skills to use.

This shrub came with the house.  We like it, but obviously it was getting overgrown.  Time for a trim.

One of the rules of pruning is not to remove more than a third of the overall mass of the plant.  With this one, we decided to cut back the canopy and cut out some of the older and conflicting branches.

Yer supposed to be able to throw your hat through an apple tree when you're done pruning it.  With good aim and the right hat, I think this one would fit the bill.

This one we're pruning more for it's aesthetic.  When we bought the house, this poor guy was completely overwhelmed by pricker bushes.  We cut them back and now the tree has a pretty cool bonzai-like look to it.

With the pruning done, we turned our sites on the garden.  We're still a couple months from the last frost, so we headed inside.

 The shop got filled up again.  I wish there was more space and a dedicated place to work, but I have to admit, like everything else around this little homestead, I have a soft spot for it.

 

Sarah and I had drawn up and agreed upon a plan together and then went to Lowes or Home Depot for the wood and hardware.  I stopped at AgWay for some free pallets to finish off the shelves and save some money.

 

While I worked on cutting the cross beams to length and screwing on support sections Sarah put on all the brackets.

 

It was great to work together on the project and there's something about a woman with tools that gets my heart racing.

 

Especially when her work is on the level!

 

For no fee and a little elbow grease we got many square feet of wood for the shelves.  I had to remove a few nails first.

 

Some of the pieces needed to be squared up a little.  Honestly, they needed it.  It had nothing to do with my fixation of the shk shhhhk of a sharp No. 5 Stanley plane.

 

As always, we had lots of help and supervision.

 

And there she is.  Ready to go.  In the off season, she's sturdy enough to be used as bunk beds!