Shelves, trees and summer

After the cake and Easter madness of Feb through April...

And after playing with my dremel and vice to make several maple, walnut and rosewood rings so I wouldn't worry about cutting off my gold wedding band....

I moved on to woodworking once the weather was warm enough to do some finishing work. Actually the rings were done while I chiseled dados and rabbets (grooves), since they drove me crazy. Thank goodness Q told me to make a set of shelves before embarking on a larger project (not begun yet), a wardrobe. I think I can safely say, "Never again," if someone asks me about chiseling dados.

There are lots of mistakes and less-than-perfect details but it was done in time for Father's Day! I asked TM to draw some flowers for the sides. I'm really glad I used a fast-drying finish because wow, putting on coat after coat on all those surfaces took a couple weeks.

Now I need a shelf for the other bathroom, and after hemming and hawing with myself for awhile, I bought a Kreg Jig, an orbital sander and a compound miter saw. I have the best husband for letting me buy toys :D. 

I moved my car out of the garage and claimed the space as MINE

Here are the kreg jig joints, filled with dowels. I didn't get the holes quite nice enough so I'm having to put filler around them but I think it'll still look nice once they're sanded and finished.

Here's my new-to-me saw (heaven!) and brand new orbital sander (dreamy!). Also my custom dust collector that hooks up to my vacuum, since the saw spews sawdust like mad.

I threw this shelf together a couple years ago, pre-kreg-jig, so now that Vivek has a nice shelf I'll make this one better and use it for the girls' bathroom. I countersunk the screw holes and am filling them with dowel pieces, added fir stops to the sides and back, maybe putting some more fir on the front, then I'll sand and finish it, then I'll put it on the stand I'm making to raise it over the toilet.

I'm loving playing around with wood. And the kids play in the driveway with chalk, water, blankets, and other things while I plot, sand, drill, and saw. I'm going to have to get another set of ear protectors so I don't have to send them to the stairs every time I use the power tools.

The other thing I've been doing lately is rallying [very few] troops to save the trees behind TM's new school. Take a look at my blog, Save Sunnyside Trees. I don't have much hope for it, I sadly admit, but someone needs to say something. No-one's happy about the development around here, and TM kept asking about what we could do for the trees, so I figured I'd better try to do something. But it feels like a lost battle, I'll admit. Sorry to seem to down about it (not the best way to run a campaign, is it?) but it does just feel that way. Lately I'm thinking that I might change my rallying cry to something that might have more reach -- like, "Please Follow the 2005 Neighborhood Plan" which is what they claim to be following but the reality is nothing like what they said they'd do way back then. Ah well. Check out the blog if you're interested. 

My motto lately is "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly" and it's saving me from a lot of misery, self-depreciation and boredom.

Now summer's upon us, which means children wake up and say, "What are we doing today, mom?" a phrase that strikes terror into my heart. Luckily, they don't mind playing in the driveway, or at the several parks kinda nearby. And the next sunny day that comes along, we'll go berry picking. And to Fort Langley and the beach and if I bribe them with chips and lollypops, they might even let me go to Home Depot.