Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
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What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
Good you are finding something to do Jim
It's spring time, always too much to do. I probably shouldn't have started on this project now, but it's been driving me crazy. I got the worst of the metal done today. Still plenty to do.
Today I polished our bedroom furniture. I dust occasionally but this time everything came off the furniture to polish the wood. Cleaned all the knickknacks, etc which were on the furniture. All that's left in the bedroom is the windows and curtains. Going to wait for warmer weather when the windows can be opened and let the nice fresh air indoors.Hope everyone is staying safe during this stressful time.
We just had some helpers do deep cleaning and that was great but I know what you mean about knickknacks as i had to clear off all of the furniture in the entire house and it took me days to wash them and put them all back again besides the time it took to find all of them again.
Nina wrote: "We just had some helpers do deep cleaning and that was great but I know what you mean about knickknacks as i had to clear off all of the furniture in the entire house and it took me days to wash th..."Ha! And try to put the knickknacks back in the original order. Doesn't always happen.
Today is my bday - got up at 530am to do the "senior" shopping at 6am to local grocery store. Luckily I was able to get most of the items on grocery list. Hubby and I then took a drive to local lake and I did some walking.
Going to order celebration dinner from Outback who will deliver.
All in all will be a good day. Staying Safe. Hope you all are as well.
Glad you had a Happy Birthday, Linda and many more
Thank you, Nina. Cheesecake from Outback will be enjoyed later :)
Stay Safe
Thanks much Jim. Stay Safe Everyone. I'm not going grocery, etc. shopping for at least 2 weeks!!!
As an IT guy, I've been slammed supporting users working remotely & other chores. It's spring here & everything is in bloom on the farm, but we've also had a lot of rain until recently. The past week has been really nice, though. I don't know how I'm ever going to manage going back to working all day in the office again. It's great to be able to work a few hours then go outside to work outside for a few. When I don't get called in by some user with a problem, I feel like I get a lot more accomplished. I'm eager & don't get nearly as tired.
Jim, good to hear a positive at these trying times! Getting to enjoy the benefits of being at home to work. I like that for a break walking out onto the deck and having a cup of coffee. Or, interacting with my husband, having lunch together. All positives. In an office there are a lot of interruptions and daily nuances. Something to be said about having the ability to get a task done without interruptions, distractions, etc., able to focus. Not going back to a project and saying now where was I ...
Being with coworkers and having interactions with people is nice though.
Went for a ride up north yesterday, stopped at a couple of lakes. Beautiful day. No one at the lakes (stopped at 3) just us.Today is my work from home day. I'm at the dining room table looking out onto deck - maybe i'll catch a glimpse or two of migrating birds.
Jim, I put up one hummingbird feeder. Do you have yours out yet? Nina, do you put out bird feeders?
I just put my first hummingbird feeder out a couple of days ago, the first week in April which is normal time. I usually don't see one until the beginning of the third week in April, according to my notes. Once I see one, I'll put up another & continue adding them up to four. We had quite a few last year, so I'm not sure how many we'll have this year. Usually there is a boom year followed by a few bust years. I'm not sure why. Sometimes I've read about a hurricane in the Gulf that probably killed large numbers as they migrate that way, but usually I have no clue.
Seventy five degrees today and lots of trees blooming and saw my first butterfly on my walk and cleaning the birdbaths. Some things are back to normal.
We have two; one on the kitchen window that makes it fun to watch as all of us have breakfast
Jim wrote: "I just put my first hummingbird feeder out a couple of days ago, the first week in April which is normal time. I usually don't see one until the beginning of the third week in April, according to m..."Well, none today. Although other birds stop near it then fly over to the seed feeder. Love those hummers- I'll keep looking. Easy to do when one has more time on their hands.
Nina wrote: "Seventy five degrees today and lots of trees blooming and saw my first butterfly on my walk and cleaning the birdbaths. Some things are back to normal."75 oooh so nice. Have you ever gone to a butterfly arboretum or a botanical garden? So much fun. We would go yearly (for several years) to the Botanical garden in Montreal. Lovely place.
Good to do some normal seasonal tasks.
Nina wrote: "We have two; one on the kitchen window that makes it fun to watch as all of us have breakfast"I have too many hummingbird feeders. The ones I have hanging on deck need to be taken in at night because of those critters called Racoons. :)
Yes, we do have a Botanical garden on the outskirts of our city area and I visited a lovely one in Fort Wayne, IN.
Spring not here yet - snow flurries this morning at 37 degrees. No humming birds spotted yet.
Botanical gardens are great! Making sure I visit one when we are given the go to move around.
We had a high of 80 day before yesterday. This morning it was 33. Brrr...
The asparagus has started coming up. Yummy.
eighty nine degrees yesterday and twenty eight at night. Crazy.
Since I'm working from home, I haven't had to set the alarm, but I still get up about 5am. I put in a few hours of work then take the dogs for a walk before going out to the shop for a couple of hours. I alternate between the shop & computer work the rest of the day before coming in for dinner around 7pm. It's GREAT!I'm getting a lot of fun projects done in the shop. Some are using up scraps. I'm making a lap desk out of 1/4" white oak that's finger jointed, about 18"x11" - 3" tall at the back sloping to 2" at the front. I was a little shy of the oak, so I edged the top with Brazilian cherry. The bottom is made out of Red cedar scraps that are only 3/16" thick, so I put clear epoxy on one side. I'm going to try to leave it plain on the inside so that nice smell permeates the box. It will be hinged with one that I salvaged from a box that had Forstner bits I bought from Harbor Freight.
The laptop desk needs a lot of drying time between steps, so I've been going through my Woodworker Journals. I have a DVD set of them for 25 years or so & they have a lot of great projects. For instance, I made up a jig & used it to make 8 trivets out of oak & maple. They're just 6" squares of 3/4" stock that are dadoed diagonally on both sides. Once the jig is made & the dado blade is set, they take just a couple of minutes to cut & a few more to sand. Since they're going to have hot stuff on them, I didn't put any finish on them.
Who knows what trouble I'll get into today?
:)
Jim wrote: "The asparagus has started coming up. Yummy."I've never had fresh from the garden asparagus. Sounds great!
Nina wrote: "eighty nine degrees yesterday and twenty eight at night. Crazy."Been in the high 40's low 50's with a wind so feels colder. Lucky you with some nice warm weather. I'm waiting for some here so we can sit out on deck and drink our coffee.
Jim wrote: "Since I'm working from home, I haven't had to set the alarm, but I still get up about 5am. I put in a few hours of work then take the dogs for a walk before going out to the shop for a couple of ho..."Do you have a list of projects to do? Maybe a wish list of possible projects? Jim you never seem NOT to have anything to do. A very energetic person.
We have wood scraps in the garage and I look at them and say what would a creative person who with wood work knowledge do with these scraps? Then my mind goes blank and I walk away!!! ha ha
Today work in the morning. Then, I think its time for hubby and I to take a ride down by the lake just to get out of the house for a bit.
our temps are forty degrees below normal; and snow predicted tomorrow night.
The asparagus isn't growing very fast, so we still haven't had any. What a teaser. We love it & our patch is now 12 years old, in its prime. Usually once it starts coming in, it grows quickly, but our weather got colder. A week ago it was 80 one day while it was 25 this morning. Marg & I have separate dry erase boards on the front door with tasks to get done, but mine is empty. I've kept up with all of them. As for other projects, I do requests for family & friends, but otherwise just do what I feel like. I don't run out of ideas easily. I have a lot of material around & like to do odd things. I might make up some more napkin holders out of horse shoes soon. They take a while since I have to clean up the shoes.
If they're steel, they require a wire brush & a day or two electrolicizing the rust off. (I use a battery charger & a bucket of water with a bit of baking soda.) Then I have to paint them quickly or they'll rust again. Once done, I then fit them with the soles about 2" apart on a block of wood & epoxy them in. Projects like that can eat up time even though no single one takes much.
Sunny cold morning. About 40. We received 3 yards of soil. Itching to go outside and start moving the soil and making some garden beds, replacing areas that the snow/water run off eroded the existing dirt. Just get outside and work in the yard. Not sure how long we will last outside in the chilly air but know it certainly will feel good.
After hitting 80 one day last week, the past 2 mornings have been down in the mid 20s. I planted some marigolds & other annuals in a sheltered corner by the house where my fish pond used to be. Those furthest from the house made it the first night, but last night killed them. The Golden Rain tree & magnolia are both looking rough, too.
I'm working from home with the Covid lockdown & loving it. It's given me a chance to go through my DVD of 25 years worth of Woodworker's Journal (1977-2012) & use up some of the scrap that's been accumulating in the shop. I've been on a bit of a clean up kick & was close to consigning much of it to the brush pile. Glad I didn't!Trivets
I have a lot of sugar maple around since I cut one down at the kids' house & had it cut up into boards by a neighbor. Trivets that are made from 3/4" thick, 6" square scraps (oak (left) & maple) & left unfinished. A 400 degree muffin pan left them unmarred. They're one piece, just dadoed to make the lattice effect. I made a jig to cut them, so they don't take long to make. Setting up the dado blade takes the longest.
Here's the jig:
The Little Boss (aka my daughter, Erin) wanted a lap desk & I had a bunch of thin scraps around. The White oak is 1/4" think & the Red cedar I used for the bottom isn't quite 3/16" thick, so edge gluing & finishing them into wide boards was interesting. I didn't have quite enough oak, so I edged the top with some Brazilian cherry scraps. For as thin & light as this is, it's amazingly sturdy. Both the top & bottom boards were finished with clear epoxy to add strength & make them smooth as a baby's skin.
It's about 18" x 11-1/2", 3" at the back. The hinge is repurposed from a box of bits I bought from Harbor Freight.
Another idea from my Woodworker Journal DVD is this marble maze. It looks simple here, but wait until I glue the lid on. I'll bet it will be really tough blind. It's 6"x 8" made from oak scraps.
Here's picture of the latest wooden Erector set made out of Sugar maple with 2 different size (3/4" & 1") threaded bolts, screws, washers, & nuts plus 2 wrenches & screwdrivers all made from wood. The toolbox itself comes apart to provide material. I finished this one a while ago & had made a smaller one for the first grandmonster.
That erector set is a marvel. Such good interesting work Jim.
Personally, I love the trivets and the lap desk and would buy them. Erector set looks fantastic. Yesterday was a lazy day. Sinuses got to me (due to the rain and hail and periods of snow falling. Crazy weather. Wrecking my head and equilibrium. This morning my head is better - took a sinus tablet as soon as I woke up as I have plans of doing some yard work. Expect weather temp to be almost 60. So far the sun is out. Should be good.
Thanks, Linda. The lap desk isn't for sale, of course. If you want a trivet, just PM me your address & I'll send you one. Specify oak or maple.
A sunny 60 degrees. Cool in the shade with the wind. Donned my mask and gloves to gas up car - great rate at $1.95 per gallon. Whoooo hooo!
Ran into local Stewarts (make their own ice cream and other items) to pick up some ice cream. Glasses were getting fogged up because of the mask and eye glasses. Someone said to treat my glasses with shaving cream. Then put on the mask. Will give this a try next time I'm in a store.
I have the fog problem, too. Thanks for the tip. We're about the same temp & weather. I mowed some yesterday & it was chilly. No place colder than the seat of a tractor.
Our exciting task today - getting new tires for my car. At least its something to do, and an important task. My husband will follow me down to the tire place and then we'll mosey around and take a car ride. Need to be home by 4pm as we are getting an Instacart grocery delivery. This wasn't available to my area 2 weeks ago. Will see how this works out. Something new.
At 6:44am its a cold morning - 30 degrees with SUNshine!
Off to my dining room table today to "go to work." Who knew I would miss the ride to and from work which before this Virus bored me.
It's a nice day here right now, but a front is moving in. I had a 'meeting' at work that turned out to be nothing at 9am, so I nipped out earlier to go to the grocery & hardware stores as well as to drop off a couple of packages at UPS. It's the only time I've been out since a brief run into work last Thursday. I'm quite content to stay home, though. Lots to do!
Raining heavily right now. I'm on a lunch break. Checking emails while eating lunch.
Lots of things that seemed import then don't now. Or vise verso
Nina wrote: "Lots of things that seemed import then don't now. Or vise verso"So true, Nina.
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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I tend to stockpile stuff, just in case. It works out well sometimes. The lamp at my wife's end of the couch went out & I had a replacement lamp holder in stock. When I needed a reel for fencing wire to fit on the 3 point hitch of my tractor, a new one was over $400. I made one up out of scraps in a few hours. BUT some of that stuff has grown whiskers. Of course, if I get rid of it, I'll probably need it a week later...