Project!

A while ago, my parents gave us a gift certificate to the Shaker Workshop as a Christmas present. Last weekend, we decided we were finally ready for a project. We got the kit for a No. 5 Shawl-back Shaker side chair, sanded and finished all the pieces over the last week, glued them together on Friday, and today, wove the seat - the chair is done!

It was pretty easy skills-wise, but we did learn a few things along the way. The humidity in our house is fairly low; all the tenons got smaller between the time we sanded and test-fit all the pieces (the day we brought the kit home), and the day we glued everything. Next time, we won't test-fit until the kit has been in the house a few days. We used the "Shaker Oil" finish with beeswax; it contains turpentine and smells awful. Next time, we'll use just the beeswax and some mineral oil.

The biggest lesson was in the weaving. The directions say to warp the middle of the seat, weave about halfway toward the front, and then go back and add pieces of warp to fill in the triangles at the edges of the seat. I weave very tightly, so this is really hard. For us, it would have been better to add the additional warp pieces as we were weaving each row - much easier to tack the ends that way.

You'll notice I did say "next time". I think the plan is that we'll just keep making chairs until we have enough for eight (or more?) dinner guests. We're also thinking about a bench for the foot of the bed - that would be really easy weaving!

We're planning to put this chair in the bedroom for the time being, so Bryan has a place to sit when he puts on his socks.

From Other Crafts

From Other Crafts

Personal Mobiltiy Device

Andrea Bartelt posted a link on facebook for a lightweight, small "thing" one could sit on that moves around like an electric scooter, so I put it here for those without facebook. I wonder if I could balance on one of them. I think I could often use one. I needed it at DisneyWorld to get from my hotel room to the bus stop. I wonder if it would work on gravel like at a flea market.

Click HERE for the link. If the ad doesn't start on its own, click the arrow.

Darleen Whines Again

I got a pneumonia shot on Tuesday in my right arm and the nurse warned me it would be sore. Although I was and continue to be diligent to keep that arm moving, "Sore" is a HUGE understatement. I was unable to pull up the blankets to cover myself last night with the "sore" arm. That's Nuts!

Blog Post!

Hi Everyone!

It was a very exciting weekend because Emily came to visit. She brought a lot of tasty Maine shrimp with her, so we made lots of tasty food. On Saturday night, we made paella (delicious), and then we made abelskiver. No raisins, so we used fresh cranberries. They were also delicious. Since I have two pans, we did a side-by-side comparison: we used canola oil in one pan, and butter in the other. The butter was better. (Is anyone surprised by this?) I recommend it for the next time you make some. We did make just 2/5 of a batch, and that was plenty for the three of us, for dessert, bedtime snack, and breakfast.

On Sunday morning, we made shrimp scramble, with a bunch of eggs and veggies and cajun spices. Then, we went cross-country skiing. It was Bryan's second time skiing, and Emily's fourth (?). They both did very well and have way more energy than I do. We all had afternoon naps. For dinner, we made shrimp chowder (delicious again), and some pumpkin bread for dessert.

Emily left after we went to work this morning, so I assume she is safely back in Maine at this point, since she didn't call to say otherwise.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Nothing in Particular

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow.

GO PACK GO!!!!

They better win, I need a new sweatshirt.

I really need to post some pictures of something.

Christmas stuff

Christmas was just odd this year. People kept leaving and coming. It just went by too fast. I have a picture of the basket I made for Deanna as part of her laundry themed gift. She also got a clothespin apron and homemade laundry detergent and powdered soap.

I also made a few sheep by felting roving around styrofoam for the fireplace mantle. Their little legs are cinnamon sticks with black painted on hoofs. I broke 2 felting needles putting on heads and tails. I found it very difficult to make them sleeping as then they tend to look a bit like rabbits. Several have eyes. I added eyes until the girls told me they then looked like cartoon characters. I am trying to raise a flock so look for more next year or changes to the current flock. 

The sheep on the far right has eyes and I think quite a personality.

Andrew's Christmas Present

I now have confirmation that Andrew received the gift I made him for the Worm Christmas Exchange, so I thought I'd take the time to show it to everyone else (since I shipped it straight to Minneapolis).

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This is a new take on a theme you've seen before. It's a crate for carrying six bottles, though this time they're 22 oz. “bomber”-size bottles. I included bottles of home-brewed Milk Chocolate Stout for demonstration purposes. ;)

The components are:

• solid white oak ends and rails


• birch plywood dividers


• hemp rope handle

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One of the big departures from earlier takes on this theme is that there are no nails, screws, or other assembly hardware. All joints are hand-cut mortise and tenon (through-tenons for the side rails, and blind tenons for the bottom rails and dividers), secured by snug-fit and glue (though the dividers are free-floating). Lots of chisel work … I need to re-true my sharpening stone.

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The other experiment was the finish. Instead of leaving it unfinished, or resorting to my usual varnish/sealer, I mixed beeswax and mineral-oil (1:5 by volume). A small amount of heat to dissolve, a small amount of time for it to cool to a paste, and then a small amount of rubbing to spread it on. I'm very happy with the results; it just makes the wood look very healthy, and really pics out the oak grain. Many thanks to Andrew for clueing me in to the fact that old American Woodworker issues are available for free on Google Books, where I found hints for the mixture.

No burned designs this time. I couldn't decide on Andrew's style (and I ran out of time!).

Use it in good health, Andrew. Click any of the see more links for a couple more pictures.

Anyone else planning to post pictures of their work? We're bummed that we missed seeing all of the creativity this year.

Ice on the Lake

As I wrote down the title of this post I was just thinking we could sing that to the tune of "Smoke on the Water". (When I was teaching in Port Wing the graduating class chose and sang that song as their official Senior Song. Which I though was very inappropriate. )

ANYWAY, the winds last week really blew the ice around and pushed it up on shore. Some of the hills look 15- 20' high. I am not sure what this shore ice is called, for now I will call it the "Continental Shift of Ice".

The neighbors behind us were all really worried about their boat houses.

Here is another closeup so you can gauge ice thickness before the break up.  Guess we don't have to travel far to look like we live in the Arctic.

Photos from Thanksgiving

Some photos are a little blurry but others are great. Here they are....






Remember you can view the photos larger by clicking once on the actual photo. Then click on the blue arrow buttons on the top of the photo to advance through the slide show. 

Thankful for Thanksgiving

I just want to say what a lovely Thanksgiving that was. Thank you Darleen and Jeff for having all of us.
It was pure joy to be able to have all of us together. Wonderful to see John, Beth, and Mark, again.
I only wish it could have lasted longer.
I love you all!!!!
Deanna