Going to Build

 . . . tie a knot and hold on" Thats how the saying is supposed to go. At one point several years ago I worked for an Operating Room that was going through a lot of changes. Our charge nurse found this cute little saying and thought she would burst morale, little did she fully understand what critics an OR staff can contain. Not that Im proud of it now, but my younger, more passive aggressive self walked around one evening with a sharpie and modified every sign I could to read "When you get to the end of your rope, tie a noose and hang yourself."  The curse is I took what could be an up beat reminder to stay happy and focused and drowned it in my defeatist sarcasm forever. Now whenever I think of that saying, or hear someone say they are at the end of their rope, a noose is the only thing that comes to mind.

I am kind of battling that same mentality right now and all I have to do is convince myself to hold on and well come out the other side soon. I also have to remind myself to stay away from the proverbial gallows pole. In my quest to refurbish, renew and add to my hand tools I am starting to walk the line. Some of these items have been used and abused by myself for a few years, and god knows how long by others before they got to me. I have learned a ton along this curve and god knows they were needed lessons, I see the need for a book out there to help others walk a similar path. (maybe I will write that myself one day because I havent found one that I think does the entire process justice) but the truth is Im not a woodworker because I like to MAKE tools, Im a woodworker because I like to USE tools to MAKE sawdust. And though there has been some of that along the way, I feel like I am putting in a lot of work, and in my conscious mind I know Im making progress and doing well, but in my subconscious mind Im doing a lot of work and there is not much extra or new to show for it. Mostly I am working on the tools I own, not adding new ones, so I see nothing extra or added in my minds eye to prove progress, and I get restless at times when I see no progress.

Its the difference between hanging drywall and finishing drywall. Hanging drywall is very satisfying, you have bare studs before you, and you get to work. Several sheets up and you can see progress. Several more sheets and you have transformed bare studs into a wall. Then comes the muding, taping, and sanding to finish the drywall. You still know you are making progress, but you feel like you are covering the same ground again and again, revisiting the same dimple in the wall over and over. Hanging drywall - very gratifying, finishing drywall requires more persistence and discipline.

I guess I still have to work on the discipline part a bit.

The planes were finished today, just the scrub plane in the mail to go. For good measure I also took apart all my spokeshaves today and sharpened them as well. So the planes are done (again minus 1) so I set up to sharpen the last two saws of the four brothers. Then I made the mistake of coming upstairs to get a drink and take a break. I never made it back down to the shop. Instead my wife and I ended up taking an impromptu Saturday afternoon nap together. (I must admit, that was pretty gratifying as well)

Next on the agenda is remaking handles for my bench chisels. Out with the crap poly-plastic handles and in with some nice oak  wooden ones. The trick will be making them without a lathe set up... Rasp, drawknife, spokeshave, and scraper card I guess. Well see how it goes. Anyhow until then

Cheers

Oldwolf

Landscaping is a lot of fun and can be much rewarding in the end. That is, if the whole landscape design is perfectly harmonious to the architectural design of your home. But what if it is not? Or what if you are growing weary of that same sight for many years that seemed to have similar looks as all the others in your neighbor hood? Then, you might want to consider redesigning it.

You don’t need to get an overhaul or major repair. All you need to do is to take or move off some landscape pieces, say old trees and flowers. You can also opt out the tiles and prefer something that will yield a better, natural-looking landscape. Boulders are a good choice for this matter. Yes, you should try landscaping with boulders. It will bring out a whole new look to your yard and you will love the excitement that boulders can bring out of the entire landscape design.

If you are going to use boulders in your landscaping, be prepared with stronger men beside you though. Boulders are heavier than they look; thus, can be difficult to transport from one place to another. Having said that, it is therefore a must to carefully plan for the spots where they are going to be positioned. You might want to consider placing them in permanent positions.

The fixtures and elements that come with boulder landscaping will be better off if you place them in permanent positions too. If these are done in the right places, you will find that boulders can be great as a magnificent outlet for your creative instincts.

What boulder type should you use?

Boulders come in different sizes and shapes; therefore, you have to determine what type you should incorporate with your landscaping idea. If your place is not that big, using gigantic boulders will ruin the plan. In the same manner, using smaller boulders if your yard is spacious will result to the place swallowing them; thus, a ridiculous sight. The color is one aspect that must be carefully chosen as wrong color picks can end the landscape design not too pleasant at all.

Be wise to select the right ones then as you are going to use them for permanency. If you have got a certain mood, you can choose a monotonous color to treat that landscape mood right all year round. But if you are not certain what mood you prefer, you can alchoices select several colors of them. When putting the boulders, you can group each color family, or you can re-invent by mixing and matching together for a different look.

By the choice, boulders do come in a variety of shades, including vibrant yellow, red, calming white or fresh ivory, soft grays with streaks of green moss, and black. With these color choices alone, you have different options for your landscaping plan. And that is the good thing about boulders because they come in exciting colors that surely give you nice options to match your preference and taste.

Color has an exciting influence that plays up with the entire landscape design, so you can actually use your boulders as medium to sort out the different areas of the garden and transform them into a calming or energizing spot. Whatever it is that you prefer, landscaping with boulders will render an air of solidity which, of course, gives you that nice, rewarding feeling knowing you got it permanently fixed with your garden.

Hope you all had a great weekend! We finished and submitted our upcycle project for Creating with the Stars!! I cant tell you which project is ours, but I hope that you love it as much as I do!! :)


Stop by East Coast Creative to vote for your favorite project between now and Tuesday at 10 PM EST. Votes will be tallied on Wednesday, and the top 9 will move on to next week.

I was busy last week, so Ill have lots of fun projects/tutorials to share with you a little later this week!

Finally a little weekend wrap up. We had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Novo. They have the best outdoor patio on the creek and of course great food! 


We also love going here, because Annabelle can come too. She loves duck hunting (see its tail to the right of the middle railing?)


Finally, Sunday was such a pretty WARM day. Weve been having a lot of rain and cool days recently, so it was nice change!


Dont forget to stop by East Coast Creative and vote for your favorite project (it only takes a minute :) Let me know if you can pick mine out of the crowd (of course I cant reply until a little later :)

I cant wait to share the project and tutorial with you after voting ends on Wednesday!

The cafe rod that I had for the master bedroom was too short ... ugh! After thinking a bit we decided that a simple dowel rod would be the perfect solution


We purchased a $1 dowel rod from Michaels  (just big enough to slide into the smaller half of the cafe rod) painted the center black with acrylic paint



It blends right in and couldnt be easier! Sure beats buying a new rod!


I am off to start sanding the table for under the tv!