So I went a year and now two posts on the same day!

Today Faye and I met Lissy Chad and Jacob downtown at the Scioto Mile at the wonderful fountain they have installed for kids to enjoy.  Enjoy Jake does he loves to play in the water and back through the jets as they spray several feet in the air.  Jake is now fearless when it comes to playing in the water jets.  I will post a few pictures of the excursion so you can get an idea of what great fun we had!

I know I haven't posted in a long time!

Okay so the title says enough. I have been busy.  I have been collecting the tools I need to start my new past time and possible future avocation,  furniture making.  I have always loved woodworking and the possibilities many varieties of wooden furniture play directly into my fascination with wood.  I recently made an Adirondack chair for my better half Faye.  I will post a few pictures of the progress and the finished chair with Faye trying it out.

The Great Train Ride

If you have been following my blog you know that I have a love for railroading.

That being said Faye and I traveled to Akron last Sunday to take a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway. Our trip started out in a "modern" 1950's era, air conditioned, passenger car. The train was being pulled by a "modern" diesel engine of the same era to the midway point of our ride. About 45 minutes away. We were able to disembark the train at that point for a photo op of the train being pulled by the steam engine that would pull us back to Akron. The locomotive that pulled us on the return trip was a late 19th century steam locomotive fueled by coal.

The massive stature of the steam locomotive was very impressive which is why the pictures accompanying this blog are of the locomotive and the tender cars. We really enjoyed the experience. Next time a theme ride maybe. They offer several different theme rides that are a little more pricey but look very fun. If you are interested the website is www.cvsr.com.

EMHE (Extreme Makeover Home Edition)

So if you have been looking at Facebook and you are my friend you know that 1. Extreme Makeover Home Edition was in Columbus this past week 2. I have been enthralled by the aforementioned event. Oh man, I am reviewing too many legal papers, using aforementioned in a sentence. Any who, Faye and I visited the work site on Saturday and then I returned by my lonesome on Sunday.

After the visit in Saturday I was determined to volunteer for the work crew. After we came home on Saturday I visited the websites for the show and the builder and submitted my application to volunteer. On my Sunday visit I made some inquiries about volunteering and discovered that all that was really necessary was to show up with a willingness to work. Cool! I decided to take Tuesday off from my regular job and volunteer, I figured by then most of the accelerated pace framing work would be done and the finishing work would be underway.

Let me also say that on Sunday when I was visiting, Tracy, one of the designers walked by me into the house to do a spot. I was not ready for a celebrity appearances since on Saturday we did not observe any. I tried my best to get my camera, but as my parents used to say I was an hour late and a dollar short. I was determined to get a recognizable picture of Tracy so I made up my mind that I would stay until her return trip back to the secured celebrity area.

I was not expecting the outcome of my diligence to get Tracy's picture. She emerged from the house and I had my camera ready but as they do it had turned itself off. I got a couple of pictures of her as she was walking away. What did I do? I proceeded to stalk her to the end of the spectator area and asked her for a picture. She responded, only if you are in it with me! Her escort grabbed my camera and I posed with her for the picture posted above.

I also posted a picture of my t-shirt and security badge. Since this show is going to air in December there is also a picture of the ever present Santa Clauses for the Christmas themed show. I have more pictures but they show the house, I can't publish them per the non-disclosure statement the show producers made every volunteer sign.

They treated the volunteers "extremely" well. there were coolers full of soda, Gatorade, and a selection of exotic and non-exotic waters everywhere you looked. Also several tents that had tables loaded with bags of chips and stacks of candy bars. Lunch was catered in an air conditioned tent with several flat screen TV's tuned to different stations. Hot food (grilled chicken and seafood stir-fry) and a 20 foot buffet of salads, fruits and desserts.

It was a great experience, that was sweaty, fulfilling work and also a ton of fun.

Update/Apology

I have not posted here in quite a while and for that I apologize. It is not that I have not had anything to post, quite the contrary I have been very busy.

Doing what you may ask? Well first of all there is my gainful employment I do have to help Faye pay the bills for the essentials. Luckily I have a job I enjoy going to and I am there from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. five days a week. I also spend a good amount of time gardening this time of year, not so much lately though do to the ungodly heat we have been experiencing. Then the mundane day to day chores that consume so much of our time, coupled with trying to get a full nights sleep and still arise at 5:3o a.m. work days and there hasn't been much time left over.

I will also admit that when I get on the computer blogging is not at the top of my list of what I want to accomplish. So if you are one of my followers again I apologize, but that is the end of my apologies.

I am going to try to be better about my posts and attempt to post more often with content that reflects my more important accomplishments and possibly share some of my larger missteps. Well if you have stayed with this until now I am going to end your pain and ease on out of here for now.

More cabinet making.

We were hit by a major snow storm Friday. I haven't heard official statistics but my guess is we got about a foot of snow. Finnigan is loving it even though he has to lope along like a deer to get around the back yard. I will post a picture of him up to his belly in snow. I also snapped a picture of the deck with the rope lighting on and the snow on it. I have had time to work on the cabinets due to Faye being on a rescue mission to South Carolina. It seems my sister-in-law is still trying to play bumper cars with semi trucks. She is basically ok, she has some fractured vertebrae the doctors say a few weeks in a brace and she will be fine. So I will post a couple of pictures of the drawer cabinets, one is complete except for finish sanding and the other needs sides and sanded. Ready for the painting when Faye gets home tomorrow. That's all for now, updates when the mood strikes me.

Woodworking 301

It has been ages since I posted to this blog. I am working on a new project and thought I would share the progress. No I haven't given up the train layout, I am just exercising a few of my other interests and hopefully helping my lovely wife to get better organized, and more productive in her crafting endeavors. I agreed to construct a crafting station (counter-top and cabinets with drawers) for her craft room. I have started the project by drawing plans that I will download the plans and a couple of the first pictures of the build. I am starting by building the two drawer cabinets, so far I have completed the frames and the face of one cabinet and started the face of the other one. I am using a new method and tool on this build I purchased a dovetail jig at Harbor tool and freight. I priced these jigs and similar jigs cost anywhere from $100 to $200 and I bought this one for $34.00. Quite a savings if I do say so myself. I have set the jig up and made some test cuts and have it set where I want it so tomorrow I plan on dovetailing the first drawer. I will take a couple of pictures of the jig and the process and finished product . Here are the pictures and plans for your approval!