No Lake But We Have An Island

Last December when our daughter and her family was visiting Connie was feeling pretty crowded in the kitchen with several sitting at the table playing games.  We moved the table down the room a bit and that helped but not having the table for additional work surface was a valid complaint.  I had made a small table out of some scrap lumber to put on the front porch next to our little cookstove so I went out and got it for her to use.  She liked having it and it has remained in the kitchen ever since.  What she really wanted was a kitchen island that not only gave her the additional work surface but would give her additional storage for pots and pans.

I told her that when I got my workshop completed that building her a kitchen island would be one of my first projects.  About two weeks ago I got started on that project.  Connie had given her input and I designed what I thought she wanted.  As I got into it I found I had misunderstood a couple of things so the design got changed slightly.  She is happy with the result.  Darryl helped me move it into the kitchen this afternoon.  Here are some photos.

The doors and the ends are made from beadboard plywood.  This view is from the front.  The back looks about the same as I put doors on both the front and the back.

This is another front view from a lower angle.

This is view of the top.  I used oak flooring that we had left over from putting down the flooring in the house.  You can see the floor in the picture which is the same material.  The island top was given a couple coats of mineral oil, which is used on cutting boards.  We may not use this as a cutting board but it can be used that way if we decide to.

The island is approximately 24” wide by 36” long and is about 31” tall.  Connie wanted it to be slightly taller than the kitchen table but shorter than her regular cabinets.  This is a comfortable working height for her.

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Black Walnut Hollow Spiral Candlestick

I turned another candlestick on my Craftsman Router Crafter from the black walnut salvaged from the old sill log from under the old house I tore down.  This stick has the hollow spiral, like the cedar candlesticks made on my brother-in-law’s Legacy Ornamental Mill (see my blog post).

 

The candlestick is approximately 11” tall.

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Another Craftsman Router Crafter Project

All of the projects I have done to date on the Router Crafter have been short pieces, mostly candlesticks and candle holders.  I am limited in length but decided to try something a bit longer.  I turned a two part tapered walking stick.  It isn’t perfect but I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.  It was made from the Eastern Red Cedar that we have an abundance of here on Cedar Ridge.

Here are some close-up shots of the stick.

This shows the top of the stick.















This show the middle section, near the top.














Here the lower section of the middle part of the stick is shown.

And, this last photo show the bottom of the stick.

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It Was A Very Hard Decision To Make

We began discussing it several weeks ago.  But that didn’t make it any easier to make the decision and then to move ahead once the decision was made.

I have enjoyed my goats.  I especially looked forward to the new kids in the Spring.  I really like good fresh goat milk.  But, the cost in purchased hay, grain and other odds and ends made the milk pretty expensive.  Part of the year we had more milk than we needed for just the two of us and then during a couple of months when the goats were dry we had no milk.

For the past few months Darryl has been giving us a couple of milkings of fresh cows milk per week.  That really takes care of our needs—cream for the coffee, milk for the cereal and an occasional glass of milk to drink.  He assured us that as long as he kept a cow he would share milk with us.

So, we finally make the decision to get rid of our goats.  I waited until Zoe had kidded and her kids were a couple of weeks old before I offered them for sale.  For some reason Brownie failed to kid this year.  She had been with the neighbor’s buck so I’m thinking she may have aborted early in her pregnancy.  Anyway, I priced her pretty “cheap” because she wasn’t producing.  To make a long story short a lady called with an interest in Brownie but by the time she got here she was thinking more about Zoe.  Finally she decided she would take both along with the little kids. 

I has been a week since they have been gone and I felt that I could write a post about it now.  I was a bit sad, both Brownie and Zoe were born here and grew up here on the farm.  They were both daughters of Annie, who had been a very good goat.  It is taking some getting use to not having them here.  But, I’m managing.

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Spalted Maple Candle Holders

Perhaps you have never heard of spalted wood.  I know I was unfamiliar with the term until just recently.  From Wikipedia: “Spalting is any form of wood coloration caused by fungi.  Although primarily found in dead trees, spalting can also occur under stressed tree conditions or even in living trees.  Although spalting can cause weight loss and strength loss in the wood, the unique coloration and patterns of spalted wood are sought after by woodworkers.”

A few years ago Darryl and I cut a maple tree that had blown down into logs, planning to mill them into lumber.  But, time passed and we didn’t get the milling done.  Late this winter we finally decided to check out the logs and decided that the wood was not as solid as it was when the tree fell.  Consequently we cut up part of the logs for firewood and I have burned quite a bit of it.  However, I noticed the discoloration in the pieces of wood and after some research found that it was spalting.

I decided to try turning some of it with my Craftsman Router Crafter.  The resulting candle holders are quite beautiful—not my work necessarily but the wood itself.  Here are a few photos.


These two are 4-3/4 inches tall and have been drilled out on top for a tea light candle or a small votive type candle.  Below is another view.


Pictured below are three candle holders I turned from another piece of maple from the firewood pile.


The tallest of the three is 4-3/4 inches tall.  Here is a view of it by itself.


The next tallest one is 3-1/4 inches tall and the shortest one is 2-1/4 inches tall.  These three are drilled to hold a regular taper candle.

 



The finish on these candle holders is clear spray shellac and then a polishing compound.

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A Couple More Candlesticks

I’m enjoying my Craftsman Router Crafter and am feeling more confident in using it.  I recently completed a couple of candlesticks made from the Eastern Red Cedar we have an abundance of here on Cedar Ridge.

This candlestick, pictured to the left, is 6-1/2 inches tall.  After turning it on the router crafter I sanded it, sprayed it with several coats of shellac, and put a coat of wax on it.








The candlestick on the right is 10 inches tall.  It was finished in the same manner as the one above.  I’ll post a picture below of both together so you can see the size difference.

















I’m working on some other turnings and will post photos when I get them done.

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After Summer Comes Spring

Following several days of summer like weather we are back to spring like weather.  We had several days of near 80 degree temperatures with overnight temperatures only in the 60’s.  Now we are barely making it to 50 in the daytime and last night it was down in the mid-30’s.

While it was summer I got all of my early garden planted.  On Monday I planted radishes, lettuce, spinach and carrots.  On Tuesday I planted potatoes and onion sets as well as beets.  I managed to do a bit of cleanup in the yard.  Connie cleaned leaves from her flower beds and set out several plants that she recently purchased.



Our 3 peach trees are in full bloom.  The redbuds are about ready to break into full bloom as well.  The lilac bushes are leafed out with bloom buds showing on the older bush.  The little weeping willow tree is leafed out and many of the trees in the woods are beginning to leaf out.

A little over a week ago we got baby goats.  Our Zoe had twin boys.



This pix was taken this morning.  They are doing quite well.

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