Been a Year Break

Well, how about that. I took a year off with no warning and then I came back with no warning. Not sure how long this will last though. I am a busy bee these days. Not only am I still working on the house (this half bath is going to make me lose my sanity I think) and started a new business in January of this year. I am now the proud owner of Calm Seas Business Services, LLC. Which is right now just a name of a business because I have not had time to get a customer. I am not sure how to even go about getting one, but I have a business and once I find another business in need of an accountant/bookkeeper I will be set. 

In other news, I am still at my old job which I still hate passionately. It pays the bills and thus I stay. Year after mind & sanity sucking year. For some fun news, I am remodeling my bathroom. Not the master bathroom yet. I WILL be doing that one, but I have to do the half bath downstairs so I know what I am up against. Get a little practical experience under my belt before I go doing a massive remodel upstairs. 

So far, the project has been crazy. Here is the lowdown. My totally yucky blah half bathroom before pictures.....

Seriously who puts in a red laminated counter top?

Corner of the mirror. I think I shall paint the mirror black.

I dislike the brown trim. I want to paint it white to match the rest of the rooms in the house.

I see you trying to look at that "awesome" floor in there. It is indeed linoleum flooring that is supposed to look like parquet flooring. Yikes. And it shows the 30 years or so of dirt no matter how much you clean it.

And have I even mentioned my super "special" light fixture above the mirror. I suppose it is supposed to look like flowers or something, but they look like creepy claws. Creepy I say!

I am definitely going to be doing some tile in there. I have some big plans you see. I want to do a similar look to this picture I found online. I just love this bathroom and the color is perfect!

 I want a new light fixture and hopefully I can get this one.

I am going to be getting my new sink at the Habitat for Humanity Restore in town. They have sinks for about $20-$30 and will work perfect for what I need. As for the vanity, it has to go and I will be building a new one (hopefully) that looks good and is simple and pretty in it's own way. :-)

I also want to do the tile that looks like wood planks. It might make me a hypocrite to bash linoleum for looking like wood, but then I do tile that looks like wood. It might, but I don't care. I went round and round trying to decide what would look smashing in there, but wouldn't break the bank and would hold up to young sons with questionable aim at the toilet moments. 

Top the new vanity off with a pretty new facet like this one and I will be a happy camper!

 Technically I have already begun this project, but the blog is so behind I thought I would give a nice summary, and then tomorrow I can get into the nitty gritty of how I did it and the massive hurdles I have encountered so far. Til tomorrow dear readers (if I have any left after a year break)....

Little Chairs, Little Chairs....

Been busy in my "real" life of accounting. being it is year end my hours are long and my sleep short. Which means I have had very little time for woodworking. I have managed to do a few lovely little projects for a few customers.

I made an all white art table with a opening for a box of crayons. Yes, it looks silly with just an open square on top. :-)

So here is a close up of what the box in the table will look like. The lid can be put on the box too and contain the crayons. This was before I painted the table.

I had a couple of boxes. They were the same size so the lady who bought the table can choose the container design.

So, then I did another art table and stained it with a cherry stain. I have since sanded it and gave it another round of stain to deepen the color. It came out super light the first time. I love how the different types of wood took the stain differently.

Then came my most recent mystery. How to modify my toddler chair and add arms. I tried a few things with the original toddler chair. This was my best result and I do not particularly like the arms. It may just be me. I am not sure. What do you think?

It limited the width of the seat a lot and I don't have my scroll saw out so I had to use my jigsaw and I think that may have contributed to my feelings. I don't think I cut the curves just right. Not bad, but also not good in my opinion.

So my final attempt was last night. I went out to the workbench because I was really feeling the itch to build. So I just started to build and created the plans as I went. This was the result. I wish I had made the back higher (which I will go back and do just because), but otherwise I like the little guy. The picture makes it look crazy, but the front legs are actually straight up and down and at nice 90 degree angles. The back legs are at a 15 degree angle to prevent any tipping backwards. It's a silly little chair which happens to be what my daughter calls the chair. She asks "Can I sit in the silly chair?" and I say yes. She is great about testing out the chairs and helps me make sure I have the right height on the arms and overall chair. :-)

I have not filled the holes from the pocket screws yet. I was still debating the overall design at this point.

So after all that and long hours (Including working Saturday) at my "real" job, I managed to get a few things done. Well I also got 2 more signs done, but since they are weeks overdue I feel little accomplishment in finishing those since I should have had them done before.

Happy New Year

Hello again!

Yes, I disappeared. I am sorry about that, but as I said the holidays would take over and then....well....I am back now.

First of all, some follow ups to old posts (does that sound better than just saying Old News?). I did indeed finish those toddler chairs for my daughter's daycare. I delivered them Jan 1st and I am quite happy that project is done. The kids are happy at the preschool/daycare as well. I still have them stop me and thank me periodically for the tables or chairs. Such sweet little 4-6 year-olds. They are not told to thank me, and yet they do. A great compliment given how brutally honest they can be sometimes. :-) So that is one more project off my board.

And now for some New News. I did some deep thinking over the holidays and New Year's. I first decided that I was ready to take control of my "side business" and actually make something of it. I got a Facebook page set up for Tabitha's Workbench. Almost the very next day I had an order from someone recommended to my page from a friend's daughter. She wanted an art table and toddler chair. Then another order from my friend for her grandson for an art table and toddler chair. It was exciting and awesome the power of putting myself out there. At the same time I got 2 orders for signs so that is on my plate as well.

Everything has been put off until after the weekend of the 7-8th. We went to the beach with friends and relaxed and had a great time. While there we discussed this new direction for me and my business. It became clear that having people come to me with orders was stressful. I mean, I love getting orders, but I also get stressed having orders out there. If I get sick, or it is freezing cold, or I just feel like doing nothing one night (I know, that NEVER happens, but it could some day) then I feel guilty. I talked it out with our friends and we talked about their friend's custom woodworking business. He is also feeling the pressure. In the end, I guess I came to the conclusion that I needed to be ahead of the game. Either I have a bunch of things built and available to sell, or I build whatever I want and then put that out there for sale or not depending on how I feel.

I did get the first art table built and toddler chair built. I have the second one cut out, but not assembled yet. I am going to cut a square out of the back center and drop in a plastic tub for crayons etc into the table and she wants it painted white. This is as far as I got before a massive migraine waylaid me for the last 3 days.

In this whirlwind of directions and options, leave it to me to also decide I just HAVE to remodel my bathroom. The fact is I have a SUPER small bathroom where it is hard to have 2 people standing there at once. The bathroom door opens and hits the toilet which is SO lovely with kids who barrel in there (because there is no such thing as privacy to a 3 year old). I can't tell you how many times we have to catch the door before it either knocks us in the knees or the door handle hits us as it is flung open. I want a pocket door! We only have a shower and no bath. Just a single sink with a decent sized vanity. On the flip side, the kids have a full tub/shower unit, a 100 inch wide vanity with double sink, a HUGE linen closet. ...... Really?.....How is that fair that the "Master" bathroom has to be so tiny? On the other side of the wall behind our vanity is the washer and dryer with their access from the hallway. Let's not even think about how much time THIS is going to take away from woodworking orders. I will make it work somehow.

Here are the blueprints which give you some idea of the layout of the two rooms. My tiny bathroom on the left and the kid's bathroom/guest bathroom is on the right.

So, I want that washer and dryer space for myself. Selfish....yes...but I REALLY want to have a nice deep soaker tub at some point to relax in on random evenings. The problem is we have to put the washer and dryer SOMEWHERE. The answer is of course to take away space from the kid's bathroom before they really understand what I am taking. As teenagers they may wish for more space, but I can't let that stop me or I will never get a decent bathtub!

Our dear friends have worked together to build an addition on their house and he used to be a contractor so he knows how to do a lot of this. I know how to do framing and flooring (even sub floors), and he also knows plumbing and dry-walling. He has a buddy who can do the electrical for a decent price. I might even be able to do this without going into debt. I just have to do 99.99% of the work myself (With professional guidance and permits/inspections of course). Totally do-able, right? haha, we shall see. Below is my idea of one possible way for this to work. I did forget to mark that I will have a pocket door instead of the existing door to the bathroom though. There will be a door to the bathroom on the right as well. I just haven't drawn it in yet. Not to mention we are now leaning toward a soaking tub and not a jetted tub.

Or this may be just another dream that I can't quite save up the money for. I will have to do some serious selling of furniture items at a true profit in order to save up for this. At least I have my husband on board as well as our friend's promise to come and help with every step of the way. Sigh, a girl can dream right?

Oh, and did I mention at my regular work we are going into year-end and the management team has decided to utilize me on 3-4 new massive projects that while fun, we keep me massively busy and stressed at work? Yeah....what is the test for crazy in situations like this?

Where Did The Year Go?

It seems like only yesterday it was spring and I was looking forward to starting the playhouse castle and I was ready for summer. I blink and the castle is built and we are looking at New Years to be next week! Eeeks.

I have been quite busy between working out, wrangling kids, staying up late finishing some orders and getting the courage up to start a Facebook page for my someday business. I got the 7 signs done and all but one are in the mail. Woohoo! The background color on one was taking longer than it should to get it right. I am not very good at painting small parts without painting outside the lines. Anyway, at least those are done and I could take the time to make some cute little toddler chairs.

They are BUILT!!! I actually think they are cuter than the first set, but I am not totally sure why. They still need to be stained and sealed, but it has been REALLY cold in the garage and with Christmas shopping happening, I am not having the time. :-( But soon, (next week) they will be done and I can deliver them!

I also finally set up my Facebook page for Tabitha's Workbench. I have not put anything really on there for sale yet, but I am working my way up. My best friend's daughter actually send someone to my page and she ordered one of these toddler chairs with a small art table for her daughter. I am very excited to make it for her. While I probably didn't charge as much as I was supposed to, I am going to chalk that up to experience and a discount that hopefully will mean she can write a little paragraph about how she likes the table and chair afterwards. As I said, a work in progress. 

And Christmas is this weekend. We leave tomorrow for my in laws so don't expect another post until after the holidays are over. I am just too busy to actually sit down and type up anything. I am doing this while wrapping presents as it is. Busy busy busy.

Happy Holidays everyone! Happy building!

Tiny Progress on Backlog

I wont play the broken records of my busy weekends not getting anything accomplished. I think everyone is tired of that. So instead I will just state that I made some lovely progress. I got almost all the name signs done. I had a couple with more complicated painting and I am still finishing those up (I just didn't have the time). So they are sitting there and just need some shellac, time and packaging materials. 

I also finally got some progress made on the last 10 toddler chairs for the preschool. I spend a good number of hours (until 11pm on Friday night) cutting wood for them. I usually have my cutoff at 10pm for my neighbors sake, but I am hoping they will understand with the holiday's coming that I may be working late on projects. I tried to make it easier for me later by routing with a round-over bit the edges of the legs to they are less pointy. This is when I learned that the output of my palm router was directed onto my space heater I use to not freeze out there. A little sawdust here or there and nothing happens, but after the amount I was doing it was too much hitting the heater at once. This meant a pile of sawdust burst into flames. I looked over and realized where my sawdust was going a couple seconds before it started on fire. Luckily I knew what I was up against and tilted the heater to get the sawdust on fire onto the ground and out of the heater. This works well as long as you are careful to stomp it out without spreading it to the sawdust all over the ground. I got lucky this time and it all stomped out fairly quickly and didn't ignite the sawdust on the ground. I am not super careful about my heater. I wouldn't use it, but it can get REALLY REALLY REALLY cold in there.

As it is, I wear jeans, a cami under my regular shirt, under my sweater, under my ski jacket, and I have gloves and a scarf on. The scarf is only there so I can tuck it over the top of my zipper on my jacket. It gets super cold against my lips and the scarf keeps that from happening. Anyway, I am dressed like I am ready to go to Alaska and help Anna build her house. Even with all those clothes and layers, it can be chilly out there and the space heater helps my legs since jeans are not quite warm enough. I can't help but dream about a heated workshop where I can just wear some overalls and a regular long sleeve shirt and be warm and comfortable. Sigh. Some day, right?

Friday night was for cutting all the wood out. (Yes, those are storage bins for my screws. I bought a LOT of KREG screws in bulk and this keeps them organized and easy to access)

Then Saturday night I had enough caffeine to last me until midnight and went out there again. This time I only managed to work until 11pm before getting too tired and cold. I started to assemble the chairs. I didn't get all the fronts and backs done, but I am a lot farther than I was. Hopefully this week, I can finish getting the signs out the door and the chairs completely built!

Well, time to finish up some other work and go to bed. Have a great week and Happy Building Everyone!

Not Gone

Sorry to do such a disappearing act, but Thanksgiving and the weeks since then have been a crazy blast of busy. Thanksgiving was a success and everyone agreed the chairs were comfortable and that everyone had lots of room at such a large table. Once Thanksgiving left the house, it has been a madhouse of stress at work, attempting to work out more nights (which means less nights in the freezing garage) and lots of projects begun.

I am trying to get more fit which means working out. I have had to sacrifice some of the evenings to work out instead of building. Since I have little to no money for new wood, this hasn't been much of an issue. BUT, I am still behind. Before the Optical Neuritis, I had a few sign orders to get out for people. Since it is nearly 3 months later, I felt really guilty. So this last weekend I got the 8 signs cut out and I am just painting them and I hope I can get them into the mail by Monday.

On top of all that, my son started a new school today which means the last week was spent trying to co-ordinate some new before and after school care for him. I am catching up though. I have nearly all the legs cut for the 10 chairs I owe my daughter's daycare. I should probably build them 12 so it will be the chairs plus interest....

Now, of all things, I find Christmas sneaking up on me. I have so much to do between now and then. We have a money tree to plant, grow and harvest so we can afford to buy presents for everyone. We have very little spare money, but Christmas IS coming and we will be seeing lots of family this year. I hate that I can't afford to get everyone sure fancy awesome stuff. :-(

So, dear readers out there, I am not lost and gone. I am simply busy with life and working out and building and kids and a million other things keeping me from actually turning on my laptop for days at a time. Bear with me because soon I will have some photos of the chairs and maybe even the signs to post. Have a great crazy December and I hope to check back soon. Or at worst, check back this weekend with an update.

Happy Building!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

And this says it all.

For Anna at Knock Off Wood

So we all know that in addition to designing my own furniture and castles, I do love Anna's website for inspiration and ideas. I have used a couple of her plans lately so I wouldn't have to work through it myself. The dining room chairs are one of them. Well, I modified her wonderful plans to accommodate our slightly larger frames. As my readers know already I have 4 of the original chairs built and we have dubbed them the "Kid's Chairs". I modified it to be wider and taller backed for comfort for us curvier adults. 

Per her request, she wanted to see my cut list. Below is the original plans and my modifications. Oh and Anna, great job on the Momplex!!!

Anna's Original Cut List (For Chair on Left)

2 – 2×2 @ 18 1/8″ (one end cut at 15 degrees, measurement to long point)
2 – 2×2 @ 15 3/8″ (one end cut at 15 degrees, measurement to long point)
2 – 1×2 @ 16 3/16″ (one end cut at 15 degrees, measurement to long point)
1 – 1×2 @ 14 1/2″ (Front Apron)
1 – 2×2 @ 14 1/2″ (Back Support)
1 – 2×2 @ 13″ (Back Base Support)
2 – 2×2 @ 16″ (Front Legs)
2 – 1×3 @ 14 1/2″ (Front and Back Aprons)
2 – 2×3 @ 13 1/2″ (one end cut at 15 degrees off square, measurement to short point)
2 – 2×2 @ 16 9/16″ (Both ends cut at 15 degrees, parallel to each other)

My Modified Larger Chairs (For Chair on Right)

2 – 2×2 @ 24 1/8″ (one end cut at 15 degrees, measurement to long point)
2 – 2×2 @ 18 3/8″ (one end cut at 15 degrees, measurement to long point)
2 – 1×2 @ 19 3/16″ (one end cut at 15 degrees, measurement to long point)
1 – 1×2 @ 18″ (Front Apron)
1 – 2×2 @ 18″ (Back Support)
1 – 2×2 @ 16.5″ (Back Base Support)
2 – 2×2 @ 16″ (Front Legs)
2 – 1×3 @ 18″ (Front and Back Aprons)
2 – 2×3 @ 16 1/2″ (one end cut at 15 degrees off square, measurement to short point)
2 – 2×2 @ 16 9/16″ (Both ends cut at 15 degrees, parallel to each other)

Because this chair is larger and heavier, I added corner support (pieces of 2x3 cut with a 45 angle on each side and pocket screwed into the sides) to give extra support to the legs. I also switched from the pine 2x2s I was getting at Big Blue and instead ended up buying some cedar 2x2s for the legs from a lumber yard. They had some really nice clear grain (means no knots or blemishes) for a decent price. I just wanted to be sure those legs were extra strong. 

I have also had to modify Anna's slipcover plans to match my larger chairs.

Anna's Original Cut List for the Slipcovers

2 – 18″ x 16″ (Pieces A for Seat and Seat Backrest)
1 – 18″ x 6″ (Piece B for Front Apron)
2 – 16″ x 6″ (Pieces C for Side Aprons)
1 – 18″ x 21″ (Piece D for Back)
2 – 21″ x 3″ (Sides)
1 – 18″ x 3″ (Top)
1 – 7″ strip 12 feet long (for knife pleats, spice fabric together to create 12 feet)

My Modified Slipcovers for Larger Chairs

1 – 21.5″ x 19″ (Pieces A for Seat)  

1 - 21.5 x 22" (Seat Backrest) I had to make different sizes for seat and back because I added more height than I did width.
1 – 21.5″ x 6″ (Piece B for Front Apron)
2 – 19″ x 6″ (Pieces C for Side Aprons)
1 – 21.5″ x 27″ (Piece D for Back)
2 – 27″ x 3.5″ (Sides) This one can be 27 x 3, but I wanted that extra .5 inch to deal with possible shrinkage and to give the seams a little give since my kids can be wiggle butts. 
1 – 21.5″ x 3.5″ (Top) This one can also have that 3" instead of the 3.5, but I beg you to remember to use the 3 or 3.5 for BOTH. I accidentally did 3 for the top and 3.5 for the sides and it makes sewing the seams a challenge to say the least. Ooops. Hahaha.
I skipped the pleats since my husband admitted he thought they looked silly like a dress on a chair. HA! So I made a straight seam instead. :-)

I hope this helps anyone who wants a larger chair and needed specs. I built and sewed the chairs matching Anna's Plans. I DID add those braces, as well as extra screws to connect the taller back to the seat. This will be hard to explain, but for that joint, I did pocket screw on the inside of the seam so the screw went from the seat into the backrest. Then I did a pocket screw on the outside of the backrest going into the seat. (It wont be seen thanks to the burlap and the slipcovers). THEN I also did a couple screws straight in from the back of the chair through the backrest into the seat. Perhaps overkill, but I wanted to be sure it would be secure. Just make sure it is secure and you should be fine. For the instructions here are the links to the original plans again.

Parson Chair Plans

Slipcover Plans

Long Week

Much as I anticipated, I got more done in the evenings last week than I got done this weekend. Although for once I actually accomplished a little bit this weekend. Last week I managed to get the other 4 chairs framed out and the bases stained. I really meant to throw on the finish today, but that didn't happen, boo. I finished out the tops of the chairs and cut the foam for them. The only problem is lack of burlap. I probably have enough for 1 instead of 4. I need to buy some more tomorrow. 

Anyway, I at least got them that far. Nothing picture worthy so this will be a bit of a boring post, but hey, I am happy. I WILL have the chairs done this week. I just KNOW it. I can get a lot done in the evenings. I even managed to get the fabric washed for me to cut the slipcovers out. I may have even done that tonight except that I had a surprise date night with my husband. The kids went to bed and we got to relax and talk and spend time together where we have not gotten to for awhile. Probably because I work until 10pm or later in the garage each night...hmmm...very well could be that.

My list of other projects though is only getting longer. I have to finish building the windows for the playhouse. I can't keep the blue plastic over the windows all winter. It wont take but a few hours to get them done. I just have to spend a couple hours doing it. I have the Plexiglas I just have to build the frame and put them in the windows. I was able to cut the legs for 3 of the 10 toddler chairs I still owe the daycare. One of the daycare teachers has finally decided on a table, bench and chairs that she wants, so I can get started on all of those too. I really wish I had 2 weeks off just to work on all of these projects. It would feel SOOO nice to have them all done and accomplished. At yet, I am still dreaming of building so many other projects. They wont leave my head and tease me and make it hard to finish one project without wanting to begin another one!

But first before all of those, I have to finish my chairs. I also need to get 3 or 4 signs done up for some ladies from my mom's group before Christmas. I want them done sooner than later so I have them slated to be done this week along with the dining room chairs. If by Friday I have both of those things DONE DONE, I will feel really good going into next weekend where I can begin cleaning and planning for Thanksgiving.

Now if only I could do all that and still get more sleep.......yeah.....not going to happen sadly.

Frustration

I am getting NOWHERE. I know that is a bit of a hard leading line, but I feel that way sometimes. I was happy to give up my Saturday for friends and fun at the pumpkin patch (which was a real blast actually), but I am frustrated I didn't get out there and built the other 2 chairs. Seriously. It IS my fault I didn't work late on Friday night on any of this, but today was hard. I had to be responsible and an adult and sort laundry and clean and cook. Blah!

I did buy the extra 2x2s for the other chairs, but no cutting happened. I ended up sewing and that was it. I hate sewing. My sewing machine is cranky and not co-operating. I also ran out of thread and I just feel like whining. 

Since I have nothing nice to say, I wont say anything at all about this part of the weekend.

It appears I will only be allowed the time to work on this stuff during the week and not on weekends. I understand. So this last week I managed to build 2 of the 4 larger chairs. Or at least the framing of them are done. I made them wider and deeper and raised the back up a few inches as well. Here is a comparison of the size. Please forgive the mess. I DO have to do all of this in the garage and my woodworking is not the only use of the garage so I deal with the mess too.

These are the "captain's chairs" as my husband puts it. We are debating exactly how we will arrange them at the table, but it will be an experience either way. I put the chairs side by side so you can see the difference in height and depth pretty well. Naturally I will also be covering the larger chairs with the same 2 inch foam on the seat and 1 inch foam on the back. I also splurged on some 2x2 fir and I am going to replace the legs with this because it is a much nicer and stronger wood than the 2x2s I have used so far. 

Perhaps with luck, my evenings this week will be more fruitful than my Sunday has been. Happy building folks.

48 Hour Days

I know you have all felt this way at one time or another. Where you have so much to do and so much you want to do, but there are only 24 hours in a day and it's just not enough. Yeah, that was my weekend! 

First off, here is a bit of happy news for me. I got my eyes checked on Friday and the doctor says that while the optical nerves are still asymmetric (so there is still a little swelling in the right eye), it is a lot better than before so there is improvement. I believe I am close to 99% of normal and while the color is still dimmed through my right eye, I am happy with the progress. The doc said that I have had great improvement in a very short amount of time and that indicated there is a VERY good chance in the next month or so as my eye continues to heal itself it may even recover completely! Wooohoo!!

The down side to having your eyes dialed on a Friday afternoon, is that your eyes are wonky for that evening and it means I lost one more evening of work time. Oh well. Saturday I was able to get the bases for the first 4 chairs stained a Dark Walnut to match the table. I spend the better part of that day cutting and sewing the slipcovers for the 3 chairs. I worked as long as I could, but somewhere in there I have to sleep. :-(

Sunday brought with it cleaning by everyone in the house which makes me super happy. I LOVE it when my house is clean and it seems to so rarely be super clean anymore. It's hard with our schedules to find the time and energy to clean house when there is so much else we would rather be doing. We also had our good friends over for lasagna and pumpkin pie. I literally was cooking pie, prepping lasagna, and finishing the sewing of the slipcovers and cleaning all at the same time tonight. I really wanted to be able to sit on the first set of chairs tonight at dinner. I managed to get 3 at the table. The 4th needs to have a couple more pocket screws put in so I can attach the top and bottom. I LOVE how they turned out. I still need to do the final hemming on the bottom of the slipcovers, but they are looking good!

Coming soon will be the other 4 slightly larger versions of the same chair. :-) 

I am ALIVE!!!!

Hello!

After the 5 days of annoying IV meds, I thought I would be feeling better. What I was not warned about was the side affects of the medicine leaving your body is NOT FUN! I actually called the doctor thinking something was wrong because my whole body hurt and my skin on my chest, back, shoulders and even my ears hurt. Everything felt like it was bruised and I wondered if I caught the flu along with everything else. Turns out it is the normal process of the medicine. One more reason I truly don't want this to ever happen again. Once I took a day or so off work to sleep and rest, I started to feel human again. This was last Friday when I finally felt good again. I was ready to attempt to get back into the garage and make some sawdust. I had a slight delay as we watched our friend's kids while they took care of some funeral arrangements. 

Then came Sunday. I was ready to beg/plead/cry/anything to be able to get a few hours of ANYTHING done in the garage. I felt a lot better and I was ready to see what I could do with my eye (I will explain in a bit about that). Luckily my kids were in a calm mood and wanted to spend the day coloring and reading books with Daddy. 

I can't begin to tell you how I felt stepping out into the cold garage. I wished it was warm like summertime, but just getting out there and breathing in the soft smell of sawdust. I stretched and looked around. To warm up I did some rearranging and cleaning of the garage. I got my new workbench into its new position and got started. I was building the last bit of Anna's parson's chair. 

I had already built the basic form of the chair. Then I got sick. Since that was so long ago, here is a little reminder.

It sat there looking so close to done and taunting me as I was sick and not able to work. Anyway, I took those out to the garage and did the some more. I started by adding some 1/4 inch plywood to the seat and back. This would give decent support to everything. then I used spray adhesive to attach the 2 inch high density foam to the seat bottom. There was some old 1 inch foam left hanging around from when I took apart the old breakfast nook so I used that for the back cushions. I wrapped the whole thing with burlap to smooth it all out.

I really should have folded the foam over the top of the back. I forgot this step when I did it. I WILL do that on any future chairs. The top then met the bottom. :-)

Look Ma, a real chair! Okay, so we all took turns sitting on it and seeing how it felt. Everyone agreed it was comfortable, but it is a smaller chair. Our old chairs were huge and I always thought they were too big. But this just made this chair feel so small. It was comfortable (more than our old chairs) but the seat isn't very big. I worry I would rather have it reach all the way to the back of my knees instead of mid thigh and while quite supportive, my husband and I are a little wider in the hip than this seat. You don't feel awkward sitting on it. It is just smaller than what we are used to. It didn't help that without dining room chairs we have been using computer chairs which are huge and comfortable and more like sitting in a rocking chair than a dining room chair. Everything feels smaller compared to them.

I decided to finish the chair anyway. Even if I make modifications to future chairs, this one is plenty big for either of the kids with room to grow so it wont need to be disassembled or anything. (Why can't I ever use the word disassembled without hearing "Number 5 is ALIVE!" in my head. Darn movies). I followed Anna's slipcover pattern for sewing a slipcover for the chair. I used the extra fabric I had on hand from when I was building the bench that sits on the other side of the table. 

Here is my first attempt at sewing a slipcover!

So this is where I want to talk about my eyes. After steady improvement the first few days of the IV meds, my eyesight stopped improving at about 95% of my original site. With my left eye closed, I can feel and tell things are not quite right. Light seems brighter, or rather like someone turned up the contrast so I get more glares off of things. There is still a ever so slight haziness which makes me feel the vision is off. I was VERY careful when I went into the garage because I didn't want to take chances with things. The doctors can not say for sure if I will ever get my vision back to where it was before the optical nerve swelled. I am happy to report that while woodworking I didn't feel limited by anything and thanks to guides and settings on the tools, I felt confident that I was following along where I wanted to go.

Sewing on the other hand was a challenge. I LOVE this fabric, but if I moved it quickly the pattern seemed to throw off my eye. Like my eye couldn't keep up and took slightly too long to refocus once it was moved. So if I went slow, I was okay, but anything too fast and I could feel it. It was also hard because I didn't have any of my fabric cutting tools that I could find. So I was using a large woodworking ruler to mark off the fabric and it was hard to be precise. I felt myself squinting and really having to work hard to draw the lines and cut straight. Sewing again seemed easy enough since I just had to do straight lines and keep it 1/4 in from the edge which matched the edge of the sewing machine foot so I had a guide so to speak. 

So the consensus is that for now, woodworking seems to be okay for me, but cutting and a lot of detail cutting of fabric is best left to earlier in the day when I am not as tired and maybe my eye can focus easier. It did fit and looked wonderful, but it was hard and I felt a bit let down by my eye. I go back for a checkup on Friday to re-dilate my eyes and check to be sure the swelling of the optical nerve is gone. I hope it is. I don't think I can handle more medicine and lost garage time. There are precious few weeks between now and Thanksgiving. If we are going to host the whole family at our house this year, we NEED CHAIRS!!!! 

Still Stalled and Blurry

After an MRI and tests, we have confirmation it was a random swollen optical nerve. I have been doing a 5 day series of IV steroids to bring down the swelling. This is helping a lot. I was down to barely 10% eyesight left in my right eye with lots of pain on Friday. Now after 4 of 5 treatments I can move my eye with no pain but I still only have maybe 75% eyesight. That is an improvement, but I want it all back!

The problem mostly lies right now in that I am having more trouble just making it through these 5 days. I will be honest and say I have lost my temper and whined a lot more than I normally would have. To start with they said I would get a "heightened sense of euphoria" with the meds. I did not. Instead I seemed to get the angry aggressive feelings instead. Not fun for me or the family. Then I lost my sense of taste as well ruining my meals, and my attempts at comfort dessert.

They wanted to just do one IV for the whole 5 days. Naturally the best vein was in my right hand. So I lost my dominate hand since we left the open line in there. But it started to hurt where they left the IV in so we took it out today before round 4. Today was training day at the docs and one nurse I had tried 2 times to put a new line in my left arm. When both failed, a different nurse tried and also failed for a line in the left. So I ended up with it back on my right side forearm. This has made me further whiny because my left arm aches and my right is even more useless than when it was in my right hand.

I have been writing all this left handed and it is taking FOREVER to get this much out. I prefer to be calm and just deal, but this has been more than I can take calmly. I hate feeling this lame. Boo!!!! I am hoping soon to be back up to snuff and then gorge myself on woodworking projects and getting caught up on things.

Time Out, Eye Out

Please forgive me for no new updates. It appears that I have a swollen optic nerve. As such, I can barely see out of one eye and am in a lot of pain. This also means I don't dare use power tools until I have 2 healthy eyes again and I can be sure to be as safe as I can be in the garage.

Thank you for your patience as I go through the doctor's tests etc and figure out how to go forward.

Happy building to those still functioning with 2 eyes! Be back soon I hope.

Finished Bench

I finished the bench order and I am only waiting for the pickup. This makes me happy to be able to finish it up and clean up and move on to the next project.

But first. Here is the bench all shiny and pretty. The first picture is with my cell phone so not as clear. BUT, it does show the color better than the others. The flash for some reason makes it look a bit reddish when the stain is a dark walnut and not red at all.

If you look really carefully you can see the pocket screw wholes I used to attach the middle brace. Can you see it? Those tiny ovals at the bottom? At least I know they don't detract from the look since you can barely see them.

Next I REALLY need to start my chairs. I also REALLY need to clean out my garage a little and get more than a thin path to walk in there. I have decided to base it on Anna's Parson Chair plans. I don't know if I will use her plan exactly as it is, or if I will find myself changing it a little like I have her other plans. Either way, it has been a crazy weekend with my daughter's 3rd birthday party, drama at work and a raging headache that just wont go away. I am looking forward to the weekend coming up, but I am afraid it wont be any better because I have an even busier weekend planned than my week.

Go away headache, you are sooooo slowing me down!!!

Projects On the Rise

After finishing the sign and the last set of orders, I was able to relax this last week and only work on one project. I have a friend who ordered a custom bench and it has been fun to work with her on the design and making it come to life. Its a simple bench based on Anna's Spa Bench. Well, it started out as that and then got bigger and the trim got adjusted and this was my first attempt at making anything other than a straight piece of board as the bottom trim. 

Here are some progress photos and some of the staining I did tonight. I can't seem to get to my photos I have of the beginning of the project. The initial try at the base trim wasn't all that great, but with a little rounding out, I like it a lot better. It is not sure fancy, but the simplicity of it is really nice. 

I always try to explain to people how staining is like magic to a project. You take this simple bench and while it is pretty enough without stain (it doesn't look as good in the photos as it did in person), but check out the look with a little dark walnut stain! The backing is laying on the table in front of it. I wanted to stain it separately and then attach it once complete. It helps me to be able to reach all the way through sometimes.

And yes, I will go back and stain the underside as well. I just forgot to do it first like I normally do.

I sold my old dining room table and chairs. We now have only tables I have built in our house. This makes me happy. It also makes me desperate for chairs since we are down to the bench I had built before and some computer chairs for around the table for dinner. 

Once I complete this project and she picks it up, I have to build me some dining room chairs. I also need to build another 10 chairs for the school per our agreement. So it looks like I will be neck deep in some chairs for awhile. Hahaha. Can't complain though. It is nice to be busy.

Enclosures

After delivering those tables and breathing in and out for a day or two (with much guilt given I hate to take nights off) I had to move on. 

I dedicated this week to putting in a bid or two on a job for a bench and making a sign that was ordered a month ago. Luckily she was VERY understanding about my schedule. August is always my busiest month for travel, prepping stuff and life's twists and turns.

I was able to get the sign done with a very cute result. It is curing right now and will be in the mail first thing Monday (first thing being lunch time at work).

With the sign finally done, I was able to do some housework (shocking right?). The kids had WAY too many clothes in their dressers that were too small for them. So we made a HUGE pile to give to goodwill, we cleaned the playroom and got the house vacuumed. I didn't get the garage cleaned out, but hey, you can't win them all!

Tonight after a movie with the kids and their bedtime routines, I headed out to finish what I could on the enclosure. Thankfully my husband had read online how to cut plexi-glass with a jigsaw instead of the score and bend thing ( I did that before and always managed to break it in the wrong place). With my jigsaw I was able to finish up the enclosure pieces. I took a picture right before the sun was all the way down, and then I installed the last piece of plexi-glass on the left side after dark so I didn't get a picture of that. I am mostly happy with how it came out. I wish the screws were countersunk just a hair more, but I think I will end up putting trim over the edges just to give it a more finished look. 

I really like the trim piece at the bottom. It makes it match the top of the tower more. You really have to dig the light I pulled out there and set on the ladder as a make-shift spotlight so I can work just a tiny bit past sunset. :-) 

Tomorrow I have that order for a bench to begin and another work week to dread beginning. 

Tables for the Chairs

I am happy to say that I have finally finished the tables for the special order from my daughter's daycare. I hope they hold up against the abuse the kids can put into them. The best part is that it means I can move on and tomorrow I am allowing myself to work on the castle playhouse again. At least for the one day. After that I have a couple of small orders to do for friends.

The tables are done! They do look wet in the photo, but I had just put another coat of finish on there. 

Please ignore my brown excuse for a lawn. I am not very good with growing things....especially grass.

Anyway, tomorrow brings the hope I can finish enclosing in the porch area as well and hopefully putting in the screens in the 2 little front windows. I am not delusional to believe I will get enough time to build the windows I designed for the plexiglass, but at least I can get the porch area done. That will take a load off my mind at least. I can't believe its been all summer trying to finish the castle. Oh well, wish me luck!