I finished putting together the table top. Up to today it was made of six (I think it’s six) boards put together side-to-side. Besides those, I wanted a narrow piece running crosswise at each end. Probably you’ve seen cutting boards or bread boards made that way. That extra structure helps hold all the pieces together, […]
I did a lot of planing on the tabletop. Although the surfaces align perfectly with the biscuit joiner, I didn’t get the top really flat; there’s a slight cup to it (in woodworking, “bow”, as in “and arrow” means the piece of wood has a curve lengthwise; “cup” means that there’s a curve crosswise.) I […]
Naturally we were in Maine for the long weekend. It was raining, sometimes drizzling, sometimes raining hard, Friday as we were getting set to go. I wanted to bring the old aluminum rowboat up this trip. Since I had left work early there was a little extra time before dark; maybe we’ll get some use […]
While I was bicycling to work a couple of days ago (and I got to bicycle four times this week — good stuff! I’m getting into much better shape, too — I can tell because I’m not in such low gears going up the hills as I was the first couple of weeks of April) […]
Seed packets often have a little drawing labeled “seedling identification” on the back, so you can tell that what’s coming up is what you planted, not a weed. Or rather, so you can sort out what you wanted from among the weeds that are also coming up. Here for your convenience are seedling identification pictures […]
I finished, not without some trauma, kitchenering the top the second mitten. The first one went smoothly several weeks ago, but either I didn’t study the directions carefully enough this time, or I let myself get too distracted, but it took three times before I got the second one done. Here they are, ready for […]
On my way bicycling home this afternoon I spotted someone putting most of an old bed frame out for the trash (along with a school easel). I stopped and said something like, “You’re throwing it out? That’s real hardwood.” He said yes, it was broken and it was about time to get rid of it. […]
That’s Newton Open Studios. Once a year a couple of hundred artists from all over Newton open their studios or homes to prospective customers or just people who want to see what they’re doing. Arlene was site exhibiting her monotypes this past weekend. The house was simultaneously cleaner than it’s been in years (there’s now […]
On Sunday morning we walked up the road past the gate (it’s closed this time of year) to look at the stream three houses away. With all the rain, I wondered how much water would be in it. It wasn’t the torrent I expected, but there was plenty of water. Sure looks different from a […]
Two weekends ago we brought a hummingbird feeder up to Casco. I used to be skeptical about hummingbird feeders until we rented a house on Moose Pond, Denmark, Maine, for a week once about six summers ago. There was a hummingbird feeder on one of its windows that had birds at it every day that […]
