Also, I’m putting off reviewing financial reporting this morning.
Projects to complete in the next couple of weeks:
- A 2x10 on one of our raised beds has buckled and needs to be replaced. When we first built these beds, we weren’t considering the chemicals in treated lumber, which is what we used. This will be the first board to replace and we’re going to go untreated from here on out.
- This passing winter I had a series of disappointments in woodworking projects, so I just decided to hold off for a bit until the weather improved and, with it, my mood. I’ll be cleaning up the garage in the spring, as I always do, but I think I’ll also take a bit of extra effort to care for part of the garage and try to regain “beginner’s mind.”
Projects to complete over the course of the summer:
- I’m planning to build a chest that will function like a coffee table for Rachel. I have rough sawn poplar purchased from the Amish. The design is pretty simple; my concern is that it will be the first time I’ve planed rough sawn lumber into a finished condition.
- I need several boxes for various purposes. I built one over the winter and I like the design. I don’t like the combination of red oak and pine that I ended up using. (That wasn’t the plan; one of the aforementioned small frustrations in the shop this winter.) So I plan to experiment with more aesthetically pleasing combinations.
Warm weather explorations:
- We’ll likely make a day trip as a family to Madison, a lovely little town on the Ohio River. If we feel really adventurous we might stay overnight and then make a quick excursion down to Port Royal, KY, home of Wendell Berry. We don’t really “travel” anymore but we do like days out together.
- I definitely want to get in a couple of solo day trips. I’ve never been to Vincennes, which is an important historical site. I also want to visit some of our various indigenous burial mounds and pay my respects.
- My evergreen amusement: visiting flea markets and junk shops just to see what’s up. This year I’ll particularly be looking for folk art carvings.
Skills to build:
- Firestarting without matches.
- Fire building. (I love backyard fires. Can you tell?)
- Sharpening, my perennial bugaboo. I’m getting better. My main problem is I’m always wanting to get past the task because I need to do something else. I don’t carefully attend. I have a tendency to perform an action and believe that the task is completed ex opere operato, without proper attentiveness and observation. In short, I need to take a whole weekend and sharpen all the things until I’m reasonably satisfied. Beginner’s mind, beginner’s mind.
Oh, I could go on but I really need to start reviewing those reports…