Sunday, January 16, 2011

REMODELING…CABINET MAKING – FINAL CHAPTER

Monday, January 10 – Back to the cabinets. I started the drawers today. That Kleg pocket screw jig I am using sure is nice. The drawers came out tight and square with a minimum of fuss! Nice addition for anyone's shop, I believe!

cab-3-&-bella


Tuesday, January 11 – Glad to be in SOUTH Texas. The weather in much of the country is frightful, even North Texas got snow.....brrrrrrr. It is going to cool off here in the RGV for a couple of days getting down in the 40's. The wind picked-up early this morning rattling the awnings over the slide-outs. Thank-goodness it is suppose to be back up in the high 70's by Saturday. Marsha will not be happy to arrive on Monday to cold temperatures!

Paul finished the drawers this morning. All that is left to do is add the drawer pulls. We'll look around and match are existing hardware.

drawers2

Now back to the desk. Paul wasn't happy with what he had for the top of the desk. He started out with a pull-out keyboard tray, but didn't like it, so he tore that out and is playing around with a couple different ideas. He tried a lazy susan mounted in the front corner so the top swivels out......nope don't like that either. Next is a sliding top......hmmmm ....maybe that will work. Have to have the “engineer” work on that a bit!

desk-idea

Thursday, January 13 – Not only did Paul not like the computer tray, but he decided he didn't like the desk layout at all.....so he tore it out and started all over with a different design. So far, he likes the new layout better. It's a little bigger and works much better. He spent all day running around and getting additional material and then re-engineering the desk. He's still not done....will finish it tomorrow.

He did get a little sidetrack this morning. With temperatures in the low forties here in South Texas (that's a brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr), when he went out to start the car, it moaned and groaned, not being very perky. Dag gone it…battery is dying! So, knowing if he didn't replace it today it would fail on the way to pick-up Marsha at the airport in a couple days, so he went to Auto Zone. They tested it (yep, it's bad....orginal 2005 battery); battery replaced. Marsha better get home soon.....I'm running out of money!

new-battery-1

Friday, January 14 - Paul got an early start on finishing the desk today. He is determined to complete the desk portion of this project TODAY! The sliding top turned out great. Paul thinks it will work as planned and he should be very happy using it. He finished the desk, as hoped, all except filling the nail holes which he will do just before the staining and varnishing.


fin-desk-2

fin-desk-3

slide-out

slide-out-desk

The weather has begun to return to “summer” style conditions. It's been cold (lower 40's) and drizzly the last two days. Paul went for his daily bike ride and was happy to see people getting outside enjoying the warming weather. This weekend we're suppose to get back to the great weather the RGV is known for.

The votes are in! From our last blog, we posed the question…Which of the Weavers is in the wrong place for this time of the year?  DUH…Marsha was the winner…if you can call her the winner. Canton got more snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. She isn’t looking forward to saying good-bye to her family and friends but can’t wait to get to the warmth of Mission and Paul.

Back in Canton, Ohio – Marsha had to deal with her sinus infection all week. She had a terrible headache all week and swelling and pressure around the eyes. FINALLY, on Thursday the meds kicked in and she felt much better. She actually met with Pastor Bruce, had him bless her prayer shawl and delivered it to Aunt Johanne at the nursing home. Aunt Johanne was thrilled with the gift. We hope it brings her warmth and comfort.

Since she hadn’t been out for over a week, she kept her dinner date with her Stark State College divas. Marsha was an Assistant Professor at the College while the girls were growing up. Her schedule worked great with Paul’s teaching schedule. One of us were always with the girls. No day care or babysitters needed. The Divas (a name Marsha calls all her friends) had lunch at a local restaurant, Samatha’s. Lots of catching up and laughter went on during the dinner. Thanks gals for a wonderful time!

Pam, Shirley, Connie and Marsha

stark-state-divas

Even though she got to see some of her friends, Marsha is disappointed that she was not feeling well for so many days that she didn’t get visit with her other dear friends, Red, Sharon, Stephanie, Cindy, LeighAnn, etc. She promises next time she is in town there will be some h--- raising going on!!!


Friday, January 14 – Well, she over did it yesterday. Marsha needed to make a quick trip to the grocery store and get her dad some medicine for his cold before she could lay low the rest of the day.

BUT…before she could go to the store, she had to dig the driveway out. She did the entire driveway by hand. Great workout! The picture doesn’t show the depth of the snow but there was about 6” of snow with a layer of sleet on top. The winds didn’t help maters. YUCK!

driveway

Dad has a terrible cold so she is playing nurse. Some crazy cold/flu is going around.
Marsha is starting to get her things together for her flight to Mission on Monday morning. Our sister-in-law, Chris, is off work on Monday so she has volunteered to take Marsha to the airport. That is great news for her dad. He can now stay in and keep getting better!

Marsha says, “Last post for me from Canton.” “Next time I make a post it will be from sunny Texas!”

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back real soon. Have a GREAT day!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

REMODELING…CABINET MAKING PART 2

Saturday, January 8 – Finished the face frames today. Lookin' pretty good, if I say so myself. I even put on a temporary counter top so Bella could check it out.

frame-with-temp.-top

As you can see....she loves sitting and looking out the window!



bella-like-it

Now to build the drawers and put in a shelf for the computer printer. That means more material to buy.....off to Home Depot.

Monday, January 10 – Paul is always amazed at what a small world it is.  Today in Home Depot I stopped a fellow with a Mt. Union College t-shirt on.....that's where I went to college in Alliance, Ohio.  Well, I  found out he bought the shirt at a local flea market.  Now why would a flea market in South Texas be selling Mt. Union  t-shirts....made in Mexico I bet.

To make that first encounter even stranger......a young girl saw my Cleveland Indians T-shirt that I was wearing and asked me if I like the Indians.  I replied,”Yes,and I was from Ohio”....”so am I” she responded.  Here, she's from Alliance, Ohio....the same city where Mt. Union College is located....UNBELIEVABLE encounters within an hour of each other.

Back in Canton, Ohio – Marsha has had a terrible headache and swelling in he eyelids and face since she arrived here. She asked two different Pharmacist what she might take to get rid of this pressure. She took both suggestions and NO relief. Sunday Marsha was so sick, so Monday morning she called the doctor and got in at 3. She have a bacterial sinus infection. Never had a sinus infection in my entire life. She is on some new antibiotic for ten days. Marsha has only taken two dosages so far and haven’t noticed any change yet, but it is too early. She guesses She needs to get back to Texas and the warm dry air!

While Paul is creating some beautiful cabinets in Mission, Marsha has been doing some more of my own creating. Each year I make an arrangement for my dad to put on my mom’s headstone. I have always wanted to learn to arrange flowers…maybe one day I will get the opportunity to take a class. In the meantime, I try my best to make something my dad is proud of. Here is my latest creation. Dad really likes it…YEA!

flower-arrangement
 
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again real soon. Have a great day!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

REMODELING…CABINET MAKING PART 1

Thursday, January 6 – Paul started another project in the Motorhome. If you'll recall from an earlier post, we removed and sold one of the two sofas.

couch-gone

We already purchased a chair and footstool but wanted to extend the wall cabinets and perhaps install a computer table. Well, that's the project Paul began today.

Fortunately for us, our site has a garage with a full workshop. Paul is so excited about this. It will make this job a ton easier! Thanks, Norm, for letting us use your facility.

shop2

Building cabinets in an RV is a little different than in a standard home. You want to conserve weight wherever possible. Paul started with a skeleton type framework.

getting-started 

2-boxes

He did add some partitions in a couple sections to give the drawer case a little structural strength or stability.

front-pattern

Before finishing the fronts with maple, Paul wants to design and build a computer desk. He used cardboard to build a rough facsimile of the finished desk. He used this to get a picture in his mind what he wants to design.

cardbard-2

Friday, January 7- He is at it again today. First up is the computer desk. He wants to get that roughed in before continuing with the wall cabinets. They meet in the corner so he wants to figure out how to accomplish that merge.....huh???

Well, looks like he figured it out.

desk-start

The leg under the computer is only temporary.

testing-(temp.leg

Checking out the fit.

paul-test-height

There looks like a nice place to put the printer in the corner cabinet. We need to buy a new printer....the old one kind of got broken when Paul was mounting it in another cabinet.

Well, that completed another day of cabinet making. Time to chill-out and enjoy some of this gorgeous sunshine......he needs to take Bella out for some exercise too!

More on the cabinets and the campground in the next blog.

Which of the Weavers is in the wrong place for this time of the year?

This...

dad's-house

There really is a road in there somewhere!

road-snow-2

or This…

 lake-2

Yes, those are oranges.

orange-tree-2

While Paul is building cabinets, Marsha is building something very different. Actually, building isn’t the correct work…creating would be more like it. At our church in Canton, we have a Prayer Shawl ministry. I joined the group shortly before we left and learned how to knit. I NEVER thought I would do something like this, but I love it. The Ministry makes shawls and lap blankets for the shut-ins, people in nursing homes and hospitals. The Pastor blesses them, and they are distributed. I have made many over the past year and a half. I just finished one that I am going to give to my Aunt Johanne. She has been going through a ton of physical problems over the past year. I pray it will bring her some comfort!

prayer-shawl

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you all back real soon. Have a great day.