Updates on Random Projects

We are headed down to Florida today for Marshall's wedding but I thought I would post a couple of pictures of random things that we have been working on.

One of our neighbors further down the street from us cut down their ornamental plum tree in front of their house. These are the same type as the ones that were on the post a while back in bloom. I went over and talked with them and they said that they did not like the dark red leaves...........I don't know what people are thinking at times. At least they are planting a maple in its place. I picked up a piece of the tree and turned it on the lathe into a candle stand. I still have to get another piece of it to make a base for it. It is hard to tell but it is about 14 inches tall.

I worked on Boeing work most of last weekend but did have a chance on Sunday afternoon to attach two of the rails on the freezer door and to build up the two raised panel fake doors. The rails are attached to the frame but the doors are just sitting in the openings in the picture because I still have to put some beading around the opening, size the panels and put the hardware on before they are attached.

We tried out the edger the other day on the walkway in front of the house. You can see below the before and after picture of what the area looks like. It definitely adds a sharpness to the edge of the walk. It was amazing how much grass had grown over the edge.

Finally finished up the bed out back between the house and the garage with the last row of cap stones. This is something that was started last fall but then it got too cold to glue in on the cap row of the the stones. I think that it came out looking good but it will all come together once the whole area is leveled and the pavers and steps are in place.

Pantry Filling Up

Kristen has moved all of the food into the pantry. It took a little while to get all of the shelves painted and put in place but that is all done now. The bottom cabinets still need a single shelf made and put in but it feels good to be able to start to use it. This also got all of the food out of the other cabinets in the kitchen which should let us remove the center cabinets from the floor.

Monday Night BBQ

Last night we decided to enjoy the warm weather and cook dinner up on the fire pit. It was a beautiful night and we cooked some polish sausages and onions on the fire. We also had some yummy veggies and fresh lemonade - perfect way to get into the summer feeling!

More spring pictures

Here is what it is looking like outside today.

Update on the Fridge

Both of the upper, outer doors have been installed. They are put in with two blind mortised barrel hinges. These hinges are used because when the doors are closed there is no gap showing on the outside and the side panel is completely flat. It takes a little while to chisel out the socket to hold the hinge in the door and jam.

Here you can see a picture of the door in the open and closed position.The bottom of the fridge will have two false drawers that will be mounted to the fridge door. The existing door is curved so a lattice had to be made up that turns the rounded door into a flat gluing surface. Here you can see the lattice being glued up on the table.
To attach the frame to the fridge the plastic coating on the front of the fridge had to be removed. I masked out the locations of the frame and used the random orbital sander to get down to the base metal.....no turning back now!
A little bit of JB Weld and clamps later and the frame is permanently attached to the fridge. The clamps are now off and it looks pretty good. It should be easy to buildup and attach the bottom panels now.

Professional Engineering

The actual PE license came in and Kristen had it framed up. It is sitting in the office for a while until most of the construction dust settles down. I still have to get my stamp and/or embosser.

Trimming the Hedge

Last year when Kristen's parents were here we moved the hedges that were in front of the house back so that we could have a garden bed in front of them. We let them take root for a couple of months to make sure that they would survive. Now we have them all trimmed up square like they should be. I don't think that they have ever been trimmed so they are a little sparse in a lot of spots. I think that by the end of summer they should be looking good.Now we just have to do something about that old walkway.....future project!

Free side of the road table

Driving home from work Saturday, I noticed a table sitting outside a neighbors house and thought that it may have free stuff sitting on top. I parked and walked over to take a look. It turned out to be a free table with its drawers sitting on top of it. It is a beautiful old table so we carried it across the street and into our living room. There are six total drawers, three on each side. We are undecided on where to use it but are thinking that it will make a nice makeshift island in the kitchen for awhile.

Paint colors

We tried a few different colors for the fridge unit once it is complete. Our favorite is the top color - Cabin Plank. We aren't even close to the painting stage yet but like to choose paint colors.

Working on the Fridge Unit

Now that the pantry is finishing up I am working on the pantry door surround as well as beginning the fridge unit. The unit is designed to look like a piece of furniture instead of a fridge. This is being accomplished by placing the fridge part way into the wall to hide it's depth and by putting false doors and panels on the fridge. The final unit will be painted a mahogany brown color. Here is a picture of what the unit will look like.

Here is a picture of the base of the unit that raises the fridge up six inches.

Pantry Doors

We started working on hanging the pantry doors. They still need a little adjustments, then sanding and painting. The door frame will be the next project - we will make it to match the rest of them in the house. The light will automatically turn on whenever the door is opened. We special ordered some door handles so once they come in we'll take a look and see if we like them.

Spring has arrived!

We got home from the Olympics to discover that it is spring! All the bulbs are up and the trees are flowering.