Shop time...finally...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!  I hope you had a good week.  I know I had a productive one.  I wanted to share with you a little of what's been going on in my shop.  The weather finally turned around making it bearable to work out in the shop this last weekend and this week.  And since I'm behind because of the heat wave we had, I've spent most nights after work out in the shop until 9 or 10 pm, trying to get caught up.  I have two craft fairs coming up and I'm not as ready as I would have liked to have been by this point.  The first is the Essex Labor Day Market on Monday, September 5th and the second one is the Red Oak Craft Fair on Saturday, September 17th.  I haven't been to the second one before and normally I like to have at least a couple of weekends in between shows, but this year I only have one weekend in between which doesn't leave much time to replace inventory.  So that's why I'm building and building and haven't stopped to paint anything, yet.

So this is what the shop looked liked this morning before I left for work.  I have three completely built benches and two that are almost done.  And then that box (top right hand corner) is a storage coffee table/storage bench that is built except for the top.  I will post about each of these soon.

This bench I started Tuesday afternoon and finished everything except the seat/top of the storage, last night.

This one I started on Sunday afternoon.  I had cut almost all the wood when the sun came out and heated up the shop (it has a metal roof and gets pretty warm).  So I packed up all the pieces and moved the building party into my living room so I could keep building.  The dogs weren't too happy, but I sure was more comfortable!  Then I moved it back out on Tuesday and finished it up in the shop.  I still have to make the seat/storage top.  And I can't decide if I'm going to make it or buy a sheet of plywood for all three of the storage benches that still need a top.  I'm going to need to inventory my lumber and see if I have enough to make them or if I need to spend a little money to get some plywood. 

Hopefully this weekend is just as productive as last weekend now that our summer visitors have gone home and my mom is finally feeling better.  One of the benches in the first photo is for a client that called me last Saturday and ordered it.  I of course didn't tell her I was in the middle of making things for two craft fairs, so I slipped it into the workday on Sunday and Monday evening and I'll be painting it this weekend.  So more to come.  Well, take care and have a great weekend!

Summer visitors...

Hi Everyone!  It's time once again for visitors.  This time it's my brother's step-daughter Vickie!  My parents are meeting her and her family about 4 hours away so they can pick up Vickie.  She will be staying for a couple of weeks.  Last summer she came for a whole month but this year she's been detassalling corn and in two weeks she starts another job as a bus girl at her aunt's restaurant so her time here will be much shorter.

This picture was taken last year a couple of days after I got my dog Bo!

We are all Iowa Hawkeye fans so the whole family had their picture taken in Hawkeye gear.

This was taken a couple of Christmas' ago when we had so much snow on the ground that my brother had to come get me so we could have Christmas.

And this was taken last year at the farm.  Vickie is very much a girlie girl as my mom would say it.  And I'm very much a tom-boy.  So she won't be interested in being my helper in the wood shop the way the boys are when they come to visit.  But maybe I can get her interested in some other craft projects.  We'll see how it goes.  She will probably spend most of her time with my mom as they are both into shopping and clothes and nails.  But we'll have fun playing games.  Thanks for stopping by.

Summer visitors...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  I hope you are all enjoying your Saturday.  I have lots planned for the day.  First off I have to work.  Then I have to get ready for company and if there's time, I have many projects to work on.  What are your plans for the weekend? 

Back when my nephew was young, I want to say he was maybe 6 or 7, he would come and stay with my parents during the summer.  It started out as a week then gradually grew to a month or maybe a little more. 

Well, that tradition stopped two years ago because he had a summer job and now that he's graduated from high school and is joining the Marines, that has ended.  It was a great time!  We, my parents and I, really enjoyed spending that time with him.  And it sort of made up for not seeing him much the rest of the year.

My brother and I did this with my grandparents when we were kids.  It was so much fun to come to the farm.  We did a lot of work, like walk beans and put up hay but we'd go to the pool and get to drive the tractor and the lawn tractor or go fishing in the pond and Grandpa would always take a day off and do something really fun like go to the Henry Doorley Zoo or down to St. Joe, Missouri to see my aunt.

Last year that tradition started again with my step niece, Vickie.  And this summer it is continuing with both Vickie and her brother Quinton.  Only they will get to come alone so they each get their own "vacations" and one-on-one time with my parents.

They are both coming for extended visits this summer.  We're just not entirely sure what the exact plans are.  But I do know when Quinton will be arriving. 

 My parents are meeting him and his mother at noon today!  They live in Illinois and we live on the west side of Iowa, so they are meeting about half between at Williamsburg, Iowa where there is a huge outlet mall.  I think he will be staying through the 4th of July and then his sister Vickie will get her chance, but who knows for sure. 

This is Quinton a few years ago when I made him this toy box for Christmas.  Quinton hasn't ever really been away from his parents before so this should be interesting.  He will of course be staying with my parents but I'll see him on the weekends since I work during the week.  I don't know what my parents have planned as far as activities go, but they always make it fun and memorable.  And of course I'll keep you updated on anything exciting!  Thanks for stopping by.