TRANSFORMATION

It is a quiet day here in Highlands Ranch.

It is currently snowing and 29 degrees. Over the next few days we are going to get more snow and remain cold. So that means it must be close to Halloween. Gone are the days of warm Fall weather (or so it seems) when Halloween means parading around without winter coats, hats and gloves on. The cold takes a bit of the fun away.

I decided to buy a pumpkin so I could get its seeds to roast and enjoy. I suppose I could just buy prepared pumpkin seeds in a bag at the grocers but whats the fun of that.

I got my tools together so I could get at it.

Step 1 - cut off the top.

Step 2 - gut it putting the seeds in a bowl of water. The water helps remove the slime and makes it easier to remove the seeds from the ick inside.

Step 3 - start carving once settled on a design. The drill with hole saw makes short work of the eyes which later become ears.

Step 4 - after I drilled out eyes I carved a mouth and mounted the ears.

Step 5 - remove the seeds from the ick in the bowl. The water does really help. This was the first time I did it this way.

Step 6 - melt 2 teaspoons of margarine in a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Spread the seeds out in a pan then bake for about 45 minutes. They should be crispy and brown.

Step 7 - Munch on 'em.

Well since I haven't written in this blog for a while I thought I would at least document this project. I feel a bit silly since I'm sure everyone already knows how to do this. I believe I have a picture of carving a pumpkin with Laura and Matt when Matt was sitting in his baby carrier watching Laura age 4 or so help me with this project. Both Matt and Laura have families of their own now so that was some time ago.  

A BUSY WEEK

Garrison Keillor used to say, "Well its been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon". It was anything but quiet during the week I spent in Lovettsville, Virginia with son Matt, AJ, Ainsley, Thomas and Evie recently. Let me start off by saying I had a great time. I love spending time with my family. It is the most important thing.

Since July and August are birthday months I spent my time making birthday gifts. My first project involved assembling doll cradles for all 3 grandchildren. I cut the wood here in Colorado and took it with me to Virginia in the bottom of a big suitcase. Matt set me up with a battery powered nail gun (I loved that nail gun) and got to work assembling the cradles. Bam, bam, bam, done. Then I sanded some more and painted them. Matt tells me they like to wrap their dolls then after placing them in their cradle carry the cradle to just the right spot.

Next after a trip to Home Depot I worked on making a Lego table. I had plans from Ana White (she has an internet website) I modified. It turned out great.

Next was making a miter-saw workbench from plans I purchased on-line. The plans really made it easy.

Finally I worked with Matt (it was great working with him) on a raised flower bed box for AJ. We worked mostly inside because Virginia in the summer is brutal. The heat with humidity tried to melt us. Also it was during the hottest heat wave across the country. We built it in parts inside then assembled it as fast as we could in the yard. It too turned out great.

All of these projects were in addition of course to spending time with everyone. Wow.

We managed to go to the Air and Space Museum (part of Smithsonian) by Dulles airport for a few hours, swimming in the local pool and eat at Fuddruckers.

It was a very busy week in Lovettsville.

GARDEN OF THE GODS

If you ever get the chance to visit The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs do it. It is beautiful. Just DON'T do it on a Friday afternoon at the end of the school year.

There were school field trips going on along with bikers and hikers so there were no parking spots. So Cindy and I drove around a loop through the park twice. We managed to pull off to the side of the road in one of the few pull-offs to take a few pictures. After 5 minutes we got back in the car and went to the Visitor Center, took a few more pictures then headed home.

WORK BENCH FOR A FRIEND

My good friend Rick Thompson mentioned how he wished he had a workbench in his garage. That is all it took for the creatives juices to start flowing.

One critical issue was the lack of space in his 2 car garage. There are already shelves that take up room in the only space that would normally be used at the far end of the garage. So what could we do? Pinterest, here I come. That website is simply full of ideas to ponder. So I started researching ideas for a workbench in a small space.

We decided on the fold up workbench in the first picture. It would do just what Rick wanted and was pretty straightforward. I normally work from plans but I couldn't find one so I adapted one I did find.
Rick and I were going to be the Tim and Al of the tv show Tool Time.

The day of our build we met at Home Depot with Rick's credit card on his person. We had the two biggest pieces cut there and stuffed them and the rest of the materials in Cindy's Pontiac Vibe.

I had never worked with a partner before but Rick and I made it work. We joked around, made our share of mistakes, scratched our heads, conferred with one another and got it done.

The size of the workbench was decided by the space available. The work surface is 3'x6'. The frame is build around the pegboard using 1x4" pine using screws and glue. The legs or supports for the work surface are the doors to a storage area below. So the whole thing sits on a 4" ledge of concrete that extends along the wall of the garage.

You'll have to admit it looks  a lot like the original picture. The important thing is Rick is happy with it and has already started to hang his tools in it.

Next up....

MUDROOM COAT LOCKER PROJECT

Matt asked if I could make a mudroom coat locker for their home. He showed me a picture of what he and AJ were interested in. It was found on Pinterest.com.

He sent me the plans and I started my planning. Cindy and I were going out to Virginia to help with the grandkids while Matt & AJ's jobs took them away. I thought I could accomplish this project then.

Matt bought the materials ahead of time which helped a great deal. He also has some tools which meant I brought along only a few odd tools that I thought would help. 

What turned out to be the biggest problem with this project was that it was in a closet. So instead of a free-standing unit I could make in the garage for instance and bring in I was confined to a rather awkward space.

It was a fairly straight forward project though so I was able to complete it. AJ bought some baskets and Matt installed some hooks and it really turned out nice.

WINDOW SEAT PROJECT

Last November Laura asked me if I could construct a bay window seat in her kitchen. I quickly agreed and after the first of the year I got started on it.

Pinterest.com is a wonderful place to look at ideas others have had. So I got busy and found a number of places where I could get plans on how to do one. After deciding on a bench seat with storage I started planning.

I got measurements, bought the supplies and set up shop in Laura's garage.This wasn't supposed to take long according to the plans but it never seems to turn out that way. I worked on and off on it for weeks.

The walls had different measurements, there was a floor heating vent that had to be accounted for, and I was working away from my shop so of course that in itself caused problems. If this was a full time job I probably could have completed it faster but I was juggling this with other things as well. Also there was a learning curve on a project I had never attempted.

The hardest part of this project was trying to use hidden hinges. After discovering I had put them on wrong and made a mess of things I bought different hinges that did the job.

I really disliked these hinges. 

Heating vent and foundation framework.

Vent covered and floor installed.

Front panel and part of top installed.

Completed but adjusting door.

Laura recently ordered a beautiful cushion to stretch across it. It feels nice to have completed this project for Laura. I hope it seems that family well.