Big Plans

[Travis]

Its starting to get warmer and summer looks like more of a reality. Do you have any big plans for the summer? A big scrolling project? Learn a new technique? Other woodworking projects? Attending a scroll saw picnic? What are your big plans for the summer?

 

I've been saying I'm going to try some intarsia this summer. Unfortunately, my wife's hours got cut back severely so I might not have the money to try intarsia. So if that's the case, I'm going to try segmentation instead and color the wood with stains or dyes. Now if it could just get a wee bit warmer...

[blame]

my plans are to find time to finish my treadle lathe project - with my hand i'm going to just use pine , get our gardens planted(if it ever quits raining!), build myself a new table saw, design and build a portable swingblade mill from scrap later this fall.

 

i wouldnt mind having a nice drum or thickness sander built from scrap and also i'd like to look into building a metal lathe and mill at some point

 

ok i think i'm addicted to building my own tools lol i've built a table saw, lathe and thread cutters in the past those where fun projects

 

blame

[Travis]

LOL...wow. You got quite a list! You get more than 24 hours in a day? Sounds like a lot of fun, though. I look forward to seeing what you put together. Especially the lathe. I hope your hand is feeling better.

[blame]

i enjoy building them then when all the hard work of building them is done i get to enjoy using them just wish the parts where not as expensive as they are lol i bought some used pillow blocks and new 204 3/4" bearings today $7 ea for the pillow blocks(same as new) and the bearings where 10 ea. then 42 cents a lbs for the shafting

 

blame

[Christina]

I give up making plans for anything lololol. They just never seem to turn out the way I plan them. I NEED to work on my property.....clearing and cleaning. House maintenance............and finishing my building so I can use it for a shop no matter what the weather.

I WANT to work on my scrolling but everything seems to get in the way for the last few months. Now I'm going through a particularly bad time in my health and seem to just want to sleep my life away. So I'm finding it difficult to finish anything much less start anything new.

My husband was laid off work a few months ago and there is no new job or rehiring in the near future...........makes finances more than a little tight. I've been thinking of maybe doing some woodburning since I can basically do that sitting on my couch...............a necessary evil.

I've got a host of scarves, hats and slipper socks to get knitted before winter.........I give most of these to charity. Along with a few soft toys I make. And I make most of my Christmas gifts and am sadly behind on production this year!

I do want to get my garden (big planters) planted..............I rescued 5 giant heavy duty plastic ones from a dumpster behind a grocery store. Every year we get rained out and I'm lucky to get a few very miniature veggies! You've never lived until you grow miniature heads of lettuce and cucumbers to go with the cherry sized tomatoes (that aren't cherry tomatoes)! Not to mention the teeny tiny little melons and peppers..............cute but not exactly what I was after!!!

I plan to get alot of canning done even if I have to buy the dang veggies. I love to have a big selection of canned veggies, soups, chili, and of course fruit on hand..............nothing prettier or tastier than home canned foods!

 

I also plan to get a good amount of cheeses made and aging for next winter. My husband and son are the biggest cheese eaters I've ever seen! I make cheddar and we like it sharp! Also mozzarella, swiss, pepperjack and parmesan and romano.............and soft cheeses too, cottage cheese and cream cheese. I make my own yogurt all the time too.

I like to have pies in the freezer so all I have to do is take them out and bake them. I want to make my own smoked sausages this year and would love to smoke some fish............and I always have to make a boat load of jerky!

 

I need to build some good sturdy pens and shelter for wildlife.............but this project may have to be put on the back burner yet another year since my hubby is not working. I want to be a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. We live in the boonies and I am constantly being brought tiny babies that have either lost their mother due to death or my dog raids a nest that I can't find. The year before last it was tiny bunnies..............so tiny it took me a while to figure out just what they were! Last year it was birds..........we had such terrible flooding and then the ice storm we had a lot of starving and injured birds. Mainly that's what I want to care for the most.........birds of all kinds. I wouldn't be against having other kinds of wildlife but mainly birds.

 

Likewise I want to build a chicken pen and house.............totally enclosed to protect the chickens from predators. Another project that will probably have to wait!

 

Lotsa of stuff I want to do.......whether it gets done or not is a whole other story lol. My hubby isn't too good at this sort of stuff............he just really has no interest in any of it........except the part where you eat lol.

Christina

[Travis]

LOL...dang, Christina! You're gunna be busier than Blame! I'm starting to feel like a slacker with my only big plan is to do an intarsia project! I guess I have a few other projects on my plate too. I have to finish my son's room (we're gutting it), and plant the garden. I'm also removing a deck before it collapses and kills a dog or something. I also have yard work, but I have that every year so that's not too big of a surprise. My wife's hours got cut in half, so money is pretty tight around here too. So we gotta keep life simple for the time being.

 

That's really cool that you make your own cheeses. That's something I've been wanting to try too (I think my main hobby is collecting hobbies). It sounds like fun and I like variety in cheese. Plus I think it would be cool to make your own. As you know, I'm a homebrewer as well. I'm also learning to make breads (bread machine style), which is a lot of fun. I make my own icecream and this summer I'm going to try making my own sodas. Mostly rootbeer to go along with the home made icecream....mmmmm....rootbeer floats. I'd love to learn how to can...certainly a forgotten art. But I guess my garden has to do better than it has in the past. I guess a lot of us enjoy that kind of thing. We'd rather make it than buy it. Much more satisfying.

[Fran]

No big plans this year. Been waiting on my nephew to show up with his bro in law since before Christmas to put better wiring out to the shop. When they do may get a small ac unit to go in there, and a better heater.

But I really enjoyed reading Christina's post. Reminded me of when I was small and we raised and canned or put into the freezer almost everything we ate. Never made the cheese tho, but that sounds intresting. Good ole days, but a lot of work.

Fran

[DAdams]

Yes i have big plans well at least they are to me.I'm starting to cut my items I 'm going to Enter in this years Jasper county fair this summer. this is my 2nd year of entering my scroll saw items i have cut out.

[Christina]

My hubby is laid off so we have to keep things pretty simple too. Alot of what needs to be done probably won't get done due to lack of finances. But it's a constant to do list anway.

 

Making cheese is really pretty simple Travis and a lot of fun as is canning.............most things must be pressure cookered for safety.........a few acidy things can be water bathed like tomatoes. I like to can tomatoes, peppers and onions layered...........makes great spaghetti sauce, additions to casseroles and soups not to mention things like meat loaf. Home grown and processed foods just taste so much better and are so much healthier and in the long run much much cheaper. I can make pizza dough and roll it out, put my homemade sauce on it and freeze it. Then when I want to fix pizza night I just pull them out............add toppings and cook. Better than any Digiorno or Freshetta pizza you ever had or for that matter better than restaurant pizza! Likewise I like to make and freeze uncooked pies.........dutch apple mostly since that's my hubby's favorite. I make my own french fries............just partially cook them and drain really well and then freeze on a cookie sheet and then pack in ziplocs. It really doesn't take that much time and tastes so much better. The secret to great crispy fries with soft centers is to put them in ice water about 30 minutes and then take them out a handful at a time and drain and put in the fryer!

There are a blue million cheese recipes to be had online and you can use store bought milk...........the enzymes you need are not expensive and they make a bunch and you can keep them in the freezer for a long time. As a woodworker you can make your own cheese press easily. Otherwise it's a matter of time.......and keeping everything as sterile clean as possible. It does take a bit of time to make it.............a good size batch of cheddar takes me about 6 hours. And then I like to age it a good long time to make it as sharp as possible. But there are a lot of soft cheeses you an eat right away........like mozzarella and cream cheese.

I make my own bread alot too. I love sour dough and will make some of the best chocolate cakes with it you ever ate too.

My step dad used to make beer alot too.......I can remember having to wash mouldy beer bottles for hours...........HATED IT! But as a reward he always made us rootbeer. I have to laugh remembering.....it was a hit or miss thing with the home brewing.........a lot of bottles exploding their caps off and scaring the crapola out of us!

I want to make ice cream this year too. It's been alot of years since I did that. Since my son was little anyway. Back then it was the old crank machines.........a lotta work for little results. I want to get several of the electric ones and make several kinds..........we all like different ones. I make homemade candies too alot........my son and hubby have the worlds worst sweet tooth all the time. So gotta make a lot of candies to go in the ice creams. I'm boring......lol..........my favorite is plain old vanilla. No toppings either. I do however love rootbeer floats sometimes.

I'm the original susie homemaker sometimes.......or so I'm told.

 

Sounds like everyone has some great plans!

Christina

[Christina]

Woohoo a bit of an update! I found a source for goat milk.............and I don't have to milk the goats ! And reasonably priced at $5 a gallon. Plus she sells fresh eggs for $1.50 a dozen! So I think I'm going to tackle cheesemaking this weekend if it's not raining like crazy........humidity makes it a bit harder to dry out the cheeses once you get them made.

 

So maybe I'll get a few things done this year!

Christina

[greasemonkeyredneck]

I am in the process of making a big weekend trip to Arcadia, Louisiana. The have a big flee market there called Bonnie and Clyde Trade Days. I can't hardly sell my projects in the area I'm in becasase there just isn't much money, so I'm going to have to branch out a little.

[Travis]

That sounds like fun. Hopefully you'll sell out! Much easier to carry a wallet full of cash than a big box of projects. Be sure to tell us how your show went. I love hearing about people's craft show experiences.

[Christina]

That does sound great. Did you do it? If so, how did you do......better than in your area I hope.

 

There's not much money in my area either but I do live close to highways where locals as well as tourists drive daily between Tulsa and OKC...........been thinking of making a few things and going to some of the intersections and setting up a roadside stand. Maybe some of my homemade jellies, canned goods, cheeses, arts and crafts. My hubby will do it for me as the heat just gets to me too badly. He used to sell my stuff for me at a couple restaurants and truck stops in Amarillo. My woodburnings did really well there.

 

But doubt if it will be this year. We've had a crappy year with my BIL and kids living with us and I haven't done much of anything. They just moved back to Texas last weekend so maybe I can start learning somemore on my saw now.

Christina

[greasemonkeyredneck]

...been thinking of making a few things and going to some of the intersections and setting up a roadside stand. Christina

 

If you decide to set up on the roadside, please check your local laws. We used to be able to set up here as long as you were in the county. Now you have to have a $300 permit. Unless you plan to set up on quite a regular basis, the permit is just too high. To set up in the city limits here you have to have a business liscense and a tax number.

[greasemonkeyredneck]

Oh! And the Arcadia plans have been put on hold. With the recent bike rally, I've been too busy to even consider it. I think my wife and I have decided to go to next month's market just to sort of feel things out there with plans to actually go sell there later in the summer. That's also the reason I haven't been posting as much lately. I've been spending so much time in the shop that by the time I come home, I take very little time on the PC before I'm ready for the pillow.

[kardar2]

Yeah,

My son just got married and I am going to make them a hope chest and they are expecting a baby in Oct so a big toy box for Grammy and Poppy can fill it with toys LOL

[Christina]

Here the roadside stands are fine as long as it's just occassional. We have several...........someone who sells knives, flags, etc... at the one near my house. Then there's a major one going into Tulsa where the produce vendors go.

As long as it's not a permanent structure. The semi trucks park there on the weekends and leave their personal vehicles there too.

Christina

[Travis]

Yeah,

My son just got married and I am going to make them a hope chest and they are expecting a baby in Oct so a big toy box for Grammy and Poppy can fill it with toys LOL

 

That sounds really cool. I can't wait to see some pix! Don't worry, between mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and friends get done buying toys, you might need a second toy box!