The wine rack

 I just noticed it has been a while since I posted an update. I have finished the wine rack, it came out pretty nice, unfortunately it is to big for the client so I am building another one, at least it will keep me busy during the winter. I am selling the other one, so if your interested drop me a line.

As winter approaches I always try to stay positive, I love the holidays but it is the long stretch from New years eve and April that is a long time. I don't partake in winter activities because I don't like the cold, so I will be building some tables and spice racks and other things to keep busy. I will be starting college in January which is another thing to look forward to.

Here is hoping everyone had a great thanksgiving, and you have a great Christmas. Be good to each other.

The rain barrel

So you want a rain barrel to use for watering around the house and the garden.  First you need to find a container to hold the water.  There are many ways to do this, from a trash can, to a farm container.  We decided to use the latter, because they are bigger and come already plumbed.  Now finding one can be a challenge.  Using Craigslist we found a lot for around $100, which was more than we were willing to pay.  Finally we found a farmer that was selling them for $20.00...BINGO...So after driving to pick it up the next step was to level the ground.  Now if you are going to do this, you need to ensure the ground is Level (reasonably speaking) or you build a platform for it.  The next step was to alter the down spout to direct the water into the bin, then seal it with some steel wool to keep mosquitoes out.  Then we waited for a rain...and rain it did.  We filled the tank with one overnight rain, of course when you do this you need to put an overflow pipe on it so that when it is full it does not come out the top.

Now we are able to capture 275 gallons of water, and reuse it for watering.  There is pretty good pressure in it when it is full, due to the fact the drain is on the downhill side.  Next spring of course I will have to build a box to hide it, but fortunately for us it blends nicely into the hill side.

Life after the trip

Well I survived the 4,000 mile trip to Texas, and there were only 2 casualties my parent's table and a trailer tire.  While there, the temp was in the mid 90's each day which was real hard to take...

On the way back we had to stop at a couple places that were featured on DDD..

And did they have GREAT Hot Dogs...if your in West VA it is worth the stop.

I will be updating the wine rack real soon.

Be kind to everyone.

Southern Texas

Well we made it to McAllen Texas, 98% OT my folks stuff made it with no problem.  We had one small issue, we blew a tire, thank god for duel wheels.  It is a large country, we drove three days and never left this great country.  2000 miles in three days is a long way to go, but a beautiful ride.  We are going to Mexico today, sight see and rest before hauling tail back.

Well that's all for now, I will update when we get back.

Another project

So what's been happening since I last wrote?  Well a friend of mine asked me to make her a wine rack, so I have been working hard at getting to the point I feel comfortable putting the project aside while I go to Texas. Of course being the good business person I did not settle on a price, no contracts, nothing...but it is for a friend, I am sure it will all work out.

My folks left NY several days ago, and now are back in their new home state of Texas.   I will be leaving Monday to take their stuff to them in a Chevy Silverado, with a 12 foot trailer on the back, should be great on the gas mileage.

Here are some pics of the wine rack in progress:

The 'X' is a visual for me, have to figure out how to make it all fit together and look good at the same time.  So that's what I have been up to.  I will update folks on my trip across country, looking forward to a nice 4000 mile round trip.

Be good to one another.

The Blog

I was reviewing the statistics today on who is reading my post.  I wanted to see if anyone was viewing the post and where they were from.  Of course the US had the most page views, but to my suprise Russia was in second place.  When I was young, I had the opportunity to go to Russia and let me tell you, the people are great and the country is beautiful.  I know much has changed since I was there, but I would love to go back.  Germany was in third place, and having been stationed in Zweibrucken for three years all I can say is WOW, the beer was great the people were welcoming and friendly and it made for a great experience.

I am going to ask everyone a favor, could you drop me a note telling me a little bit about yourself, where you live your intrest and anything else you would like to share.  This will allow me to add more content.

Thanks and have a great day.

Moving on

Well I completed my first spice rack today of course using 100% reclaimed materials.  Just stained it, and will put on the sealant tomorrow.  One thing that I notice, the longer you make an object the less objective you become.  I guess it came out ok, but I am hoping someone would like it enough to buy it and take it to their home to give it new life.

 I talked to a friend today, and she asked if I could make a wine rack that would hold about 60 bottles of wine, have a top and she wants a place to hang glasses.  Of course I said sure, not 100% sure what I am going to do, but I do have some ideas.  I also heard from another friend who would like me to make a table. Once I hear back from him as to what he wants that will give me something else to work on.  If I get these things stacked up, by no time it will be Christmas.

Dropped the trailer off for the folks, getting ready to move them to Texas in about 2 weeks.  Should be a fun time.  Just hope that the price of gas drops, because I am going to use a couple of gallons along the way.

Well that's all for now, hope everyone had a good and safe weekend.  Talk to you soon.

The end of Summer a.k.a the end of the garden constuction

As summer draws to a close, I can say that the raised garden beds are 98% finished.  We need to construct 2 more beds to make the end, however that is only a couple of hours worth of work.  The beds have been lined, and we actually got dirt in them thanks to one of the best landscapers in the world Steve from S&D Landscaping.  He is GREAT.  Not only does he do our landscaping, but he is really a nice guy and I have never met anyone that works as hard as he does, and is the perfectionist that he is.  He dropped probably close to 4 yards (maybe more) of screened top soil in the yard for us.  Talk about a huge savings, not only the cost of the materials (which he did not charge us for) but the delivery.

So what do they look like filled?

 Now when next spring comes, all that needs to be done is to mix in some compost (which we are making), peat moss (that we will have to buy) and veggies...it is a very inexpensive way to add floor space to your garden, and really they don't look bad.  My brother asked a question about what happens when the pallets 'rot' away.  They will do that, and I could paint them which would make them last longer, however the way each of the sections are constructed, all I will have to do is pop the bad pallet out, and put in a new one.  Hey worse case scenario is that I dump all the dirt into the garden area, tear the beds out and have one hell of a bon fire.  I have figured out the cost of this project and divided it into linear feet, it comes out to about $0.35 per foot.  That is with screws, plates, a couple of 2x4's wire, fabric.   I think we can get enough veggies to warrant the cost.  Hell I have $20.00 in a bean pole, and the damn rabbits ate all of the beans, so I lost on that this year.

For those who know me, they know that I hate winter...let me re-phase that, I HATE WINTER, and of course living in Upstate NY winter starts like 10/1 and goes to the end of May.  Now of course I am going back to college in the Spring semester, but I have decided that I am going to continue to make rustic pallet furniture.  I actually have an order for a wine rack. I will make up a bunch of stuff (thank God for a Barn) store it during the winter months then when the art festivals start up I will buy a booth and see what happens. If I can make a few bucks on the side great, if not at least I can keep busy during the damn WINTER.  It is so sad to see that the stores now have their Christmas decorations going up...if you don't believe me go to any Hallmark Store (r) and look at their decorations...really?  This stuff was up before Labor Day.

I will leave you with this though, life is to short to worry about those things that you can not change, and so I try to concentrate on things that I can change.  People ask me all the time about things and my common answer is that if you want to start a business, follow a dream, try something different go for it because some day you won't be able to  and then there is nothing but regrets.  Am I going to be able to sell pallet furniture and  wine racks etc...I don't know, but if I don't try the answer is no.

Here is hoping that today is a good day, and tomorrow is even better..take care of one another because that's all we have.

Reclaimed furniture

So what is reclaimed furniture?  It is an idea that I can not take credit for, however I am giving it a shot.  Having built raised garden beds out of pallets all summer long, I began looking at some of the pallets and wondered if I could reuse them in such a way as to take an ugly item that is destined for the burn pile, or landfill or some other fate where it would never be appreciated and put it to a practical purpose.  So I grabbed some pallets that I could work with and started making furniture out of them.  First you have to find a pallet that will work for your needs.  As you can see they are rough, full of splinters and dirty...that is ok because we are going to the next step.

Sanding, and lots of it.  Here I am using a third sheet sander, I find that it works well with 60 grit sand paper and lots of it.  I will move to 120. then 220 grit paper before I am done.  I also have a palm sander which works really well.

The next step is to purpose the piece.  Is it going to be a piece for a workshop, or garden?  This piece I decided to due as a piece that could be put in a living room, or somewhere else inside.  So now I cut 4x4's for the legs, this is the only lumber that I bought for the project.

Now that I have measured three times, and cut once I attached the legs using heavy duty screws.  When doing this step I square the legs to the front of the table top, and not the side piece.  The reason for this is that the side pieces of pallets support a lot of weight, and they bow out, or are not perfectly lined up.  But the table top tends to be more square, and it gives the piece a better look.  Now that the legs are supported, I need to add support and help square the piece up.  I do not know if in true wood working this is kosher, however it works really well and looks good.  So I go to another pallet that I picked up, take it apart and use some really nice 1x1 lumber.  It is a hardwood, but I am not sure exactly what type.  I take the inside measurements, and add a bracket, this is another item that I purchased.

After doing that on both sides, and securing it the table is ready for stain.  Now a couple of notes, 1. Sand your 4x4's before attaching them because it is so much easier.  I used un-milled lumber, it is rustic and looks like it belongs with the pallets.  2. I do not endorse products, however, Stanley "L" brackets are the worst.  First they are made in China, and secondly they are not uniformly stamped out, and sometimes the screws they provide go right through the hole.  I had the same problem with the Garden Beds that I made so it was not just 'fluke' it's a real quality control issue.

 Now you are ready for stain.  My goal here is to sell this piece and I know that the darker stains are in, so that is what I decided to do.  After staining I added several coats of Polyurethane to seal it, and really make it shine.  When adding the polyurethane make sure you wait at least 4 hours ( I waited overnight ) and you must lightly sand between coats.

And there is the finished table.  The actual time was probably about an hour of sanding and taking the pallet apart, then about an hour to put it together, with about 24 hours for staining and finishing.

The neat thing is that the cost of the table breaks down to $8.00 for the 4x4, $2.95 for the brackets (which will be less after I use up my current stock) about $2.00 in sandpaper, and probably $5.00 in stain and finish.  For less than $20.00 I have recycled and reused something that would have ended up in the landfill or someplace else we would not appreciate it.  

More to come on different projects.

The end of Summer

As Summer draws to a close, there is change in the air..The leaves are starting to turn colors, the nights are getting colder (down to 48 the other night) the evenings are getting darker quicker and the garden is ending.

This has been an interesting gardening year.  The raised beds are almost done for next year.  I have 3 more to go which means another trip for pallets. We will finish those up, get the dirt into them and wait til spring to see how well they work.  I notice that the animals even sense the change in the seasons, it seems that they are full of more energy.

No I did not run her over, she came outside and that is where she laid...dumb dog.  I also saw this the other night.

As you can see the tree in the background has started to turn yellow already.  I know that I HATE winter but this is to early for summer to end.  On a positive note I think my Summer squash plant is finally done, and ready for the compost bin!!!!  I have been picking pumpkins for a couple of weeks, and I still have some nice large green ones that should be ready for Halloween!!!

I have been building some tables, trying different avenues to build and stain them.  My goal is to do a bunch of different things, then next year go to a couple of the Arts and Crafts things and see if there is interest.  I am also going to try some planters over the winter.  If I don't try something, I will go nuts.

As we start into September, this will be a month of change for all of us.  My parents are moving to Texas full time.  I will be moving their stuff at the end of the month.  By the time I get back it will be time to put the bikes away for the winter.  I so hate winter, it is a time where I miss the outdoors, the ability to go out without a jacket and enjoy things.  Sure Christmas is nice, but there is a long haul from Christmas to Memorial Day.

Well I hope that all of you have a great Labor Day weekend, and are able to do things with those that you care about.  As Java says, be safe and have fun.  Talk to y'all in September.

   Something to remind you of Summer ;)

Times are changing

This is the time of year that is nice, but I really do not care for...Fall.  While working around the house yesterday I heard that familiar sound...I looked towards the heavens and saw it...geese flying in formation.  This coupled with the fact my leaves are changing, the nights are getting colder all point towards the end of summer.

Unlike some of my friends, I love the warm temps, the long days, the ability to go outside and do things without jackets and gloves.  I do like seeing all four seasons, however there is something to be said about summer.  While working in the garden, my Rottie even seemed sad to see the change coming.

Trying to fight mother nature is a loosing battle, but someday I know I will live somewhere that will allow me to enjoy nice weather year round.

An average Sunday

So what to do on a nice Sunday in August.  I was looking at the table that I needed to finish, and figured heck it would only take about an hour, let's do it.  So I loaded the girls up and went to the local lumber yard and picked up a couple of 4x4's that I could use as legs.  I get them home and measure them up, cut them and after I assemble them I noticed that I wanted to add a little support.

No problem, I have some scrap 1x1 I will measure them up, use an 'L' bracket, all set.  Heck, I can put a little shelf in it and it would look cute.  So I carefully cut my lumber, and find three pieces of slats to use as a shelf.  I sand them down, make them look real good.  After I put the support on I then realized that I had cut the shelf to short..oh well guess a shelf wont be put in.  Of course I forgot to cut a support for the other side, so now I had to measure that side, cut and sand the support for it.  Now I get my brackets ( DO NOT buy Stanley 'L' brackets)  These things are made in China, and of course the damn holes that were punched in the bracket were to big for the screws.  Now I have to spend 10 minutes looking for screws that I can use.  After finding it, I go to put the screw in, and of course I drop it...better find it before the dog steps on it.  So I am searching everywhere for the screw.  After 20 minutes I figure I will find it when I clean up.  So now I am using the damn China made bracket, hooking the legs together, the dogs are playing tag all around me.  I drop the drill gun.  After picking it up and I start to put the screw in the little dog grabs some sandpaper and feels that it is time to play chase.

I get the sandpaper, the legs are secured I get cleaned up from the job (which now has taken 3 hours) and I still can not find the damn screw.  Oh well, at least the table is together.  You know, looking at it, it does need stained, that should only take about an hour.....

Karma-

I belive in what goes around, comes around, and I have been lucky lately.  I was able to buy a really nice trailer at a cheap price, I may have the ability to go to school and finish up a degree that I could not finish years ago and my surgery results were good.  I hope to launch this no little business, setting up compost bins and small raised Garden Bed's.  I also have started building furniture out of reclaimed pallets.  It is amazing what these companies throw away.  The pallets are in great shape, with a little work amd patience they clean up really well.

I can do anything from coffee tables to work benches with very few motifications.  Some of the pallets are made from nice hardwood, pine, just about any type of wood.  People love reclaimed and reused products, hopefully I can put some stuff together that will work.  We will see.

Have a great weekend!!!

The verdict-

Well I went and saw my surgeon today, and he told me that the biopsy came back negative, there was no malignency noted.  While this is great news, it still does not explain the weight loss and other issues, so I guess my PMD will be busy.

I launched a new service today, with people wanting to go green and recycle I am offering compost bins.  We will see what the local market has to say about the idea.  Many people are trying to recycle, reuse and Green.  I am offering an alternative to buying top soil made from China reduce the amount of stuff in the landfill.

I am preparing for the trip to Texsas, while it will be fun, it sure is a long way down.  I know my parents are paying for gas but I know my Silverado loves to suck it down.  If I get 15mpg, thats going to be about 250 gallons of gas, I just hope it is cheaper down south.

Be good to one another, thats all we got in the end.

Good day for the Average guy-

As I stated in the beginning, I was going to chronical the good, and not so good days, well today was a great day.  I lost my job about a month ago, and being a middle aged guy, that's pretty scary.  Being a Vet, I was blessed with a retraining program that will allow me to go to school full time, and then help get me a job.  My wife is supportive, there will be some income to help pay the bills and I can focus on getting my degree.  Tomorrow is going to be a huge day, I am going to meet with my vet representative, go to the doctor's and find out if th mass that was removed is going to cause major problems, then I am going to an interview for a part time Limo driving job.  I hope that all of this good news carries through to tomorrow, and I can open a new chapter in my life.

Going to school scares the hell out of me.  I do well in everything but math...I hate math, and it hates me, all those x's and y's I don't get it.  But that will be my full time job for about a year.  Why do things happen the way they do, I don't know but they  do and we have no control over it.

Here is hoping things are going well for you, and remember to be good to someone you don't know, because someday you will need the kindness of a stranger, and support in something you are doing.Honey-Can-Do 8-Pc. Back-To-School Home Storage Kit (Google Affiliate Ad)

The garden saga continues- The Compost Bins-

"we put all of our garbage, except meat, oily stuff, glossy news paper blah blah and we get great material for the garden, by the truck loads."  I am a guy, really? I can find the garbage can about 70% of the time, but now I have trash, wet compost (veggies), dry compost (news paper) and don't forget the recycables, but not tin cans (that's a whole different blog).  O.K. I will try to save money, and am willing to try anything once.  Now we have been using an idea that was found on Pintrest, with some major modifications.  As posted earlier, with the raised garden beds we are constructing boxes which are about 30" high, and 50" long.  The compost bins are about 60" wide, 50"high and 30"deep. Now what I know about compost piles is very limited but once again the Internet is a great teacher.

The First thing you need to do is construct the box.  Not including leveling the ground, this step should take about 10 minutes (really I am not kidding).  After finding a fairly level spot, and with the assistance of someone one, stand your side and back panel up.  Using either 90 degree corner plates or straight board menders (or even a combination of the two) connect the pallets.  Experience has shown that pre drilling the holes help a lot, because the pallets can be constructed of any wood, or combination of woods.  Once the first corner is done it becomes easier. Take your second pallet that will be used on the back and attach it to the first using 2 board menders.  Don't worry if it is not 100% flush, or perfect, remember it is holding materials for compost.  Now comes a little trickey thing.  We wanted to divide this bin into two seperate bins so we took two pallets and put them back to back and attached them to the back wall.  The goal is to keep this project inexpensive, so I did not use any extra lumber, we basically split the difference and moved along.  Now we placed the other pallet on the outside wall and attached it using board menders  The next step was the moment of truth, we took two pallets (one in each bin) and for a reason still unknown to me they fit.  This step according to my wife is very important, it allows for air flow underneath the 'stuff'.  Because these will be in contact with the 'product' securing them seemed silly because they will need to be replaced. The engineer changed the specs at the last minute, and instead of putting hinges on the door we 'lashed' them shut, allows for greater access to all this compost we will be getting.

My wife read about a way to turn stuff into compost in 21-28 days, and the key is air.  So now comes a little expense, We went to our local home center and bought 8 10ft pieces of 1" PVC pipe.  Have stress at this point? Now is the time you get to release it, using a large drill bit make lots of holes, for air movement.  I created a guide, just to give me a more stable working surface.  Try to remember, this is about function and fun, exact measurments are not important as long as there are lots of holes.  After drilling holes I took my battery operated 'saws all' to the 'site' and cut the PVC to fit inside the boxes.  These Pipes make a checker board and will compress as the stuff turns into 'dirt'.  The last picture shows how they are set in.  Karen now has the job of 'filling the bins.  I will keep you updated on how this stuff works, it will either work great, OR I will be inviting my friends over for a hell of a bon fire.

If folks want specifications, or easy to follow directions please feel free to e-mail me, and unless I have been buried by the truck loads of compost, I will get them to you.