What's Going On?

The world has been turned upside down.  We are all practicing social distancing and staying home.  But our personal lives here in Superstition Views really haven't changed much.  When we are here in our home for a long time our focus always changes.  We don't to places because we have already seen most everything in the Phoenix area there is to see.  We don't go out to eat very often.  And we don't take part in the activities here in our resort.  The only thing closed that really affects us is the locked door of the exercise room.

Also, we try to grocery shop less frequently--buying everything we need for a week or so at a time.  We don't want to be around others more often than necessary.

Oh yes, my hands are cleaner than then have been since I had a newborn in the house.  Also, I am using copious amounts of hand lotion to combat the frequent hand washing.

So, what are we doing?  John has been working in our shop.  Right now he is constructing this intarsia picture of a barn and cattle.  The cutting phase is about half-done.

He made these two scroll saw pictures representing the two states we spend time in.  They will be hung in our Airstream trailer.

Before everything in our resort was shut down, I learned how to do lapidary--shaping rocks for jewelry.  After learning how to use the machines, I bought these two slices of rock.

I have made them into three pendants for necklaces.

I have also finished writing the book of the stories of my life.  I have sent it to the publisher(Kindle Direct Printing on Amazon) and am waiting for a proof copy to arrive, hopefully tomorrow.  After I make the necessary changes, it will be ready to publish.  That is exciting.

While I have been busy at the computer, John was busy in the shop--cutting out scroll saw sayings like this--"I can do all things through Christ."

He also make this sign to hang on the front of our trailer when we are staying in RV parks.

Unfortunately, John fell 10 days ago, injuring his elbow and tearing some ligaments nearby.  It doesn't stop his work in the shop, but it does hurt when he tries to bend his elbow or lift something heavy.  It is getting better each day.

The Fun Begins

While we were in Colorado during the summer, we gathered several pieces of dead Aspen so I could turn bowls out of it. Now that my lathe is set up, I needed to start working on the project. I have been waiting for the man who taught me turning last year to return for the winter. Finally, I resorted to the internet to find information on how to select what part of a lot works best and which way to have the grain going.

This morning, John cut a piece off one of the logs and I set it up to start turning a bowl. It was spinning on the lathe

and then it was spinning off the lathe! Not what I intended.

One piece ended up on the floor across the room.

Only a small piece was left on the lathe. Obviously, the wood was rotten and two weak to work on.

So we choose another log of Aspen. Here I am holding the log for John to cut with our hand saw.

This log was better wood. So I began making a real mess in the shop.

And a mess on me.

The good news is, the wood stayed on the lathe and I was able to shape it.

It's not done. I hope to use the part I cut off the top to make a lid and I will have a box. I will have a lot of sanding to do by hand because I didn't want to keep working down the inside until I cut through the bottom, something I did last year. I'll show you the completed project in the next week or two, if it works out. Right now, it's looking pretty good.

Doesn't It Look Good?

The one thing we were missing in our workshop was cabinets. We had lots of stuff, much of it in tool boxes and tool bags, sitting on the lower shelf of the workbench. If we could put that away in cabinets, we would have room for supplies and, eventually, more power tools on that lower shelf. Saturday, we picked up the cabinets from Lowe's Home Improvement. Monday, Conrad came to install the cabinets. He works for Cabinet Masters, a company that contracts with Lowe's to install the cabinets they sell.

He does the work alone. Look at the cool supports he has to hold up the cabinets until he can screw them into the wall. You can see them in the photo above and in this one.

He had numerous tools ready on our work bench.

One at a time, the cabinets were hung on the walls.

He not only screwed them onto the wall, he screwed one cabinet to the next and adjusted the hinges so the doors hung correctly.

Don't they look great? Three hang above the workbench, one over the sink, next to the washer-dryer.

After we put everything away in the cabinets, our workbench went from looking like this

to this.

We're Just About Done

Only one more addition to go and our workshop will be complete. After assembling the scroll saw and lathe stands, we waited for the work bench tops to arrive. They came by FedEx Freight in a very heavy, large box.

The legs for the bench were already here, so we started putting everything together. All it took were some 2 X 4s and bolts.

It wasn't long before it was all together.

I knew I needed a place for my turning tools. We found this diagram and instructions in one of my books.

We put it together and it hangs on the wall to the right of the lathe. It is right next to the utility sink, which we had installed today.

Here is everything in place.

From the last picture, you can see all the stuff that will go into the cabinets, which we have ordered and should be in place in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, John is doing intarsia, I have turned a couple pieces of birch wood and finished cutting out a scroll saw basket I started last year. We are beginning to have fun in our shop!

Things Are Coming Together

We returned to an empty workshop addition to our house. No appliances, no tools, only a folding lawn chair and boxes of supplies.

After lots of shopping at Lowe's and on Amazon, the boxes started arriving.

We found parts and instruction sheets.

I started bolting together the scroll saw stand.

John did a lot of that work, too.

The last step was to attach the equipment to the stands.

We aren't done yet, by a long shot, but look what we have so far. I have my own lathe for turning bowls.  If only I had some tools to do the work.  I have lots of wood.

We have a scroll saw.

As you can see, the lawn chair and boxes are still there. The workbench parts are on their way. We are excited to get started working there.

Oh yes, the washer/dryer, water softener and utility sink will we delivered and installed within the next week or two.