To start with, let's talk about the router table's progress...
I managed to make the drawer sides for the table. Just not anything else to finish the thing.
The ends of the sides are rabbeted and the bottoms all have dadoes for the bottom. I just haven't done any of the final fitting or assembly yet. Nor have I built the faces for the drawers. Or the doors for the router space for that matter. I'll put this into the, "stuff that I really should get done, but will get around to at a significantly later date, or at least when I next think of it and have time nor anything else better to do" column.
Next is the demolition of those pesky sheds. The first to go was the chicken coup. I'll give you the general lowdown with pictures.
As you can see, the front of the thing was the first part to go. With the help of my good friend, Patrick Rocchio, I was able to get the rest of the coup down in about two hours. We were able then, to cut up a good amount of the parts and throw them into the dumpster. I really wish that I would have gotten a picture of the dumpster, as the overflow was fairly amazing, but I'll deal.
All that remains of the coup is a small pile of debris that I think that I'll throw on top of the next dumpster for an even more epic picture.
Now, between the chicken coup and the remodel a couple of things happened.
First, I harvested the potatoes out of the meager garden that I keep.
We really like potatoes, and they grow fairly well here, so there you go.
Next, Lucinda went to a conference.
The car pictured above didn't belong to us when she first left for the conference. Dave (aka "the Davemobile" aka "1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo") is still sitting in front of the house, but not for too long. Please don't tell him, he wouldn't take this news well. Neither am I for that matter...
Now, I'd like to say that this was something that I could hold over my wife's head for the next forty years, the new car was planned for some time. We knew that the Jeep was on its way out and that we needed to get something else. We wanted a crossover SUV, but couldn't afford the one that we wanted, but decided that the sedan was big enough for the car seat we have and hopefully another sometime in the future. Plus, the mileage is so much better than anything we drive right now.
Dave's engine has been cutting out lately, which isn't really that big a deal unless you are driving on a freeway in heavy traffic. (Note: This didn't actually happen, just a for instance) I'm in the process of cleaning out the Jeep and will likely take him into donate him to a charity whenever I get sick of paying the insurance.
Now to the remodel.
Lucinda and I decided a while ago that the wall between the kitchen and living room needed to go. Our living room is lit by two wall sconce fixtures on either side of the fireplace and two floor lamps. This just isn't enough. The resulting feel is that of a cave. Not like a Taliban cave, a nice one. You know, a cave with couches, television, nice stereo system and cookbooks.
After much thinking, we decided that the wall mounted cabinets in our kitchen could be re-purposed for use as base cabinets to help create an island.
In the picture above, you'll see a variety of things. You'll note that the counter top is a complete mess. You'll also note two different colors of wall and what looks like a 2x4 peeking through the wall. This is actually a long opening. On the other side is a separate 32" x 5' frame that was nailed in place after someone screwed something up. The stove is currently under the white box microwave.
We removed all of the cabinets then I got to work tearing out drywall. Lucinda felt that she wanted more to do with the remodel than, "designated fragile item out of the cabinet wrapper" and picked up the reciprocating saw and got to work.
For having never used one before, she did pretty well.
For now, we're at somewhat of a standstill with the remodel. I removed all of the wall studs that I thought were safe to remove to open things up a bit more. There is too much electrical to really do any more for the time being. I'm fairly confident that I could move the 240V outlet for the stove and move the other outlets for the microwave and aux, but the switches and thermostat are things that I really don't want to tackle. Plus, if the place burns down, I want it to be someone else's fault.
In the meanwhile. I think that I can find enough other things to do around the house. Picking up another 10 gallons of paint while I'm at a conference in Eugene Monday will help.
Until next time...
