Woodwork, Sunshine and Home

What feels like a million years ago, I found this awesome website that has almost anything you can imagine, built out of wood. By anything, I mean as small as a stepstool to as large as a tiny house. I have been a LONG time admirer of this site and always browsed through the projects (they come with the plans), thinking of all of the things I would want to do. There are several people in my life that I have shared this site with (knowing my skill was lacking), in hopes that they might make something really cool, for me, themselves, the kids, whoever and do you know what they did with it? Absolutely nothing.

So now I am tired of waiting. Now I’m going to learn (relearn in some cases) how to use the saws, the Kreg, the various adhesives, fasteners, stains, paints, etc. I have some smaller projects in mind, and if I figure out how to execute those well, I’ll work on something more difficult.

Admittedly, once the weather starts getting spring-like, that usually motivates me, at least for a while, to make improvements in my own life. In this case, I know there are plenty of things that I could build, things I want to learn how to do, that could improve my home, inside and out. Maybe, someday, if I learn enough, I can even sell a thing or two, but that isn’t a possibility yet. For now, I’ll just do little, affordable projects to help me learn along with the never-ending quest to purging stuff and working on me, because that never, ever stops.

I hope I can make something beautiful – something I know my father would have been proud of. I can't wait to get started!

Comments

Declutter the House (and Mind)

Wow - it has been a LONG time since I've posted here. Maybe that's a good thing, ha! I'm posting now because I am setting a challenge for myself. It's the 30 day Minimalism Challenge. If you have never heard of it, the rules are simple. Basically you get rid of stuff every single day for 30 days. The usual rules are 1 thing on the 1st, 2 things on the 2nd, 3 things on the 3rd and so on until you have gotten rid of 465 things. I tried it once before and didn't make it very far, maybe day 5. I found that growing number to be kind of intimidating so I am going to change it up a little bit. I am going to write down numbers 1-30 on pieces of paper and randomly pick one every day. That will be the number of items I get rid of that day. The idea is these items must be OUT of your house by midnight each day. In my case, I'm sure that the husband's car trunk will hold quite a collection for a weekly donation run since I don't have time to make that run d...

The Final Countdown

Well, I did it. I made it through the month of purging. 465 items officially, but since I didn't count most of the stuff I threw away, I would estimate closer to 575-600 things. There are a number of things I have learned in the process. First, I have kept a lot of stupid things. I came across so many items that genuinely baffled me as to why I kept them. They had no use, no sentimental value, no reason at all for keeping them, and yet I did. I would say, even the spaces I went through, I could probably get rid of more, but I am happy with where they are at for now. Once I go through the other spaces in my house, I am sure I will circle back around and get rid of even more. Second, it was much easier getting rid of things than I thought it would be. I have purged items before, but never in such quantities. I attempted this challenge once before but I don't think I even made it through the first week. Excuses and time just got the best of ...

Writing

When I was younger, I always wanted to write. I kept notebooks and notebooks of poetry and I was meticulous about them. If I had to cross out a word or, God-forbid, tear out a page – I had to start over with a whole new notebook. I thought for sure that someday, I would write books. I loved to read them, couldn’t get enough, why couldn’t I write them too? If only it were that easy! I started many fiction stories and often, no later than page 10, I would realize exactly how tedious writing a book is. I just did not have the patience for it. When I read a book, I read quickly. It’s something I have always done, because I am impatient. I want to know the end-game right now. I taught myself to skim (thanks Stephen King for putting SO much detail into a book that I learned this little trick). Don’t get me wrong. I READ everything, but I process it a second later. It’s like driving a car. When you drive, you don’t (or should...

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

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