Getting Back in the Swing of Things

Well, I know that I have not posted anything in a while. Life has a funny way of throwing you some curve balls. Over the past 7 months or so, I got back into school. My normal day job is becoming overly dramatic and stressful, and the pay isn’t the greatest. So, it’s time for a change. I’ve been working on my Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics full time, while working full time. My fiancée is about to graduate with her Associates’ degree in Early Child Development. We had to get a new car about two months ago. My younger brother and his wife just had a new addition to their family. Too many other things are going on to list them.

I have not had much time lately for woodworking and restoration, with all of my schoolwork. I’ve been lucky enough to go fishing a couple of times. It seems that almost every class that I take, I have a paper to write. Sheesh! The upside is that my writing skills, time management and organizational skills are all improving. The only downside is that I’m dog tired at the end of the day… every day.  I definitely have too many irons in the fire. I don’t mind it though. It keeps me and my brain busy.

Besides work and school, I have a few other projects that I’m working on: a few designs, a couple of ideas for books and a special box for a special little man who is only 3 1/2 weeks old. Since they live so far away, I have not been able to meet my newest nephew, but hope to in the near future. Well, time to get back to the grind. Have a good day and make some sawdust!

I’m back at it!

Did you miss me? My guess is probably not. That’s ok. The past few years have been kind of crazy. I was out of work for a while, then finally got on with a company I used to work for some time ago. Work has kept me out of town sometimes, which means out of the workshop. Yeeesh. It’s annoying, but gotta pay the bills.

Do you remember my last post? I had mentioned a special made box for a “friend of mine”. Well, that friend is now my fiancée. The box was for her daycare provider for her kids, at that time. The daycare provider has two kids of her own, who both have a form of autism. This is what I came up with.

I used Rosewood for the base and a nice piece of English Oak for the lid. I used my woodburner to engrave the puzzle pieces and colored them with markers. I’m sorry the pictures didn’t come out as clear as I had hoped. I will work on my photography skills.

I hope you like it. I really enjoyed making this one. It’s my way of supporting Autism Awareness.

New posts coming soon.

I’m sorry for the lack of posts lately. Been having some rough times lately with one of my cats. He has been in and out of the vets. Last week, he had to be put to sleep. So this is why I haven’t posted anything. I will be posting again later this week.

Upcoming posts will be a special made box for a friend of mine, a couple of designs on Christmas ornaments and making a base for an antique treadle scrollsaw. Keep checking in to see which is next.