I have two projects in mind. I need to get going on another penny, nickle or dime bowling ball project started. I have three of them at the shop, waiting for me to do something with them. This trunk was fun and being that I had to tape it all off, to paint in the green stripes, it really got me jazzed about doing a couple of Barn Quilts. Who knew there was such a thing. Candy had introduced me to them a couple of weeks ago.
I am thinking about doing four of them all at once. Each one will be 4ft x 4ft, all will have the same design and colors. I have a couple of ideas where I can hang them when done. Either on the fence or one on each of the sheds and two as gifts. Seems like it would be fun and if I have buy paint, might as well use it up.
Well it's finished. This was a fun, but long project. The hardest part was the removal and clean up of all the hardware that I stripped off the old trunk. There was over 160 rivets that I had to grind off to remove all the hardware. Once it was all off, I took the wire wheel and knocked off most of the rust and dirt. Then bead blasted each piece, primed and painted. The box is made of premium pine panels. I got them at HD and then cut everything to size and glued and clamped it together. Instead of using screws to hold it all together, I drilled holes and used wooden dowels. I would insert the glue in the hole and then nail in the dowel. Sanded and then sanded some more. Cleaned it all up and then applied two coats of golden oak stain to the top and bottom. Once the stain dried, I taped it all off and painted in the green. Why green? It's what I had from the wheel barrow project. I also painted the inside of the box green. Once the paint dried, I then applied two coats of urethane. With the lock being brass I decided to use these gold looking decorative wood screws. I have to say, overall I got pretty lucky as the colors work really well together. For now I have it sitting in the living room. I plan to give it my Mom if she want's it next time we go back or they come visit.
I didn't get a chance to work on the trunk this evening, but I did run over and take a couple of pics. Also gave me a chance to see how the urethane looked now that it had dried on the lid. I still need to urethane the base. I sat it together with the lid on and then place a couple pieces of the hardware on to see how it was going to look. If I don't screw anything up, I think this will look pretty decent when completed.
Oh man, the party is over, tell us about it Willie....
I go back to work tomorrow after being off for two weeks. I have to say that these last two weeks have
been the greatest. We had so much fun in Olympic National Park
and then to be home and have some time to do some projects.I did pretty well these last three
days.I really started pounding out my
version of a steamer trunk.
I managed
to get all the metal pieces sanded, primed and painted. This was the bulk of the work for this project.There are 32 pieces of steel parts that I
saved from the original as well as two pieces of brass for the lock.The patent date on the lock is 1880, pretty
cool.
I have built a new trunk, using nothing but glue and wood dowels
as nails. How I made the lid is
interesting. I built the whole box, with
the top and bottom already on. Then I
elevated my blade on the table saw, and just cut the top off the box, working
all the way around it. Now I can ensure
a great fit when going to put it all together.
I stained the box and the lid, three coats on each. Then I taped off where I wanted my braces to
be and painted them green. It looks
pretty awesome with golden oak stain and green colored braces. It was dry enough that I could put a coat of urethane
on the lid. Wow this really made it
pop! Just the look I was going for.
It’s hard to explain what it looks like and I didn’t get a
picture. But here is a picture of what I
started
with. The new trunk looks
nothing like this, but utilizes all the original hardware that you see on the
donor trunk.
Our dog Pebbles, what a nut she is. I was sitting on the back patio watching the
news and she is lying on the recliner.
She has her nose in the air and she is working her head back and
forth. I am pretty sure she was checking
to see if there were in new smells in the vicinity. It was fun to sit there and watch her., silly
dog.
As I was looking for a fun video to share, I also came across Willie singing America the Beautiful. What I liked was the scenery and to see that there are still so many places in my backyard that I need to go see and hike.
For our last day we headed out again early, this time our missions was the Spruce RR Trail. The sign at the park on the way in, said it was closed, but we continued any way just to see what was up. A good portion of the trail was still open, so we headed out to do it.
It was a great hike and all the way along we followed Crescent Lake as we worked our way around. We were to slow with the camera, but as we were walking along an Eagle came swooping down and grabbed a fish out of the lake and then flew off with it. It was pretty cool to see. We hiked for about 3.5/miles. We came across an old tunnel from in the day, when the railroad was operating and hauling logs out of the forest. Shortly afterwards we found a nice spot over looking the lake and stopped and had our lunch. We finished up and then started making our way back.
When we got back to the trail head we headed down to the lake as the there was an open dock, with no one around. We took off our shoes and socks and soaked our feet in the cool lake water. We laid around for a while and soaked in some rays before heading back. We were back at the house around 3:30PM and we started getting ready to cook dinner. Being our last night we were going to grill steaks and asparagus. We had a few beers and kicked back by the river and then started cooking. We had a great time, I was ready to hang out for a few more days. Oh well. We packed up so we would be ready to boogie out in the morning to get back to Seattle and catch our flight home.
We slept in a little today, I think we left the house at
8:30AM and headed down to the Hungry Bear restaurant for breakfast. I say run down, but it was about a 15 mile
drive. Breakfast was great and one of
the few times we actually ate out. Every
day we have been taking our lunch and when we find a nice place on our hike, we
stop and eat.
After breakfast we drove about 20 minutes to the Marymere
Falls trail head. We parked at Bovee’s
meadow. We made the hike up to the falls
and glad that we did. It was a great
trail and we only came across a few
people.
On our way back we actually did several other small trails in the area.
We got 5 miles in pretty easy that
morning. When we got back to the
meadow, we grabbed the cooler and found a picnic table and setup camp. We ate our sandwiches and I tried my hand at
some fishing, while Candy worked on her embroidery.
After we finished up around 3PM, we drove about 20 minutes
to the Sol Duc Hot Springs. We had
brought our bathing gear with the plan of going. It was pretty nice and not overly
packed. They had three pools. One was 78, one was 105 and the other was
supposed to be 115, but it didn’t feel that hot.
Happy Birthday Candy!
On August 5th, Candy celebrated her 50th
Birthday. We were up at 5:30 AM and out
the door at 6:30 AM. We loaded up and
made the hour drive to Port Angeles to catch the 8:15 AM fairy departure. It worked out well, we got there just around
7:40 AM. We found parking then headed in
to get our tickets. We also included a
bus ride and entry into The Butchart
Gardens. The fairy ride over was 90
minutes and not being seaworthy folks, the time went pretty quick as we gawked
out the windows.
When we arrived in
Victoria we made our way to the bus for the 30 minute ride out to Butchart
Gardens. The Bus driver provided a little
history of some of the buildings, street names, etc.
Wow is all I can say.
The Butchart Gardens were pretty amazing. I took so many pictures of all the
landscapes, gardens, flora, it was pretty cool what this family had done. You can find all the pictures here:
We spent about two hours walking through the gardens and
then we grabbed a bus back to downtown.
We walked around and found a place to have lunch. Then we walked about 5 blocks to a quilt shop
that had a row by row. We stopped into
a few antique shops and looked around as we made our way back. We stopped into the Empress Hotel and walked
through. Pretty amazing old hotel.
We boarded the Fairy back to Port Angeles at 7:30 PM. It was about 10:30 PM, when we got back to
the house. All in all I think Candy had
a pretty great day for her Birthday. I
know I did.
Again we were out the door early and on our way to the trail head. The drive today was about an hour and we arrived at the parking lot just before 8AM. We walked the Hall of Mosses, Spruce Trail and the Hoh River Trail for about a mile and half and back. It was great to be out early and we saw very few people. It worked out well, as we were returning back down the Hoh River Trail we came across Elk eating on the trail. We were able to get a few pictures. When we returned the parking lot was nearly full. We started our drive back and the amount of traffic coming in was pretty steady. We drove back into Forks and had lunch. Grabbed a few items at
the store and started home. We did stop and do one more trail that followed the Sol Duc. It was a short hike, about a mile. Best thing about it, was as we were driving out, Candy spotted and Eagle. The weather was awesome today. Cooler than it has been. Tomorrow we are going to Victoria BC. Should be fun.
Had a great time today. We headed out at 7:30 AM and drove about 40 miles to the trail head. Today we were going to do the Ozette Triangle. This is a 9.2 mile trail that takes you out to Cape Alva and then down to Sand Point before returning. The majority of the hike through the woods was fairly easy as the trails were well maintained. When we got to the beach, we kept looking for a trail, but I guess the beach was the trail.
This was the most difficult part of the hike. The terrain was all over the place. From rocky to sandy with seaweed in huge piles that were ripe and covered with flies. Huge logs and areas that we had to use ropes to get up trail and around some of the larger rocks. I make it sound terrible but it was actually pretty damn awesome. To do the loop it took us six hours. Longer that
most, but we spent time looking for sea glass as we walked and actually found a pretty decent amount. We took a lunch with us. Candy made turkey sandwiches and packed plums, chips and cookies. It was nice to sit, eat and enjoy our surroundings together.
Out on the road this week for a little time off. We are spending the week up on the Sol Duc River. We are planning to hike several trails in the area. We flew into Seattle on Friday and spent most of the day in the city checking out the Pike Market. It was packed with people. I guess the Seefair was starting for the weekend. We had the opportunity to see the Blue Angles as they practiced for the shows on Saturday and Sunday. We made a stop at a quilt shop so Candy could grab another row by row pattern. After the shops and lunch we visited the aquarium. It was really nice, clean and lot's of great fish and sea creatures on display. On Saturday we started working out way up to rental house. We stopped at three different quilt shops along the way. Let's see it was Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Port Gables. We picked up three more row by row patterns. We pulled into Port Angeles and stopped at the Wal-Mart. We picked up groceries and stuff for the house. We then continued our journey. We reached the house around 4PM, unloaded and pretty much moved in. On Sunday we hiked the Sol Duc River up to the falls. It wasn't a long hike but decent for a starter. Even with the water being way down it was still impressive, I can only imagine what is like when the water is high. We also found the Sol Duc River Hot Springs. We are planning to do that on Thu or Fri. We stopped along the way and did two other short trails in the park. I think we finished up around noon and then we drove to Forks, WA to see what was going on.
We cruised the main drag in Forks and even found a couple of garage sales. We were both ready for lunch and opted for Mexican food, it was decent. On our way back to the house we stopped and visited the fish hatchery. It was pretty cool to see some big fish.
Where does the time go? I have been so busy with work and everything needing to be done at home, that I have neglected to provide any updates. Thankful to be so busy. I mentioned that we were on KS. for the 4th of July. I brought home a few goodies. When I was there last Memorial Day my Dad and I started on a propeller and he finished it up after we left. He gave it to me when we were home for the 4th. I did some sanding for final shaping and then applied polyurethane and then taped off the tips and painted them yellow. It came out really nice. I have it in my office at work standing in the corner. Looks really good. For the 4th of July we had homemade ice cream. My parents made up a batch of cherry vanilla. It was awesome! The old ice cream maker was on it's final legs and we ended up having to hand crank towards the end. It finally blew craps, but got us what we needed. I brought home the bucket and turned it into a fountain. I used steel pipe and fittings and a pump. I lined the bucket with a 3.00 plastic bathroom trash can. I cut it down to fit and it works great. We started with it in the backyard but then moved it to the front garden by the wheelbarrow I made.
I am so ready to head out on PTO. It's just around the corner. We are heading up to the Hoh rain forest and Olympic National Park to do some hiking. I have 7 routes planned out for us and we should get about 40+ miles in, We are staying on the Sol Duc river and I have been reading about the baits and methods of fishing the river. Looking forward to catching a steelhead or
I have two projects in mind. I need to get going on another penny, nickle or dime bowling ball project started. I have three of them at the shop, waiting for me to do something with them. 
I stained the box and the lid, three coats on each. Then I taped off where I wanted my braces to
be and painted them green. It looks
pretty awesome with golden oak stain and green colored braces. It was dry enough that I could put a coat of urethane
on the lid. Wow this really made it
pop! Just the look I was going for.
For our last day we headed out again early, this time our missions was the Spruce RR Trail. The sign 
We hiked for about 3.5/miles. We came across an old tunnel from in the day, when the railroad was operating and hauling logs out of the forest. Shortly afterwards we found a nice spot over looking the lake and stopped and had our lunch. We finished up and then started making our way back.
After breakfast we drove about 20 minutes to the Marymere
Falls trail head. We parked at Bovee’s
meadow. We made the hike up to the falls
and glad that we did. It was a great
trail and we only came across a few 
After we finished up around 3PM, we drove about 20 minutes
to the Sol Duc Hot Springs. We had
brought our bathing gear with the plan of going. It was pretty nice and not overly
packed. They had three pools. One was 78, one was 105 and the other was
supposed to be 115, but it didn’t feel that hot.
Happy Birthday Candy!
On August 5th, Candy celebrated her 50th
Birthday. We were up at 5:30 AM and out
the door at 6:30 AM. We loaded up and
made the hour drive to Port Angeles to catch the 8:15 AM fairy departure. It worked out well, we got there just around
7:40 AM. We found parking then headed in
to get our tickets. We also included a
bus ride and entry into The Butchart
Gardens. The fairy ride over was 90
minutes and not being seaworthy folks, the time went pretty quick as we gawked
out the windows. 
We spent about two hours walking through the gardens and
then we grabbed a bus back to downtown.
We walked around and found a place to have lunch. Then we walked about 5 blocks to a quilt shop
that had a row by row. We stopped into
a few antique shops and looked around as we made our way back. We stopped into the Empress Hotel and walked
through. Pretty amazing old hotel.
Again we were out the door early and on our way to the trail head. The drive today was about an hour and we arrived at the parking lot just before 8AM. We walked the Hall of Mosses, Spruce Trail and the Hoh River Trail for about a mile and half and back.
It was great to be out early and we saw very few people. It worked out well, as we were returning back down the Hoh River Trail we came across Elk eating on the trail. We were able to get a few pictures.
Had a great time today. We headed out at 7:30 AM and drove about 40 miles to the trail head. Today we were going to do the Ozette Triangle. This is a 9.2 mile trail that takes you out to Cape Alva and then down to Sand Point before returning. The majority of the hike through the woods was fairly easy as the trails were well maintained. When we got to the beach, we kept looking for a trail, but I guess the beach was the trail. 
I mentioned that we were on KS. for the 4th of July. I brought home a few goodies. When I was there last Memorial Day my Dad and I started on a propeller and he finished it up after we left. He gave it to me when we were home for the 4th. 
For the 4th of July we had homemade ice cream. My parents made up a batch of cherry vanilla. It was awesome! The old ice cream maker was on it's final legs and we ended up having to hand crank towards the end. It finally blew craps, but got us what we needed. I brought home the bucket and turned it into a fountain. I used steel pipe and fittings and a pump. I lined the bucket with a 3.00 plastic bathroom trash can. I cut it down to fit and it works great. 
