Only a few days left and I'll have to change the header to 2014.

In the meantime, the scenery in the back yard changes with the sun.
On Tuesday it looked like a crystal landscape with bright sun and frigid temperatures.

On Thursday, snow was added to the scene.

Personally, I'd prefer warm breezes and palm trees, but there is a purity to is all with the fresh blanket of snow.

Now back to..."the project".

I finished machining the end rail mortises.

I've decided the answer to the impossible notch is to dowel pin the frame to the legs. I set up the fence on the drill press to drill the dowel holes in the leg.

All the holes finished.

Final sanding of the end panels so they can be stained prior to assembly.

With all the parts cut, machined and sanded...

Final end panel assembly.

So step 1 is complete.

DTE came through!!!

Power restored at 6:45pm ahead of schedule in spite of some major damage in the area.

Detroit Edison?  Don't need no stinkin' Edison!!!

Isn't there anything working in Detroit these days?

Needless to say, we're powerless except for the trusty home generator.  It's wired into the breaker box so we have the bare necessities...like coffee for Kathy and internet.

Here's why...

The power went out about 5:00am but so far, we've only had some small branches fall from the trees.

Mr. Edison promises to reconnect me to the grid sometime before midnight.  I won't hold my breath on that promise.

What a great way to begin the Christmas holiday!

Seems that the winter vacation plan to a warm spot on the planet is a month or so late this year.  The view from my Lay-Z-Boy is more like mid January than December.

On to the winter project...

After gluing up stock, I squared up the pieces for the four legs and marked them for the through mortise joints.

On to the mortising machine to "drill" the mortises.

That step was successful.

Then anything that could go wrong...did.

A dado to be cut between the mortise holes became a mess when the fence on the shaper moved.  A day of patching saved the stock but then the project came to another halt when the plan called for a series of blind notches.  The text mentions using chisels and handsaws for this step.   Whoa!!!  Hand anything is not my style.  It's all about the machinery.  So, I've spent a couple days analyzing the plans and making the necessary adjustments to get this done in a more "builder friendly" manner.

I'm ready to continue.

More to come.

Shopping is complete, the gifts are wrapped, and baby, it's cold outside!!!  Time for winter project #2.

The plan is to turn this...

into this...

A seven drawer dresser.
There's a few construction features in the project that I'm not totally sold on so there needs to be a few decisions made before I get too far.  In the meantime, I can get started with some of the basics.

So it begins...

The first cut.

The dresser has 1 3/4" square legs so I need to glue up some stock to get that.  It will take a days worth of gluing to get four legs.

I grabbed an old paper out of the pile to glue on.  It was from November 1990.  How about a 27" TV for a whopping $900?  A $250 boombox?  $350 for a mobile phone?  How things have progressed.

This project is going to take a little time and effort.  Hopefully, I end up with something more than a pile of sawdust.

Stay tuned.

So, winter project #1 is complete.

I finished the assembly of the cabinet today.  It's a four drawer cabinet with folding top extensions that create a 2'x4' surface.  This will serve as a material cutting surface (when used with her cutting mat) for Kathy in the Florida residence.  Due to space limitations there, I opted to make a smaller cabinet with a top that converts to a large surface.

Here is the cabinet with the top extensions folded down.

I made some supports that fold flat to the sides.

They fold out to support the extensions.

...and the final product.

Still five months to boating season 2014.  I need to find another project while the snow flies.

Stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As a side note, I walked down the aisle 37 years ago on this date.  Not sure I realized at the time what that stroll down the aisle was going to entail.  It's been an interesting journey thus far.  Hopefully, there's another 37 years of discovery ahead.

Winter has it's grip on Michigan already and the lakes are iced over.  The early ice likely indicates there may be a late launch in the spring.  I was looking to launch a bit later in May anyway.

Progress on the cabinet has been painfully slow.  I've had a couple issues to over come and a whole lot of house chores to accomplish.  It's getting there, slow but sure.

I mounted the drawer slides and drawer boxes.  I had a little excess width on the drawers that I had to shave off...like 1/32" at most.  I'm not sure how much tolerance the slides will handle but I figured it was best to tune it in now.

Next steps are to install the drawer fronts and the top and extensions.

OK...the leaf collection task is complete!  It only took seven hours of hard labor.

I traveled west to work on the boat mid-week.  Friend Jim Sarna went with me to polish the hull sides.  Jim does a remarkable job polishing the boat.  I'd like to take credit for the way the boat looks, but it's all him.  I just follow along and apply the paste wax.  The result is a deep shine finish that looks like a new hull.

I also got my first up close look at the bottom after the paint has been stripped.  It looks good.  There's six coats of epoxy and paint that will be applied over the winter months.

Work on the cabinet continued to progress a bit.  After getting all the pieces constructed, it was time for final trimming, sanding and finishing.

I used a flush trim bit to trim the top edging back to the laminate surface.  I use an auxiliary surface clamped to the top to give me a support for the router operation.

Then rout an 1/8" round over to break the edge.

With all the parts trimmed and sanded, it's time for staining and some urethane.

A couple more coats of urethane, and it will be time for final assembly of the drawers and top.

Leaf maintenance continues to dominate the activities.  Unfortunately, it's still a losing battle with most of the leaves still in the trees and westerly breezes at 15 to 20 mph keeping what is on the ground in motion.

In the meantime, I've chipped away at the cabinet project.  I prepped some lumber and trimmed the top surfaces with a band of oak trim.

I use a pattern bit against a straight edge to trim the raw edges flush for the final piece of trim.

I've got all the pieces cut now ready for final sanding and finish prior to assembly.

Plan is to make a trip across the state this week to polish the hull of the boat, inspect the bottom condition after soda blasting and finalize the plans for the remainder of the off season boat maintenance.

I haven't been here in a while.  A summer of boating also usually means a summer of neglect when it comes to the house.  That's kind of been the case for a couple years so we pulled the boat a bit early and got after the maintenance.  We finished the painting and did several other chores around the lot and now are ready for winter...although there is still a half dozen trees full of leaves that will create a chore as fall progresses.

There is a little boating news.  I've been informed the bottom paint has been removed from the hull and the boat moved into storage.  Next steps are 4 coats of epoxy barrier coat followed by 2 coats of bottom paint.

I have plans to travel west in a couple weeks to polish the hull.

I have managed to get to a little wood shop work in between the fall chores.  I started a four drawer cabinet project last spring that was interrupted by boating season.  It will also function as a cutting surface for Kathy's "Southern" sewing center.  The top will have folding leaves on each side.  The case is complete and the top material roughed out.

I've constructed the drawer boxes and have them ready for final finishing.

I'm still working out boat slip arrangements for next season.  We may be able to make a decision in a few weeks.  We're looking at a few different options.  Harborview sent me a survey this week about my opinion on the marina staff and operation.  It won't be pleasant reading for them, but I doubt they care.