Open for Business

It felt really good to get started on the first paid project for the new woodshop. It should be a lot of fun to make. What I did this week would have taken at least twice as long in my old shop. The expensive machines already start to pay off! It's also really amazing being able to ask neighbor Rick questions. He has such great solutions. 

Got a sled built for making the box joints and figured out how to use the dado stack. Also got all the machines waxed up to protect the surfaces and help the wood slide smoothly. They stopped making the stuff that most people used, but it's so popular among woodworkers that it is selling for close to 150 bucks for tin of it now. I found an alternative, but Rick has the good stuff and he was quite surprised that it had become so valuable.

The girls also had Monday off and Wednesday afternoon, so we went to the ski hill twice. It was a lot of fun! The last run on Monday had the only two big wipeouts of the week. Abigail felt confident and wanted to hit a jump going way too fast. Amélie saw the wipeout and went to investigate, but got too close, and to avoid crashing into her sister she went flying into the trees. They both ended up being fine, but it took some time to untangle the mess and dry the tears. 

On Friday we had a really nice party at French Claire's house. She invited lots of international people over. Still surprised with the people we meet in the UP! The food was great and the girls had a lot of fun playing with a few other kids. 

Special treat!!

Having a blast on the mountain.

Testing the bend radius of the santos mahogany. It won't bend far!

Fabricated the vertical pieces.

The rough idea.

Decent alternative for waxing the machines.

Box joint jig up and running.

HRV

It was a week of wrapping things up. Finished the bi-yearly curriculum update this morning. Got the wall in the workshop completed so now I can start building things officially. Also managed to install the HRV system with some help from my dad. Air in the house is noticeably fresher, crisp, and easier to breathe. Humidity is down a bit. We all slept really well last night too! 

On Tuesday I didn't feel like cooking so we went out for pizza. The restaurant was really nice, but the pizza was disappointing. Proportions were all off and it was way too greasy. To make up for it, Naomi made some really good pizzas for dinner last night! 

My parents came on Friday and spent the night. There was a dogsled event in town. They had to cancel the race itself as there isn't enough snow, but they shut down a couple of the main streets. One was transformed into a sledding hill and the other into a dogsled track. The girls, Naomi, and Grammie all got to go for a ride in on of the dogsleds! It was a lot of fun. They turned the lasers back on for another show on the ore dock. 

Abigail made a present for Naomi.

It's done!

Port I can sweep dust into.

Shadow gaps instead of trim around the door.

Air filter is easy to remove and clean.

Dust collection pipes are grounded to prevent explosions.

Build a surround for the miter saw.

Sound insulation for the jet engine of a dust collector.

Ready to work!

Took a couple hours, but I removed a block so I could get in and out of the crawlspace more easily.

Amélie cooked dinner.

Out to eat.

Dogsled rides.

Sourdough pancakes.

Real pizza!

Airflow

I was able to get up into the attic comfortably with these ridiculously warm temperatures to work on installing a new bathroom fan. Found lots of condensation and mouse holes in the ductwork. Will need to replace it soon. The new fan is amazing. It turns on and off automatically when you take a shower, and it is super quiet and powerful. 

I also got started on installing the HRV system to bring fresh air into the house. Did the big stuff in the garage. When I was in the crawlspace I noticed some mold on the wood we milled up, so that will need attention. I cleaned it off with vinegar and opened up the duct work to get warm air circulating down there. Might add an HRV return or something as well. 

Finally some good ski conditions this weekend, but the girls are feeling too sick and tired to go. What a bummer. We did have fun with the neighbors a week ago on Sunday though. Rick hosted a caveman dinner where we cooked over a fire and no plates or silverware were allowed. Yesterday we got to go bowling as Amélie earned enough stars for good behavior. It was a lot of fun, although Abigail got pretty frustrated. She expects to be able to do something without much practice. 

Rick's pile of wood that needs to be sawn up. 

Controls for the new bathroom fan.

Fun at the bowling alley.

Social Week

Sure met with a lot of people this week! Dominic came to work on our car on Tuesday, then I went to his place on Thursday to get some work done and meet with someone from the USDA about greenhouse grants. On Friday a neighbor dropped by in the morning and then I sat down with our new teacher for a while in the afternoon.

Yesterday we met with one of Naomi's friends from work and her family. They are Lebanese. We played at the park and walked to their friends house who lives right next to the marina. It's good to keep meeting new people, and our calendar is filling up for the next few weeks.

Didn't have a whole lot of time to work on the workshop as I picked up a cold this week as well. Oh, and Amélie has lice. It's been busy. As always. Sad to see most of our snow go. Hopefully winter will come back at some point. They canceled the dogsled race. Lots up upset people around here as winter is their favorite time of the year. It has freed up a lot of time to get other things done, though. We enjoyed the sunshine yesterday and went to the lake for the sunrise! 

Abigail cooked us dinner!

Made it just before the sun.

Amazing ice and sand sculptures.

Too bad it's closed.

Ice cliff.

Sunbathing in February. Hmmm.