25 July 2011 Intact Digits

Any day that you do not chop off your fingers is a good day.  Working on metal ships for the last few years, I have learned many skills, but carpentry was not one of them.  Consequently when I got the material to rebuild Dory, and it was in planks that needed to be ripped into the proper size, I had legitimate fears for the future of my digits.  However, never being one to back down, I looked over the table saw, decided it had few enough moving parts I could sort it out (blithely ignoring the fact that the one moving part was a real doozy), and went to.  Incredibly I did not ruin any of my nice oak pieces, but I also retained all of my fingers.  As I wrote, a good day.

Dory in the boathouse, new inwale & gunwale pieces in the foreground

 Of course once I had the individual pieces cut it was time to begin sanding, and as the one Seguin palm sander is more aggravating than useful, I had to do every piece by hand, which is clearly time consuming.  But, when living on an island, time is one thing you have to consume.  Thus I spent the afternoon sanding down on the boathouse while watching the boats go by and listening to the sounds of coastal life. 

Amy spent the day knitting, sun bathing, and picking the first of the huge haul of raspberries we are expecting- the bushes are heavily laden with green berries at the moment, it is a matter of time before we are immersed in fresh island fruit.  Coincident with the berry harvest is a huge increase in apian activity.  There are bees everywhere right now, doing their thing, and not bothering anyone but the clover buds.  Another question for anyone who may know: do the bees come out this time of year regardless, or are the ripening berries & other plants going to seed drawing them?  Regardless, I am fascinated by watching them going about their business.

I did not get to do any staining on my wood pieces, and Amy had to cut her tanning short, as the sky began to threaten rain.  Far from a bummer, we are excited about the prospect of precipitation, as we haven’t had any for quite some time.  The garden will enjoy it and hopefully the well will have a bit more to offer as well.  With the weather turned from sunny & warm to cool & damp, we have ensconced ourselves inside for the duration.