Winter in Saskatchewan

This was the first snow that we had this year

It's been quite a while since either of us has written. With the start of the school year and all the hectic activities that come along with it this blog got put on the backburner. Hopefully, at least one of us will have time to keep it updated.

It's officially wintertime in Saskatchewan. So far we have much less snow than we did this time last winter (it was near apocalyptic levels by the end of last winter) and the weather's been mostly mild.

Tanith and I did a fair bit of goose/duck hunting over the Fall. This is something that I haven't gotten the chance to do since I was a boy. We were fortunate to be able to go out with some friends and wound up having a great time. Tanith is still a bit shy of the shotgun, but now that we have all the gear for it I'm sure I'll get her blasting away next season.

Tanith's favourite part of one of our trips was taking
 "selfies" in the blind

A "Blue Goose" - Cross between a Canada and a Snow Goose

While I did a fair bit of deer hunting last Fall/Winter, I just don't think it's in the cards for me right now. School's been pretty hectic as of late - I've taken on some responsibilities with the drama  group, coaching Jr. Girls Basketball, 4H Archery will be starting soon,the Fire Department, and all the general rigamarole that comes with keeping an wood shop up and running as well as teaching History, Science, and Music.

We have been busy with woodworking projects though. So far this year my students have made some picnic tables, some duck decoys, various welding projects, candle boxes, wooden spoons (using the new lathe!), intarsia, birdhouses, toolboxes, and various other things. Now that I've fixed the thickness planer in the school it really opens up a whole lot of possibilities for what we can do. With that in mind I've found a cool plan for a simple wall shelf that I'd like my older students to build in the New Year. Naturally, I decided I had to make one myself - just to test the plans out y'know?

Some pictures of the project are below - the plans come from an excellent book that I picked up at the Canadian Woodworker in Saskatoon called "Country Pine Furniture Projects" by Bill Hylton.

Tanith with her painting gear on

I built the shelf out of some old boards from an outdoor skating rink. They were quite beat up but since all the wood needs to be planed down to 5/8 or 7/16 I was able to salvage enough to make this project. Joinery is simple, shelves are dadoed into the sides and the back is rabbeted so that you can panel it over. The trim around the top could be hit with a molding bit - maybe a French Provincial - but I don't have one so it's just left plain. "Country Pine" doesn't exactly denote complexity and extravagance.

I actually built two of these cabinets. The twin of the one below is above the lathe in the I.A. Lab. I use it to hold my waxes and finishes for wood turning projects as well as some files, rasps, and the faceplate for the lathe.

Tanith used milk paint on the one we have in our place. We used the same type of milk paint that we did on the chimney cabinet and were equally as impressed. The colors are beautiful and the paint is fun to work with - check it out at: http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=65208&cat=1,190,42942

The finished project is currently on the wall of our entryway.