Does anybody else think that this year is flying by at warp speed?? We’re already into the second half of June! When Jay started working on my birthday present in May I figured I would definitely have them installed by the middle of June.

This is how my sewing room looked right after we moved in four years ago. I’ve moved things around, but the futon had remained in that space. I finally decided that I would like to make better use of that area so after some unsuccessful attempts to give the futon away we finally just put it out to the curb during spring clean-up this year. I asked Jay to make a series of cubbies that will line that wall. I measured the area and drew up some bad pictures of what I wanted. Essentially almost the entire wall will be a series of cubbies so that I can store my yarn, crafting stuff, and extra material in a more organized fashion.

So Jay took my drawings and quickly brought them to life.

After attaching trim to the cubbies they were turned over to the finishing department.

And there they have remained…

I have stained two sections and started to polyurethane them, but that’s about as far as I have managed to get. The section on the left has two layers of poly and the one on the right has one. Why is this project dragging? I could blame it on the longer hours that I’ve been working and leaving me zero time to do anything fun. Except, that’s not completely true. The biggest reason that they are not finished is because it takes so long to work on just one section that I get bored. *sigh* Yeah, not a good reason. I am hoping to kick my butt into gear to get these done and installed.

After all, I have projects beginning to pile up.

If you look in the background of this picture you can see that I’ve got my concrete statues on my work table. Unfortunately I haven’t been motivated to paint them. I was going to paint the soldier as a member of the Union army, but then when I looked closer I realized he is a Confederate. I don’t mind that he’s a Reb, but now I have to get to know him before I can decide just how to paint him. I’ve also been having trouble trying to decipher what color the cat is supposed to be. The last two concrete cats were way easier to figure out. This one is being mum and not saying a word.

The focal point of the picture, though, is the gardening box that Jay made for me. I’ve been asking for one because I have been using a cardboard tray that isn’t really holding up very well. I need to get it finished. Jay was even sweet enough to add a little area on the box that will hold my wireless speaker and phone so that I can listen to my podcasts while gardening. I’ve tried using my earbuds, but the wires get in the way of my shovel-breaking activities.

Jay also makes things for himself.

Now I know exactly where to find the cordless drills and bits when I need them!

I mean… JAY will know where to find his cordless drills and bits. Not that I would play with his tools when he isn’t around. *whistles brokenly*

I have one other thing to share. This isn’t woodworking related, but I am still very impressed with Jay’s ability to assemble it.

This is a 3D printer that Jay assembled for the son of one of his coworkers. It was the boy’s present for his 14th (I think) birthday. Jay’s coworker had been asking him about 3D printers so he showed her the options and offered to assemble it. Not only that, but then he downloaded the necessary software onto the boy’s laptop and showed him how to use it. Jay has even made a house call in order to help them with a few things that they weren’t able to do. This boy is really excited about it and has been learning the free CAD software that Jay downloaded for him. The sad thing about the entire situation is that the kid’s father is very dismissive of this interest. The father is all about hunting and fishing, but the kid has zero interest in it. Instead of trying to learn about his son’s interest the father decided to instead tell the kid that he’s not good at it and shouldn’t even try. I work with this guy and would love to have a conversation with him regarding supporting his son’s interests.

Anyway, the really impressive thing about this whole project was watching Jay assemble it. You see he opened the box, took all of the parts out and laid them on his work bench. He then started picking the parts up and putting them together. WITHOUT ANY INSTRUCTIONS. Mind you, he doesn’t have this model of printer nor has he ever laid hands on one. And the little snot assembled the ENTIRE THING without once looking at the instructions!! That includes hooking up the electronics and knowing where to plug wires in for the stepper motors. My brain doesn’t work like that so it just amazes me to watch him do this kind of thing. This is how he assembles almost everything. He will actually look at the drawings and instructions when constructing his model plans, but that’s about it. Isn’t that disgusting?? It’s a good thing that he’s cute!