Carving the Table on Thanksgiving

This year we started a new tradition at our house on Thanksgiving day. I had been thinking about the idea for several weeks leading up to the holiday. What got me thinking about it was the knowledge that this year Miss Tammy and I would be joined by my oldest daughter Jen and her family from Kentucky and my son Matt with his family from Florida. That would mean there would be twelve of us together for Thanksgiving dinner. It has been years since we've had a crowd that size at our table for the holiday. Who knows how long it will be before we are together again. I wanted to do something we would all remember.

So, while the last of the dinner goodies were being prepared and the turkey was roasting in the oven I announced to Matt and my son-in-law Grant that their project for the day was to see that all their family members names were carved into the top of our dining room table.

Our dining table is one I acquired while in the antiques business several years ago. It's a really cool 1850's cotton sorting table with a drawer and turned legs and retains the early painted surface. The original top was damaged when I found it. I removed and kept the top replacing it with two old wide pine boards and finished them with several coats of tinted shellac. When I announced the name carving project there were several "are you sure" comments from the family. I was sure.

After a little practice on a piece of scrap paper, the names or initials, which ever was preferred were written in permanent marker on the table, and then carved deeply into the table top. It takes a while to carve a name into a pine board. By the end of the day a lot of progress had been made. We also had additional family members visit us and there names have been added to the table. They'll have to visit again soon to continue the carving project.

When all the names are cut in I'll stain the carved areas with a darker color and then finish with more shellac. It will look like the names have been there a long time.

The last year has been long one. Dad passed away in the fall of 2010. The following holiday season in the retail business where I work was hectic. Miss Tammy was diagnosed with breast cancer in January and the resulting surgeries and chemo regimen have taken their toll. Our list of important things and priorities has been dramatically rearranged.

We had a wonderful visit with family. Yesterday they all had to leave to get back home to jobs and life. It's quiet at our house tonight. But you know, every time we sit at our dining table there will be laughter and fun and kids and smiles and memories there with us. And there's talk that our new tradition may be making its way to Kentucky and Florida. I hope so.

And it all started when we carved the table on Thanksgiving.

Happy New Year! Let Your Past Go Up In Smoke

I've never been a big fan of the habit of making lots of New Year's resolutions. The list of resolutions most often published seems a little light weight to me and more often points to bigger underlying issues that need the real attention. Having said that I know many good people make them every year. Have you kept them all? The idea is good. Unfortunately, keeping them is much more difficult than making them. There have been a number of surveys indicating that most New Year's resolutions are short lived at best. Most folks just don't keep them. Although it is thought that purposely making a resolution does give you a higher chance of succeeding with your goal.

Here's a short list of the most common ones according to Psychology Today:

Losing Weight

Exercising More

Quitting Smoking

Managing Debt

Saving Money

Getting a Better Job

Reducing Stress

Volunteering

OK, so why can't we keep them? Here's what I think. We keep piling our new resolutions on top of the old ones we haven't kept. We want to change our habits but we want to put the new plan on top of an old uncompleted one without removing the old one. Try putting a fresh coat of paint on several old layers of loose flaking paint. The new coat may look good for a little while but it won't be long before it starts flaking off with the old. Scrape and remove the loose paint and clean the surface and the new paint application will last a long time.

Maybe the thing to do is focus first on really dealing with unhealthy habits that keep nagging us. You know what they are. We all have them . And they keep surfacing. If they weren't there this whole resolution thing wouldn't be so important to us. Specific things we do that we know we do and really don't like that we do. This is personal. What do you really sincerely want to put behind you? What is that thing or things you've let get hold of you? OK, you get the idea.

At about 11pm start really thinking about those things. Get a metal pot or pan ( a wok is perfect) and put it on a surface that's non-flammable. Put a candle next to it and light it. Around 11:30pm get a pen and small piece of paper and make a list of the things you've been thinking about and want to put behind you.

Just before the old year ends take your folded list over to the candle and light it with the candle's flame. As the old year is ending and the new is beginning drop your burning list into the pot and watch it as it is consumed in the fire.

Now that we've watched old lingering unhealthy habits be consumed we have a fresh surface to place the new better way of thinking and doing. Let your past go up in smoke. Happy New Year!

Faux Finishing Made Easy

So you've found a nice piece of furniture or a picture frame or neat little cabinet at a yard sale and you really want to give it a faux finish makeover. Well here is some good news. I've been refinishing, repairing and applying custom finishes on wood surfaces for more than twenty years and I'd like to share some relatively simple steps that can help you turn a "has been" into a "gotta have it". This can be a great weekend project that you will be be proud of if you follow these steps. If you are attempting this procedure for the first time I suggest you practice on a scrap piece of wood or a disposable surface first to get the feel of the technique.



Step #1 Find a candidate for makeover. We'll use this 1940s mahogany chest to apply our technique.





Step #2 Sand the surface to be painted with 150 grit sandpaper. Dust the surface.




Step #3 Apply a single coat of latex primer/stain blocker (Binz, Zap) onto the surface. Even though we've sanded the surface I recommend primer to help eliminate adhesion and bleeding problems that may arise when you are painting over old finishes.

Step #4 Apply a latex base coat in the color of your choice. This is the color that will appear under the topcoat. Use your imagination in combining colors that are compatible in contrast. In this example I'm using a light chocolate brown base. It will show up as a wood tone under the green topcoat that will be applied later.

Two coats are applied to completely cover the primer.



Step #5 Apply a media that will prevent the topcoat from adhering to the base coat in all the areas of the surface where you want a distressed layered appearance. In the project I'm using a wax candle.

Edges and mouldings are prime candidates for the wax. If you are attempting to be somewhat authentic with your distressing consider waxing areas that would normally show wear; around drawer pulls, the fronts of the top, legs near the floor, the arm rest of a chair, anywhere you would expect to see normal use and wear. Or just use your eye and imagination to create the look your after.

When you are satisfied you have applied the wax everywhere you wanted, lightly brush the loose material away. This will help the top color coat go on a little more evenly and keep some wax out of the paint container.




Step #6 Apply the top color coat over the entire surface. Paint over the waxed areas as if they weren't there. I'm putting on two coats of green for an even finish.




Step #7 Scrape all the previously waxed areas to create the distressed layered look. You can experiment with different tools for scraping. After a while you will discover a favorite. The only tools I used on this project are pictured. My favorites are an old flexible putty knife, a scotch brite pad and my thumbnail. The thumbnail really gives me the control and feel for the technique I can't get with anything else. Unless your thumbnails are very tough, scraping paint off wax will destroy them. Be careful!


Scrape lightly. You don't want to cut through the base coat. We're just trying to take the top layer of paint off so the base color will show through as an old finish.

I like to use the putty knife to "find" the waxed areas quickly and then detail them with my thumbnail.

After your satisfied with your layering effect, scuff the entire surface with a scotchbrite pad to feather the layered edges and smooth the surface for the final step.

O.k., we're finished scraping and have removed all the paint that didn't stick to the wax. This chest is ready for the last step.

Final Step Finish the piece with a durable clear coat. Here I'm using Valspar's clear satin faux finish protector. It gives the painted surface depth and seals and smooths the layered areas nicely.

With a clear finish coat and hardware back in place we've created a completely new look for our furniture. It is absolutely one of a kind and will be the envy of your friends.

Here's a matching nightstand finished with the technique described above. For this project a complete bedroom suite including chest, nightstand, poster bed, vanity, mirror and bench were given a faux finish. The owner is very happy!

A few notes about the finishing process. Each paint coat should be allowed to dry before the next coat is applied. Temperature and humidity should be considered in estimating drying time. Always practice on a scrap piece of material before going for it on the final piece. All of the paints and finishing products used in this project were latex. I recommend latex because of quick drying time, ease of cleanup and the availability of a huge palette of designer colors. While I chose to use wax as the paint releasing agent in this project a number of other choices are available; glue, sand, chalk, rubber cement and others. I use all of them for particular applications and have been pleased with the results. This technique should only be used for interior applications. Similar techniques can be used outside but require different considerations for materials not addressed in this project.

Consider this technique as you would a good recipe. You can follow it or it can be altered to suit individual taste. My cake turned out just right. However, this isn't my first cake. If yours doesn't don't blame my recipe. The good thing is that the results of this technique will never come out exactly the same. That is what makes it yours. I'd be happy to discuss the technique with you if you are interested. Contact me at (sidelyner@gmail.com).

Have fun with your project.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

I love my dad.

The older I get the more I appreciate, remember and understand how I grew up. Not so much specific events or details (although those are clearer now) but the context in which all the things happened.

On Saturday mornings my dad would make a tepee by draping the bed sheet over his raised knee. The opening would be between his calf and thigh. I would sit inside and be the Indian chief while dad brought goods to the Indian village to trade.

My dad was friends with the make believe character "Roscoe" I played when I was four or five and often initiated him by welcoming me with "Where have you been, Roscoe?" when I found him working outside or in his office.

When I was about five dad taught me to tie a hook to a fishing line, bait it with a worm and catch fish from a stream that ran next to a friend's house. The fish were tiny and catching them required a very small hook known as a hair hook. I remember distinctly going to a bait shop and hearing my dad's response to the clerk asking him what size hair hook he wanted. Dad said we wanted "the hairiest ones you've got".

My dad loved to catch mullet with a cast net. I can remember many nights following alongside him in shoulder deep water after dark secured to his belt with a fish stringer as he threw his net along Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa. He showed me how to shuffle my feet along the bottom so I wouldn't step on and suffer the sting of one of the numerous stingrays there every night.



My dad traveled often when I was small. I couldn't go with him when he flew out of town even though I always wanted to. He knew that so once he said we were flying to New York. We packed up my suitcase, he dressed me up, put my top hat on me and we headed to Tampa International Airport to catch a flight to New York. We spent the day at the airport looking for a plane going to New York. For some reason we just couldn't find one. It didn't matter at all. One of my fondest early childhood memories is that day almost fifty years ago with my dad and my suitcase and top hat at the airport trying to find an airplane going to New York.


When I put those few remembrances along with a thousand more in perspective their value becomes evident. I've learned more lessons from my dad than from any other single source. I've learned as much about my mother and brother and my dad's family because I've learned so much about him. I've come to understand more about who I am and about the lives of others who know and have been influenced by my dad.



One thing is for sure, we are much more like our parents than we think. Often we are very much like them but won't (can't see it) admit that because we don't like the similar traits. I'm certainly like my dad in many ways. The more I can identify with that and use it for good the better off I'll be.


You see, my dad raised me and influenced me the way he did because of who he was and is. Influenced by his father and life circumstances. I'm sure he would have changed many of those but couldn't. Perhaps the same is true for you and your dad.


So I've learned lessons; how to do some things and how not to do others, how to act and maybe sometimes how not to act, all the while understanding that the lessons I was taught came out of my dad's sincere desire to teach me and be an example to me the best way he knew. My dad has always tried to look out for my best interest. There is no doubt. I respect him for that and am thankful for it.

My dad often said, "Son, in life you should only do whatever you can afford". Over the years I've done a lot of things I certainly couldn't afford and received more than my moneys worth doing a few others. I know now what good advice that really is and that he wasn't just talking about dollars and cents.

I'm a lot like my dad. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love my dad.

What's a nice dog like you doing in a blog like this? Part 2

We (my wife and I) decided to name the dog "Alli". She has markings that remind me of a Blue Heeler. I've always thought that Australia would be an interesting place to visit. Besides that, my wife's favorite menu item at Outback is Alice Springs Chicken. So, Alli is short for Alice. How perfect is that?

In the meantime we noticed that Alli was gaining weight and getting a little broad in the beam. It occurred to us that she might be expecting. And maybe that's why she was abandoned. Who knows? We hadn't taken her to the Vet yet so we were only guessing about it. Up to this point Alli didn't want to talk much about it. Every time I brought it up she would just get dog tired and fall asleep.




I decided it was time to have a serious talk with her and on a day off I loaded her up and took her for a walk in the woods along a creek that runs through the woods near our house.

I thought getting her out for a while in a relaxing setting might help her come clean about her past. We had a nice walk together. I enjoyed being in the woods as much as she did. Early spring wildflowers were abundant along the creek. As I walked along I thought how much I missed being in the woods and how long it had been since I had.


We came to a quiet spot along the creek. When I stopped Alli walked to the edge of the water and for a long time just sat there staring out at the moving water. I didn't say anything, I just let her reflect on the places she'd been, dogs she had known and how fate had brought her here.

Finally she turned and looked up at me and said, "I'm pregnant and I don't know who the father is".

After the walk in the woods there was a lot to do at my house. I built a whelping box and let Alli get used to it. It wouldn't be long before she would be spending a lot of time inside. Time flew by and before we were ready the big day was here.

The first puppy arrived!

Pretty soon there was a box of five.

When Alli was finished there would be seven pups. Six females and only one male. He was the last one and the only one we named immediately. "Lucky."

So now my chance meeting with a stray dog in town has resulted in eight dogs living in my kitchen and me having to step over a whelping box to get to the laundry room.

Did I mention we already had a dog? That's another story.

What's a nice dog like you doing in a blog like this? Part 1

A few weeks ago I had a chance meeting with a stray dog when she showed up where I work in town. Some local folks had spotted the dog running in the street. They chased it over to the sidewalk and into the store where I'm employed. The dog was friendly but obviously lost. I like dogs so it didn't bother me that the dog had come inside. I thought the owner would be close behind so I let the dog roam around for a few minutes. The folks who chased the dog off the street came in to make sure the dog was OK. While we were talking and waiting hopefully for someone to come in looking for a dog we noticed the dog's collar had a rabies tag on it. We checked the tag. It had been issued by the Lewisburg Animal Clinic in Lewisburg, TN. The tag was dated, numbered and included the name, address and phone number of the animal clinic.

The very nice people who got the dog out of traffic called the Lewisburg Animal Clinic. The clinic was given the location and description of the dog along with the tag number, date and a brief update on where and how the dog was found. The representative at the clinic said she would check the tag information and call back. After about thirty minutes the good Samaritans had to be on their way. The dog was secured in the back of the store where she could see what was going on while I called the animal clinic. The representative told me they were working on finding information and would call as soon as they came up with it. An hour goes by and now it's time to close the store. Haven't heard anything from the animal clinic. Can't leave the dog at the store. Looks like I'm taking the dog home until Lewisburg tells me who the owner is.

The dog did not have a problem with this at all and immediately made herself at home in my chair. I had obviously put this chair in the living room for her.

The next day I made another call to the animal clinic. Well this time it looked like we might have some good news. Wrong. The animal clinic folks think the tag was issued to a Labrador Retriever. Well, unless the Labs in the Lewisburg area are different than what I'm used to I don't think we've hit pay dirt yet.

The next day I called the clinic and spoke to a different person. This person had no knowledge or information on my situation. Once again I gave them all the information on the tag. They said they would look into it. I called back later in the day for an update. I told the woman that I didn't want to bother her, I just wanted to find the dog's owner who I also thought would want to find the dog. The animal clinic was still unable to tell me who the dog owner was.

The next time I called the clinic (by the way, the clinic never called me) I found out why it was taking so long to find out who the dog belonged to. The friendly clinic person told me that the numbers stamped on the rabies tags are recycled every year. As tags are issued the information is supposed to be entered into their computer system with the tag issue year preceding the actual tag number. But that's not what has been happening in Lewisburg. Tag numbers are being recorded over a period of years with no year prefix. It is so confused that the Lewisburg Animal Clinic can't tell you the breed, owner or much else about a lost dog even when the dog has a rabies tag with a date and number on it. Even their own explanation of the problem makes no sense.

Day after day the dog waited patiently in my chair while I searched lost and found records, gave up totally on expecting any help from Lewisburg and decided it was time to give the dog a name.

Stay tuned for part 2. There's more to this dog than meets the eye.

Winter Oranges On The 4th of July

I like to eat oranges. Recently I read an article in an English publication about how the popularity of oranges has dropped in that country. It seems consumers think it's just too much trouble to peel them.

Every year about Christmas and on through the winter months when oranges are fresh and easy to find I'm reminded of several stories my dad used to tell me when I was a boy. One was about oranges. My father grew up in north central Florida. During the 1920s when he was a young boy oranges were always close by in season. By the time boys reached six or seven years old they carried pocketknives. Usually a jackknife or Barlow. Young boys (to young to even be allowed to own a pocketknife by today's standards) were proficient at whittling, carving or a playing a game of mumbly-peg.

Sometimes oranges or a single orange was the only present to look forward to at Christmas. Dad told me how they would peel the oranges in one long peel and tack them to the wall or a fireplace mantle where they would dry. The peels would dry until the 4th of July. On the 4th the ends of the peels were set on fire. An old dry orange peel will snap and crackle and give off a few sparks and smoke and sizzle as it burns. And it smells good. Dad said it was sort of a poor man's fireworks. His story along with my imagination as a little boy made it quite a tale.

When I was a boy my dad taught me to peel oranges with my pocket knife the same way. I still like to do it that way.

It's really easier to peel them like this and you don't get orange juice all over your hands.

But, that's not the reason I peel this way. I still do it this way because I remember the story my dad told me forty five years ago each time I peel an orange.

So, every winter I tack a few orange peels up to dry and think about some childhood stories my dad shared and hope my children will have as much fun remembering some things I taught them when they were little.

Before you know it the 4th of July will here. I'll be ready.

The Value of Self-Worth

At work this week I spent quite a bit of time talking with folks from different walks of life with clearly opposing views and interests. While their view points were very different what I noticed most was the similar passion they each shared about the value of their differing interests.

In the 2000 film Gladiator, Russell Crowe's character (Maximus Decimus Meridius) makes this statement, "What we do in life echoes in eternity". I think for the most part people who actually believe there is eternity would think the statement is true. I do.

What is interesting to me is that folks who believe as I that there is eternity often have the hardest time deciding which things in life merit the most effort. It seems having a sense of eternity would make the choices easier. It doesn't seem to work that way. I think that's true because while we don't like to admit it, we have this great tendency to want the echo to be about us. About what we have contributed to mankind. About what we did to fulfill this empty space in our lives while doing some work of great importance. So we confuse what's really important with what we want to do. What we want to do becomes important simply because we want to do it. So we learn to co-exist, man and planet. We decide we are responsible for global warming. We decide we can end world hunger. We decide... That's the problem. We think we decide what is really important.

While our eternal value is decided by God we believe value is granted to those associated with; Greenpeace, Save the Whales, Rails to Trails, I love Snails, PETA, Adopt-A-Child, Socialism, or Barrack Obama. So while believing in and working in and for countless organizations and affiliations may be fulfilling, good for the environment, offer some sense of accomplishment and make us feel good, our association with them certainly has no eternal value.

We eternity believers get around this problem by giving temporal endeavors eternal value and attributing it to God. We make them ministries. Then we can say,"God called me to" whatever ministry. "God called me to such and such work". That way we get to do all the stuff that is really all about us by making God responsible for it. It has to be right and important doesn't it? I mean it was God who opened the door for me.

We spend so much of our time looking for the doors we want God to open we can be blind to the open doorway we're standing in. Instead of realizing the dysfunction in our own lives and families we adopt more children and expose them to chaos. Instead of saving our children we save Polar Bears. Rather than having compassion and love for our brother we ignore him and join organizations and wear cool tee shirts that say we have love and compassion to prove to others we have self-worth.

So whatever you do in life that's all about you please don't make the mistake of thinking those things will have any great eternal value.
Our eternal value is decided by God. So it has to be about him not us. I think so many good things we begin to do wind up so wrong because they start out being about someone else and end up being about us. Self worth, at least for me, is becoming more about the reason I do something than it is about the thing I'm doing. I think I can accomplish more good by doing less but with purer motive. More unselfish time spent doing fewer things that will leave longer lasting impressions. More time spent with people who need that time more than I think I need it. Right under my nose and I'm still looking for something else to do so I can believe I have some self-worth.

"Whatever we do in life echoes in eternity", it's just that most of the echoes, particularly the ones coming from the things we yelled out about ourselves will be so faint that no one will ever hear them. No one but us, we'll hear them over and over and over. How do you determine your your self-worth and what will it echo in eternity?

This Weeks Picture Frame Project

Can't wait to see what's inside the bag?



Krystal Smith Lewter contacted me and asked if I would build a custom frame for a "special" drawing she was working on for a client. Krystal is an artist and the owner of Kreations by Krystal. Included in her many artistic and interior decorating talents is the ability to create beautiful pencil and charcoal drawings.




Krystal dropped the bag off where I work so I didn't get a chance to look inside until I got it home.


Look what's inside, a fabulous pencil drawing!















Krystal gave me the drawing measurements prior to dropping off the art so I built the frame to dimensions and waited to see the drawing before selecting the finishing process. The frame is 18" X 20 1/2" and built from 5 1/2" wide boards.














This frame will get a stain undercoat, several paint coats and will be protected with a clear topcoat in a satin sheen. Finishing will include a process where successive paint coats will be pulled away or separated from the previous coat so that the undercoat is visible beneath the paint. When complete it will look like old wood that has been painted more than once is being used for the frame material. Additional distressing of the wood will be added as needed to create just the right look.














Since the drawing is in pencil, I've decided to use black as the top color coat and grey to trim the routed edge and frame face bevel around the opening. I think the combination will really look good together. The art will be protected with non-glare glass




Art framed and ready to deliver.








I think this is the fourth or fifth frame I've done for Krystal. Today when I delivered the frame I told her how great her art made my frames look. I hope her client is pleased.

This project was pretty non-stop and I didn't take time to document all the steps. Several people have asked me about the finishing process I use and I'm thinking about covering the topic in more detail in another post. Anyone interested in that?

Also, I'll be doing more work for Krystal so I'll get contact information to pass on to you as well.

Born to Seaward

A couple of weekends ago I read the book Yesteryear I lived in Paradise . Written by Myrtle Scharrer Betz, (from her memory at the age of 87) the book is the story of 51 years of her father's life from the time he arrived in the United States until his death in 1934. Myrtle's father Henry homesteaded 156 acres of what is now Caladesi Island (located off the Florida coast near Dunedin) in the 1890s. Myrtle was born on the island in 1895 and recalls her life as an only child, having lost her mother at the of seven, bringing to life the events she experienced with her father on what was then known as Hog Island. Myrtle passed away in 1992 at the age of 96. Just as she had requested, Myrtle's ashes were scattered in the waters of the Gulf. A number of recently discovered photos have been included in the book that were not available at the time of the first printing.

When I opened the book and read the Poem Born to Seaward I knew I wouldn't be able to put it down until I finished it. I've included it here for you.

Born to Seaward

Knowing how sea oats lean upon the wind,
Their silken rustle as the bend and sway,
And having had the sound of breakers dinned
Into your ears day after long bright day,
How can you turn you inward with good grace;
Toward towering mountains or a fertile land?
How can you even dare to set your face
Away from sea oats leaning to the sand?

You will not love the wheat fields or the corn,
The mighty rivers or the shallow rills;
Not in a thousand years, if you were born
To seaward, will you come to love the hills.
Better to give up all else than to be
Your whole life sick for sea oats and the sea.

Anonymous

If you enjoy reading about Florida history, or have a little saltwater running in your veins and would like to experience the life and times of early settlers who did too, you will enjoy this book. I did!