matt shelton

Who can trust a people who celebrate, as their national event, a jailbreak? – Margaret Thatcher

Today is bastille day.

Originally posted to the old blog: July 14th, 2005

Now that spring is upon us, it’s a good a time as any to get outside and start building stuff. Spring is the time when things get done, and this year is no exception. I find myself with a fairly hefty to-build list. Everything from a 3rd box garden (gotta separate out the tomatoes this year) to a large set of bookshelves to bring focus to one end of the dining room. First on the list, though, was a picnic table for my son:

I don’t have a huge workshop or anything, and actually, the space in the house I’ve been using for such things is directly under my son’s room. So much for working on projects while he’s napping… For this, and likely the rest of my projects, I found that our garage works fairly well. I could use a table up there so that I’m not bending over for everything, so there’s some room for improvement.

This was my first time trying plans from Ana White’s Knock Off Wood. I’m not the least bit ashamed to admit that I followed plans from a site meant mostly for women who haven’t built anything before. Why? Because the plans are excellent and the results are great. My only beef is that her prices for wood are low by at least 50%, so whenever I’m considering building something, it’s much more expensive than she lists. Sure, wood is always going to be pricier in Boston than in Alaska, but I digress.

I’m really happy with the table. It came together in about 3.5 hours not including painting time, and my son loves it. That’s the real test, of course.