Getting a little Squirrelly Lately

   Even though it has been a super nice Winter,  I still can not wait for Spring to come around.    I have received comments lately that when I started calling the cat "my buddy" as I did in my last blog writing, perhaps I have been locked up indoors just a little too long.    Well this week have I come to my senses.    No cat dialog in this week's comments.   No cat pictures either.   I've been looking at dog ads and wondering what a real buddy would be like.  

         Each year I go through approximately 150 ears of corn (or more) feeding the local squirrels.  For some reason, this year my task of feeding the squirrels has been reduced a lot   Perhaps the good weather has allowed the squirrels to source their food elsewhere.    (Perhaps the neighbors are sick and tired of the little pests getting into everything and have claimed a war on the little fury rodents.)   Anyway, my squirrel feeder to the left had reached an age that was showing a lot of wear and tear (similar to someone who has just reached the retirement status).   

    This past Sunday was a snowy Sunday afternoon and I was looking for a project that did not require any sanding and thought it was time to replace the old feeder.   I happened to have a lot of small pieces of green treated wood in the scrap pile and decided to use the old feeder as a pattern.     Besides not having to sand any pieces, one did not have to stain or varnish any parts.    It came together pretty easy.     (I still have a lot of small pieces and was thinking that maybe I should make a few extra to pass around the neighborhood.   Maybe some day...)

     I think I am possessed with the box finger joint thing that I wrote about two weeks ago.     While I have been whipping out one joint after another, I feel I still have not quite gotten the touch of the perfect box joint.    The picture to the left shows some of the sample boxes that I have put together this week.     Bottom left is one made out of maple,  bottom right is one made out of oak, and the two back ones are both made out of walnut.    (Some day on my estate sale the auctioneer will be busy selling all  these boxes - probably a quarter each.)

   To the right is a close up of one of the box finger joints.   They are very solid boxes once assembled. (The process is getting better or a little easier for me, but I don't think the ones created so far will qualify as an anniversary present.   You know, something to keep homemade cookies in.             I have wondered if a box like this was made a little larger, maybe it would work as a pet coffin.  Just an idea...)