Getting Ready for Christmas Projects

        I know it is a little early to be thinking about this (especially for me), but I have started to plan for my Christmas projects.   In the past I started out by working on one idea and once that was completed then I started working on the second idea.   By 10:00 am on December 24th I was starting on my third idea and scraped anything else that was on the to-do list for Christmas.
   This year I am planning on five Christmas projects.  Just last August I blogged about coming home from the Big City Saw Mill with a pickup load of cedar.   I did get a little concerned that maybe this cedar would not be dry enough to use by Christmas time so I cut up several pieces of that milled cedar wood and carried it down to the basement where the dehumidifier is running hoping to speed up the drying process.    I will admit that I do have half the garage tied up with lumber and tools.   I have one room in the basement tied up with my shop area (you know -  very valuable stuff... )    Now I have the family room kind of tied up with piles of wood in order to get this wood to dry down a little faster.    (I might be pushing my marriage vows a little with this latest move.  And if we get company that plans to stay overnight I may have to shift things a little.   But for now I'm trying my best to be lovable.  Also, I have avoided doing mean things to the wife's cat.)   I did see the moisture test on this wood drop a little faster.

   So this year I want to work on all 5 projects at the same time.  In this first phase I plan to saw, plane, and trim to size all the wood required.    Two of those projects will be made out of cedar.   One pine.   One soft maple and one a mix of walnut, cherry, and hard maple.   My thought is that now while it is still somewhat warm outside I can use the garage to do a lot of the work that creates sawdust and wood chips.  I have to admit that right now the garage is a mess.  (I wonder if it would be possible for me to use the other half of the basement family room to work on some of this stuff?  I would ask, but that might be pushing it.)

    As of this writing I have several of my boards cut to size and I still have more to plane down and trim.    The cost of making my own boards does save me some bucks, but it also takes a little more effort.      (I can't wait for the next phase to take place ----- SANDING.   Oh joy!)   

Have a good scary Halloween.

     Well,   for those of you that care or wonder more about the feline world than you do about my woodworking projects - the wife's cat is still alive.  (Pam did take her to the vet last month.   I was shocked when I saw that bill and wanted to go into a fitful rage, but I still have wood piled in the family room which requires me to remain somewhat lovable.    I am working hard on getting that wood out of there.   After all. a guy can only pretend to be nice for so long.)