Creeker's Weekend Accomplishments.....

[Dennis Peacock]

20 Dec 2010

Good Morning Everyone,

Well, it's been a very hard past few days for me, but I did get a couple of walnut panels out of the clamps for a very good friend of mine, Mark Cothren. Mark is working on his 2nd baby cradle and to him...I give my congratulations.

This past Saturday my kids and I rode motorcycle in a local event to raise toys for our local hospital. This was the 10th Anniversary for the Conway Regional Toy run. This year we had over 200 bikers show up with new/unwrapped toys to deliver to the hospital. The hospital uses those donated toys for kids that come in to the hospital needing any type of medical treatment/care. There were enough toys donated this year to last the hospital for 1 year. For me and my family, it is both an honor and a duty to help serve our community in such capacities as this.

The hardest part of Saturday is when my dad's Oncologist called me (returned my call from a couple of days prior) to give me a real and honest opinion about my dad and his condition. All I can say right now is that they are giving my dad 6 months to live and I'm frantically trying to sort everything out in my own heart and mind on how to get everything in order and how to best help my mom.

Good news is that my daughter is now engaged to be married and the young man she is engaged to is a very fine young man with a good head on his shoulders. He meets with my approval and acceptance. Looks like a summer wedding is in the making.

Well, that's it for me. I hope that all you gift makers are coming to the close of your projects and have them ready for giving on schedule.

Merry Christmas to you all and tell me what you did this past weekend.

Best of weeks to you all.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dennis, my friend, my heart goes out to you with respect to your Dad. Inventory your heart, make a list of everything you've wanted to say to your Dad and then make sure you say it. At age 23, I got a call one evening. At age 46 my father had died on the floor of an oil rig of a heart attack. Let your father know how much you love him, respect him and how you will try to the best of your ability live with the values he lived his life by and which you hold dear to your heart. Be strong for your Mom as she will need to lean on you. Being strong means to try to think with a clear mind but that doesn't mean you can't show your emotions. My sincere sympathies my friend.

I worked on a process for the handle for the collaborative box. I have blown up 5 attempts so far.

I am working Christmas presents for family members.

[Matt Meiser]

Dennis, sorry to here about your dad. I fear that day is coming sooner than I'd like in my own life. Also congratulations on the new future son-in-law (probably also a day also coming sooner than I'd like in my own life.)

I finally installed the trim in my parents kitchen. I got the trim made this summer, then had a busy fall and didn't mind putting it off. A trim carpenter I am not and this scared the heck out of me since the ceiling was out of level by over an inch. In addition to all the miters every single piece need a significant amount of scribing to the ceiling. But even I'm pretty happy with it except for one piece and its hard to see. Everyone else is ecstatic. It really did make a big difference in the appearance. That consumed my ENTIRE day Saturday. Sunday I put in some time on work-work and made a Costco run with LOML.

[Roger Bullock]

My heart goes out to you and your dad. Last year our local hospital sent my dad home to die, they gave him 3 to 4 days. Once home he showed signs of improvement so we took him out of state to another hospital. The second hospital found the mistakes the first hospital made and had him fixed and on the road to recovery in 5 days. He is 82 and in better health today than he has been in years. I was very fortunate to get to talk with him about many of the things that go unsaid through life. One thing that gave him comfort and peace of mind was when he was assured that Mom would be taken care of. Good luck and my thoughts are with you during these trying times.

As far as weekend accomplishments, my daughter had requested me to make a table and set of chairs for our almost 2 granddaughter. LOML requested that I make a set for the granddaughter but that I also make a set to keep here. Who knows, grandma may want to be invited to a tea party also. I finished the sets last week and started applying the stain and finish coats this weekend. I don't have my finish room completed (one of those round to its that keeps getting put off) so the other shop work has come to a stop for now. I still have a couple of 30 Cal bullet pens and cheese boards with turned handles to complete but those should not take much time once my finish work is completed.

[Chris Strizver]

I got my wall (almost) up. The last row I need my TS for which is currently fenceless. The wood I used was reclaimed from the ceiling of my old garage that I tore down to build my shop. I don't know why, but when I had put the left wall up I didn't think of using the planer. Now I have a lot of sanding to do. argh.

174542

[Jim Becker]

Dennis, I'm sad to hear the prognosis for your dad. It's already been a tough year for you and this certainly isn't helping.

As to me weekend, I finished initial sanding the new wide pine flooring in the "study room" that is on the first floor of the 250 year old portion of our home. Since it's only 225 sq ft, I just used my Rotex with the vac and the job actually went relatively quickly. The floor will be covered with rosin paper until the spring when I can attend to the final sanding and apply the finish when the weather is no longer freezing. I have to put on the final coat of paint on the trip and then will temporarily move the desks back in there so the room can be used, removing the clutter from our great room.

The next project will be converting a room directly above that into a larger bedroom for our younger daughter. And then I might get back into the shop working on a furniture project for a change. :)

[Neil Brooks]

I wholeheartedly second everybody's comments about your dad -- particularly Ken's.

I got the call when I was 32, and my dad was 57. It was an 18mo period in which I lost my beloved grandfather, my dad, and his baby brother -- my uncle.

Not a good stretch.

I can't help but feel that ... so many things never got said. I understand that's pretty natural, and that we'll always wish we could have done and said more.

Yours has been a life of mixed, intense emotions lately. I hope you're taking care of yourself. Must be difficult to know how you feel at any given moment. Glad you were able to do the charitable ride. I've been a wimp, this fall, about taking the bike out. If I don't do it soon, though, they don't plow my neighborhood, and .... that slim window of opportunity will close.

Having finished the doug fir top to my new workbench, I got the base mostly framed up (M&T). Today, I've got ledgers, slats, and cleats to get to, the ends of the top to trim to flush, with my circ saw, and .... some lag bolts to install for future adjustment/tightening of frame rails.

Take good care, Dennis.....