Happiness is a stack of smooth boards

   I spent Thursday afternoon planing cedar planks at the bee store.  In the process I created a huge mound of cedar shavings, more than enough to cover both the chicken and duck pens. I'm working to prepare the boards to cover our ceiling.  This particular batch of boards should be enough to do the master bedroom. I still need to round over the edges of the boards with a router, cut a rabbet  along one side, and sand them even smoother.  Plus I need to put a finish on them. I'm anxious to get all of this work done during the next week while the weather is supposed to stay dry.  It is very satisfying to make something with your hands. I'm not saying that I would like to be a woodworker as a full time job, but it is very fulfilling work.

My stack of cedar planks planed down to 3/4 inch thickness.

   Quentin, my full time employee at the bee store, is an extremely skilled and knowledgeable woodworker.  I'm trying to take advantage of his knowledge to learn more about woodworking. There are so many little things one ought to know and it is hard to gain all of that knowledge from books.  As an example, it is important to plane alternate sides of a board in order to get it as flat as possible. He also gave me a number of other helpful hints to improve my planing technique.  Quentin is anxious to move back to Wyoming, possibly before the end of the summer.  I doubt I will be able to learn anywhere near as much as I would like from him before he leaves.  Quentin has also been my craigslist consultant and has helped me accumulate some decent quality basic woodworking tools.  Before, I just had a table saw, a planer, and a very cheap lathe.  Over the past year or so I've added a jointer, a band saw, and a good quality lathe.

Thanks to the cedar boards the ducks have much cleaner home.

The chicken coop has fresh cedar shavings too.

The old bedding from the chicken coop goes into my garden.