Three sides to go and the strawberry pyramid will be finished.

March 14, 2015
37 degrees/cloudy/windy
Pentoga Road

Friday was the picture perfect day of what springtime weather should be. The high ended up being in the 60's with bright sunshine and very little breeze.

I began the day by visiting Neighbor Mike. He called on Thursday night to be sure I'd come up the hill and drink coffee. I wouldn't have missed it. The coffee was great, but the blueberry pancakes he made, topped with Pentoga Road pure maple syrup, were out of this world.

Saying that if I ate any more, I'd have to take a nap, I made my way back home and into the garage where I hung two book cases that Sargie had stored over the years. 

I wanted to put up some kind of framing to minimize drilling holes in the cabinets.

Both are the inexpensive kind, particle board covered in paper, but each has a sentimental meaning from days gone by. On the back was written of a night long ago when Sargie and Macrea, then only 13 years old, assembled both and had one of those mother/son evenings filled with lots of good memories. 

I kept the shelves in the garage all winter and worked hard not to let either get wet. Now, they are up off the floor.

The pop/bait refrigerator we keep in the garage needed cleaning and was dragged outside and washed thoroughly with hot soapy water. It's now ready for another summer season.



I worked all afternoon on the strawberry pyramid. Things went well until I was ready to cut the shelves that go down each of the four sides. I was able to figure out the side angles with no problem, but since the boards tilt downwards, the angle for the width, the chamfer, eluded me.

Making the basic frame was no walk in the park. Now how to figure the angles of the shelves that fasten to it?

After two hours, I gave up and sought Neighbor Mike's advice. Mike is a real carpenter, not a fake like me. He's built several homes along with anything pertaining to wood inside, including cabinets, railing, trim, etc. etc. He even carved his own railings for the balcony in the camp.

I don't feel so bad about my lack of angle knowledge. It took Mike quite a while to calculate how to set the saws; it took two, the table saw and the miter saw, but in the end, the angle mystery was solved.



Mike stayed for a bit and we hung the shelves on one of the four sides. Since everything is set up to do the others (and I now know how to figure the angles for the future) I hope to finish this project today. 

I was dead tired when I finally walked in the house last night. It was almost dark and Sargie was on her way home after a very long day of work.

I popped popcorn and we called that supper. The evening was short and bed felt good.

Sargie opens today. I hope to finish the pyramid and think I might build two or three more in the next month. The lumber is some of the most inexpensive (treated dog ear fencing material) and I enjoy working in the shop. I've also thought of making an extra one or two to sell to recoup my expenses for the lumber.

It's time to get another cup of coffee and think a few deep thoughts. 

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...