I’ve decided to create a buffet-style cabinet for our dining room.

As part of the build, I want to try my hand at making raised panel doors. It seems the easiest way to do so is to router them out with a set of door construction bits. These sets usually come with at least three bits - two to create the stiles and rails, and one to create the panel. I still have to do a little more research to find out if my router has enough horsepower to run the larger of the three bits.

I dug through some woodworking plans I have in pdf and came across a couple articles that show how to make very simple raised panels with the use of your table saw as well. I tried the one method of running the board on its end, with the saw blade set at an angle. I didn’t like the way it turned out – it just wasn’t steady enough to make a clean cut. Another method I came across last night here, has you running the board perpendicular to the blade to create a concave shaped cut. I’ll try this method tonight and see what happens.

My daughter and I sowed this year’s seeds in a starter tray this afternoon. I’ve got them sitting in my studio under a 75 watt fluorescent light bulb on a timer that will stay on for about 16 hours per day. If all goes well, in about 6 – 8 weeks they should be ready to be brought outside. The tray has a clear plastic dome lid that sits on top and is able to turn the thing into a mini greenhouse. I’m hoping I see a difference in these seedlings from the ones I started last year in just a simple foil tray without the enclosure. I also used a couple drops of Superthrive in my spray bottle and filled the tray liner with about 1/4″ of the water/Superthrive mixture.

Of the seeds I kept from last year, we added the cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and the cucumbers. I’ve got two other varieties of tomatoes in there as well as another cucumber. I probably didn’t need to start the cucumbers at all, seeing as how last year when I first tried my hand at this, I threw them into the containers outside around May and was picking huge fruit just a couple months later. There’s also broccoli, romaine lettuce, and banana peppers in there. Of the herbs I wanted to try this year we added basil, parsley, and rosemary.

I often find myself trying to rationalize with my 4yr old. I’ve been doing this since she could speak. Of course I know you’re not supposed to, or at least not the way you would with an adult, but I do it anyway. She usually has this glazed looked on her face until I finish. At which point she simply asks me again why it is that I don’t want her to do whatever it is I’m trying to get her not to do. And the circle continues.

I don’t normally drink bottled water, but this afternoon I grabbed one out of the fridge to have with my lunch. The moment I picked it up, the bottle itself crumpled under the slight pressure of my fingers. In this bottle manufacturer’s probable goal to save some money by using thinner plastic they’ve failed to take into consideration my senses and the confidence I unconsciously have in a beverage container that it will be able to hold the half a liter of liquid inside of it.

I started looking through and sorting the seeds for our garden this year. Over the holidays I had picked up a handful from Burpee, but I also kept some from last year’s yield. The last frost around here should be somewhere between the end of April and beginning of May so getting them started indoors this week should give them plenty of time to sprout and get situated. For giggles, I recently kept some pear and apple seeds to see if I can get them to grow. The likelihood of them growing is probably slim, and even if they do, the likelihood of the trees bearing fruit is even slimmer… regardless, it’ll be fun to see what happens.