Week of April 28, 2025

Good week!

Monday I put the roof on Charlie’s slide play fort and finished it:

Adding a Slide Platform to an A-Frame Swing Set

That night I made a leather net holster for my fishing belt. It turned out okay for my first leather working project, but I need to make a new one out of thicker, sturdier leather because this one flops around too much. I’ll try to find a better piece and make another one this week.

Leather holster for a landing net

Tuesday the siding crew finished our siding and I closed up the shower pipe access in Charlie’s closet. Then Amanda and I went out to lunch.

Lunch is my favorite meal, and there is nothing more luxurious than going out for lunch in the middle of the day. A long lunch outside on a sunny day beats dinner reservations every time, IMO.

Later, I started the oak bowl turning project, which I continued working on Wednesday and finished Friday:

Two Rustic Oak Bowls From a Log

Wednesday the gutter crew finished putting up our new gutters, then I put up our new house numbers and continued working on the bowls. Amanda and I took an hour and got our back porch set up for the season.

Our house is looking great! Next step is painting the foundation, garage door, front door, front porch, and porticos.

Thursday I visited the local fly shop (Angler’s Den) to pick up a couple things, then went fishing:

Fallfish on the fly

I guess I blogged a lot this week, too!

Thursday night we had dinner on the back porch (carnitas tacos) and made s’mores on the chiminea.

Friday I finished the bowls and spent the afternoon running errands.

Saturday we took a road trip up to Accord to pick up some seedlings from the Hudson Valley Seed Co. We also stopped at the Mohonk Preserve Visitor’s Center (worth a stop if you have kids!). They had a good animal exhibit in the basement that Charlie enjoyed. I liked seeing the stuffed Fisher, since I saw a live one a month ago in the wild.

We also stopped Tuthilltown Distillery (which I guess they now call Hudson Whiskey since they were bought) for some of our favorite gin, which they no longer distribute. At least they still make and sell it on-site. It is worth the hour drive. It used to be called Half Moon Gin, but has been renamed to Citrus Moon Gin for some nebulous legal reasons. The staff reassured us that the recipe remains unchanged.

Saturday night we went to Kristin Richer’s birthday party. Jon wanted to make pizzas on his Ooni, so I took my Ooni over there too and helped him sling pizzas. We ended up making ~25 pizzas over the course of an hour and a half.

Jon showed me a trick I hadn’t used before: Instead of flouring your work area and putting lots of corn meal on your peel, drop the whole dough ball in a bowl of flour before shaping it. That worked really well.

I didn’t take many photos because I was focused on making pizzas, but I took a couple:

A thunderstorm passed through during the party, and Charlie had a great time running around in the rain.

Sunday Charlie and I mowed the lawn, screwed down some loose boards on the front porch, and went for a walk in the woods to try to find the owl we heard. Charlie likes pushing the down sloped part of the yard by himself. Then lots of indoor play time, snuggling, and grocery shopping for the rest of the day while it rained.

I’m just over a month into my sabbatical, with two months left.

I had less free time in April that I would have liked, due to some family travel, Charlie’s spring break, and the house projects. I didn’t fish as much as I wanted, but I got a lot done. Still, it was incredibly nice to not have to work during that time, so I’m not complaining! I was able to pretty much stop thinking about work after about two weeks.

Plans for May and June include more fishing, some time out in the kayaks and guideboat on the water, and making more things out of wood in the workshop. Also some camping, day trips with Charlie, coffee with friends, spending a day or two in NYC, and more lunch dates with Amanda.

Our backyard in December 2019 (when we moved in) vs April 2020 vs April 2025.

This progression gives me some feelings. A lot of life packed into five years.