Another week, another weekly update from the Suburban Steader Homestead.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t another post in between the weekly update post from last week, but such is life.  It’s a combination of being busy at work, being busy at home and not finding something to write about that I can really sink my teeth into.  I need ideas people!

OK, enough about that.  You know what they say about excuses and rear ends.  If you don’t, email me and I’ll tell you!  

Let’s check into the going-ons at the Suburban Steader Homestead for Week 18 of 2017!

This Week’s Milestones

Back To The Workshop

I have been making an effort to get back into the workshop a little every night.  It may only be for five minutes at a time or so, but it’s a definite stress relief. This week, I spent a little time building a hand plane iron sharpening jig similar to what Cody from Wranglerstar did.

The jig came out pretty nice but I do have a few things I would change.  First off, I wish I hadn’t used the brad nails to connect the lip to the base piece.  That just gives it a cheap, hacked together look.  Second, the blocks aren’t perfectly cut.  I’m working on using hand tools over power tools, so the edges are not perfectly straight.  My skills are getting better, however.

To be honest, however, this jig was pieced together pretty quickly.  I fully intend on coming back and building a nicer one once I get my hands on a rabbit planer (anyone have any for sale?).

But how does it work?

Well, the jig works great.  It lines up perfectly and helps me set the same depth over and over again using my Self-Centering Sharpening Jig that I got from Amazon.

The problem I have is that the jig itself is not the greatest as-is out of the box.  In fact, my hand plane iron now has a non-perpendicular edge to it.  I’ll post a picture on Instagram later on that shows what I’m talking about.

I need to spend some more time modifying it.  Wranglerstar (yes, I like a lot of his videos) did a video on how to do this as well.

If I can get the jig to work as well as Cody does, then I’ll really be in business!  The next step will be getting some of those sharpening planes Paul Sellers talk about and building myself a proper sharpening fixture.

Fishing On The Mind

I’ve really been getting excited about the fishing season.  If you remember, last week I showed you how I got my New York Fishing License.  What I didn’t tell you is that I also got my license for Massachusetts which is where my folks live and where I grew up.

I am so excited to get out there that I’ve thrown my rods and gear in my truck so that I can get out any time the opportunity presents itself.

I’m actually thinking of buying a gun rack to hold them so it’s a little neater.  What do you think?

We went to Massachusetts this past weekend for my nephew/godson’s First Communion.  I brought my gear and got some water time in.

I didn’t catch anything – I think I got only one or two bites – but it was great to be back out there.  I think I got my old man upset a little bit.  He’s partially retired and lives on the lack but I got my line in the water first this year!  I’m sure he’ll get more time in over the year, but it was nice to beat him to the punch for once.

Getting Back On The Horse

If you’ve been checking in on the Facebook page, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been getting back into the habit of working out.  It’s been great and I’m actually feeling a lot better.  I was feeling run down, tired and generally crappy for a while and a big part of that is just not taking care of myself.

Part of getting back into shape – some would argue it’s the biggest part – is diet.  I’ve had a lot of experience over the years with working out and nutrition (I used to power lift in my ‘past’ life).  I’ve found that a high protein, low carb diet has always worked best for me.  To that end, the Mrs and I are pursuing a Paleo-esque diet. 

We’re not buying into the Paleo diet 100% simply because it can be expensive and sometimes we just need to balance out life with diet.  That being said, I’m trying to follow the core principles of the eating plan (I hate the word diet) as much as possible.  I’m also cutting out dairy and alcohol from my diet.  That’s really difficult because I love cheese and craft beer!

Next Week’s Goals

Gardening

The Mrs has been a huge help this week with hardening off the veggies we still have indoors.  To that end, I should be able to get the parsley and peppers outdoors.  The eggplant, cukes, cilantro and basil all need to move into bigger pots but stay inside.

Our rabbit visitors seem to have departed, so I can start to prep the beds for transplants.  Looking forward to all of this work and seeing the fruits of my labor.

I also found that the oregano and lemon balm I transplanted last year has begun to bloom.  Looking forward to getting my hands on some of those as well!

Workshop

The workshop is always foremost in my mind – at least these days.  I want to figure out the issue I’m having with the sharpening jig and then clean the place up.  It’s a big mess right now and I need a clean workspace before I can even think about getting started on a new project.

That’s it folks – Week 18 is in the books!  How was your week?

Thanks for reading!

Dan

Founder/Owner at Suburban Steader

I am a middle-age guy with a wife, two young kids and a crazy dog. We live on Long Island, NY and had an interesting experience with Hurricane Sandy. That experience led me towards the self-sufficiency movement and eventually led to the founding of SuburbanSteader.com. I aim to provide suburbanites with the confidence and know-how to become more self-reliant by providing content on topics such as gardening, personal health, financial responsibility, cooking, self-preparedness and self-protection.