Welcome Back

Happy May Day and it's the first day of yachting season here in Washington State. Spring is definitely in the air and one way you can tell it's spring on the island is more boats start showing up at our wharf. The Coupeville Wharf, which was built in 1905, is the longest continually-active wharf in the state of Washington.

One really pretty boat that shows up every year is the "Gleaner" a beautiful old steam tugboat from 1908. She was also called the Erik Foss .

Another way you can tell it's spring is we've planted our barrel gardens that we made last year and plants are starting to really grow. We should have a nice crop of onions, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, peas, potatoes and herbs.

We're doing something a little different this month with our woodworking project. We're sure that some of you are not at all interested in building our monthly projects while others really enjoy making them. Rather than send out such a large newsletter we will describe our project and provide a link to the full instructions.

While we have your attention we want to remind you to do your part to save the oceans from plastic pollution. Roz Savage who is rowing solo across the Pacific Ocean is doing it to bring awareness to the poor conditions of the Earth's oceans. She currently has rowed 533 miles since she departed Tarawa on her last leg. You can follow ther daily blogs of her adventure at http://rozsavage.com/contents/roztracker/. While you're there check out all the great links she has to environmental awareness sites and programs and a little donation to her efforts would really be appreciated.

By the way Roz's TED talk has been posted on the TED site. It's very inspiring and informative. http://www.ted.com/talks/roz_savage_why_i_m_rowing_across_the_pacific.html

Are you an "ECO Hero"? Check out Roz's latest blog and see how you and your family can become ECO Heroes! The ECO-Heroes web site is not fully up and running yet but you can still register at

Ken and Marilyn

Wood'n Wares Hand Made Wooden Utensils

Wood'n Wares

We asked for comments on how people use Spoon Oil and Lori G. wrote:

The spoon oil was so easy to use, and smelled really good. I did what the instructions said, cleaned the cutting board and let it dry, then put a small amount on and rubbed it in with my bare hands. The hand that I applied it with actually stayed moisturized overnight, which was a nice side benefit! The next day I rubbed off the excess and let it sit awhile longer. I am very pleased with the results and will recondition my steak knives and other wood utensils in the kitchen.  I think this will work beautifully on my inlaid wood projects too, it's less messy and requires far less effort than paste wax and I love the fact that it's natural and safe for food use.

If you've tried our Spoon Oil we'd love to hear your story on how you used it and how it worked for you.

If you're not familiar with Spoon Oil this non-toxic tasteless finish is perfect and makes your projects look great. I like to rub a couple of coats into the wood and then buff it with a buffing wheel. It's a great safe finish for all sorts of wood. I used it on some wooden knife handles I made and it worked great. You can get Wood'n Wares Spoon Oil just by clicking on the link below.

While you're there check out their wonderful, Wood'n Ware hand crafted, hard maple kitchen tools. They feel great in your hands and work exceptionally well. Not only do they look and work nice but they last a lifetime when treated with our special Spoon Oil. Check out the large selection by clicking on the display below. www.runnerduck.com/woodnwares.htm.

In This Issue

What's New

Site of the Month

Marilyn's Corner

The Tempos Big Band

Joke of the Month

This Months Recipe

Woodworking Project

Free Rockler Catalog

Please Donate

Wood Plans

Woodworking Tools

Rockler Specials
Rockler always has great specials, here's the latest! 

What's New?

"Simply Red" is coming to life again. No not the rock band but our little boat. We have a 1963 Sabercraft Wildcat Custom fiberglass boat that has been sitting dormant for years. It's a very pretty and fun little boat and it's time to get her back on the water.

Ken works across the street from the Skagit Valley Marine Technology Center where they teach people to work on boats,www.skagit.edu/imageuploads/file1636.pdf. He asked the instructor if they would be interesting in using the boat for training purposes and they were excited about it. They started with bringing the 75 HP Evinrude outboard back to life. There is some dry rot in the floor and they will be repairing that as well. The other big change is they will be changing the steering from cable steering to Teleflex Push/Pull steering. All of this for the cost of parts and no labor, cool!

In the mean time I sent the Aqua Meter compass to have it repaired as all the oil had gone out of it. As it turns out this compass does not fill with oil but instead uses a bladder filled with oil. As luck would have it that the old compass company is no longer in business and I got the last bladder available. This model of compass will never be repaired again. I think it's time to go buy a lotto ticket.

We also had new upholstery done and this little boat will be the talk of the town. We'll have pictures of her next month, stay tuned.

Site Of The Month

How appropriate is this for a RunnerDuck Site of the Month suggestion? "Duck Duck Go"!

Everyone knows about Google as it's the number one search engine and Internet Explorer is number two. There are a number of also ran's but I've been enjoying Duck Duck Go. The seem to be less consumed with making the big advertising bucks that Google makes by placing actual relevant sites at the top of the list instead of web sites that are selling things and paying commissions to Google.

I've set Duck Duck Go as my default search engine and I feel I'm getting much better search results. So if you want a better search experience on the Internet give www.duckduckgo.com a try.

We have a real infestation of Yellow Jackets that we are trying to get under control. They are building nests everywhere and it's tough to stay ahead of them. I decided to build a trap based on a very old concept. Hang a piece of meat over some soapy water and after the Yellow Jackets eat they will fly into the water because they cannot fly up when they take of. The meat attracts them and the soapy water makes it impossible for them to fly.

I used a one gallon milk jug (another good use to keep plastic out of our land fills) and cut a triangular hole about three quarters of the way up on each side. I poked a wooden skewer through the bottle right where it gets wide near the top.

I tied a wire around the handle and hung it on our fence so that the fence holds it up straight. If you plan to hang it from something then secure the string around the top.

To use the trap fill the bottle about half full of soapy water. Poke the skewer through one hole, thorough a piece of bacon and through the other hole so it hangs in the middle of the bottle.

Now just wait for the Yellow Jackets to feed on the bacon and fall into the water.

You can also use one of those net veggie bags you get in the produce department to put some fish in and hang that instead of bacon.

Hopefully this will start to give us some control over them. We really don't like using pesticides sprayed into the air.

If you have a craft project that you'd like to share with our readers just send it to marilyn@runnerduck.com.

The Tempos Big Swing Band

The Tempos will be performing for the General Aviation Day at Paine Field on Saturday May 15th. This will be a really fun family event with lots of great vintage airplanes to see. The event is open from 9:00AM to 3:30PM and we'll be playing from 11:00 to 1:00. Find out more at www.wpaflys.org.

If you have an event planned in the Seattle area and are in need of a great band, The Tempos are ready to perform for you. Just drop a line to kennyb@runnerduck.com

The Tempos

The Tempos CD, "Big Swing", features fourteen great swing songs from the 40's and 50's. If you love the old big band swing music we think you'll enjoy this CD. It's the kind of music that makes you just want to get up and dance, you do remember how to swing don't you?

The only place you can get this CD is from our web site. Go to www.thetempos.com and click on the "Click Here" at the top of the web page or click the album cover.

CLICK HERE.

If you'd like to get a taste of this CD just go to The Tempos web site. When you are at the Tempos web site click on the horn valve button that says "Hear our CD". Then click on the song titles to hear a little bit of each song.

The Tempos big swing band is available for hire. If you have a special event that could use the wonderful music of a classic sixteen piece big band be sure to contact kennyb@runnerduck.com. We perform all over the Seattle area for all sorts of events.

Joke of the Month

This is a pretty funny story from Mike O.

Montana State Trooper

In most of the United States there is a policy of checking on any stalled vehicle on the highway when temperatures drop to single digits or below. About 3AM one very cold morning, Montana State Trooper Alan Nixon #658 responded to a call there was a car off the shoulder of the road outside Great Falls, Montana. He located the car, stuck in deep snow and with the engine still running. Pulling in behind the car with his emergency lights on, the trooper walked to the driver's door to find an older man passed out behind the wheel with a nearly empty vodka bottle on the seat beside him. The driver came awake when the trooper tapped on the window. Seeing the rotating lights in his rearview mirror, and the state trooper standing next to his car, the man panicked. He jerked the gear shift into "drive" and hit the gas.

The car's speedometer was showing 20-30-40 and 50 MPH, but it was still stuck in the snow, wheels spinning. Trooper Nixon, having a sense of humor, began running in place next to the speeding (but stationary) car. The driver was totally freaked, thinking the trooper was actually keeping up with him. This goes on for about 30 seconds, then the trooper yelled, "PULL OVER!"

The man nodded, turned his wheel and stopped the engine. Needless to say, the man from North Dakota was arrested and is probably still shaking his head over the state trooper in Montana who could run 50 miles per hour!

This Month's Free Recipe

Gurkin Sweet Pickles 

This recipe is from Nicky D. and was given to her by her father in 1978. We've been eating a sample jar that she gave us and they are probably the best gurkins we've ever had.

Nicky's dad was an engineer and wrote the recipe like and engineer, very detailed and precise. We've transcribed it exactly as written. Due to the length of his recipe we've decided to not include the whole thing in our newsletter but instead give you a link to the recipe on our web site.

We've been having them on sandwiches and on the side with lunches and they really add great flavor. Nicky says that she adds them to her potato salad and her husband calls it "Gurkin Salad With Potatoes" ;-) They are sweet and full of flavor.

We are sure if you decide to make them that you will not be disappointed! Go to www.runnerduck.com/gurkin_recipe.htm

If you have a recipe you'd like to share with our readers please send it to marilyn@runnerduck.com. We'd love to share it with everyone.

Woodworking Project

WOOD PROJECT PLANS

DOWNLOADABLE & MAIL-DIRECT
WOODWORKING PLANS

Download WOOD Store® woodworking plans directly to your computer and start building in just minutes! OR, we'll mail them to you, your choice!

CLICK!

This Months Woodworking Project

Glider Deck Chair

As promised last month here is my glider deck chair plan. I'm really excited about this project. I started working on the design of these chairs before Christmas and I'm just now getting them finished. Of course I had some Christmas projects that put these on the back burner but they are finally done.

The first thing I did was make a prototype of the chair out of cheap lumber to make sure that it balanced correctly on the glider hangers. More importantly I wanted them to be comfortable for us. After I had my prototype put together we sat in them and made adjustments until the fit perfectly. We plan to be spending a lot of time in these chairs once I retire and they needed to be comfortable.

The finished chairs are made out of clear cedar and stained with Penofin Western Red Cedar Stain. They really weren't all that hard to build there was just a lot of cutting, drilling, routing, screwing and sanding.

I made all the plugs for the holes using a plug cutter,

3-Pc. Self-Centering Plug Cutter Set

which worked great. It took a while to make the 160 plugs I needed for each chair but the result was well worth it.

I also made good use of my new digital protractor from Wixey.

Wixey 8'' Digital Protractor

I found that cutting, drilling and routing all the pieces first and then doing the assembly worked best.

As always our plans are free and you can find the glider chair plan by going to www.runnerduck.com/glider/glider.htm.

We hope you liked this project. If you build it and your friends ask where you got such a clever idea, please tell them that you got it at RunnerDuck.com.

If any of you have wood projects to share I would be happy to put it into a format for our newsletter. Just send me an email at kennyb@runnerduck.com and lets see what we can come up with. Thank you!