JellyBean Bakery

Folks that know me will tell you that I don't really have a sweet tooth, what I have is a head full of sweet teeth! Yes, I am a connoisseur of sweets.  I have tested sweets from coast to coast and in several foreign countries.  I can tell you that without a doubt, the best cupcakes I have ever enjoyed came from JellyBean Bakery in Princeton, NC.

I must disclose that the owner, Jennie Bailey, is married to my nephew.  However, I can assure you that neither he nor I know anything about making cupcakes, but we are both pretty good at eating them. Matter of fact, the whole family does a pretty good job at putting cupcakes away.  At one time, my son had the nickname of "cupcake" after an afternoon at his grandmother's house when he ate about a dozen or so.  We couldn't figure out why he was sick until someone opened the cupcake box and discovered they were gone!

We just returned from Fresh Market grocery store, where I saw a cupcake with chocolate icing, yellow cake, and bavarian creme filling.  It looked as good as it sounds!  Naturally, I added it to the cart.  I could hardly wait to get home to try it!  Well, they nailed the bavarian creme part, it was very good.  But, the cake was course and dry.  The icing tasted like icing from a can.  Mind you, this cupcake looked the part of a world champion cupcake.  Sadly, it performed like a 1st grader!

I probably wouldn't have been as disappointed with it had I not been given the opportunity to try some of Jennie's cupcakes.  Her's always look absolutely great.  But it don't stop there.  The cake has a consistency that is "just right" and the moisture is perfect.  But the best part is the icing.  I don't know how she does it, but she makes the creamiest icing I have ever enjoyed. 



The latest of her cupcakes that I have tasted was lemonade flavored pictured above.  She hit the flavor perfectly!  Some of her new flavors that I can hardly wait to try are strawberry cheesecake, banana pudding, Oreo, and chocolate peanut butter mousse.

If I didn't live so far away, I would think up reasons to drop in just to see what new concoctions she might be working on.  I wonder if she needs a cupcake tester?

Cigarette Cases

We have been busy making some cigarette cases lately.  We also made a couple of cigarette boxes for a coffee or end table.  The cases are of several different designs.  I really like the ones with the magnets, they are quite durable.

The table top box has room for cigarettes and a small lighter.

Check these and others out at Lucy Hardware.  We are taking tomorrow off, going to play some disc golf.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Sweet!

Check out the new tissue box covers soon to be listed at Lucy Hardware.  They took some time to get the pattern correct and make the correct cuts, but I think they turned out very well. 

I generally rely strictly on math to make cuts for patterns in constructing projects like these, however, I found with these boxes that the math didn't always work out right.  I didn't have to be off much on a piece for it to compound and ruin the design.

I eventually went to the "doing by the old eyeball" method.  It was a little nerve wracking at first, but it worked out well.  I suppose I like the math method because it is logical and I feel secure in what I think the end result will be.  It works for me every day. But it failed again and again on these boxes.

Many more years ago than I care to admit, I done a lot of projects by the eye.  Heck, I didn't have tools that were accurate. I didn't even have squares or measuring devices that were accurate. I was pretty comfortable eyeballing it, drawing a line, and making the cut.  It always came out close enough that the belt sander could fix it.

Now that investments have been made in real tools, and we have spent a lot of time using them and learning to trust in the results, it is pretty scary to go back to the eyeball method. Oh, I am sure I could figure out where I went wrong with the math, but with the results above, I think I will carry on with the eyeballing.

Down Time!

Was re-sawing some of the lumber we picked up from the sawmill the other day and things were going really well. I had all the lumber separated and stacked according to the order I needed it and how it would be stored when completed. I had tuned up the band saw and had the fence set just right for the majority of the lumber.  The table saw was set to rip some of the wider boards and the planer was just outside the door with a wheel barrow in front to collect shavings.

I started with some cherry and re-sawed four boards.  I put the 5th one on the band saw table, hit the go button, nothing happened.  Only heard a slight buzz from the motor. Dang, I got wood all over the shop, can't do anything else until I get it out of the way.  Heck, I just got it off the rack and spread it out!

Checked the switch on the saw and the capacitor on the motor, both were good.  Off to the electric shop for repairs.

Back at the shop, I finished a couple more tissue box covers and a double deck playing card box.  Thought I would work on some walking canes, but I need the band saw for that.  I could work on the shot glasses, but I need the band saw for that.  Seems like everything I had in progress would need the band saw next.  I didn't realize how much it was used.  I would guess that behind the sander, the table saw was used most, now I have my doubts.

So, a thorough and complete cleaning of the shop was next.  Everything was dusted and put away.  Then we pointed all the fans to the doors and used a leaf blower to blow out the entire shop.  We left the fans running and blew the area out two more times.

Then we cleaned all the saw blades, router bits, and drill bits.  We organized the junk drawer and the scrap lumber bins.

Tomorrow we will work on the computer with some designs for new items we have had in mind.  I'm getting tired of this busy work.  Hopefully, the motor repair man will call!

Playing Card Boxes

Just added some playing card boxes to our inventory at Lucy Hardware.  We have single and double deck versions in two styles.  The boxes below are constructed from Ash and are sized to fit Bicycle brand playing cards.  We will be glad to construct your card box to fit whatever cards you want. Check us out for more options.

We have also added a slim tissue box cover that fits Kleenex 85 count boxes.  The one pictured below is constructed of cherry with walnut strips.  We have several in inventory but will be glad to make you one to your specifications.

Jack's Sawmill

Picked up a load of lumber today at Jack's Sawmill.  We got walnut, cherry, maple, ash, white oak, red oak, maple, yellow pine, and sassafras.  All of it is kiln dried and rough cut so we have a lot of planing and cutting to do!

Jack has always been real good to us. If you are in the Raleigh, North Carolina area and need some rough cut lumber, you should give him a try.  Send me an email and I will send you some directions. 

When we first started buying from Jack, he was a one man operation with one sawmill and a small shelter.  He now has 4 sawmills on the property, each under a shelter, and a large shelter for wood that has been milled.  He has 4 full time employees and several part timers.  Go Jack Go!

He has always helped me pick out wood that was just right for the task at hand and his prices are the best in the area.  We drive about 1.5 hours, one way, to get to his mill and it is worth it every time.

While we were in Raleigh, we stopped off at the Klingspor store for some dust collection fittings and sanding belts.  Our sanding belts needed to be replaced and we have been very happy with the belts they offer and the price.  We also purchased some of their premium yellow sandpaper and I am anxious to try it out.  We have been using the stearate coated paper and have been very pleased with it.  Cuts great and lasts far longer than most other paper we have tried.  The new Norton 3X sandpaper comes close.

Check out Lucy Hardware soon as we will be adding some new items this weekend, as soon as I get through beating up the young folks on the disc golf course!

Back to Business

We have been kind of slack in posting lately.  We had a flurry of custom orders to complete, and have finally shipped the last of them.  As always, we are grateful for the business and enjoy the projects.

During construction of the custom orders, we had major computer problems.  Two of our machines had to be reset to factory settings.  On one of the computers, while doing a disc cleanup, we checked the clean up system files option.  The machine would not run afterwards.  On the other machine, the hard drive had worked loose from it's connections.  Of course, we didn't find that out until we had spent many hours checking and trying everything else.  Finally, we had to do an update to the router and tweak a few settings. It is amazing how dependent on computers we have become.

New items coming to Lucy Hardware include playing card holders, new sizes of tissue box covers, and canoe or kayak stabilizers.  The playing card holders are in both one and two deck models.  Two deck models are either side by side or stacked.  We are now making tissue box covers for the very large tissue box and for the slim tissue box. 

Our canoe stabilizers are really nice.  Constructed of cypress and juniper strips, they are light and bouyant.  We made two pair so far and both have been purchased.  We will make some more soon and post them.