Pumpkin Carving

I am sad to admit that I carved my first ever pumpkin at the age of 34.  Growing up in Florida we didn't really have a "harvest" season.  It was kinda like, Summer, more Summer, a day to go get free candy, a day to eat a bunch of food, and a day to get gifts, then seemed right back to Summer.  So when I moved to Iowa with Nichole I was amazed to see the whole Harvest effect.  However my attempt to carve a pumpkin failed as I got very sick and spent days in bed and never got to carve it.  So this year I decided I wanted to carve a pumpkin!  And so Saturday after work my boyfriend and I went out for dinner, then stopped at the store to buy a pumpkin.  At first there wasn't much hope as they didn't seem to have any left.  Finally we found some in a bin at the back of produce.  Now I have never really spent much time around pumpkins so had no idea what to look for in a carving one.  So with help from my boyfriend we picked out one and brought it home.  He made me cut off the top and yank out all the innards.  I wasn't grossed out like I thought I would be though.  He showed me how to scrape it all out and then we set about picking out a pattern.  Out of all the ones I had bought (2 different kits!) I couldn't decide what to carve.  I needed something easy and the one I liked didn't seem all that easy.  It was a cat and it had curves.  That looked hard but he convinced me to go for it.  So we set about carving it up.  It was actually a lot of fun but a big learning experience.  I kept holding the knife wrong and cutting wrong.  Then I'd get frustrated since I didn't know what I was doing and hand it to him and say "You do it!"  But my ever loving boyfriend would show me the right way and put the knife back in my hand (brave man!) and away I'd go.  He did some of the really hard stuff like the tail and the eyes and mouth.  Over all it was a lot of fun and something I wish I had done more of growing up!  Now I have something to look forward to as he declared this would be a yearly thing now.  I've included some pictures of the process!  Over all a good time was had!

My Pumpkin

Cleaning it out

All clean inside!

Taping on the pattern

Cat pattern

He's helping me carve the hard parts

Finished!

I think I did good!

A new look for an old friend.

I have an old coffee table (seen on the right in this photo, covered in junk) that my grandparents got when they were newlyweds.  It's a nice table, solid, sturdy, and it has a shelf on each long side for books or magazines.  It's been well-loved over the years, and has lots of dings, stains, and character.

When I inherited it over 10 years ago, I professed an ambition to sand it down and refinish it.  Most people (including my mom and her siblings who grew up with it) thought this was a fine idea, but some objected.  A few thought I'd "ruin its character."  Others said, "It's a good idea, but you'll never actually get around to doing it."

Today, I did.  Just the top for now, figuring out the best way to do the sides, trim, and shelves is a project in and of itself.  I sanded off the old finish, and smoothed out some of the worst rough spots; but I left much of the character intact.  I was rather surprised to discover that the wood underneath is really beautiful!  Sam thinks it may even be mahogany.  We're finishing it with the same polyurethane we used to do the floors in our house, and even with just one coat it already looks fantastic!  The finish is extremely durable and should stand up to years of abuse by small children.  We're going to do at least one more coat of finish, and I'm so excited to see the final result.  I'll be sure to add a picture once it's done!

Edit:  Here's the finished table with three coats of polyurethane.  I'm quite pleased with the results, and look forward to refinishing the rest of it some day.