Custom Request

this is one project i found in an wood toys book, and have been wanting to build it for a couple of years now. just by chance a lady from way down south had a custom request for her son who loves to play knight... how could i refuse? a simple plan with simple construction with stunning results. with any luck, i made a 4 yr old kids Christmas one to remember...

Alas fair knight! Fear no dragon or bed time monster! For thy sword and shield shall defend thee as long as ye stand for the good of all. Go forth and defend the defenceless, right many wrongs and always come home by dinner time!

How many days till xmas?

My experiment with selling toys on the Internet has been very educational. I have learned that while Canada is not very far away, it takes twice as long to send a package. Are they still using dog sleds? And i took a package to the post office for an estimate for shipping, came back two hours later after filling out the forms and the price went up 2.50, what is up with that?
All in all, i have been doing really good. even though it sets the honey due list back a bit.
Over the past two weeks i have shipped out 14 cars, 2 paddle boats, 8 fences, 3 gates, 2 water tanks, 2 quilt racks and a Knights sword and shield.

November Update

wow, where did the month go? been really busy, the etsy shop is picking up and i have been filling orders for xmas. if you are one who has purchased from me, thank you for supporting my habit, i mean hobby.
the doors are on the chicken coop, but not fast enough, i have suffered some predation and am down to one chicken. i do have traps set now and hopefully i can catch the critter that has been having chicken pot pie for supper.

Fall Chores

As the weather turns from nice to soggy, I've been trying to finish the chicken coop for the last week. i started it in may and of course got distracted with a dozen other things... but now the chickens are laying eggs and if i don't want them to freeze i need to finish the dam thing. we would have had it painted last night but it started to rain and hasn't quit yet. so during this next wet spell i should build the doors and mount them... ill post pictures when i get there...

weekend update

hahaah... busted tail and got 75% of tasks complete! woo hoo!

Weekend Hunny Do List

this is what im going to try to accomplish this weekend...... wish me luck
sharpen chains
cut 1 pickup load of firewood
split and stack firewood
winterize camper
take sheep to breeders farm
clean chimney
fix sewer vent
take out air conditioners
clean out sheep barn
clean out calf hut
clean out chicken coop
mow lawn last time
put away garden stuff
work on scout

im betting on 10%

Been Busy

this week has been pretty good. i talked myself into getting a table at the local farm toy and doll show. i think i can put together an inventory quick enough to look respectable. ill be selling fence sections, gate sections, some cute water tanks the same scale as the fences. i want to have 10 rubber band paddle boats and i need to put the finishing touches on about 10 cars yet... and just for fun i am doing 5 magic wands... and oh yea, its firewood season again. we have about a quarter put away but a lot of work to do yet.

one forward two back...

seems to be the theme of the weekend. we cut a couple of loads of fire wood, but then broke a fitting on the splitter.... never seen the wife covered in oil before, she was lookin kind of hot.
still need three more trips for firewood, need to finish the chicken coop and i need to finish the entry deck before the snow flies.... how much time have i got? .... not enough im sure...

a couple of new projects i cant seem to say no to.... built-in bookshelf for a friends music room and crown molding in another friends bathroom...

Proud Mary? not quite...

The latest in an intriguing series of toys and things of a not so serious nature is the mighty river boat "Owen". Constructed with the 4 year old in mind, shove off with your imagination on the mighty Mississippi or take a cruse around the bathtub...

Playing Around

Here is the purple ribbon winner from the 4-H achievement days, the B-man did a real nice job on it.

the next photo is of some cars I've been playing with... what a great stress reliever... gunna sell some and give a lot more away...

project pictures

the first one is a chunk of leftover firewood that i sliced off the bottom and drilled a couple of holes in it, im gunna call it a firelog. the second is a size comparison for some coasters i made and the last is a country quilt holder.... see I've been busy...

Busy times indeede

The shop has been humming over the last couple of weeks. i sold some fence sections and had to replace them, did a custom order for a lady in RI for some wood coasters for her wedding and even sold a couple of wood toy cars the B-man did for 4-H a season or two ago. I momentarily thought about keeping him home from school to work in the shop for room and board but that wouldn't go over very well with his mother.....

Clean Shop

Finaly took the time to clean the shop up some. i have a couple of kids comming over to work on 4-H projects. so i figue a clean shop is a safe shop, besides the sawdust was getting deep.

Did I ever....

post these pictures..... for Mom....

End of June

B-man is working on a nice mirror project, he is framing it with pine door trim with the little rosettes in the corners, he did one of those fancy "expressions" on the glass that says, Dream. the overall effect is pretty cool, ill post pics when done...now we are off for a weeks vacation to do some golfing, fishing and drinkin in the great state of Montana.... now where did i put that silly hat?

Quick Update

oh my how time flies when you are having fun. it seems that spring has bounced into summer a little faster this year.... updates....chicken coop waiting for siding but the rest is done. built a closet for a friend and hung a storm door for the in-laws. new fencing for the chickens, sorting the sheep out and getting them ready for 4-H. did some vacation and caught some fish.. the shop is a mess and i need a half day to straighten it out.... selling fence sections on ETSY.com stop by and make me rich....

checkin in

this post is for the 3 people who stop by on a regular basis to see what im doing.
so the camera didn't work very well and i didn't get final pictures of the picture frames. oh well that's the way it goes... my mum bought me some laying hens for easter (thanks mom) and now the big push is for a chicken coop to keep them in. they are currently in residence in the garage and really need to move out. i did get a chance to tweak the end forms for the kayak, im finally happy with the shape, next step is to rout bead and coves on the strips...

Busy Weekend

its been a great weekend, i had to finish up framing some pictures for my mother. why spend thousands for originals when you can go to wall mart and buy a puzzle? then frame them up? thats what im talking about... I also built another treasure box to put on etsy.com and i came up with plans for a couple more. we are visiting my mum for Easter and ill take pictures when we hang up the pictures and post them then...

Catchin up

The weather is finally turning nice and i cant wait to get my kayak out on the water... only I'm not quite done yet.. here you see all of the forms on the strong back. i will attach strips to form the shell. i think it will leak at this point.

here is a picture of the reciently completed work center. i mounted my planer to the fliptop and a router on the other side.

Flip top work center

I built this work center with plans from Wood Magazine. I mounted my plainer on the flip top side and made a router table top on the other.. great work space and a good layout. i also spent another 2 hrs on the kayak, forms are set and ready for strips...

kayak update

just a quick note
i have the strong back ready to go and now need to space the forms correctly... i couldnt find the silly camera last night so pictures will have to wait.

total hours spent so far.....8

Snow Day

I just love it when the weather man predicts 12" of snow and the city just shuts down for the day. the B-man and i spent a great day in the shop, he built a bunch of trestles for the train set and i cut out all of the forms for the kayak and built the boat rack to build the thing on... so let the wind howl and the snow blow, we put on a pot of beans and baked some bread... life is good.

Off Topic

yea i know, to survive in this world you need to have a sense of humor... i think im gunna make it..

Kayak Update

So now it has finally begun, last night i spent a couple of hours drawing out the cross sections for the forms. i believe i have them all in order. never having done this before i did find that the charts in the book were a little confusing. what i ended up doing was inputting all of the offsets and stations in a spreadsheet and let the computer sort out the deck, hull and shear positions. then i transferred them to an autocad script and plotted them out. i still had to spot check the forms by hand. next step - cut out the forms and build the strong back and stands... project hours so far - 2

Island Stool Update

OK here are the stools in action, i think they turned out pretty good. they are solid and haven't fallen apart with lots of use. with the pads a person can sit in them for a long periodic of time before the lead butt syndrome sets in...

Kayak Update

Epoxy and Glass Ordered!

in the works

even though the temperature in down in the ludicrous zone, i still have a couple of things going on in the shop. i am trying to finish up the island stools, paint issues below 50 deg. i have plans for a small bistro table to go along with the chairs, cute but simple design. and of course i can do nothing without pressure.... i need to have both projects done and to the farm show by Monday morning, feb 9th...

It Is Done

After at least a year (2?) of procrastination, the door bell is fixed. I dont think it will stop the neighbors from walking in and yelling to see if we are home, but at least I will know when the UPS man drops off a package.

Island Stools

Had a lot of fun building these. the perfect addition to my outdoor kitchen. I'm also going to use the stools for our booth at the farm show, might even wear Hawaiian shirts all week. I just need to finish the seats, round over all of the edges and do some sanding and painting.