Owen Starts His Career in Carpentry

Owen at 9 months is ready and wiling to help his Dad and Pop make a work bench for the garage in Shepparton. here he is minding the cut lengths before we start assembly. We constructed the base in structural grade pine and I decided to use two sheets of laminated pine for the top. One sheet is narrower than the other so that when glued together a natural 'tool tray' is formed at the back. The top rung of the side panels are mortise and tenon joints and the bottom rungs are dowel joints. We wanted the bench to be sturdy, but also dismantelable, so the stretchers are through bolted with 1/2 inch dowels to assist with location and prevent the stretcher from turning when tightening the bolts. At this stage the top has to be attache to the base and a hutch made up for tool storage.

Xmas at the Monties

The plan this year for Christmas was for every one to join us for a brief breakfast Chrissie morning before heading off to respective other family activities like lunch and dinner and drinks etc. So little planning was needed. But things turned out differently shortly after Vic rang two days before Christmas to say that Maddie had an ear infection and couldn't fly, and she (Vic) just got a dose of gastro. They thought that they might be able to drive down. This is in fact what they did, leaving Sydney at 7:00pm Christmas Eve with Vic still feeling like she should be curled up in bed in a fetal position.

Sue and Dim, Nic and Vas ( Dim's folks) were the first to arrive, followed shortly by Steve, Regan and Owen. Vic and John and Maddie arrived just in time for present opening which Maddie quickly understood was great fun.

We missed the group photo, but got some great individual family shots of a great Christmas get together.

Madeleine doing her Alfred Hitchcock Impersonation.

What a Find - Some Black heart Sassafras and Huon Pine

Definition: Men's Homes: a place where from time to time the living room becomes temporary storage for works in progress.

Here the work in progress is a couple of lengths of black heart sassafras and some logs of huon pine. Actual project: Unknown. Duration of residence in the living room: Unknown - well until the next important visitors arrive.

Update, that would be Xmas Day

Maddie and Owen Meet Santa

That Santa fella certainly gets around, last week he was in Shepparton with Owen, this week in Sydney with Maddie.

Two Cute Pics of Owen

Gaye travelled to Shepparton on Thursday so that she could baby sit Owen for Steve and Regan. They were off to Steve's work Xmas party. I later travelled up to give Gage a lift home. These two pics of Owen were taken when we went for a Sunday afternoon stroll around downtown Shep.

Kitchen Stool - Revisited.

I never got around to taking a pic of Gaye's kitchen stool after it was finished and after she had given it a lick of French Polish.

So here it is ...

Current Project - TV Table Made from NZ Kauri

This is a bunch of New Zealand Kauri destined to be a TV stand. All the mortises and tenons done and Gaye has been sanding her little heart out. Here is the dry assembly The top has been glued and Gaye couldn't help herself. She had to apply some shellac to get a glimpse of what the finish might look like. The Glue Up Almost finished. Just needs a couple more coats of Shellac. And that's it. All finished. The timber sparkles and as you move around the table it reflects different colours.

Its Summer...

... over here and Gayes garden is looking fantastic. The Magnolia is in bloom and a new species of bird has been attracted to the yard and is doing very well catching worms. They are very shy and it was hard to get these two pictures of what we think is a verrry rare bird.

Old Vice - New Home

I threatened a couple of days ago that the old BIG vice (it's a Record No 53)was going to find somewhere other than the floor to lurk, as it has been doing for the past 20 years, (edit; hm 30 years) since I brought i in Bacchus Marsh. Well it finally has happened. And here are the pics to prove it.

A clean up and a lick of paint.

Mounted as an End Vice on the work bench and awaiting some timber jaws.

An now all finished.

Owen is out of Hospital... Yippie

... and is now back at home in Shepparton. The doctors gave him the all clear to leave on Tuesday so he and Regan stayed with Deidre and Col at Bannockburn up until last night when Steve travelled down, picked them up in Melbourne and they all made it home safely by 9:30 last night - Thursday.

Pics from Victoria

Vic sent me some photos. It appears that when Madeleine is taking a break from walking practice and destroying book shelves she is busy preparing for Christmas.

Owen's Looking Good, Weddings, Mounting Things and Making Space

This Saturday Anna got married and she and new hubby, Wo invited us to the wedding ceremony at Spring St then after to their home in Toorak Road. They made a lovely couple.



After the lunch we dropped in on Steve, Regan and Owen. Upon arrival, no body was there. The nurse quickly informed us that Owen was at the nurses station (cunning little guy) happily accepting any and all attention. Steve and Regan had taken the opportunity to grab lunch. Owen is obviously on top of the infection and was full of smiles for us. We played and read his favorite book until mom and dad returned.




Sunday Gaye and I spent mounting vice, drill and table saw. We thought that the new arrival to the workshop - the table saw table would clutter even further a small space, which it did, until when considering how and where to mount the vice, a whole bunch of opportunities presented themselves.



A bonus was the drill, which has been trying to find a home for over 40 years was finally sucessful. Good on you drill. You finally have a permanent home after all this time.


The "BIG" vice is still hanging out on the floor, and is the next on the list destined for a permanent place to live.