Back to Work

Been back at work for a week now. Mick D made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

Bits and Pieces from the Lathe

 The little bowel is made from NZ Kari, the balls from Dante and the handes on the chisels; one is red gum, the other Black Walnut. All turned realy well. Likely because they are dense hard timbers.

The ice cream scoop (a gift for John) is made from Mackay Cedar. Had to exercise great care with the cedar, the dust can be very irritating to the skin and lungs. Made good use of the dusts extractor and the 3M dust masks courtesy of Vic.

Build Log - A Stand for the Drill

Along with the new tools for the workshop I bought a little welder. Well, not so little - the thing weighs a ton - which is good. It has 4 copper coils and going by the weight of the thing has a humongous lump of iron for the core. The first project is a stand for the new drill.

First up some angle iron cut and bent to form the top and bottom of the stand.

Now for a little welding... By the way I don't make a prctice of welding naked... These are a couple of tacks.

Check for square and finish up the welds..

Ah that's better safety awareness... Overalls, gloves glasses.

Now a lick of paint. The undercoat is an etching primer. The topcoat Hammertone Turquoise.

Have not lost it... Love that weld..

 Almost done. The door is made and put in place. All needed now is a couple of strong mates to help me move the drill down from the bench onto the stand.

...and then we went to the Sydney Zoo

Maddie Dad Gran and Pop visit the Zoo,. A report from our newest roving reporter - Maddie.
Thanks Pop for letting me post this report of my visit to the Zoo on your Blog. I had a great day. Mom stayed at home with Amelia and Dad, Gran and Pop and I went to the zoo. It was a lovely sunny day and all the animals were very happy.

Here are the giraffe's eating their breakfast.

 On the way to the monkey enclosure I saw a little lizard. I don't think he was an exhibit and just wanted to be at the zoo because he liked it there.

 After I saw the lizard, I saw the mountain goats. They run around on their mountain and never fall off.

 The baby sumatran tigers were playing and their mom kept an eye out to make sure they didn't get into trouble. There were three of them and they wore born on 27th September 2011. That makes them almost 2 months old. They were very mischievous and their mom had to keep a close watch out on them. The 4 tigers we saw represented 1% of the total sumatran tiger population in the world. I hope they have lots of babies when they are older so we can see lots of them when I am older.

 I saw dad with his hands in his pockets. I thought he looked really cool so I tried it myself.   REALLY COOOOL huh?

 After the tigers we went to see the seals performing.

Then we went to my favourite place. The touching zoo. Here I fed the goats and patted the sheep.

 The elephant was hiding in the leaves

 I saw a peacock and tried to pat him, but,,,

 he flew away.

 We walked all the way down the hill and then caught the gondola back up.

 I can count to 10, and counted each step ..

 I caught the train with Dad. It was fun.

 I really like the fish too...

 and... playing in the water.

 I saw the gorillas. And their babies.

 I found a big lady bug to sit on.... Then we went home to play in my new pool which was a birthday present from Pop and Gran. It was fun until I splashed water into my eye.

Amelia May Arrives 1 Day Before Maddie Turns 2

Thank goodness that Amelia May was not borne on Maddie's Birthday. Ones birthdays is special and I guess Amelia knew this and chose to arrive on the 10th October, a day before Maddie's 2nd birthday.

Gaye was already in Sydney and I travelled up on Saturday evening to join John, Gaye and Maddie before Vic and Amelia arrived home from hospital on Sunday. It was a busy day. Along with Amelia's trip home we picked up some pot plants and paintings from 3M and participated in a welcome home / birthday party in the afternoon.

A Couple of Additions to the Workshop

An Upgrade to Regan's Kitchen and Replacement Deck