A traffic control idea

Swedish Traffic Control

  A couple of years ago our son Richard and his wife moved to Sweden to go to graduate school for a while.  Way let onto way and now they own a house, have a daughter and are headed toward citizenship.  Sweden is a very civilized country and looks very much like Muskoka to my eyes.

  One aspect of the civilization is their attitude toward the people/car interface.  I like their decision, people come first.  One result of that approach is that people walk and ride their bicycles more than here and so are not nearly as fat as here.  In fact I was the fattest guy I saw in Sweden on my trips there. (it makes me think).

 Anyway, the photo is of a planter box,

one of a pair that are on the roads in most residential neighbourhoods throughout the summer months.  The planters are staggered a little more than a car length apart thereby forcing cars, truck etc to slow down to steer around the boxes.  Some people plant nice flowers and paint the boxes, others just leave them alone.  Either way, the city lifts the boxes into place in the spring and removes them once the weather turns winter.  This is better than a speed bump because they don’t get in the way of snow ploughing yet achieve the same result in the busy pedestrian times of the year.

I would like to see this system used in our neighbourhood. There are lots and cars and plenty of children and accidents just waiting to happen.

Getting Around Better all the time.

   I am getting around with a walking stick pretty well now, and when I drop things on the floor it is not impossible to pick it up. (just no fun).
   I have been cleaning up and finishing a couple of small projects in the shop and right now, glue and varnish is drying. 
   As a distraction, garden pictures;

   When Eva and I were digging that rock hard clay I would have bet against having flowers like that in three seasons.

Small Project Bench

 

  I think there must be dozens if not hundreds of websites, blogs and magazine articles about work benches.   The experts and amateurs all have opinions about what is best, or historic or cheapest or easiest etc. etc. etc.  All that stuff makes good reading and I have borrowed more than a couple of their ideas over time.  

 One thing that I have learned from all the information available is that there is no one perfect bench, because the scope of woodworking is so vast.  To say that you have the One Perfect Bench can only mean that it is perfect for the type of woodworking that you do.  A boat builder is going to have a different bench from a furniture makers, from a pattern maker, from a model maker, or  from a do everything handy man.  

 I seem always to be making something small for the Grand kids or am making other small projects, example, tea boxes.   I do lots of whittling and woodcarving and small scale wood work now and I needed a bench/work area to make those tasks easier

   I have two serious work benches, both sturdy and both too low for this type of work of small scale work.  Big benches have big vises, and are not at the correct focal length,  

So I developed my “Toy Makers Bench”

   This bench is actually an 8 by 10 inch work surface that clamps solidly into my machinist vise on my workbench.  The little cleat on the top offers a place to hold small pieces of wood or plastic while cutting, I can also clamp to this work surface if need be.

   Working on this bench/table uses different tools than working on big things.  These are some of the small tools that have found their way into my “ toy making ” kit.

  When I mix them in with various knives and chisels I am able to make silly little projects that give me pleasure  and don’t take up tonnes of space.     Cheers, Ian W

Wood Carving, or wood working while flat on your back

  At the beginning of April I hurt my back, or at least aggravated an already weakened back.  Being a guy however I kept going until I was completely flattened, so by the beginning of May I was in real trouble and by the middle of May I was heavily medicated and horizontal all day everyday.

  In a moment of irony, I reacted very, very badly to the second round of medication that was to improve my conditions and get me moving a bit. The result, I was not only completely immobile but horribly sick too.  That was just 15 days ago.  Many thank-you are owning to family and friends that helped me through a very rough time while the drugs cleared my system and the latest round of medications settled in to do their job.

  Early this week my head was getting clear enough that I wanted/needed to do something other than lay in bed.  I figure that if I am taking pills that keep me from driving, they should also keep me from playing seriously with power tools. Any way I am still limping around on crutches or a cane to try and reduce pressure on my leg, (the place the real pain lives) so machines are not a good idea.
  
  So, what?  Wood carving of course.  I am able to rough out the bass wood with hand saws and then I lay on the couch and whittle away on my projects.  The basic carving/whittling that I do needs a minimum to tools, I can hold the strop in one hand while tuning up the blade a bit and it is the type of project that can stand to be set aside while I rest or collect my thoughts.

   My Grand daughter, Clara is a purple girl and she is fascinated by the snails that are all over our garden and drive way. 

  So she is going to get some purple snails.  All this stuff has to be done in pairs because they live in Noah's Ark when the kids aren't here.  

  My Mom is the artist that does the painting, that is an area of wood working that still requires much more attention from me. 

thanks Mom

gardening tool Hori Hori Knife

Hori Hori Knife

   Lets face it, I love tools.  I love having the right tool for the job and when I find that tool it doesn't stop me from continuing to look for a better tool for the job.  I've kept looking, and spent money and still always come back to my gardening knife

  The Hori Hori Knife is the best weed digging tool that I have ever used.  I dig weeds out of the lawn on my knees, and have  done so for years and years.  One of my summer jobs as a school kid was digging dandelions out of local lawns. I can say with confidence that I have dug hundreds of bushels  of dandelions and related weeds out of lawns for over forty years.

   As an adult I made a decision not to use poisons on my garden, partly because I am cheap, partly because I like being in the fresh air in the garden and partly because my garden is a hobby.  If I made my living from my garden I would use every available method to increase my yield and profit margin including poisons and computers.  I don't even spray my roses for beetles, I pick the beetles off the leaves and crush them.  If the beetle infestation too great I carry a jar with gasoline or paint thinner in it and flick the beetles into the jar. ( they don't like that)

  I do not remember when I bought the Hori Hori, I know it was before it had a cool sounding name and was made from stainless steel.  In fact it was long enough ago that it was not cool at all, and arrived quite rugged, with the handle rivets loose.  I suspect that it was fairly cheap and so hitting it hard with a hammer and seating the rivets seemed a reasonable action.  I think for $27.00 I would expect the handle to fit.

   Either way, for $27.00 you get the best weed digger I know and one that you will be able to leave to your Grandchildren, you hope that there will still be gardens in their lives, I know I do.

cheers,