what next?

take a stack of painted lumber and ask, what next?

I say, carefully put the pieces together.

then add a wee house on a stick.

then call A.V. IAN Realty to list it.

Photos by GH

***

Please click here to view 'the short end of the stick'

the short end of the stick

Some readers already know - from numerous, i.e., endless, posted photos - that part of the 'full-on trim package' for my birdhouses is a stick with a birdhouse on the end, to act as a perch or eye-catcher. They are usually placed behind the birdhouse after I finish stapling or nailing a wee house onto driftwood, etc., hopefully - I say hopefully because I often have a hard time manipulating wee things with my stubby fingers - without putting a staple into my thumb. (So far, so good! Except for that time two months ago!)

I asked myself recently, can I improve my efficiency level re making wee houses?

I said, yes. Make 8 - 10 at a time and keep your eye on the ball. Store 'em in a cubby nearby.

So I did. No miscues!

Photos by GH 

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Please click here to read 'a routine day'

Osprey at Labatt Park

I recently finished a large birdhouse destined for Labatt Memorial Park, home of the world's oldest baseball grounds. It was built with a lot of trim attached, except under the entry to the back apartment. Not that I'd run out of ideas, but "there seemed to be enough." Bats, balls, ball gloves, score board,  signage here and there. Lots.

["Can you spot the humble back apartment (left)?"]

However, last Friday night, as I walked to the park to watch the London Majors' home opener, I spotted an osprey flying over head bearing supper in its talons. Fast food on the fly, I thought. Then an idea sprang to mind.

[Something to perhaps make a sharp-eyed fan say,

"Hey, our osprey!"]

Watch for the osprey and its gigantic nest above the third base bleachers next time you visit the world's finest baseball grounds.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to view a 'striking close up'

Bird watching: "Made in the shade"

["I caught sight of Mrs. C. from behind

a make-shift bird blind"]

Now that a neighbour's tree is of a certain size, the birdhouses facing my back deck are "made in the shade" most hours of the day. And early this morning chickadees were seen checking them out and wondering if the holes were the right size, if the interiors were spacious enough for a family, if the lend-lease agreement was affordable. (It is!)

[Mrs. C. says, "Looks good from this angle."]

["Some of the kids could have their own bedroom"]

["Can I put up with that dusty fellow

gawking at me from behind his laundry?"]

Just a half hour ago Mrs. C. and her mate were seen flitting about two other birdhouses in my garden. Hopefully, they'll decide soon to sign on the dotted line for one of the homes in my yard.

Stay tuned.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to view 'robin is in here somewhere'

a routine day

yesterday was a routine day.

["post mix clean up in my fav pot"]

first off, I mixed up ice cream colours for a triplex (up for sale soon by A.V. IAN Realty) in my favourite pot as I so often do. second off, I painted a dozen slices of spruce (rescued fence boards) just the way I wanted, i.e., in the shade, easy kap-easily, as usual.

then, third off - you've seen me do this many a time - I took a picture or two for a future book entitled 'Birdhouse London' or 'What One Dusty Guy does in his Spare Time'.

photos by gah

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Please click here to read 'sunset falls on local barns'

a bag of hammers 2

The three hammers each had an individual feel and spoke of their own unique contribution to the world around us. The shadow boxes I constructed set them off well, in my opinion, and gave me an opportunity to say a word or two... on behalf of hard working hammers - and those that grip them firmly, with authority - everywhere.

["hard work builds muscle, improves your appearance

and fosters creativity"]

["your strength and creativity enlivens a simple

hammer with power and production"]

["in order to move to the front

put your back into your work"]

Modern technology has produced many gains in production and fosters human creativity, some would say more so than hammers. But there is much to be gained by being directly connected to one's work, even the building of a birdhouse or set of matching shelves. Jobs that produce a physical and mental sense in achievement as mind, muscle, hammer and nails work together are not to be sniffed at or abandoned. And if technology robs men and women of good work then we have set a fox among the hens.

So, keep a hammer handy. Keep your mind at work.

Photo by GH


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Please click here to read 'a bag of hammers 1'

sunset falls on local barns

Last evening sunset fell on two local barns and the lovely birdhouses attached to them.

["Made from Kawarthas barn board, gray on both sides"

[They will go well with a recent barn duplex"]

I didn't have to go far to find a camera, just inside my back door.

Photos by GH

***

Please click here to view 'the three minute birdhouse'

"and the dish ran away with the spoon" 2

["Barn board from the Kawarthas for the shadowbox"]

This afternoon, under sunny skies, I cut four pieces of barn board for the frame of a shadowbox (for a friend). Shortly after putting the saw away, I sanded and assembled the frame. Easy kap-easy. Then the process got a little fussier.

Shadowboxes are, in chief, about the content, and in this case a spoon well over a century old, dug up recently by a six-inch auger. I thought, how can I display a smashed-up spoon? Out came thin wire and sharp snips, and before too long the spoon was securely attached to its two-layer platform.

Thanks to previous experience with shadowboxes, I soon wedded the platform and my friend's spoon to the ready frame.

["Text: Never want for another's spoon,

But hold on to your own spoon very carefully.

Jacob, (Holocaust) Survivor"] 

Photos by GH

***

Please click here to read "the dish ran away with the spoon" 1

striking close up

The birdhouse destined to reside at Labatt Memorial Park in London is sitting comfortably in the workshop until I get a phone call that will go a little like this:

"Hi, Gord? The hole is ready for the post. Bring the birdhouse."

photo by gah

***

Please click here to view 'the biggest birdhouse of the year'

a bag of hammers

I own at least a dozen hammers, all well worn, with sturdy grips, and with hundreds of stories to tell if only that was possible. Stories about hard work, fruitless jobs, broken boards, bent nails, the pleasure in fine timber and stunning results.

["Heads and hands must do hard work together"]

Stories about the strong men that held them, bent backs, broken dreams, low wages but signs of promise ahead.

As I build shadow boxes for three from my collection I will be thinking about the bold beauty in trustworthy iron mashers and well-worn oak and ash handles, in the untold stories they hold within.

Hopefully, I'll be able to display more 'history in a box' by the end of the week.

Photos by GH 

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Please click here to read 'more about history in a box'

favourite photo of the week

"one man's trash is another man's birdhouse"

photo by gah

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Please click here for more 'things I like'

come to papa (5)

When I spotted a child's bed tossed to the side of a curb recently all I said was, "Come to Papa." The bed, made of fir, was not trash to me. I keep busy in my workshop turning rescued lumber into birdhouses, chairs, shelves, shadow boxes and more.

['Come to Papa' means 'trash to treasure']

Beds, futons, old shelves, etc. will continue to get tossed to the curb, so I predict my workshop will always be 'OPEN'... that is, until I'm 87. (Then I'm takin' a vacation).

["Half of the fir turned into four cabins"]

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read 'come to papa 4'

zoom w a view: smallest job of the day

When it comes to birdhouses I go to extremes.

Soon I'll complete the smallest job of the day, i.e., attach this wee house to a log cabin school house.

Easy-kapeasy if I can find my packet of tiny nails!

Photo by GH

***

Please click here to view 'biggest birdhouse of 2013'

"and the dish ran away with the spoon"

In my humble opinion, my first set of shadow boxes (Hinges 1 - 3) turned out "not too bad." I will soon decide where to hang them so that large numbers of people will see them and say such things as, "So, what's this? Hinges, eh? Why box them up like this?"

["Good workmanship, especially in metal, lasts several lifetimes"]

And in a related matter, a good friend, and frequent visitor to my shop, recently popped over with a great discovery in hand.

"Look at what I found while digging in my backyard," he said. He then showed me an old silver-plated spoon, seriously bent out of shape by an auger, with an interesting maker's mark on the reverse.

["Does '1847 Rogers Bros X S Triple' spell a fortune?"]

"The 'X S' stamp means it was made before 1900," he said, and then asked if I could put it into its own shadowbox, to be displayed in his kitchen.

Whatever the history of the spoon (Did it run away for a tryst with some dish? Was it ever placed in the mouth of some rich man's heir?) I will gladly place it inside a special frame, because human history is best served upon our walls.

Photos by GH

 ***

Please click hear to read 'history in a box' 4

I stick to my work

During my long, staggeringly productive career as birdhouse designer/builder/whisperer ("Pssst. Wanna buy a birdhouse?") I have met people who do not have a suitable tree or fence post upon which to hang a birdhouse.

["Add a bit of paint to the stick"

Recently I went for a long, slow walk in the woods to think about their problem. And I returned with the solution. An armload of sturdy sticks.

["Add a birdhouse too. Voila"

I'm going to stick to this idea for a while.

Photos by GH

***

Pssst! What should I charge for a stick? : )

Please click here to read 'from biggest to smallest', also birdhouse related. So, what else is new?

Things I Like: some keys are very expensive

I was told this morning how much I would have to pay to fix the innards of my remote-entry car key. (The new battery I put in last week didn't bring it back to life).

!$115!$   !$115!$

["Some keys are more than expensive"]

Several of the things I could spend $115 on ran through my mind:

lumber (I can buy enough red cedar for 2 - 3 dozen birdhouses, worth $500 at least)

hockey (I can buy 6 regular season OHL London Knights tickets or half a season's worth of old-timer hockey, pour moi)

craft beer (five lovely trips to Milos Craft Beer Emporium at Talbot and Carling, or 30 - 35 bottles at the LCBO)

valuable supplies (food, gear for the shop, t-shirts, etc.)

I said to the dealer, "I can still open and close the car door with just the key, right?"

He nodded and I promptly drove home.

All I have to do now is remember to lock the door manually when it's filled with lumber, hockey tickets, beer, or other valuable supplies.

Life is about priorities : ) Wish me luck.

Photo by GH

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Please click here to read more about 'things I like'

Recommended Reading: Ballantine's Illustrated series

It was bound to happen. Because of my continued interest in reading books re WW2, I was one day going to bump into books from the extensive 'Ballantine's Illustrated' series. They are written in the late '60s - early '70s by various authors, usually about 160 pages long, accompanied by dozens of authentic b/w photographs, found in used book shops, and very good reading.

["Finished this one last Saturday evening"]

["Started this one last night"]

Dedicated WW2 history buffs likely have the whole set on their shelves. When I spot one I buy it.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read about an excellent WW2 trilogy.

fun and fitness: more miles and books to go

I didn't do much reading and riding from Feb. 25 - Mar. 10 because of a mini-vacation that stretched out longer than expected. So I neglected (and lost) about 200 miles worth of 'fun and fitness'.

["I was once 762.4 mi. ahead of my goal. Now I'm at +583.8"]

However, here it is about two months later and I'm back to my regular routine - with hockey and cycling (chiefly exercise bike) - and I've also added one weekly bike ride with a running group. I may even go for a run in the near future, after winter is truly over.

["WW2 history buffs will enjoy this lengthy series"]

While riding the exercise bike I have books and hockey playoffs on TV to keep me fully occupied. 'PT boats' (from the 'Ballantines Illustrated' series) will be finished within the week, I'm certain. And I feel no need to buy another basketful of WW2 books; six more are close at hand, i.e., waiting in the wings.

Last night a paragraph from the introduction to 'PT boats' caught my attention.

I felt the author was indirectly referring to my father (he wrote about his time in the 'wavy navy') along with young Brits, and others. Dad joined the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1941 (discharged 1945), motivated in part by his love for ships and the sea.

Good books (also in part) continue to motivate me to spin for over 100 miles per week.

Whatever works, I say, for the sake of fun and fitness.

Photos by GH 

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Please click here to view 'Toronto Maple Leafs'

Zoom w a View: biggest birdhouse of 2013 (so far)

the biggest house of 2013 in b & w

but I ain't done yet!

photo by gah

***

Please click here to view 'from biggest to smallest'

more about 'history in a box'

The workshop is a busy place these days. I just finished a big project and am now onto another set of three shadow boxes. I've displayed historic hinges in three wooden boxes and feel it's now time to show off hard hitting hammers, because I want to send a message, i.e., hard work never hurt anybody.

But I have one last word about one particular hinge and accompanying lock and key. The items are from my dad's barn (in Norwich, Ontario), a century old, leaning-to-one-side type of structure that was once commonly seen inside small villages, towns and cities in SW Ontario.

[Wood from Dad's barn and my own house

in London look pretty good together"] 

Dad's barn is ten-years gone, along with so many others. And I wish it wasn't and I wish I had one like it so I could have a larger workshop (oh, I wish!) and build things that would last even half as long.

["Water colour by Edith Harrison (my mother);

the barn door above (opened) is currently my workshop door"] 

My projects may not, like me, have long legs, but I'll often be found in the busy workshop 'giving it a go' at any rate.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read 'about history in a box 4'