two art objects from the workshop

[Whenever friend Reg enters my shop I can almost guarantee the first words out of his mouth will be about how wonderful the place smells - especially after I've cut up a bit of western cedar.] 

The smell of freshly cut or sanded lumber often hangs in the air inside my shop. It's one of the perks, I say. But the shop is full of other surprises too, and I'm glad I usually carry a camera in my back pocket.

[A recent project; 'history in a box']

[Another recent art object: 'paint in a pail']

Yes, paint in a pail. Surprise!

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read 'a robin's view of a busy fly zone'

Please click any of the labels for an exciting find.

the growing list

[Hi Gord. Thanks for doing this so quick. This is the quote I'd like: "The things I make may be for others, but how I make them is for me." Can't wait to see it. N]

 When finished with a project I like to place it in a prominent spot in my shop until it is picked up or delivered. It reminds me hat hard work never hurt anybody.

Yesterday, when I'd finished with N's 'hammer in a box' I noticed the cupboard was almost bare so I prepped a bit of cedar stock in order to make a batch of sturdy birdhouses. Then I started my last order of the week, i.e., a mailbox for a local potter.

'Busy hands help keep my mind active', one of my goals for the next 25 years (before taking two weeks off for a wee vacation).

Photo by GH

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Please click here to view N's project in progress.  

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i'm branching out (2)

[A potter, from a nearby vendor's table, spoke to me during a recent, busy day at Gathering on the Green in Wortley Village. I was up to my eyeballs selling my wares, i.e., brilliant batches of birdhouses. "I'd like you to build a mailbox for me," she said.] 

["I'll build two; the second with all straight angles"]

Yesterday, finally, after finishing off a few other important projects, I got started on the second mailbox I've ever built. (The first is on my front porch - collecting flyers in a professional manner!)

I hope the potter will still be interested in a week's time.

Photo by GH

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Please click here to view 'i'm branching out 1'

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the wedgie - hammer 4

great hammer, and the box for it is almost done.

just have to add one sentence (not my own) to this piece of 'history in a box'.

photos by gah

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Please click here to read more about 'hammer 4'

at a snail's pace 8

I found Robin on Goldie Hawn's dock, enjoying the sun near the sparkling waters of Lake Rosseau in the Muskokas.

["Hi, Gordie Boy. Pass me my shades, eh"]

I knew exactly how to entice him to battle a rabid snail on my behalf.

Here's the deal (all 17 seconds: I'm a fast worker) on YouTube

Photo and video by GH

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Please click here to view 'at a snail's pace 7'

at a snail's pace 7

Robin spent the day diving, swimming, canoeing, and tanning. He didn't return my call promptly so I drove to his summer retreat in the Muskokas.

While driving north I had lots of time to plan my appeal for help with a rabid snail.

Stay tuned.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read 'at a snail's pace 6'

a robin's view of a busy fly zone

My son's upper deck in Fenelon Falls is a busy fly zone. Members of the family can witness hundreds of flights per day while enjoying coffee steps away, on the lower deck.

["Many daily flights are made by Mrs. Robin"]

["View from lower deck - part of the fly zone"]

His deep, wide yard is bird and bird watcher paradise, ideal for a robin's roost. 

Photos by GH

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Please click here to view 'Birdhouse at Labatt Memorial Park'

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at a snail's pace 6

[The snail saga slowly turns]

["The scene shifts to the north country"]

While heading for the hills, to be miles away from a rabid snail, I reached for my cell. A distress call was in order. I hit speed dial, FAVS #4, shifting gears and steering my '64 Volkswagen at the same time. I let the phone ring eight times. My friend and oft-times ally in battles against crime - and in this case, slime - finally picked up.

"I'm here," said a familiar voice.

"Emergency," I said. "How soon can you get to London?"

"I'm on vacation," said my friend. "And just pushing Goldie's canoe into the water. This better be good."

"Rabid snail," I said, "with a heart full of evil intent. It just chased me from my workshop... and I've got  birdhouse orders due by Friday."

"I'll think about it, eh," he said.

I didn't foresee the following: He simply tossed his open cell onto a cushioned deck chair. However, I heard a swish in the air (Double back flip? Double forward flip with a half-twist? I'm not sure.) and the loud splash of water.

["Maybe I'll help. And maybe I won't"]

He'll call back, I thought. But what can I say to entice him to make the four-hour drive from Goldie Hawn's cottage on Lake Rosseau?

["He loves swimming in the clear waters of our northern lakes"]

Stay tuned.

Photos by GH 

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Please click here to read 'at a snail's pace 5'

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Birdhouse at Labatt Memorial Park

Last week's operation went smoothly. First, a hole was dug. Then cement was added. Then a sturdy support pole was centered within the quick-dry cement.

Next, I was asked to climb aboard a John Deere Gator and attach a large log cabin four-plex atop the pole. Then I stood back for a look.

Yup, a few birds will get a grand view of home plate at Labatt Memorial Park, home to the sweetest (and oldest) ball grounds in the known universe. Grab yer bike and go take a look. (It's a swell ride... all down hill from the art gallery at Dundas and Ridout St.)

Photos by GH

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Please click here to view 'third generation of box builders?'

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I'm branching out

"Where can I put it?" the person asked. "I don't have a wooden fence post or suitable tree in the backyard."

["No fence post? I have an idea"]

At the time, I had no answer, and the person put my new birdhouse back on the shelf. But an idea was born in that instant. I thought, I just gotta branch out, and start making birdhouse poles for people. And I have.

I'm sticking to my new idea but I'll go out on a limb and say today that soon I'll need a new shed for storage.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read 'I'm hopin''

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building boxes

There is an advantage to building three purple martin houses at the same time. After selling the first one to a Torontonian two years ago, a family man who is now moving (at at time when the purple martin box is fully occupied, so cannot be moved), I am now well prepared to sell the fellow a second one.

["Six units per box; please note the penthouse suites"]

I'll give him a deal, the 'I-hope-you-move-again-in-two-years' deal. Because I'm ready.

Photo by GH 

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Please click here to read 'third generation of box builders?'

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snail alert!

He's comin' right at me!

photo by gah

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Please click here to read 'at a snail's pace 5'

at a snail's pace 5

Nature can be cruel at times, and moments after a local rabid snail proved to me it could cross deep chasms in my deck, it turned a steely gaze toward my open workshop door with - I feared - evil intent.

["Snail picked up speed. I feared the worst"] 

His eyes pointed straight toward me. I asked myself, "What's the workshop's emergency drill in a case like this?"

"Head for the hills!" I shouted and reached for the keys to my '64 Volkswagen.

["But the snail blocked my retreat to the hills"]

"He's asking for it now," I shouted. I initially back away, then put the Volks into first gear, revved the engine and hit the juice. The smell of hot petrol filled my nostrils as I bolted toward the snail and the shop door at about 20 km. per hour.

Only skillful driving and a near miss averted disaster for us both.

As I sped past the snail and toward the hills I knew, if I ever wanted to get back inside the workshop to finish my latest batch of birdhouses, I'd need the help of a good friend trained to deal with such dire straits... and dirty snails. I reached for my cell.

Stay tuned.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read 'at a snail's pace 4'

Please click here to view a 2-min. video of the snail's adventure.

And please click 'labels' below for important related matters!

third generation of box builders?

I call them birdhouses. Dad called them bird boxes and he produced scores of them from plywood during his lifetime - using no power tools.

Some might say I'm following in my father's footsteps, but according to the photo below, taken in 1941 outside my grand mother's house in Norwich (a few weeks before dad sailed with the RCNVR from Halifax for Scotland on the Volendam), there may have been another birdhouse builder in the Harrison family. Did my dad pick up his hobby from his dad?

["Please note bird box, upper right corner"]

I'm not certain, of course, but I may be a third generation box builder. For certain, however, I bet good money that 'rescued lumber' was often used in the process.

["Please note bird boxes, upper right corner"]

Family photo, GH 

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Please click here to view 'Pat's favourite photo'

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Snail male

snail male
left a slime trail

["Note his trail, behind his tail"]

Photo by GH

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Please click here to view 'avain antics 3'

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at a snail's pace 4

[this story about a snail is takin' forever!]

Ever so slowly a snail stretched its body across a wide chasm outside my workshop. I asked myself, "Will he make it? Should I intervene?"

I didn't intervene. I let nature take its course, its painstakingly slow course. I was 90% sure snails had - sometime during the last 1,000 years - developed the technology to bridge the gap between deck boards.

Why, the little critter made it look easy. No sweat involved. Just a bit of slime. As it turned around I imagined what it was saying to itself: "Easy kap-easy."

["I'll go back to tell others how it's done."] 

However, as many already know, life (and nature) ain't always easy. Inside 30 minutes, something terrible happened.

Stay tuned.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to view 'at a snail's pace 3'

Please click here to view an exciting video about the snail's adventure.

history in a box: hammer 4

I didn't think there would be a 'hammer 4'. At least not so soon after completing three shadow boxes for   a set of hard working ball peens.

However, a friend and neighbour saw one of my examples of 'history in a box' and soon thereafter visited my workshop with a hammer that once belonged to his grandfather. A lovely hammer it is too, in my opinion.

[What kind of hammer is this?"]

Two things about the hammer: First, I wasn't sure of the type so I googled images of tack hammers and found  one that was similar. At the image's original website [Retrotechnologist] I read the following with much interest. "What you see there is my Old Dependable hammer at the bottom (you don't get wood and metal those hues without using them for a long, long time) and above it, a couple of cross pein* (i.e., peen or pane) or Warrington-pattern hammers. Handiest small hammers I own. I've been using the larger of the two when fastening trim pieces to the window seat I'm working on; the smaller one (especially good for wire brads) is known to British woodworkers as a "telephone hammer" to this very day, supposedly because they were used to nail together the old wooden-type wall telephones, which were usually sent out as a kind of a kit, in order to take up less space on the installers wagon or bicycle." [Please link to Retrotechnologist: Hammers for more information]

Second. I spotted a few informative marks stamped into the metal head. E.g., the number 3, likely indicating the size. Gold Cast, likely indicating the maker. The word 'MILLE', in caps, barely visible, making me think the original owner was named Miller. My friend's wife agreed that her husband's grandfather was named Miller. Today I find out if he realized the name was on it. (I think it's a very cool find, if he didn't spot it).

Today I'm also wondering, will I one day have to add a wing to my shop, the 'Shadowbox Dept.'? I'm hoping I will because it gives me a great deal of satisfaction to drop history into a box, then see it, for example, on a wall or mantel.

Photo by GH

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Please click here to view 'hammer number 3'

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at a snail's pace 3

[a snail's journey on my back deck continues]

If my pet snail could talk, what would it say?

[Is this the edge of the universe? Now what do I do?"]

["I don't like the sawdust down there. How far can I jump?"]

["The gap is 2 cm. wide. And a 1, and a 2..."]

["If I slip and fall now I'm a goner. Hang on, Snailman!"]

Did he make it across the gap? Fall into the abyss? Is the story fast enough for you?

Stay tuned.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read and view it strikes me funny: at a snail's pace 2

Please click here to view an exciting video featuring the same snail, slippin' along at his own pace.

Hammers 3 "out of the bag"

Many of us do not work at jobs that bear a close resemblance to the types of labour our fathers, mothers or grand-parents did. Not that we have it easier but we may have it hard or harder in different ways. Hammer 3 speaks to me about labour from a different time, a time when the marks of a person's work showed in the tools used. 

It speaks about hard work that won't necessarily hurt but will leave an occasional scar. It also says, "to move to the front put your back into your work" or words to that affect.

After finishing the shadowbox for Hammer 3 I let my mind turn to the next project and a few interesting things fell into my hands. More to follow.

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Please click here to read about Hammer 2, now "out of the bag"

it strikes me funny: at a snail's pace 2

I had choices to make. I made one. I'm not saying it was the right one, but the results were interesting. Instead of tossing a snail, parked on a deck outside my shop, into the bushes I put a few drops of beer into the wet patch surrounding it... and watched and wondered. Would the sugar boost help it move on its own, with something resembling vigour?

[The Snailman: "This water has a bite to it. Citra hops?"]

["I'd like to stick around for more but Harrison has big feet"]

In my opinion (and I'm no scientist or expert on all things snail related), but I think The Snailman exhibited a good deal of energy over the next 60 minutes. And I've got the close-ups to prove it.

Sure, some will say, "Harrison should put his camera away, get up off his workshop floor and get a life." But I say, snails are colourful and cool.

["North is good. But which way is north?"] 

More to follow... slowly.

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read 'at a snail's pace 1'

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