Unusual Commission - Miss Matched Drawer Unit

My carpentry has pretty much ceased during lockdown, but I have got an unusual commission to try to fit in around childcare. 

This one is for one of my toughest customers - my mother!

Workshop Helper

My younger daughter spent some time in the workshop with me this afternoon.

D: "Why do you have a radio on?"

Me- "sometimes it gets a bit boring, it helps pass the time."

D: "it won't be boring if you've got someone to talk to..."

I love that they take such an interest in things like this!

There are some serious advantages to working from home when I can.

Growing up I was always around my parents when they were working. Both would work from home most of the time and they would both also go and work at other farms as well at times. Basically one of them was always at home and it was a nice constant to be relied upon.

It also meant that we (my siblings and me) got involved with everything when we could or when we were old enough and could see what they did each time. I have great memories of this as a child and hope that our kids will have something similar.

Did you watch your parents work when you were young?

Pantry Build - Part 1 - Rip Out

Now hand on heart I can honestly say I haven't finished all the other jobs in the house.There's a lot of painting to do, but everything else is pretty much there. Painting can be done on wet horrible days and with a few hours here and there

For seven years this was it for a kitchen, seems so tiny now. 

So as the weather is good and I'm at a point with my paying work where I can take a short break from it, I decided to look at making a start with the new pantry area

Helpers In The workshop

I love that my work fits around the children and I love that they can sometimes see me making things for customers.

Little helper in the background

 Sometimes they like to come in and watch. The little man especially loves to come in and chat to me as I work.

Unfinished Plumbing

### This is a Collaborative post ####

We live in an unfinished house and I fear it may be like that for sometime... 

Nice place for a bath...

The cobbler’s children go barefoot and all that…

I’m not too bothered about it (although my wife might think otherwise), and I am slowly working my way through the list of jobs. Although the list does tend to get longer rather than shorter.

New School Library

So a few months ago I got an email asking about a reading chair in the forest school area. I volunteered my services to build it, I thought that'll be fun! Somewhere along the line the new school library became my baby instead! 

The village has had it's school in temporary accommodation for the last three years, and although it's been fine it's not the best for the children and tricky for them at times (too hot in summer for one). 

So over the last year there has been a new school being built with much excitement from everyone who has children there. 

The Head Mistress was keen for the new school to have an amazing library but with usual budget restrictions (tight) that a school normally has. We decided to go with some Ikea shelving (low cost and look nice) and then build a few items to make it truly unique to the school. Some reading pods were decided upon, a corner bench and a feature tree on the back wall with leaves to hold the names of people that have donated toward the school. 

I was given a fair bit of creative freedom with how all this was to be made! 

My eldest helping unload all the wood from the truck. 

MDF was used, cheap - ish and takes a good finish. 

Pentagon shape for the reading pod

Checking the size was right

Working out the depth of the pods - they match the Ikea shelves. 

Dry fit to check it all fits. 

Starting drawing the tree. this took me ages to draw! I'm no artist! I used 12mm ply. 

The bottom of the tree - branches to come from the top.

I decided two trees would be better in the corner and fill the room better

The top branches of the trees. I ended up cutting these with a jigsaw instead of a router and it took quite a while! 

First pod assembled and trimmed out ready for painting. 

Ikea shelves together, testing the pods out for fit! 

Starting to paint the two pods and the corner bench. Two coats of undercoat and three coats of top coat! Took a fair time to do but got a good finish! 

Top branches added to the trees. 

Final coat of paint on the units. The purple colour matches the feature walls in the school. 

Everything in place - ready for books now! 

I decide to add in the books as a surprise for the head mistress - makes the library look finished! 

Leaves added to the trees. I cut 92 from a sheet of 6mm ply! 

Library all finished - just waiting for children

Great space for the kids. 

I'm really pleased with how it all looks at the end. I was so worried about the trees - not something I normally make!

I'm also pleased that my daughters and son will get to see it everyday when they're at school and know their dad made it. It was lovely yesterday morning when I saw the head mistress and she just said "I know this is unprofessional but..." and then gave me a huge hug! So I guess she was pleased!

It's incredible that our children get to benefit from a new school and I love that I was allowed to be a small part of it, I feel it's such a privilege! I have utter respect for the head Mistress who has poured her heart and soul into making sure this is a success.

My daughter came home from her first day there and was buzzing with excitement, when I asked her how everything was she'd just answer "Amazing" each time!

Shoe Rack In The Porch

I've never really finished the porch. I built it, and we just started using it. One day last year I did the floor (which I might do another post on as I'm quite pleased with it) and then I put up a few hooks and we just started using it like a normal room. 

Loves being like daddy!

Shoes are always a nightmare in this house and I wanted more storage for them. So many pairs of feet and each one has multiple pairs of shoes, boots and wellies! I also wanted a shelf for the eggs to go on instead of having them placed in the dinning room all the time. 

I let her screw in the screws. She was quite rapid! 

 So one afternoon my middle child and I set about putting up some shelves. I machined the wood the night before (she's too small to manage the planner unfortunately) so all we had to do was mark it all out and, drill the holes and screw it all together. The wood was some I had saved from being burnt on a big job about 10 years ago!

Finished shelves - I really wish this was all the shoes!

She loved it! She's very much a girl that needs to be kept busy and doesn't like doing nothing, so a job like this was ideal. she laughed the whole time I let her use the drill, switched the hoover on and off for me, passed me everything I needed, hammered in rawl plugs, she was a great little helper really.

Little girl proud of her work! 

She was so proud to show everyone when they got home and I'm pleased to have more shoes up off the floor and organised!

Any tips for storing hundreds of shoes?

Extension Progress - Roof Tiled

This roof has been my nemesis lately. 

I've not managed to get out there and finish for a number of reasons, either the weather has been against me (to cold for the mortar to go off or too wet to not wash it down the roof), my wife and children have had different bouts of poorlyness or we've had things like birthdays to contend with.

So it's just sat there, in it's unfinished glory, taunting me every time I go to get in the car.

Yesterday I managed to get out there and even though it had forecast rain for the afternoon I'd thought I'd risk it. Luckily the rain never came and I managed to have a good run at it, I did think I was going to run out of tiles at one point but luckily I'd got just enough (about 30 or 40 left over I think).

Stepping back last night and look at it I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. All four of the hips I've had to do up there look really tidy and the lead work around the chimney does as well. A good, solid, waterproof roof, One that should last for many years. 

There's still lots for me to do up there (not today though as it's meant to rain all day). I've got to fit the gutters and line and insulate the chimney. The chimney is cause me a particular problem as I can't insulate it properly until I block the bottom off, and I can't do that until I know it through into the extension and we're a long way from doing that. I have got a plan though so we'll see how I get on! 

Also I've taken the my last two posts down. I've enjoyed your all your comments and they've been both popular posts, but I've decided that I'd rather talk to this woman face to face next time something like this happens. Rather than her reading it in a few months time if someone at school mentioned my blog (the dangers of using my real name). I've saved both posts and all the comments though so please don't think they were wasted. Thanks again for all your input.

Handmade Presents

A little late on posting this one but I thought I'd share with you some gifts I made as Christmas presents this year.

These are some little wooden Christmas tree decorations I turned on the lathe out of some beautiful pear wood from a friends stack of wood (it had been drying at his for years). 

I haven't been on the lathe much since moving here except for occasional repair jobs on chairs and the like, I just haven't had the time to turn much for pleasure lately. It used to be something that I really enjoyed doing, I had two years worth of regular lessons (where I was the youngest by about 30 years) and a great teacher, I was really pleased that I hadn't forgotten it all, as although I work with wood a lot turning is a trade/ skill by itself. 

I gave out the decorations in sets of two or three and made six sets - you'd be surprised at how long these little blighters took to turn! 

Anyone else enjoy wood turning? 

What turned wooden item would you make for your homestead?

Extension Progress - Roof Carcass Day 1

We made a good start on the roof yesterday. 

Dill had got the brick work finished the day before (which is a post in itself that I'll do later) so it meant that Saturday we could start the roof. 

Andy, pictured above, came to give me a hand. He's the man that trained me to be a carpenter many years ago!  

The roof itself is quite complicated as it's trussed and has purlins so some head scratching in a few places but I was really pleased with the progress we made in a day. My brother came over in the afternoon to lend a helping hand.

There's still loads to do but by the end of the day we managed to get all the heavy and awkward timbers in, leaving me with stuff I can do myself. 

I need to now finish the rest of the rafters, support the purlins, install the ceiling joists, fit binders to carry the ceiling, fasica and soffitt to fit, felt it, batten it, line the chimney, tile the roof. I don't think my week without the children will be enough to get it all done but it's a start at least! 

Extension Progress - Up To First Floor Joist

Things have been busy here. Dill got the brick and block work up to joist level by the middle of last week and I've been trying to get the floor joists in whenever I've got a spare few minutes. 

"Helpers"

Luckily mum came over on Thursday to help with the children so I go a few hours in then as well as a full day on Sunday (I had to work on Saturday unfortunately). I've also stole a couple of hours whilst my girls have been at playschool and school whilst my baby boy took a two hour nap, I have to seize every moment I can at the moment and hit the ground running! 

I've still got some more to do on the floor, noggins to go in and hangers to be fixed, then I can fit a temporary floor (bought for £45 so it doesn't matter if the rain gets on it) so we can build the next level up. The scaffolders (an old building friend) came on Monday and installed the first lift of scaffold so once I've finished the floor I can start loading out all the bricks and blocks which helps save a lot of money by doing the labouring myself.

I've also installed a temporary hatch in the floor (in the picture above), the idea behind this is that I should be able to work in the upstairs of the extension before I knock through. That means that when the old bathroom is destroyed to make way for the the corridor we should have another bathroom ready and waiting! that's the plan anyway, we'll see how it goes!

Hopefully more brickwork continuing next week and I should have the floor all finished by then! 

Three Keep Me On My Toes!

My first two days back have been great, 

I spent the first day having a picnic with my mum and second preserving with a friend, all whilst spending lots of time with these three trouble makers! The running about starts next week with my eldest starting school and I've already had phone calls from three different friends saying they'll look after the kids if I'll come and do jobs for them - looks like I'm going to be pretty busy! 

Back To Being A Stay At Home Dad!

Time to switch back again - Yesterday was my last day at full time work for a while! 

I've been back at work full time for nine months and it's been a busy nine months! 

Being a self employed carpenter I initially worried whether I'd find enough work to keep me going, switching from part time to full time, in the dead of winter can be tricky. As it turned out I've not had a day out of work since Christmas and I've not driven more than five miles for it other than a couple of times. 

Turns out that as I've immersed myself in my local community they've supported me back. 

I've got work from the playgroups I used to go to, recommendations from friends and family and from people who I've previously worked for. I've not advertised at all and I could have easily booked myself up well into next year. 

Wife and happy children

But I'm not going to! Instead I'm going back to being a stay-at-home dad and looking after my three children full time and I can't wait!

I'll still be working (probably far more than I should be) I'll be building things in my workshop to sell in the evenings, I'll be working for customers on Saturdays and school holidays and I'll still be building the extension and doing up the house.

On top of this I can try, with the help of my little helpers, to get back on top of the garden, grow more than ever before, preserve the bounty, manage our animals, and hopefully even have some produce to sell! Being at home more allows me to get some of these things done, in between the school and play school runs, nappy changes and meal times. I love my busy life! 

I do feel guilty that my wife is going back to work, but as the one who is fully employed it makes sense for her to be working full time (she also is entitled to far more holiday than I'd ever get!). The reasoning behind it is in this old post here.

Hopefully you'll all stick around again to offer support and advice and an adult voice when I've been surrounded by three children under five for a full day! 

Bringing Up A Nation Of Mommas' Boys?

I was reading a blog the other day that was about what they were calling the "snowflake generation" (If you follow my Facebook page you might have already seen the link). In short it's about some young adults that are still acting like children and the one wanting to be called "princess" as that's what her daddy called her!

It really struck a cord with me and made me think that when some parents think they're helping their kids by making their lives easier, they are in fact making it harder in the long run. I can spot them a mile off with the age my children are now, I call them helicopter parents as they're constantly hovering around their children, making sure they're alright and not having any bumps or falls.

At work today I heard a perfect example of the results of this type of parenting with the plasterer's apprentice at work. The day before he was off ill and got his mother to phone in sick for him.

None of us could believe this and the plasterer even said to her that she doesn't work for him and next time only the lad is to ring in. Now he's only 16 so I guess you could let him off, but he's working on building sites with lots of men doing physical work and, I think, should act like a man as well. Hopefully it'll be a steep learning curve that he'll keep up with as he's a nice lad. The mother who thought she was helping him out only really gave a group of builders ammunition to take the micky out of him.

What do you think? Is there a soft generation coming up into the world of work right now?