Monday 27 April 2015

Hobbies and my feeder project

Hubby's joke is: Dad would BBQ even in storms,
lashed to the deck. I carry on that tradition!
The news, of course, is horrific. Flooding in Kashechewan. A young man dead, another injured from a Sunday 4:00 a.m. collision in Ottawa. A young Smiths Falls man who went into the water at Peggy's Cove. They are still searching for his body. The tragic earthquake near Nepal, with thousands dead. Truly, one must enjoy each day.

My problems are insignificant! Hobbies take up some time and provide relief for worries, as well as giving me something to do. Part of early retirement is having something to do. It's peculiar but my hospice clients' families keep canceling. One of them is too healthy, the other too ill to leave the house for fun.

I've never bought wood before. My dad's stash in Bala had enough spare leftovers that I could work
on lots there. Here, I put the stash of wood, from under the garage workbench, out at the road with a for sale sign and $20. It was excellent wood, as the previous house owner was a furniture builder with several built-in saws and a workshop in the garage.

A woman picked it all up and agreed to build me a woodpecker feeder in lieu. I have yet to see one, lo, these 3 years later. It's hard not to be bitter. People make promises they fail to keep. It is predictable for many.
Dad, building his shed.
At the time it met the building code.
It was only later that the township made rules about
building close to the lake. Rightly so. 

It's fun to realize that I can figure out this project, based on watching my dad when I was a kid.
 He was always working on something at the cottage.

Anyway, I decided to build feeders for hubby. Off we went to the store, after my daughter explained how it works.

The wood fit in, and hubby didn't have to hitch hike home!!! He's so supportive of my projects. JB is off to deliver Meals on Wheels again today. He does this twice a week. It's great to give back.

Hubby snapped a photo after I finished
feeder #2! He was cat walking.

8 comments:

William Kendall said...

That would be beyond my meagre abilities with tools!

Nancy J said...

My Dad worked with wood too, along with all sorts of other necessities when we were on the farm. His tiny workshop had a bench, and drawers filled with wonderful goodies, I remember tiny sheets of "mica", and to this day, have no idea what he used them for, maybe insulation somewhere. Great job well done on the feeder, will you go into mass production??

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Hehehehe and my dad was the all weather BBQ man too!!! Love the manger... you are a woman of many skills! YAM xx

Gill - That British Woman said...

I am hopeless with tools. my dad makes bird houses and feeders as a hobby and sells lots of them

Red said...

What a craftswoman! Many times people think they can't do something but if they put their mind to it all kinds of good things can happen.
I have a friend whose wife is in Nepal. He hasn't heard anything about her yet. It's a very stressful time for him.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Brilliant girl! I had to laugh at the possibility that hubby might have to walk home after you loaded the car with building materials. I've been in danger of that more times than one. Right now "we" are rebuilding our boat dock. It has entailed the usual daily trip to Home Depot.

Powell River Books said...

I'm great at designing wood projects for my friend John to build for me. I just not very good doing it myself. Partly, we don't have lots of wood working tools. But I did build a firewood storage shelf for the downstairs bedroom. It holds enough firewood for about four days in winter so we don't have to go out in the rain. I drew the design, went to the lumber yard and had them make all the cuts for me. All I had to do was nail it together and paint. Sounds easy, but the wood was pretty hard to nail by hand. But I'm proud of the results. - Margy

eileeninmd said...

You are handy making your own bird feeders.. Great idea, have a happy day!