Stratford-on-Avon. But in Victoria, Australia
Where Graham’s other son lives with family. Aussies are great copycats of place names from the home country. The River Avon in this region has two fast changing faces! One is a gentle trickle and the other is a raging flood over 7m higher. The transition both up and down is quite dramatic.
It is the fastest rising river in times of heavy rainfall in the whole Southern hemisphere. It showed this face a week before Graham arrived and it is still running much fuller than the normal emp[ty!
Here is a couple of photos.
A week ago. 7m up and nearly at causeway bridge level
Today. much lower but about 2m up.
Off to Stratford Men’s Shed
Just popped in to say hello again after 15 months! Warned them I’d be coming next Monday.
They have been busy again on the toys and granddaughter Rosie received an aeroplane.
Monday & Friday
A great workshop (aka envy!)
Norton’s new venture goes public with a request to Norton Village
Dear Norton Villagers,
Do you have any board games, quiz games, Jenga like games and even pub games such as bar skittles and bagatelle that are gathering dust in a cupboard?
Norton Men’s Shed is branching out in the New Year with a venture supported by the NHS Waiting Well programme called The Norton Doing Place. Just like the Shed, the focus is on people at risk of social isolation. and feeling at a bit of a loss.
What is done on a Monday morning will be different to the Shed – no lathes and saws – but offering a variety of things to do by the Doers who come! There will be opportunity to chat, banter, have a cuppa and work alongside others. In all together fashion shaping and indeed reshaping The Doing Place influenced by Doers new ideas.
It will be held at the Friends’ Meeting House across Norton Green where there is already a growing and nature project underway by Nature Next Door.
It will not e a drop in for those with a particular hobby interests. There is a wellbeing foundation to the project as with the Shed. On the other hand we’d welcome anyone with skills they are willing to share. The Doing Place will be largely run by those who attend so don’t expect a classroom setting, more a social feel of friendships together.
So, if you have any games or “crafty” resources to spare, please email Graham (graham_storer@btinternet.com) or Steve Dansics (sdancsics@googlemail.com) with roughly what it is you have and we will be back to discuss and arrange to collect.
Model Railway
One of the activities Norton Shed might embark on as part of a third string to our bow is to look at a model railway layout from scratch. Lot’s of different things to do.
Today Graham went with granddaughter Rosie into a model railway shop in Stratford (Victoria of course). The shop had never been open before during Graham’s visits. For a bit of fun we bought a cardboard kit of a Village School. It is part of a range by Metcalfe from . . . . Skipton, North Yorkshire!
Great fun and a learning experience for both of us.
Still have features to add (like bargeboards and chimney pots}
Looking ahead there are many downloadable resources to print a model and then glue to card for cutting out. Here is a website for anyone who might want to try.
http://www.wordsworthmodelrailway.co.uk/railside.html
What about trees around the track?
There are many, many videos out there about modelling railway items. Here is an English one about making trees from twisted wire and using leafy products. Graham likes this one because it ultimately shows that even experts just experiment and sometimes more successfully than others.
Watched this morning with granddaughter Rosie a TV programme about a model depicting the mov of animals in 2016 from a Sydney zoo to a new home across Sydney Bay. Many of the modellers are women with sometimes more patience than men! Men (like our Shedder Paul) have moved on to 3D printing buildings and model people.
The craft has no particular bias. Remember that many women were brought up on dolls houses and small furnishings! Men are catching up!
How about a tunnel?
But we don’t have space!
This problem has been solved by others in a variety of ways (so Graham hopes!)
We probably need it so it can be worked on in chunks that can be connected up.
Other things Norton Shed could make for Norton Doing Place
Toss the ring Hoopla
Bean bag toss (legs fold)
Rockers made 35 years ago by father for daughter in Oz.
Back to railway modelling and trees
The next video is about making an “armature” (the framework of a tree) using thick string and then adding polyester cotton wool like material. Finally using a hair spray and flocking.
The next video is how to make flocking rather than buy it. Sawdust sieved. Poster paint and some old bowls.
Graham is going to get some sawdust to try this at Stratford Shed!
I bet Wheelchair Steve gets onto this!!!