An opportunity for Shedders (or others!) to comment on a new postcard intended for promoting Shedding Light Into Cancer.
The little duck on our logo inspired the title of this blog. Most of us a quietly going quackers!
Hands to the mop cleaning the floor and walls in the IT Room to-be
Jacko (spot the difference between the mop and Jacko!) puts in a lot of elbow grease washing the floor and then the walls. He put in a few dollops of bleach.
In with the new
New back door goes on thanks to Brian and Paul plus Mick rolls forward on the the WW1 Tank for November’s Remembrance Service.
Exciting? Well, to a Shedder, “yes”
Brian turned his back just as the camera clicked!
It’s a metre high and two metres long
Template drawn and framing cut and laid out.
Wheely good new “doing” angle
Is making wooden toys and amusing novelties a thing of the past? More than two years ago Mick started to make some wooden toys based on a couple Graham brought back from the Shed in Stratford on the River Avon, Victoria, AU.
Mick is a man who likes to do. Few gaps to breath in that. He’s worked on Locomotion 1 and straightaway he is into tank manufacture!
Tony makes novelty items at home and we have the example of the hammer door knocker hanging in the Portakabin. Ray does similar things and the fence/gate garden ornaments are so attractive. Not to mention the reindeer, snowmen, owls and stuff made by Brian at his bench with Pat decorating them at her workcentre!
We now learn that it was something got into by Dennis in the past – he brought in a portfolio to the Shed on Wednesday. We already have a similar folder from Rob who came on a Thursday.
As we get older *hmmmmm) we cannot always have the stamina to do the really big stuff that requires standing a and lifting a lot.
The idea to tackle toy-craft arose from Dennis (now a bit bereft of a project). He’d looked at the collage of pictures from the early days of Whitby Sheds and seen evidence of trains, planes and cars. Recently he made a wooden train for a theatre production with wheels made by Paul (3D printed).
All this sparked the idea of there being a ShedCraft group working around tables in the Portakabin on a Wednesday morning.
Dennis said something about his Shed motivation. I don’t mind helping people who are keen to learn something. It;s what he did with the lathework. He helped a lot of Shedders to experience the joy of turning.
Who would the ShedCraft group be for. Any of our existing Shedders but also reaching out to the community in Norton. You might call it Shed-Lite. We would still follow the principle of seeking people who are lonely, socially isolated and needing confidence restored.
We would not be looking for people that already go to craft groups at other times )unless they wanted to help). It would be conversational but the emphasis would be on doing/learning crafts in a group of no more than 8 – 10). A small group so that people get to know each other quickly. It would work alongside tech work.
It could include other crafts compatible with the atmosphere of table-based doing.
Shedder Derick gets a job
Derick is a Shedder that is hard to ignore. We know because we have tried!
As a small group sat in the Shed reviewing matters of health and safety Derrick was seated, listening in.
It was a repeat of what he did with 3D printing when he watched and listened and popped up to ask if he could learn. And he has.
This time he stepped forward to offer to help with administering the health and safety training process. He has the right credentials because he worked in the steel industry and had been a shop steward (with a whistle to call everybody out).
So grateful to Derrick for overseeing this to help the Shed.
Whitby Shed benefits from Howden Joinery’s generosity
We picked up FOC two double door floor units and two 3m long work tops for the IT suite being set up there. It will mirror what we are doing at Norton Shed. For nearly 8 years we have benefitted from donations from Howden’s and from the regular meetings with staff as we “beg”!. They need to get approval of HO and always they like to talk about what the Sheds are up to.
A really great photo
Meccano was a favourite of boys of our generation last century, before Lego came to town. Now a lot of Meccano is plastic rather than metal. Shedder Peter’s Sasha came to the Shed and took a look at a part made Meccano model of a racing car. She began to add to it. She became really engrossed in it too which was maybe a bit of a surprise. So good to see her rediscovering what we enjoyed in the past.
Thanks to the Whitby Shed for letting us bring it to Norton along with some other boxed goodies.
Shuttered (and shattered!)
Replaced the broken window shutters on the IT room. They open and close and let wonderful light in. Started on the missing plasterboard.
A couple of good jobs done this week on a door and a window shutter. Jacko will be along to paint sometime soon!
Many things to 3D print for our model railway
Printed two OO gauge semaphore signals for stock. Ready to assemble and paint. There are 1, 2 and 3 armed models. All free on Thingyverse. If you want to learn about 3D printing speak to 3D Paul, Derick or Graham.