Tuesday 17 August 2010

Dave’s secret hideaway

So the barn owls have fledged which means we can now start to tidy up the wood shed. I have become a bit of a hoarder in the last couple of years. After all the building work I had accumulated a plethora of left over bits of wood, funny shaped bolts, bits of piping etc, but was loathe to throw them away, especially when I had a shiny big shed to chuck them all in. I must admit I have found all kinds of uses for these bits and bobs, but I now had a plan to turn a load of old wood, a barn door and some kitchen work surface into the centre piece of any self respecting DIY enthusiast's hideaway……..a work bench with vice!

IMG_4906 IMG_4908

To the casual observer it may not look like much, but she’s a sturdy girl, and I was pleased with my lower shelf addition. Not only did it provide additional valuable storage space, it also acted as a stabiliser for the three fence post legs. Next is to continue the tidying, bring some power to the shed, and I could use the chiminea in the winter to toast my toes when I get the urge to ‘make’ something during the colder months.

The Clay Oven –Part 3

I had a two day window of glorious weather to progress with the clay sculpture. I continued to dig clay from the stream bed, and the next stage was to mix this with wood shavings to apply a second coat of clay to the dome which will act as the insulation layer. At this point Philippa surprisingly went 'AWOL'. I don’t think her hands fully recovered from assisting me with the first layer. I also built the brick front with chimney which I was particularly proud of. Even though I was only using clay, amazingly the archway stayed up!

IMG_4909

The last job is to dry it out and apply a final coat of a clay/sand mix, which should be just as autumn is descending so the window of opportunity for using the oven will be getting very tiny indeed!

No comments: