The finished squarpent

The Squarpent was completed just before Christmas and looks rather good in my opinion. Finished with several coats of lacquer, it came up well. It is made from flooded gum, blue gum and a little pine.

It will be freighted over to Mandy in WA as it was her idea in the first place to make one. Belonging to a Medieval Society she should be the only person in Australia that owns one. Fortunately she can play brass instruments so should be able to get some good sounds out of it.

On to another project now....

Cheers

The Serpent - another instrument

This is Matt's latest project. An actual "Serpent" version of the medieval "Serpent" wind instrument. He has made it from wood strips laminated together to form a tube then wrapped it in cloth and covered it with resin to harden it.

He has given it an initial coat of paint and has started to draw scales on the green part of the body. The snake's head and fangs were cut from some pine and glued on afterwards. Of course it is not finished yet but it is looking pretty scary at the moment.

A chocolate box now a jewellery box

I made this altered chocolate box for my friemd Caroline whom I worked with at Marion Rose & Co, solicitors in Cowra for her birthday.

I still have a couple of empty chocolate boxes which I plan to do up in a similar way. Pity the chocolates have long ago been consumed.

The Kitchen Bench - the first project

When we moved into the Ebor house we realised there was a real lack of bench space in the kitchen and the kitchen was quite a large room. Matt decided to make me a bench with plenty of storage space and this is the result.

The top is made from strips of hardwood that he pattern matched some of the wood grain so that it looks really nice.

The half round shelves were made from an old plank we found in the shed in Cowra and once the old paint was sanded off, it revealed a lovely grained timber.

After a couple of weeks inside the house with the fire going, the wood on the top of the bench started to shrink a little and small gaps appeared between the planks. Not good when you are using the surface for food preparation so Matt removed the top, took it to the shed, sanded it down the filled all the cracks, lacquered it again and reattached it.

It weighs a tonne - well it feels like it - and it has been a life saver in the kitchen.

The pirate chest

Matt made this pirate chest as a wood box but once it was finished, it was a little too big for the space beside the fire place. So, it is now sitting under the loungeroom window and we are still figuring out what to use it for.

He made the top with a compartment which was intended for the firelighters and bits and pieces used to start the fire.

Then the whole lid lifts up to reveal the storage part for the wood.

I think if I lined it with some fabric I could turn it into a blanket box.

The pirate chest is a bit rustic in construction but after all it was intended to be used as a wood box and would be getting some rough treatment.

I love it anyway.

Renovations to Appletree Cottage

When we moved into Appletree Cottage at the end of January 2010, the whole house was painted a salmon pink. In the loungeroom it was more like smoked salmon on account of the previous owners being chronic heavy smokers.

Needless to say I wanted to change the colours and chose bright colours because after all, it is our house and we own it outright and rather than paint with the idea of resale, I made the decision to paint for ME.

The bedroom is 2 shades of purple with green velvet curtains. Very restful, and the patchwork quilt covers I made 9 years ago from curtain fabric samples picked up at a sale. Matt's bed on the left and mine on the right.

Notice the "caravan cupboards" on either wall which were designed and made by Matthew. They are very handy for extra light storage and break up the large expanse of the walls.

Here is the larger of the two wardrobes which were also designed and built by Matt. One either side of the door. There were no cupboards or wardrobes in the house except for the few in the kitchen. Now we have custom built ones that look like they were always there.

Here is the pantry Matt made. It is made from strips of masonite that have been tapered each side to resemble lining boards.

I am very lucky to have married this very talented man. He loves his woodwork now that he has each day to himself and he can do as he pleases.

Oh and by the way, he did most of the painting too. I did the odd door and window frames and skirting boards.

He also did all the loading of trailers and driving and unloading when we did our big move; over 7,000km Cowra-Lismore-Ebor, but that is another story.

He maintains our lawn and gardens and the lawn in the vacant house next door. All the more remarkable because.......

Matthew has had Parkinson's Disease for the last 5 years. That is why he retired early. He treats it more as an inconvenience than a disease. He is managed well on medication and his artistic endeavours just have to be good for his condition. Keeps the brain active and helps keeps his motor skills functioning at their best. There is no cure at present but we donate regularly to the cause. See... you CAN do anything you put your mind to.

Cheers

The neigh-bours

Here is a digital layout of two of my next door neigh-bours - lol. There are two other older horses in this paddock plus a pet sheep.

Pony is a nice little shetland but suffers from "small horse syndrome" because every time I take a carrot or apple out to feed them, she shoos all the others away by kicking her back legs at them. She can be quite bossy.

Shay on the other hand is not quite 2 years old and was recently brought out of the bush into civilisation. She is a bit wary of people and traffic but has had her first taste of carrot and apple from me. She now lets me pat her and she is a darling.

The two horses that are missing from this photo are Major, a 15 year old gelding who is quite tall and gentle. Then there is "Hey You" - well that is the only name she is known by as she is now over 30 and never had a name. In order to get her attention, the new owner had to chase her around the paddock yelling (you guessed it) Hey You!

*sigh* I love living in the country.

Cheers