The Sharpest Chisel in the Rack

I recently picked up a mortice chisel on eBay for the princely sum of £2.

It seems to have had a second life as a paint can opener, but cleaned up fairly well with a bit of effort.

I also finished off the bird feeding station.

The Bumble Bee Colonization

Under the garden shed there is a colony of bumble bees.  Having plenty of hungry pollinators right next to the vegetable plot is pretty handy.  For the moment they seem quite preoccupied with a white flowering shrub, which may be a Philadelphus Buckley's Quill...

I reckon to have seen over 20 bees on it at one time, they can't get enough of it!

The Gate Post Solution

I think I've come up with a potential solution the the gate post height problem.  Let's start with the current situation, illustrated in Sketchup:

The left post is nearly 2" higher than the right.  Don't ask me, I didn't build it.

By topping each post with decorative wooden cap, the difference in height can be eliminated, by padding the right post up to the right level with wooden battens.

For an extra 'cherry on the top', you could add a finial:

I reckon this could work, and give me something I can get started on...

The Green-Fingered Tendency

The past couple of days I've been showing some green-fingered tendencies, getting some veg planted out and seeds sown, as this can't really wait any longer.

A multitude of pests permitting, our harvest should include tomatoes, courgettes, French beans, strawberries, peas, aubergines, butternut squash, peppers, radishes, salad and carrots!

I also improvised a 'bird feeding station' by drilling a hole through the dead Torbay palm.  Better to get some use from it rather than dig it out, given it's firmly anchored.  The canes are a prototype support for the bird feeders, whilst I get a few coats of varnish on a piece of 1" dowel.

The Gate Pillar Misalignment

Few things are ever quite as straightforward as we'd like them to be, I had a more accurate measure-up for the gate today and one of the gate posts is somewhat higher than the other!

I can choose to embrace asymmetry and quirkiness, or figure out some way to even them out, maybe with cap stones or rendering.

Whilst taking time to ponder the answer, I took out my frustrations on the ivy that had grown over the back fence.

I stopped short of complete annihilation, as I suspect it's the only thing keeping the fence upright.

The Dovetail Box Revelation

I've been capitalizing on the good weather to do a few jobs around the garden, but found some time to finish off a couple of woodworking projects.  The first is a dovetailed box, to keep my Record 043 plough plane in.  I'm still thinking whether to add a lid.

The second is a small tote, which will serve as a bird food caddy. It's made from a warped, grubby old plank, bought at a car boot sale.

Both projects are made using only hand tools - mainly planes, back saws and chisels - you can see a few of them in the background.  The designs come from the Paul Sellers 'Woodworking Masterclasses' online course, which I can't recommend highly enough.

The Initial State Assessment

So here's the "before" photos for two of the larger projects - a new fence and a new front gate.

The New Blog Initiation

Today I start my blog.  I have some time this summer to focus on a few projects and will be keeping track of my progress here.