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Building the book itself.

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I’m happy with what’s been written, and I think I’m good with the page break out for the illustrations. I have two started ( which I’m not terribly happy with at the moment), but I’ve just gone ahead and laid out the page furniture, and the body copy, title pages and what not. So progress is being made on that front.

I am still wrestling with the need to hand draw my book versus doing it as vector based artwork in illustrator, or painting background in Photoshop. I know some tricks that can look good on close inspection, but are kind of a cheat.

Story with page breakdown.
Laid out text & furniture on all pages.

Hope you are all well, and following through on your bucket list items.

What a Wednesday it is.

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Is this the last dying breaths of winter, or is there still more to come as we crawl out of April and into May? Who knows at this point. I wish I kept better notes in years passed because I can’t recall if we’ve had such inconsistent weather in previous late April before this year. Early April is up for grabs, no contest, that’s fairly well understood, but minus six degrees with mere days to go before May? I don’t know. In university I wore shorts to my exams, and had sun burns from lounging outdoors in mid April, going back to 2002 through 2005. This feels new, and off, to me.

Gotta make a run through Ottawa at some point before June to see of my parents and one brother. They are moving back to B.C. from Ontario. Can’t stand the heat of summer here, and my brother’s allergies are awful when away from the coast. I can’t blame them for leaving, just a shame that the entirety of their stay was during Covid Times and we couldn’t get out to see each other at all. No Sens games, no Red Black games, no Athletico games, no go carting, not much of anything. We played one round of golf, on the hottest day of summer last year, but otherwise didn’t get up to any mischief at all. Boo-Urns I say, Boo-Urns.

End of the school year will be here before you know it, along with a myriad of birthdays, events and humidity and heat. I forsee a lot of bike riding, farm walks, beach time, swimming at Grandma’s pool, and possibly a day spent at Canada’s Wonderland with my eldest child, for some quality time out of school together. I can’t remember the last time I went there. It must have been just before or just after the birth of our first child. I know I went to Disney in 2004, but for the life of me I can’t remember going to Wonderland. Weird.

So What’s the plan for today? I did some illustration work for an Ottawa Rugby Team, but I won’t hear back about that for 48 hours or so. Should I bite the bullet and just set up my childrens book in illustrator, and tear through it all as fast as I can manage? Perhaps I will.

Hyperbole Testical Tuesday, BadMan!

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That’s a whole lotta gloom hanging in those clouds there mister. You sure you want to commit to an outdoor activity today? No. And thank you for asking Jimmy “The Shoe” Shitknuckles. I’d rather stay indoors and watch tv.

Getting a little quiet around here today. The threat of rain, and lower temperatures has taken the wind out of my sails, for starting anything outside. Again. Guess I’ll have to wait for May to finish edging the curb line, and washing the exterior windows, driveway, and cars. Take a gander at the railing I worked on the year prior to the pandemic, see if that needs any touch ups or spot fixes. Perhaps I’ll attempt to stabilize our gloppy front fence this year, since the larger shrubs are starting to press on it, and it wiggles in the wind. Not a good look. Floppy posts that catch the wind and flip flop all day long.

Went down the list of domestic duties yesterday, and gave the main floor a once over. So we are back to no clutter, but not exactly cleaned up 100%. I need to either throw away or find a better solution to all of our collected kinetic sand, playdough & plasticine, or learn to live with a cloudy gritty sheen on a bunch of surfaces all of the time. I don’t have the heart to toss it all, as my kids enjoy those things a great deal. But, good lord do I hate the mess they leave behind. Residues and grit, a waxy fog on every single wood surface. Ugh. It’s a bit of a nightmare.

Laundry was done and sorted, hung up. Dishwasher is on its endless 2hr cycle as we speak. I have a grocery delivery set for the next hour or so. I think I might clean the ceiling fans, and light fixtures because they collect so much dust. It is kinda gross. Eew. There are some more in depth deeper cleaning projects I can tackle, but I need to plan out the execution, or I’ll get dug in, make a mess and get overwhelmed, stop, and have an even bigger problem to contend with, than if I just leave it alone until I have my plan of attack.

We also desperately need to have a massive clear out of junk and broken toys, ruined & unfixable clothes. Fix, wash and store winter garb, change out the cubbies for spring summer, and get rid of hats/mitts/gloves that don’t fit or can’t be repaired cheaply at home, by me. The kids get attached to weird items, so I have to do it while they are gone, but I also need to fit check everything, so I don’t keep useless items, or toss anything worth keeping for another year. It also looks as though I have several hours of hand stitching snow pants if we are going to keep them all for next year too. In seams and crotches go on all our stuff. Not sure how, but that’s where the wear and tear is, besides the knees and cuffs.

Last week I cleaned out jet tub with an old tooth brush, and it finally came out sparkling clean. The toilet and sink get cleaned every 3 days, because… yikes. Too much spit toothpaste, and back spray. You know what. I’m gonna wash the kids bed sheets while I think about the rest of my day. Have a good one y’all.

Well, would you look at that.

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Macron did it, beat out the alt-right lady Putin la Pen. Good for him. Nicely done. Though that ten point lead, bit of a squeaker in this point in time. Could have done with a twenty to thirty point lead, but those Alties aren’t going anywhere, am I right? Yeah – I’m right.

Back to Monday! Busy weekend that felt both too long and too short, especially after the four day Easter weekend we had previously. Our newest nephew was born yesterday afternoon at some point. He went a full seven days late. Little shit. Ha. Glad he’s here with us, and welcome to the land of the living, nearer to the close of Covid times than at any point in the last two plus years. It’s not totally done with us, but here we are. Glad to have you on board. Ok? Great.

I have my fourth jab booked for a week thursday, glad to have it. Us immune suppressed types gotta take all the help we can get! Get it in me! I want to be able to take the kids bowling, and to indoor parks, and movies and such. Get back to the full spectrum of living. Carefully, and masked, but doing fun stuff again. Going places and having experiences out of the ordinary. Summer helps with that, immensely. Lots to go and do outdoors, and away from crowds.

Did a pretty good chunk of wood working last week. Easy simple stuff. Nothing to bask in the glory of. I feel as though I need to start something a little more substantial, and that I don’t have to rush to complete in one day. Almost into open door weather. But building a table is lots of fun. Especially a small coffee table, that doesn’t have a trestle, or four legs. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

There is the matter of the gazebo too. Lots of calls for rain this week. Might need to postpone that project again. I am very excited to see it go up though. That’ll be a massive item ticked off of the to-do list from several years ago. If I recall, we got it in late October or November of the year it arrived, so that meant not building it right away. Then life gets in the way of doing builds like that. Meant to do it last summer, but Covid meant no summer camps, thus no alone time to build outside with minions running around needing to be entertained and watched over constantly. Ugh. I cannot abide by helicopter parenting. What a waste of resources. Kids need some happy, healthy time to work out play time by themselves, safely ensconced in a locked & private yard, in a quiet suburb. But I digress.

Needed to purchase some fonts for a project this morning, but otherwise I’m all caught up. Have a great week.

Sunday’s are for kids parties…

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I have to admit that it’s nice to get out and see people and have my kids run free again. We’re masked up, and having a blast. Laugh Out Loud was a tonne of fun for both kiddies. It has recently been redone on the inside. New equipment, and a whole new layout. Both kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Pink flushed cheeks and sweat soaked brows. I give that an A+.

Now for me to eat lunch, and tackle some lawn work. Ciao.

One fine day… Saturday.

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Another week in the can, with a few brand spanking new physical wood projects to show for it. Fantastic! I love when things come together. Now if I could just focus that drive into my children’s book, I’d be all set to go. I’m trying to have fun with drawing again, and I have a lot to do, so it could take some time. I’m resisting going to the computer first, because I always wanted to illustrate a book by hand, and what better thing to do that with, than my own? Right?. So I will keep trying. It’s not like I have a publisher or editor waiting for my work, it being a hobby and all, so I should try to keep it light. But on the other hand it means something to me, so I want to put a lot of effort into it. Tough balancing act.

I managed to get a fair chunk further on my old fisherman bust sculpture, which is great news. Nothing boosts morale like some solid wins under the belt. Been a tad out of practice with sculpting lately as well. Have to build up my finger sensitivity and 3d spacial awareness. Takes a different kind of thinking to build out primary shapes and build a life like form. Hard to describe it, except you know very easily when it’s wrong. Lots of adding, subtracting, and pushing clay around to get the volume and shapes correct. Playing around with it in my palm until I’m happy with it. Same goes for drawings too. Could be a bit of a wait until I get it all where I want it to be. Should be all the better for it.

I originally wanted to edge the drive way and front lawn along the curb, but it is to rain for ten hours today, so that’ll be a tomorrow thing. Though we have a children’s birthday party to attend (masked, obviously). Which will eat up my morning. But if the suns out after lunch I can get some minor lawn care done. Perhaps tackle the lawn mower maintenance too. Who knows!

Things I’ve built recently. A 4ft long bench, a smaller 2ft Cedar toy box, an Ash cutting board plank, a 3ft Pine toy box, and a Walnut tray with floating inset plywood panel. It was a productive week in the shop. None of it is heirloom quality mind you. No fancy joinery. Just butt joints, miters and glue and Pin/Brad nails. Quick and easy. Plus various grits of sandpaper. I also busted out the palm router to round over edges, and my plunge router to add details to the large Pine toy box that now lives behind a couch under a windowsill.

Ugly bench made from scrap pressure treated wood.
Small Cedar toy bin.
2ft long Ash cutting board with grain highlighted by a propane torch flame.
Large 3ft Pine toy box.
Smaller Walnut 12×12 inch tray, with floating base panel, mitered corners, and blue felt lined bottom panel. I used Minwax on it that dried a bit milky. But ultra smooth.

So that was my week. With any luck in the next few weeks we will see the weather start to get warmer, and then the kids and I will start to walk to and from school every day. It really helps to tone down the hyperactivity when they have to walk everywhere. We do have to be prepared to leave 15 minutes earlier than normal, but if we don’t need boots, snowpants, scarves, hats, gloves, neck rings and toques, maybe we can manage it? Maybe?!?

That went about as well as I expected.

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Did one drawing in the morning for the book, and then went into the wood shop to build the kids a bigger toy box.

This time out of pine, with a plywood base – for stability, and to try to not warp over time. I made it 36 inches long, 16 inches high, and 11 and 7/8ths wide internally. Turns out my 12 inch board was not actually 12 inches wide, so accommodations were made in the cut. I added hand holds in the sides with a 1.5″ hole saw, then rounded over every edges with my palm router. Glued and Brad nailed it all together. Except the base, which I used inch long pin nails. Brad nails were wandering in the thinner plywood base. It isn’t for carrying, but to sit and hold stuff, so no fancy joinery this time either. I’m in a soft gap between projects, so I don’t know how much, or little, time I have to work on household stuff, so I tend to start and finish projects quickly, if I am able too.

I need to get these drawings done. I just don’t want them to suck. But I should aim for finished instead of some whacked out idea of my ideal art style. I haven’t drawn in years. So not a surprise that I’ve lost the feel for it in my fingers, wrist and arm. I’m too tight. Too stiff. Too rigid. Maybe a couple pages of circles and lines will loosen me up a bit.

Any way. How are you all doing as we get ready to finish with April, and head into May. Which reminds me, I need to give the lawn mower a once over. Sharpen the blades, clean the air filter, change the oil, and buy new gas. Check out the springs on the air intake. Too floppy and it sputters, to tight and it roars like a jet engine. Wash it, oil it up and give it some grease for good measure. I’ve had the same Briggs & Stratton lawn mower for 16 years or more now. One of the best purchases I ever made.

If the weather will cooperate in the new few weeks I want to get our gazebo built too. Get that done, several long years in the doing.

Here we go.

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I have my third draft of the children’s book written up, and I have my page breakdown for images that correspond to the story. Looks like 16 internal pages. Like I said before, it’ll be a short one. Now I just need to start my sketches and drawings, for real. Woah Betty, that makes me nervous. Been a fair few years since I’ve done any drawing by hand. Could be a bust! Let’s press on and see what we see today. Gotta give it the day, at least.

Third draft with page break out, and some notes to myself, in case I get distracted and put this away for another couple of months – again.

I have the paper and pencils on hand. I have ink and brushes in case I go that route. I have pens and markers in case I go another way. Plus I most likely will can the artwork, and add colour in Photoshop. Stay tuned.

Returning to my Children’s Book.

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Now that I most likely have all of Book Two completed, also known as 41 Chapters of The Ghost of the Dirty Starling, I may actually bother to rewrite my childrens story, and begin to illustrate it myself. Of course I might end up writing an epilogue to my interconnected space serial, which opens it up for more exploration, but we’ll see about that. I seem to need a break from it for now. That happened last time as well. I am astounded by authors who are able to create fresh new worlds and pump out glorious novel after glorious novel, year after year. My hat is off to you lot. That hurts my brain to think about. My childrens book is simple and short and features only two characters. I’ll need to come up with an appropriate look for them. One was based on our former dog, now he’s been dead for nearly a full calendar year. I hope that doesn’t make me weepy thinking about him. Hard to say.

The other major question is; do I bust out the pencils and ink, or draw it in illustrator? I could draw it up by hand, scan it and colour it in Photoshop. That would work pretty well for me. I think the simpler I keep it the more likely I am to follow through with it. Hell I wrote 50,000 extra words of a second novella rather than tackle it from December through April, so that might tell you how I feel about starting drawing/inking again.

I have a bust in the works in my office in Chavant soft. I hate the soft Clay’s. So sticky. Plus it deforms too easily as I handle the piece while I work it. Nothing like working hours on a nose or ear, to mash it the next day because you grabbed it with warm hands and forgot to watch out. I tend to use Hard wax/oil Clay’s to avoid just that scenario. Or I use Sculpey Firm and bake as I go, to avoid it too.

Today I build myself an Ash cutting board. I wanted to test out my 45 degree cutting jig, and see how the saw stacked up against 8/4 barn dried Ash. It burns, is what it does. My planer doesn’t care much for hard woods either. My new electric hand planer from Bosch was amazing though, so kudos to them on a find product. I also practiced my trim routing of round over edges. Cut in some 45 degree hand holds, and a through & through finger hole, about 2 inches in diameter. Then used my propane torch to burn the top surface and bring out the grain. Looks interesting. Sanded to 220 grit, and finished with a butcher block prep oil. Not great, but not awful. Works as a cutting surface.

Ash solid wood cutting board – 2022.

About 24 inches long, 1.75 inches thick, and nearly 11 inches wide. Had a huge crack down one corner, which I cut off, as I don’t have epoxy to fill in the rather large gap. I chose to cut that corner off instead. It’s pretty heavy. I have it resting on a cookie drying rack as the oil penetrates the wood. Nice quick project.

Back pain is a pain near the arse.

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Just had to tweak my lower back while fiddling with that damn wheel barrow tire a few days ago. Tried treating it with rest, heat and cold but it’s not really getting any better. Kept me awake last night too. Will have to turn to Tylenol for a spell to get over this initial hump of soreness. Here I thought working out with weights would help me not do my lower back in by simply leaning over to work on a project for an hour, but here we are. I’m pretty sure this all stems from a previous injury I suffered doing too much weight at a Cross-Fit event prior to my wedding. Feels like I compressed a disc or something along those lines, and it just goes off if I compress it at an odd angle for prolonged periods of time.

It’s the sort of thing that hurts if you lean over, but also hurts if you lie flat on your back. And doesn’t like it when laying on your belly either. Sideways it is then.

This too shall pass.