Category: 2023

The end of 2023. Time to move on ….. Click Here, to go to the Tony 2024.

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8:40am, Saturday. I just had a call from Dean, the Harvey Norman delivery driver. They are 5 minutes out. Whoo hoo new fridge! (Get a coffee! This is a long one. Sorry.) Well, what an interesting morning. Friday morning. You have to get out of bed, you know. Do I really need a fridge that…

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I don’t know how many of you read, or remember reading, my Carver Lane project back in 2020. I was all hot to trot to make a house. For all the wrong reasons! I wont repeat myself here, so any curiosity you may have can be fed here. The house has been built for 4…

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and another Xmas day passes. I acknowledge that I am a bitter and twisted old fart and any opinion I have is prejudiced but I wonder ‘WHY?’. I will not be surprised when mealy mouthed politicians ban the celebration of Xmas and the use of the ‘Merry Xmas’ greeting because it is offensive to non-Christians.…

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The NSW branch of the family is paying a flying visit into Victoria. Ten days, whirlwind tour to catch up with EVERYONE they know down south. The Smith family gathering was held in Central Victoria on Tuesday. 3 generations of my family packed into Grandmas house for the traditional Xmas pig-out. On Monday it was…

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I’m a hot glue virgin. My first experience has been painful and I am not sure if I want to do it again. My desk and the Nook are covered in a spider web of stringy hot glue. and the damned gun keeps dribbling the hot messy stuff. Being an ex-perfectionist, I am not totally…

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10:52pm and it’s all over but the hot gluing. I can only hope that the recipient is still young enough to like the ‘girlie’ colours. I (truly) spent hours assessing the ‘DARK’ Knockturn Alley theme and it just didn’t work for me. It was just a deep, dark, black hole. The final scheme is a…

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Speaking of painting. Here are some idea prepared earlier, by other makers. Interesting, right?

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I am calmer. By admitting to my shortcomings I have removed the need to be perfect and relieved the pressure. Yesterday, after making my decision, I went to my storage unit and picked up the necessary ‘stuff’. I needed a ‘spray booth’. I picked up a large ‘flat pack’ cardboard, packing case. Once folded it…

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I can’t cope. I am in meltdown. It’s all too hard. I am admitting to my failures. I can’t make the ultimate wonder for Amelia. For all I know she probably doesn’t love Harry Potter anymore. Forget the lights. Forget the window displays. Forget the interiors. I’m just going make the ‘BOX!’. It will still…

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Sewwwww. First wall ‘complete’. Apart from the bannister rails all the parts are in place. Courtesy of the ‘not so sticky’ tape. Two, over 30 degree days and nights and lack of sleep kept the project in this state. I totally ‘zoned out’. Literally had no sleep for two days. Midday Wednesday and I realise…

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Ah, but where do I start? Much too afraid to use glue. Having impossible time trying to visualise it. I want to include lighting. HOW?!?!?!?!? I don’t know. After hours (and hours and hours) of paralysis I decided to do a ‘dry fit’. I used sellotape and M4 screws to mount the plates. The original…

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I tell myself I am a perfectionist. A victim of paralysis by analysis. How best to proceed, or in my case, start. I lie to myself. I’m not a perfectionist at all. I’m a coward. Terrified of failure. Scared to death that I will reveal my incompetence and inadequacies. I started the ‘Book Nook’ in…

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and now I can’t talk the talk. Tuesday. Too farking hot. Honest. 10 years ago I walked this everyday. Thankfully it is a beautiful riverside walk. On one occasion I watched a huge grey seal slowly sailing up the river. The red flag at the top of the picture is where I lived for 12…

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These are, without doubt, the scariest adversary from the creators of Dr. Who. An ancient race so advanced and evolved that their self defence mechanism is to involuntarily turn to stone if anyone looks at them. Never look away. Don’t even blink. Scared the shit out of me. The beauty of Dr. Who was that…

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Should you be unfortunate enough to receive one of the above in the mail, be AFRAID!!! Be very AFRAID!! For surely as a poo follows too many baked beans, you are doomed to soon thereafter be a recipient of ONE OF THESE!!!! (or facsimile thereof). In the wrong mind and the right hands this might…

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(Pirates of Penzance, 1879 – ‘When the Foeman Bares His Steel‘) My apologies Mr. Gilbert, but your quote is so germane. Should I consider five years a goodly period? I do recall, with painful clarity, the words I offered to a young lady who had just lost a still born son. “People will tell you…

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when you’re perfect in every way.I can’t wait to look in the mirror‘cos I get better looking each day (listen to Willie Nelson ) I love it when I’m right and the whole world agrees with me. Napoleon and Dr. Who. There is not a single positive comment about either subject in the ‘WHOLE OF…

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Monday morning 9:30am. Slow start. Long weekend printing into the early morn. Woke with a shock. Had I missed the postie? Nothing outside the window. Checked emails and two messages from Ozzie Post, ‘Delivery coming today’, arrived about 9:10am. Phew! Better go get some undies on. The road workers hadn’t noticed the swinging tackle. How…

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Sunday night 11:30pm. My week draws close to it’s end. The third Xmas box is almost complete. The flat ribbon topper is being printed as I type this. Each box has taken approx 10 hours to print plus an hour for assembly. Each of the three new boxes has been a bit tricky. The test…

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