6th January 2026
Happy birthday Dad, he would have been 118.
I was back with John the wood at his barn.
The weather was damp, drizzly and misty, it’s slowly melting the snow, but it’s wet slush.
The countryside is hidden by this veil of mist, spooky, even a photograph would not do it justice.
I hurtled down almost deserted roads, a route I am so familiar with, but there is still excitement, what will I achieve today.
John was ready and waiting as I pulled up, he seems to have trouble with the seat belt every time, but once that gets sorted we set off.
We chat about things we’ve done since the last time, he often wanders off track, which is confusing, and I often check him, to get him back.
The barn felt empty, the big steel and wood construction has gone, but a few parts still remain. All my pieces are still on the cart where I left them, after clearing the bench, I set about the first job.
Once I laid out all the parts that had to be glued together, we stopped for a coffee and a slice of freshly baked pumpkin bread.
John’s eyes lit up at the sight of it, I explained what I wanted to achieved, really for my benefit as there was a lot of information that I’m not sure John understood.
I gave him a task to look in his stock for planks of white oak that were 96 inches long, these I would need for the back panel.
He shuffled off downstairs whilst I did my glue up.
I later went downstairs to see what he found.
Without digging down into the piles of planks, I made the executive decision that I would join shorter lengths together, although we did find two planks that were the full length.
The cleaning up of the planks took a bit of time, but finally they were sized and cut to length.
We stopped for another coffee and another slice of pumpkin bread, and assessed what was achieved.
I could say that I would make more progress if I was left to my own devices, but that’s not the reason, I know John wants to be useful, and what I’m doing is keeping him interested, so I’m happy to take, probably, twice the time to get it done.
We finished the day by joining two pieces together to see how they fitted. All the final machining will be done later , so any mis-alignment will be corrected.
We left a bit later than usual as I alway sweep up any mess I make, which is only expected.
after dropping John back home I had to drive to Dorr to collect something that Kelli had found on Marketplace.
This entailed driving through uncharted territory.
I survived, and with a garment neatly packed inside a bag, I headed back to my warm home.
Another Lifetime to go 