Took a few pictures of "normal" around here, and one of not so normal... Subscribe to RSS Feed It’s been so long since I did a “take pictures of what is happening in the shop for a blog post” that Rod asked me what I was taking pictures for!… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/around-shop-week/
Some of the things we have had in process around here today... Subscribe to RSS Feed It has been a while since I just took pictures around the place to show you what happens around here on a run of the mill type of day. So - here you… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/process/
Not that it's always bad, but sometimes things just don't look as nice as at other times... Subscribe to RSS Feed I still think this is the ugliest stage of a saddle tree - right after it is rawhided before the top of the rawhide gets dry. But it seems fitting… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/ugliest-stage/
and the trees can do their initial drying outside in the sun. (Hopefully next week I can finally reload the wood shelves...) when Rod is back working outside...… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/you-know-it-getting-be-spring/
Another little job that is more difficult here than it would be in Australia... Subscribe to RSS Feed The wood shelves in our shop are looking a little sparse at the moment… and I need to refill them with lumber from our wood storage shed.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/i-need-move-lumber/
Pictures of some trees, and Rod rawhiding a tree. Just normal stuff. Well, almost all is normal stuff... Last week was a pretty typical week around here. Rod built trees and rawhided trees. I did up wood and varnished trees. Pretty normal… Here’s a couple of trees we… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/around-shop-last-week/
Building saddle trees means babysitting them as they dry, and that leaves no room for an impulsive style of life. Subscribe to RSS Feed when you are a tree maker. I’m talking about the Friday morning “lets just go away for the weekend” kind of spontaneity that a lot of people take… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/spontaneity-is-not-an-option/
What I do in the shop, versus what Rod does... Subscribe to RSS Feed In response to an e-mail discussion today, here is an old poem I put together a while back to explain my (Denise’s) part in the tree making process.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/division-of-labour/
It's been a tad busy around here lately... Subscribe to RSS Feed The lawn has been cut. (That this fact rates a mention on here tells you something about the rarity of this event…) In the garden, the… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/what-s-happening-at-the-nikkel-s/
This past couple weeks have been a tad hectic... but all with good things!! Subscribe to RSS Feed with good things lately… We did our yearly wood buying trip to Edmonton, and now our wood storage is filled for the year. Doodle and… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/our-life-has-been-filled/
It was raining outside, so I took pictures inside the shop today. Just a regular old work day at the Nikkel's... Subscribe to RSS Feed It was raining outside today, like it has for the majority of days in July so far, so I decided to snap some pictures of what was going on inside… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/around-the-shop-today/
Some pictures of the current work and trees in the shop today. Subscribe to RSS Feed Last Sunday there was a lot of wind, and our internet has been out since. So... I'm over at a neighbours to check e-mail and put up a blog… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/what-s-up-in-the-shop/
One of the things we do regularly - otherwise, what would be the point of making them??? Subscribe to RSS Feed We had four trees past the crucial drying stages when we went away, so they were thoroughly dry when we got back Wednesday night. Rod did the… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/shipping-trees1/
Here's what was new and different around the shop today. Subscribe to RSS Feed Today I took the camera out to the shop to take pictures of something new and different to put up on our blog. Here’s what I came up with...… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/something-different/
Another normal day in the shop, and this is what the camera found to photograph... Today, for the first time in 2013, Rod was able to put a tree outside!! Rod tries to get the outside of the rawhide dried off fairly quickly, and then lets the rest… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/just-some-shots-around-the-shop/
Just noticing what is in the shop at the moment, and seeing a pattern to how the orders often come in - for no apparent reason... Subscribe to RSS Feed Although we rarely get more than two orders from a single maker at one time, it is really interesting how they still comes in waves. Similar… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/they-come-in-waves/
Changes in trees and lots of barrels in the shop tonight. Subscribe to RSS Feed Here's some pictures from the shop tonight, as the look of some trees changed dramatically, and the rawhide room is very full - of large, blue… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/before-after-and-another-kind-of-full/
Everything around here seems full today... Under the bench where the week two trees are drying is FULL. There are three Wades, one of them with a Hope style horn, and a wood post Will James. The tree to the right is… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/full/
Tree making isn't ranked real high on the dangerous occupation list, but there are some things that make life safer, short and long term, that are wise to use. One of the most common things you may have noticed in a lot of pictures is Rod wearing hearing protection. We both have "ears" and wear them a fair amount of the time in the… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/safety-equipment-around-the-shop/
Just one more of the things that are hard to factor into the equation when someone says "how many hours do you put into each tree?" I spared you a picture of a black garbage bag. Why would I want to show you that? Because that is the next step in making lace after the dry rawhide has been cut into usable… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/cutting-lace-a-rather-mundane-but-important-job/
