Category Archives: Uncategorized

Switching tracks, from wood to leather.

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So as some of you may know, I have moved down to Utah for a year and a half for a mission trip. I had planned to put the business on hold until I got back, but man, I failed at that. One of my problems is that I love making things, however I couldn’t bring my shop with me, or really any more than a few basic tools. So I moved into a new medium that needs a lot less (and smaller) tools: 

Leather! 

 

And since have gotten into making game pouches using leather burning.

 

 

 

 

 

Of course I’ve had a go at other things as well, such as this belt pouch.

 

The other thing I’ve been doing a lot more of is web related stuff.

So check out NoveltyTradesUSA to see everything I’ve got down here!

 

Cheers,

Daynen 

 

Homeschooling Across Canada’s Victoria Day Contest

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The Canadian Homeschool Minute is a “weekly E-Newsletter for anyone homeschooling or considering starting. It’s brief yet packed with a powerful dose of encouragement to keep you going strong in your commitment to your family and to the Lord.” form The Old Schoolhouse Magazine for the Canadian market, and they are having a contest for Victoria Day which I have donated some games for prizes. Their contest has three age groups: Up to and including age seven, eight to thirteen years, and fourteen to seventeen. Contestants either write an essay or draw a comic strip explaining why we celebrate Victoria Day in Canada.

So here are the games I donated to their Victoria Day Contest. 

Teaching the Challenging Child

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(This article first appeared in The Canadian Homeschool Minute July 5, 2017)  

Have you ever had to deal with that kid who no matter what you do seems to just balk at everything? Have you both ended up in tears because you just can’t seem to connect? You talk and everything you say seems to go in one ear and out the other? When you are trying the tenth curriculum this year trying to find the one thing to spark this kids interest in learning? Well I sure have! In fact I seem to be faced with this problem every couple of years. Just when I think I have found just the right curriculum mix so I can sit back and coast, my little angel will show signs of boredom or start struggling with the material.

I always find the answer eventually. The pathway to the answer is always the same. I have to give it up. Not give up on my child and not give up on homeschooling. Give up my struggling heart to my Father in Heaven. Search the Scriptures and humble my self in prayer. When I lay it in His hands the answer we need will come. Many times the problem turned out to be something entirely different than I had expected. The only consistent thing has been how startlingly different the answer has been each time! And different for each child. For one child the problem was sensory issues with her clothes. She simply couldn’t focus on anything because the seams in her pants and the terry in her socks drove her to distraction. Another time the problem for my son was his energy levels made it necessary for him to move while he composed any essays or creative writing assignments. The answer was to have someone act as scribe for him as he walked around the room. My second daughter needed more time at home. She was overwhelmed with “extracurricular” activities. As I have gone through this process many times now I spend less time struggling on my own and more time praying for guidance for my children and asking God what His will is for each of them and our family.

Broken vehicle adventures are coming to an end!! I Hope.

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A couple days after Boxing Day I went out to start my van and the weirdest thing happened.  I turned the key and it clicked and honked!  I tried it a few more times until it started acting Really strange.  Lights flashing and wipers going…. Even the wiper on the back window that hasn’t worked for over a year!

WHAT?!?

First stop was google.  No luck. 

Next I called the mechanic who fixed the leaky power steering and coolant fountain.  He said it sounded like maybe the cold snap had killed the battery and knocked out the security system computer. 

His suggestion was to try and get it to re-learn my key.  Apparently you get in and shut the door, then turn the key to start and let it fall back to accessory and just sit there for 8 to 10 minutes. 

Well all that accomplished was to Completely drain the battery!   

The next day I tried calling CAA.  It was right in the middle of the cold snap so it was almost an hour wait.  

And…

It didn’t help.

The guy got his battery booster all hooked up and we turned the key.

And it clicked and honked…. but would not start.

Sigh

Next day I went out and picked up a battery charger and hooked it up.  I left it on there for about 10 hours!  It charged! Yay!

But

I moved the van on to the lawn because someone actually came to buy Daynen’s spare trailer… and then we had another cold snap.

Poof! the battery is dead again…. Completely dead… The charger won’t even recognise it is attached to a battery at all.  Nothing!

After a couple weeks sharing the 2003 Cavalier mission car with B, my darling parents took pity on me and helped me purchase a new vehicle.

Lucky for me the Toronto Mission just happened to have the Mission President’s SUV for sale!

I’ll tell yo

 

My first video!

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My first maker video!

And I have to say that I’m pretty proud of it, not because it’s amazingly good or anything (it’s ok), but  because it was rather difficult for me to make.

So here’s a quick video of me making a leather pouch for a camp cook knife 🙂

 

RibFest Cobourg

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What a fun time!!

11th annual ribfest and music festival!

Let’s take a quick tour;

Here we are at the west entrance, one block north of the beach at the corner of Queen and McGill streets.

On the right are hundreds of tables and chairs for people to sit and eat and listen to music.

To your right you will see vendor booths.

You think, “they look interesting I think 💭 I’ll wander over and take a look”.

“Look at that sharp looking talented young man in the middle booth. I’m going to take a closer look!” you say to yourself.

<<<<< I'll come back here in a little while. Oh look! There's the stage! <<<<<< ribfest and I'm hungry! Let's see what's to eat! <<<<<< hat's some flashy rib trucks!! Let's see what else there is to eat! <<<< Let's get funnel cake and lemonade. << at kind would you choose? Let's get some lemonade and eat this delicious funnel cake! << t's go back and check out that young woodworker. What a great spot! There's some great products inside this booth. 😉

Did you know the vendor was homeschooled until he was 16?

There sure are lots of people here. Several bands played. There was even a little girl singing and playing the ukulele. She was so cute!

Most of the music was pretty good. Some of it was just way too loud. I didn’t really appreciate the Saturday evening band who felt it was ok at 9:30 in a public park to liberally sprinkle curse words from the PA system.

All in all it was a pretty fun event. I hope you enjoyed coming along with me!