Hey, look, that’s my shop…

If you’ve followed along for any length of time you’ve seen my projects spilled out into the yard, the garage, the kitchen table, and even the living room.

2017, that will largely change. I will have a shop. An actual workspace all my own.

They’ve started digging it out now…

From 2016 Buildup

Of course, between waiting for banks and permits and whatevers, it’s not going to be done till December…and that puts us in a huge construction mess in October.

Oh, we’re still doing something. I don’t know WHAT yet. Announcements soon.

Published
Categorized as Challenges

Chimera Eulogy.

Dog.

Cat.

That thing from Star Wars.

That thing from Dark Crystal.

Ogre.

Scarecrow.

The Chimera was called many things by many people, and all wanted to know WHAT in the end it really was.

From 2011 buildup

What is was. That has as many answers as there are people looking and wondering.

The Chimera was born out of a storm. Having lost our props to a storm in 2010, a new direction was settled on, originally meant to be a one-off fun pumpkin centric theme. It soon developed into what I wanted to do from then on.

The Chimera began life as the first time I wasn’t just trying to replicate something I’d seen. I didn’t want just ANY scarecrow to go with this new pumpkin centric theme. It was a cry to find my own voice. My own style. Something entirely, ME. As such, the lessons learned and mistakes made on it were monumental.

Very early on, it suffered a break on a leg, and I had to do a patch.

At the final stages, the Chimera become a rallying point for me. A defining moment. THIS is not just who I WAS, but where I wanted to go, who I wanted to BE.

From Halloween 2012

I would move on to other pieces. But the Chimera heart would be there.

From 2013 buildup

To the point where I began to ask in my own mind: Is that a Chimera?

Pieces to the outside that might not seem it are the descendants of the original Chimera.

From 2015

Over the years, the Chimera sat stalwart through the winters and winds that would see it standing stalwart in the front yard. But time gets to everyone. Things broke. I would fix. Other things broke, I’d patch.

This spring saw one last storm. The chimera tipped over, and curled up. We went to stand him up and the wood at the heart of the frame just started to disintegrate. I had long been amused by the mushrooms growing off him adding to it. But, time wins.

From 2016 Buildup

What was, no, what IS the Chimera?

A testament to creativity. Talking point for some. Inspiration to others.

From Buildup 2015
Published
Categorized as Chimera

So…about 2016….

We had started down a road to bring about an entirely new theme early on.

It’s one we’ve been looking at for years, really. However, it’s going to wait another year. We’re going to be going through a major remodel with the house this year, and I’m going to focus a lot of my energies into that direction. We’ll start tracking that process here soon.

In the mean time, there’s a could small projects we can still work on.

Now it’s Christmas.

From Christmas

A Visit from the Three T-Rexes
by Mike Boggs

Once before Christmas, a long time ago,
Three starving T-Rexes, filled with sadness and woe,
Drooled down at a sheep flock, so tasty and good.
They’d eat them in a second, if only they could.

But the shepherds watched o’r their flocks carefully.
So t’was no chance for snacking for T-Rexes three.
In the skies to the East, a wonder glowed bright
A star with a tail slipped soft through the night.

The shepherds gazed up, agog and amazed,
At the cold new-born star as it silently blazed.
They saw wise men three, upon camels and horse,
Ride toward a stable — rustic, common and coarse.

At the door, they all halted, these kings from the East,
Faced with a setting of hay, straw and beast.
They offered up frankincense, gold coins and myrrh.
They bowed down and worshipped, their treasures conferred.

From out of the stable, came a warbling cry
Of a new-babe’s complaining, his diaper not dry.
The shepherds discussed what they ought do
And they soon decided; they should go too.

So away from their sheep flocks, shepherds hurried that night
To behold in the stable that most curious sight.
And lo, they soon found in the stable nearby
Mary and Joseph and the source of the cry.

The Messiah had come, to bring hope to the world
His halo glowed bright; His great glory unfurled.
Like the Kings from the East, these men bowed and they prayed.
To the world’s newest King, in swaddling handmade.

But up on the hillside, dinos chuckled and danced,
For the absence of shepherds provided their chance.
Down from the hillside, with a most horrible screech,
The three dinos charged, grabbing each sheep in reach.

They chomped them. They bit them. They gobbled them up.
Sheep’s bleating. Good eating! A grand way to sup!
The flock tried to flee, but T-Rexes are fast.
They devoured them all, each one, to the last.

And after the last sheep’s blood did squirt,
T-Rexes looked ‘round for a tasty dessert.
O’r the hilltops, three kings rode away.
Hmmm, just the thing—three royal fillet.

With a bellow that shook the whole desert landscape,
The dinos charged forth; there’d be no escape.
The kings saw them coming and tried running away,
But hunting down kings was simple child’s play.

Melchior was munched, and Caspar gulped down;
Balthazar eaten whole (except for his crown).
T-Rexes stood grinning while spitting out jewels.
For wise men it seems, taste exactly like fools.

The dinos discussed then what they should do next,
Three well-fed and happy tyrannosaur rex.
“That babe’s been a boon to our fate here tonight.
We should thank him profusely; it’d only be right.”

“We need to bring gifts, for He too is King.”
“I think that I’ve got it! I know just the thing!”
The dinosaur ripped out a nearby pine tree,
And lickety-split, soon there were three.

Each of the T-Rexes held their trees by their stems
And covered them over with jewelry and gems,
The trees in the moonlight did sparkle and glow
Gifts for a king, theirs to bestow.

Three crowns topped the trees; silk sashes hung ‘round;
Such riches and gilt were sure to astound.
The dinos with trees made their walk to the stable.
In a story turned legend and then turned to fable.

How three starving T-Rex, on a cold winter’s night
Walked out of the darkness by a single star’s light,
How they brought trees of beauty for the newly-born child;
How they bestowed them and then went back to the wild.

One of these days, I’m getting this thing illustrated…

Traditions

Been a season of rekindling traditions, and in some cases making new ones.

Passing on the Nuts and Bolts recipe to Talia:

“I thought there was only 3 things in there!”

The annual “throw lights on the monsters” display.

And a slew of Christmas concerts and parties lined up.

I think I may have finally gotten around to settling on a recipe for toffee as well.

Though, I still say it looks like “The Blob” when it’s nearing ready on the stove.