The AT HOME Weekend after many busy weekends - actual bliss!

Good day to all my Hiver friends out there. I hope that everyone had a wonderful and blessed weekend, whether you were out and about or just chilled out at home like me! Well, sometimes to be "chilled" I still work but alright then.

This post is in response to the [WE114] Weekend-Engagement concept by @galenkp

The weekend prompt is something I recommend to all my students. I would like to invite @jasperdick, @clairemobey, @loadreaper, @pixelhuntersam, and @michieme to join in a Weekend Engagement in the future! it is a lot of fun!

Picking up the prompt, I will pick up the post prompt: "The one thing I will never regret in my life is..."

The one thing I will never regret in my life is spending time with my family.

I have picked something that is not some specific ONE event or activity which I will cherish for my whole life. Though, those times are good too, I would like to put focus on the fact that we need to find the beauty in a life worth living by some of our most ordinary experiences.

This weekend, I had time to spend just talking and enjoying my partner, @clairemobey's company and watching a movie together. I spent time playing card games with my kids and I spent time improving something in the house.

I am typing this early on a Monday morning, feeling content and rested because I feel that I spent my weekend on something worth doing: On my home, family and my relationship.

I'll be driving to work this morning with positivity!

The Garage Project

My garage is an absolute mess. When we moved into this house it was the place where all the odds and ends landed up. I/we have a LOT of odds and ends. Then @clairemobey's knee got hurt and it put a bit of a slow on any sort of "sorting out" we had in the house.

I needed to do cooking and laundry and settling into a house while keeping my partner on medication and off her leg and it has taken MONTHS to get that leg back to working order. She is now morning around without crutches, but still wearing a brace.

Claire does a lot more around the house now and it forced the kids to need to be able to help mom and dad with chores. There is simply too much to do in a family of 5 for one person to do.

So the garage got put on the backburner and I have no actual regrets. I love my woman and looking after her is my pleasure. It does however feel a little crappy when people come to visit and nothing has changed in this dump.

I finally had the chance to do something and there was a big work bench that was built by my dad and I that was in pieces. This would be the first place to start to create order in the garage and in other places in the house.

From a work table I could start building and making things and not have to work on the dining room table!

So I reassembled the legs. The screws that poked out my dad had previously just left like that. But I know this table is not going anywhere soon so I determined it would be far safer to cut them short.

Clipping them short with a cordless grinder, I was happy. The chances of cutting your hand reaching underneath or even cutting your head open sticking your head under the table in a future is a hazard I would rather do without!

And there we go, A place for me to work. The work table has a built-in bench vice, something I don't thing I highlighted in a picture.

I was joined by @aimeludick, my eldest who helped me assemble the legs. I got to teach her the basics of working with a spanner. It is hard work and it makes the arms and hands tired, but she then became my little photographer while I was working.

But she also took the opportunity ro use my phone to take a selfie! Hello @aimeludick! 🤣

Right in this picture you can see me in the process of working. Oh look, there is the bench vice next to me on the right. My beard is recovering...

I got into overalls because ended up having to cut with a grinder and I put safety boots on after a hot piece of metal landed on my toe. Safety glasses went on first!

I am fairly comfortable in overalls.

No. No gloves. It is actually NOT reccomended that you use gloves with certain spinning tools. A glove will not stop a grinder blade, but it will get caught and pull your hand into a grinder.

By controlling the cutting angle, you control the direction of the sparks. My hands were never really exposed to any heat or sparks.

Despite being in a trade, my hands stay sort of soft. I use gloves when I handle rough stuff, the concept that I need cracked and calloused hands to show that I work hard is... stupid.

I rather work with deliberate precision. I love it that I have a place to do work from now. More upgrades are coming to my garage work space soon!

My next step here is to install a wooden board like a splash plate against the wall, where I can fix and hang things. Above that will go a shelf and likely the underside of the shelf will be fitted with lights. Here i am just using a portable light bulb (it has a battery)

Note that I have mounted the table to the wall and reinforces the table with brackets as well.

Sunday chillout

Look at this cat.

Chain really has landed with his butt in the butter in this home. It is really nice to see him just so chilled out and snoozing like this.

I was challenged to Magic the Gathering game by @matthew-williams and soon enough I played two games against the 10 year old and this followed up with another two battles with 12 year old @merenludick

I enjoyed the matches not only for the fun of playing the game, but also there is a lot of reading, counting and thinking happening in this game. Subtracting values to count your life total, reading what a card does and planning your next move is vital to your ability to win this game.

The boys learned a lot... like their dad is really good at Magic 🤣🤣🤣

I beat both of them all four rounds. I have not even gone through all the cards in those two decks. I just shuffled and play when I draw a card, I read it and go from there. Similarly, I have no idea what the other deck is capable of doing.

Regardless, the concepts are familliar to me and soon enough I had some decent strategies and actions to beat them. Despite this, they both had a lot of fun and were smiling broadly afterwards.

I am very careful not to get bit too badly by the Magic bug... it can be an expensive hobby! Hahaha!

Our weekend concluded with a supper at the table without a movie to distract everyone as we would do on a Friday or Saturday (or most days of the week actually). Instead, we just spoke to each other.

I really enjoyed that.

As I said at the start of the post. I had a great weekend.

Right, need to go wake the kids to get ready for school and make a quick 6 sandwiches!

Cheers!
@zakludick