Makita 18v Nibbler Review

When I buy a new tool I always research it extensively, normally looking for reviews online and some YouTube reviews. 

When I looked at buying a nibbler for cutting the mesh on my baskets and trugs, I couldn't really find a review on it so decided that if I did buy it then it would be worth adding mine out there. 

If you don't want to watch the video, it's a good tool but very niche and won't be useful to everyone. Creates a fair bit of waste swarf, but also doesn't produce sparks. Quite heavy as well and doesn't turn that sharply, but does cut some really nice curves. 

I also think "nibbler" is the funniest name for a tool ever! 

Anyone else own a nibbler?

2nd Diabetes Appointment For Daughter

 So this week, along with everything else we had our second appointment for my daughter's type one diabetes. These are just running check up, where they keep an eye on progress and answer any questions we might have. 

We also got told that the sensor she uses is changing this week (after we were initially told we had to stay on the Libre 2 due to funding a few months ago). So she is now on a libre 3 which means that when she goes low in the night the alarm will wake me up as well on my phone, so a bit of piece of mind there. 

Never sure how long these appointments last the other two children were with friends for my wife to pick up after work (they love going there and some friends we really treat like family). When we came out of hospital it was gone 6 and we decided we should maybe grab some food in Hereford.

My daughters eyes lit up and she suggested Beefy Boys - a really good burger restaurant. When we got there we were told there was a wait for a table, I suggested we went elsewhere, but one look at my daughter told me we were going to wait!!

It was worth it. The food is always brilliant from there and great service from the staff, even with our dietary requirements. We're getting so much better at guessing carbs in a meal, and my daughter just injected herself right there in the restaurant, which makes me happy that she can take it in her stride like that. 

A lovely Daddy - Daughter date, unplanned but all the more special for it. She really is great company as well. 

It's nice when we can pull some positives out of the crap that is diabetes. 

ShireJam 2023 - Scouts

 Oh wow! What a weekend!

Shirejam returned again after a 4 year break. It's a huge scout camp with all the scout groups from Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire attending, about 4500 scouts plus lots of adult helpers and leaders to make things run smoothly. 

Our troop didn't have so many attending this time, I think last time we totalled about 80, but this time we were more like 30 from our section, and our beavers didn't camp over, just some of the cubs and scouts. 

Eldest and Middlest at the opening ceremony 

Time moves on, last time it was just me and our eldest attending camp all weekend when she was a beaver. We currently have one in scouts, one in cubs and one in beavers! Although the girls come and help us every week run beavers, so do a lot of scouting when you add it up.

How To Make A Berry Harvester/Scoop

I decided to have a bit of a mess about making some interesting projects. One was a berry harvester or scoop, something I'd wanted to try for a long time. 

It was a really fun project to make, and I used an old door for the timber. What was more impressive was how well it works! I'm never getting spiked by gooseberries again! 

Watch the video below to see how I made it and to see the scoop in action. 

When I shared this on social media I was surprised by the reaction, a few people even asked e if I'd consider making them to sell, so it might be a future project - watch this space! 

Reading Pods In Hereford Cathedral

 A few years back I got a really interesting commission through Hereford Cathedral. 

It was with their education department and they wanted some reading pods to be taken from school to school and for them to reflect the cloisters. I'm fairly sure I've shared them on here before. It was a great job, I had to design and pitch for the work, and have an interview - 

The interview was funny as they kept talking about how was I going to ensure "my team" was going to going to get it completed on time. I had to stop them and say that "my team" was me, and I get stuff done because I've been self employed for 18 out of 22 years and that's the only way to keep getting work. 

I also fed the lady interviewing me fuchsia berries as we walked around the grounds! Afterwards she remarked that she trusted a stranger to feed her some random berry out of an ornamental garden! 

I got the job, started the project, then covid hit. We communicated lots and decided that it was best to shelve it for a while (I was homeschooling the kids) and I finished it shortly after the first lockdown. Because of all the rule changes it never ended up going school to school like it was supposed to. 

So it was a pleasant surprise when we popped into the cathedral the other day and they were there, set up for children to use. 

It was a brilliant project to work on and great to see them in use a few years later. Inlaying the walnut tree into the birch ply was a tricky job! So it's nice that it's all still looking great. Does look like a few of the magnetic leaves are missing though! Always a risk, but I did give them spares! They were going to have cushions but because of covid and cleaning we opted away from that in the end. 

Because of this project I also ended up making a dolls house for them as well as a carved box for an escape room they were creating. A lovely group of people to work for and work that came at just the right time. 

Let me know what you think - would you have curled up in there to read a book when you were a child?