After a very long absence I am back, maybe...

I've had a few months off to think about some things. I'm working towards a small but achievable goal of rebuilding the shed at home. I'm planning to rebuild the shed, currently in a state of dilapidation, set up a small workshop in it.

The first job to get out of the way is to actually clear the shed of all the rubbish that's currently cluttering it up... old bike parts, plant pots, broken bits and pieces and so on. At the same time I'll take measurements and draw up some plans of what I'd like to do.
I'll be using half of the space for a small workshop. My intention is to make some custom kitchen knives, so I'll need a vice, belt sander, bench grinder and a few other things. Getting hold of the steel for the blades actually appears to be the hardest thing to find. Working out how or where to anneal it, temper and harden the finished blades is another thing to take into account. I'll either need my own blow torch with a large gas supply or, a designated area (outside the shed) for a small forge.
That'll be worked out later, though, as simply getting the shed usable will be an achievement in itself.
Measuring, sourcing materials and building are the priorities at the moment then.

Bad week...

This week, since Sunday 8th, I've been almost completely bedridden. I haven't been at work once and I went home to Bath on Thursday to be in my own bed. I finally managed to see a doctor on Friday and was diagnosed with quite a bad chest infection.
I might not be back at work until the middle on this week as I'm still coughing hard and in quite a lot of discomfort. I don't think I've ever coughed quite as much as this. I had a coughing fit yesterday morning during which I saw lights in the darkness, I felt like I was suffocating and I was nearly sick from the muscle spasms. I am on the mend now though. The antibiotics I was prescribed seem to be working fairly quickly.

in London, for a while...

I've been working in London since the middle of November at 3DD, an architectural modelmakers in Shoreditch. Since starting there I've worked on 'The Queen's Project' - a 1:200 scale model of a massive development that's currently being built in Doha, Qatar. I also ended up going to Qatar to install the model in the site office of the building site. It was absolutely ridiculous. Three and a half days in Doha and I worked 50 hours in that time. I did two shifts that ran over 18 hours and ended in the early hours of the morning. We were pushing to get the model fully assembled for the Monday morning because the Queen of Qatar was supposed to be coming to view it. There were a total of 14 of us from 3DD there in the end and we left 6 out there for a further three days to get in complete. The queen won't actually be viewing it until sometime this month though.
I'm now back in London after an exhausting but incredible Christmas and New Year that was spent in the company of my family and dear friends.