Looking through my ever-increasing pile of drafts I found that I have yet to introduce the cobra community to Pilot. Pilot got adopted by the famous fisherman in the photo above and his lovely lady a few months back. She’s gorgeous and very well behaved. I look forward to going for a walk real soon with both those happy mammals above.

Fact: Working real work sucks for hanging out.

When I cleaned up the laundromat with my parents and brother, I brought home a bunch of tools my father kept in the office and back room there. Among them was a soldering gun that once belonged to my grandfather. I have soldered maybe a half dozen things in my life, and only twice was I trying to fix or create something. The rest of the time I was just playing.

I decided to use my newly inherited soldering gun to attempt some wood burnings. It was a fairly bad idea. I found it hard to be accurate at all, and impossible to do any fine details with, not to mention its stupid duty cycle of – 1 minute on : 4 minutes off. I managed to make a clock for my shed, but that was about it. I called my mum one day and asked if she still had either mine or my brother’s old wood burning kits. She looked but couldn’t find them, so being the awesome mother she is, she went out and found me one. I promised to get good with it, then make her something nice with it.

I started messing around with it immediately after she left. All I had was scrap wood, so I just made some cartoon-y dudes killing each other with axes and chainsaws (I may post photos of these later… I’m not sure). Once I felt I had the hang of it I decided to try transferring a drawing onto wood, then burning it. I used some designs from Roan’s drawing book, and they turned out so well I wanted to do more. I asked Holly to take me to Michael’s to get some wood and magnetic tape, and then got busy making all the things you see in the top photo.

At first I mostly made insects, but then I had the urge to try some different things. The idea was for me to post all these things on Etsy and see if I could have a self sustaining hobby, but I’ve been too lazy to look into setting that up. It would be cool though, as I really enjoy making things. It’s even better when they are things people like.

I’m not saying I know people are going to like my stuff, but I do have a pretty good feeling some will. I’ve been surprised thus far with the reaction of my friends that have seen them. Most want one, or say they would definitely buy one if they saw them somewhere. But if you know me, you know I think everyone is only ever saying nice things about me or my stuff because they are being polite, and not because they mean it – I have issues.

I took lots of photos of all of these (for when/if I get around to posting them on Etsy), but rather than have this post be a mile long and take six hours to load, I’ve decided to post only the ones that I no longer have (minus the moth, which I’m considering keeping).

The camel above was given to Tony Mike after he saw my little display out in the shed. He thought it was awesome, and although I was supposed to be selling them, trying to recoup material costs, I was so pleased to hear that someone liked it I told him he could have it.

This turtle was given to our friend Laura for her birthday a few weeks ago. She also claimed to love it, and seemed to think I could be doing decent business at craft shows and things like that, or on Etsy. I was just relieved that she didn’t look at it and go “What the fuck is this?… a magnet?… why?”.

And finally, this great white shark was a gift to my friend Dave. He’s obsessed with sharks, and was one of the first people to tell me he thought the stuff I was making was cool. I asked him if he wanted a shark magnet, he said “Fuck ya, I do.”, so I made this specifically for him. Before Dave got out of the driveway his 9 year old son claimed the magnet as his. Luckily they share the same fridge, so they have a few years before they have to settle the ownership dispute.

Expect a lot more wood burning (pyrography) related posts. I’m having a lot of fun with it right now.

A while back there was a little stray that showed up in our neighbourhood. The people who live across the street fell in love with her, but are highly allergic. They decided to get her spayed, then asked everyone in the area to look out for her. She’s adorable. For a while, she was coming over hourly just to say hello. Then one day Shakespeare got a little rough with her, and I  haven’t seen her back here since.

Come back little kitty, I miss hanging with you in the shed.

Before ANYONE says anything like: “I thought you love animals… ” or, “I can’t believe you actually…”, please just fuck off. I didn’t eat the fish. I didn’t bait the hooks. I didn’t drive the boat. All I did was reel the big ones in that no one else wanted to fight with. That being said, I sure did have a blast punching the shit out of those stupid fish.

We all got to catch a bunch, taking turns based on the size of the fish. Roan took all the wee ones.

I got all the monsters.

And Holly and Gage shared the in-between-ers.

After about 4 hours on the water we hauled in almost a hundred pounds of fish. All of it salmon and trout. The charter guide filleted them all on the side of his boat once we were back at the dock, and we took home around sixty pounds of fillets. I had a ton of fun and would definitely do it again. None of these fish are going to waste so I don’t feel too bad.

And this has got to be my favourite fishing photo ever.

Birds beware… Gilbert is ruthless.

A few weeks ago we took the boys to the track for the first time. When I was younger, my father would take my brother and I all the time. He’d let us pick the horses, and sometimes we’d actually win. A couple times we got to go back to the stables and see the horses getting groomed. I thought I knew all about what went on at the track. I was wrong…

After the seventh race we noticed a lot of commotion on the back quarter of the track. A woman ran out from the bandstands and across the track, while a truck and trailer took off in the same direction. Although we couldn’t see what was happening, Holly’s friend Lesley was working at the track that day and had a front row view. She sent Holly a text confirming what we all thought… the horse died.

*I realize the photo doesn’t fit the post, but it’s the only one I took at the races that day.

Is fluffy as all hell, and makes all kinds of stupid noises that don’t mean anything. Although Gage dubbed her Mister Squirrel, I’ve taken to referring to her as Peanut Eater, Peanut Squirrel, Peanut, Squirrelly-P, and Tickle-Whiskers. She’s the type of cat who suddenly NEEDS attention, and doesn’t care if she’s got to flop her whole body down on your face to get it. She’s got this habbit recently where she licks my arm and armpit while I’m in the middle of important zombie games. It’s resulted in my demise a few times, but I love that face and all it’s stupid little noises.

Everyone who can, please go adopt a cat from your local shelter. They all need kind people to help them enjoy their short little lives.

Niagara Falls Humane Society

Holly knows someone through business dealings, who also runs a fishing charter out of the Great Lakes. Recently he offered to take her and the boys fishing for salmon in Lake Ontario, and said I was welcome to come along. As anyone who would be reading this is already aware, I have a black belt in animal loving. I don’t hunt, eat meat, or even kill insects for the most part (massive home invading hoards of ants excluded). The last time I caught a fish, I was probably just a little older than Gage. I wasn’t really looking forward to catching fish, but going out on a boat for a few hours is usually pretty fun.

Most of you probably already know that one of my best friends is a huge fishing enthusiast, and runs one of, if not, the most popular fishing blogs in existence. He’s constantly trying to get me to join him because he knows that even without fishing I’d have a good time, but I’ve only gone a couple times when he’s been down here and we’ve wandered over to the gorge. I do have fun, but I need more to keep me from getting bored. Just before we left to head to the dock, I decided I could maybe get away with reverse fishing. Rather than try and fool the fish into biting a deadly cheek mangler, I thought I could have fun by warning them of the delicious deceptions that were hoping to ruin their day.

I crafted this custom cobra lure out of a piece of cardboard and the chain from a Steam Whistle bottle opener. Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate, and I never got to see how effective my idea for reverse fishing actually was. On the bright side, rescheduling means I get a chance to refine my design. I’m thinking less words, more pictures… possibly a worm with dynamite strapped to his chest, or just an x-ray view of a worm with a hook through it. Either way, I think I’ve got something here.

Every time I go anywhere near an exterior exit, I am bombarded with death-rays of cuteness, fired out of this stupid little face. They aren’t death-rays that kill, but rather they hope to evoke sympathy. Sympathy that results in someone sporting his Adventure Dude Suit, and patrolling the hedge for avian assassins. Nine times out of ten he wins. But just look at that face, and tell me you could deny him something that makes him so happy he rolls around belting out a thunderous purr and drooling all over himself.

Who would have thought a black cat could be the best cat ever? Certainly not this cobra.

Last night Roan decided to design the kitties a new tower (above). The plan is to build this for them out of the wood we have left from all the recent repairs. Unfortunately, I don’t think Roan took an accurate survey of the materials at our disposal.

Holly and Roan were watching an episode of Top Gear, so I decided to model an appropriately scaled version of his design. I had to turn his 2D drawing into a 3D model (and take into account a few things he neglected, mainly physics), so I may have messed up the design a little. Roan didn’t seem to mind if I did. He just wanted to know how soon we could start building it. I think I’m just as excited as he is to start building, but we’re both going to have to wait until the foreman gives us the go ahead.

I have built a kitty tower in the past, but this one will be much nicer. I’m far more skilled now, and I have access to a lot more tools. With any luck, the finished product will look professionally made and be butt loads of fun for the entire crew of cobra cats.