Cooee Folks

Just to let you all know I haven't fallen off the planet, I'm just a bit busy with decorating the kitchen... It's that time of year when wives get fed up with the dull weather and being stuck in doors, so they get their husbands to decorate! To be fair I've been putting it off for a good few years and I get off fairly lightly so I shouldn't complain, and to be honest I enjoy it once I get started. I s'pose that's one of life's secrets, if you've got to do something you may as well do the best you can and try to enjoy it. I s'pose I was fairly lucky in my working life insofaras I enjoyed it, though it's better being retired.

I haven't stopped thinking about bows and I've been writing up pieces for the Field Archery News UK online magazine, the next bit is about heat bending and heat treating, I'll take some pics off this blog to be included.
I've also been planning some projects, I have some Laburnum which is a bit curved, maybe I'll make a pair of billets and do a boo backed Laburnum or even Yew backed as I have some good strips of Yew sapwood.

The garage is pretty much unusable for bowmaking at the moment as I'm making a couple of tall  broom-cupboard doors out of MDF and they take up a lot of room, the MDF makes a horrendous amount of dust too, it's horrid stuff compared with real wood, but is quick and stable and flat. I found I have a router bit which has give them nice rounded edges which will look good. They will be painted with white emulsion to blend in with the walls which is a blessing as it's quick and easy.
The bit I'm dreading is washing down the walls which are a bit yellowed and greasy up near the cooker hood, I did a try out with sugar soap which is usually pretty good but didn't shift it, maybe I'll try oneof these fancy new products, I don't hold out much hope as generally they are just flim flam. I bought some "stain block" spray once to cover a watermark on a ceiling, totally useless, used some old gloss paint in the end and that did the job... maybe that's where the expression gloss over it comes from?... Probably just no substitute for hard work I'm afraid.
tried some Cilit Bang that was lurking in the cupboard under the sink, that seemed to cut through it, I'll probably buy a commercial equivalent from screwfix or Toolstation (doubtless cheaper).
I'll be chomping at the bit to get back to some real wood soon.
Anyhow, I've just rubbed down one door and dusted it off, the dust should have settled by now, so I can go and give it a lick of paint.
Then it's tea and toast.