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Thank you. That sounds like a broadly similar timescale to mine. It just seemed to take forever, but maybe just because I'm not familiar with making marmalade; there's an awful lot of prep work with other kinds of fruit jams that I make as well. (To be honest it turns out that I didn't cook it...

I feel slightly inadequate now! How long did that take you for each batch?

All done.

I'm not sure if my helper is making a long job quicker or even slower!

LLP Thanks for the inspiration. I've been out this evening and bought 3kg of Seville Oranges in preparation. I've long been a keen jam maker, but only ever made marmalade once before. My favorites are Quince and Medlar.

Good to know, thanks. It's very knotty, which is a sign of Spruce I think. Overgrown Christmas Trees!

Thank you. The short drying time of the shellac certainly sounds very tempting! The stuff I used takes 24 hours which is a bit of a pain. It talks about a high solid content on the can, I guess that's the suspended white pigment that you mentioned. This is it...

Hi. Thanks for coming back to this. I'm getting on well so far, with the Osmo Raw stuff. It seems to make the pine look a bit milky, but I'm happy with it anyway. Two shelves done, with two more to do. I've paused proceedings for now as I figure that this cold weather will not be good for the...

Thanks all. I'm going give the Osmo Raw stuff a go then, following recommendations. I've been curious about their products for a while anyway. What do people use to wash out brushes with? It says Osmo Brush Cleaner on the tin, but I'd rather do without that expense. Edit. Answered my own...

If possible. So I'm making some shelves from scaffold boards. I like the inherent strength from the thickness, the chunky look and the lower cost. They're obviously made from softwood, (pine of some type?), and I know that that always darkens, considerably over time. Is there a finish out there...

Today I've been mostly doing masonry drilling!

Hello Fov. This is a great place, so much knowledge and experience on offer. Welcome.

I don't think you need to do much at all initially except give children some exposure to making things by hand. Their endless curiosity will do the rest. As soon as they do start getting hands on then just some gentle advice and guidance. That's how it was/is with my son anyway. I've always had...

In the same vein as this discussion I think; I've just bought my son his first penknife. It's one of those Opinels for children, with the rounded end, no sharp point. A Christmas present for him. Hopefully I won't regret it. He keeps on about a hatchet of his own. We think no way - we'd rather...

Yep, good idea. I'll do that in a few years. Four is a bit young still though even for that.

Love the chicken leg. Isn't that more of a Beetle though? I'm not sure the exact definition of both.

Not sure that I was going for the Fred Flintstone look, but thanks! Nice Froe too. Must get myself one of them sometime.

Yes, I won't be letting him anywhere near electrical work for a few years yet. I've always warned him off, in no uncertain terms, touching any wires. A combination of little, curious hands and live wires concerns me. Glad it's worked out well for your daughter, always good to hear stories like...

The sooner the better in my opinion. My son is 4 and 1/2 and pretty good at handling common tools;- hammer, saw, file, screwdriver etc. He started as soon as he was big enough to really, can't quite remember but from around 3 years old I think. He's not really useful as such yet, apart from...

I feel a bit sheepish to show something so rough amongst all this finery, but here goes. A very rustic mallet or maybe beetle. Cut from a carefully selected branch. It's Hawthorne so it's got a decent strength and hardness. Not sure how well it'll work or last, but I liked the idea of...