Shane's had a lot spare time lately, since he hasn't been able to work since before Christmas (technically he got 6 hours in one day right after Christmas, but that's it). Maybe some of you wonder what he's been doing?
For starters, he's been great at helping around the house. He's done ALL of our laundry and ALL of the vacuuming since he's been home, has helped with many of the other household chores, has kept Kat occupied on the days she's been out of school, and has prepared our lunch most days. Our weather is warmer now and the snow is almost gone, so there's the possibility that he'll have work (for pay!) next week, but if not, I'm sure he'll keep himself busy with finally bringing in our few outdoor Christmas decorations, washing the vehicles and doing other outdoor chores.
Another thing he's been doing during his time off is working on his winter-time hobby of choice, leather-crafting. What you see below is called a targe, which is a type of medieval shield. Although he's not really "into" war items or Celtic culture, he is of Scotch-Irish descent and was interested in doing a larger, non-Western piece. He had traced the design onto the raw leather before Christmas, but did all the tooling, staining, stretching and mounting in the weeks since. The core of the targe is a piece of plywood about 24 inches in diameter. It's leather-bound on the back as well as the front and it even has leather arm bands to hold it in place should he ever decide to take it into a real battle. (Unlikely, but you never know...LOL.) For now, it will hang on a wall in our home.
Shane picks it apart and points out all the mistakes and flaws, so I have to keep reminding him that an authentic targe would have had many, many flaws and imperfections to begin with and many more after being in battle.
Personally, I think he did a great job on this project.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
What My Husband Does When He's Not Working
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9 comments:
I'm also of Irish descent, on my Dad's side, and I really like this targe that he made. It is beautiful! Tell him that it is the imperfections that make it truly wonderful!
BTW: what imperfections? It looks awesome to me! :)
Alright, I'm officially jealous! Den would be playing Bioshock 2 for the entire time.
And if Den ever sees the targe, he would be drooling. It's wonderful!
It really is beautiful. I suppose we're always going to be our own worst critics, but I'd happily display that in pride of place in my home, it really is a work of art.
That is gorgeous. I love it. Kevin is Scotch and Irish too. I would hang that in my house too. I love how Shane helps you out--you got a good one!!!
Your hubby is truly a blessing to pitch in and do 'woman's work' when he's on furlough.
He's a keeper as my mom would have said.lol
And I think his leatherwork is AWESOME!
Dang, he should start a side job selling stuff like that at shows and renaissance fairs, sell them to boutiques, etc. I don't know what the costs are that are involved but if this is any indication of the level of his handiwork, he could make some cash doing what he loves here!
Heck I'd buy one!
On behalf of Shane, I'll say thanks to all of you. I might wait a while to show him the compliments, though...I wouldn't want it to go to his head or anything.
Slugmama, he took the targe this morning for the people at the Tandy Leather store to see, and they were saying the same things...that he should take lots of pictures of it and start a portfolio so that he can consider selling his pieces. He hadn't even considered it; he was just doing it for fun and relaxation.
As for him doing "woman's work", gender roles don't hold much water at our house. From the beginning we gravitated to the tasks we enjoyed most or, at least, didn't mind doing. I don't like to vacuum, but he does. I don't mind cleaning the bathroom or changing the litter box, but there's no way I'd ever get him to do those things.
He does most of the car maintenance and yard work, while I do most of the cooking and bookkeeping, but we can usually step into the other's role and at least keep things running at some level if we have to. :)
Even more beautiful than when unfinished.
Tell Shane his work is beautiful! Glad to know he helps around the house, my hubby does too when he has the time.
Which leaves me more time to read and blog, and... well you get the picture. So what do you do with all your extra time? :)
I love this! Also that he's helping you...
As for your latest post about the pennies saved/found (I totally suck at commenting), YAY. Every bit helps!!
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