What do Australians do leading up to Christmas?

 

If you've run out of ideas you could always have a Crab Race, eh!

 

 

 

Making a mortise using a Japanese mortising chisel.

 The Japanese Mortise Chisel (Tategu) - double layer blade laminated with White Paper steel , has a square cross section that tapers towards the end of the blade. Handles are made from Japanese White Oak. In Japan these are used to make or rework the guides of Japanese sliding doors (shoji) and partition walls. 

Start by marking the outer dimensions of the mortise using a square and a pencil.

Next use a mortise guage to mark the width of the mortise. 

 

Using a hammer drive your Japanese mortise chisel into the timber starting near the centre of the mortise at an angle of approximately 45 degrees and keeping within the lines marked by the mortise guage. The mortise chisel needs to be driven in line with the timber for the best end result. 

Turn the chisel in the opposite direction to remove your first piece of timber.  

The recess is made larger gradually by repeating the first two processes.

When you get to the point where you're almost at the pencil lines use the chisel in a vertical position to remove small shavings until you reach the pencil line. You may need to remove more timber at the bottom of the mortise to allow for the tenon that's going to fit into it.

 

With the tenon already prepared it's now ready to fit into the mortise.

Tap the tenon into the mortise using a wooden mallet. Now you've got a joint that is strong and suitable for a range of different uses such as tables, chairs and cupboards.

 

 

 

 

In a "Garden City" what else would you expect?

Managed to get up to Toowoomba on the last day of the Carnival of Flowers last week. The Toowoomba City Council really does a wonderful job of putting the gardens together for this once a year show.

 

A geometric pattern of blue and yellow Violas.

The aptly named Smoke Bush(Cotinus coggygria)

Red and white Tulips in a bed of red and pink and white Dianthus.

An aerial view of the main section of gardens. Held every September and really worth the drive if you love glorious flowers with plenty of colour.

An ordinary street transformed

I couldn't believe my eyes as I drove past this short street in The Gap this morning. The Golden Pendas (Xanthostemon chrysanthus) were in flower like I have never seen before. Rainbow Lorrikeets were flying in and out of the trees to get the nectar from the flowers and the flowering of the trees has completely transformed the street into a wonderland.

One windy night......

Is this what one expects to wake up to on Australia Day?

Along with supplying Japanese Tools we also have a nursery growing plugs (a small plant in an individual cell) in trays. But on the morning of Monday 28th of January 2013 things didn't look quite right in the nursery. The roof blew off then the rain accumultaed in the plastic sheeting that was still partially covering the roof. When the weight of the water got too great for the plastic to hold it any longer, it gave way with hundreds of kilos of water landing on the benches below.

 

A hot day at Melbourne Zoo.

 

We decided to visit the Zoo in Melbourne on a day when the mercury rose to 41.1deg C. We were among the few that visited on that day. Needless to say we didn't see any Snow Leopards or other cold climate animals - they were inside like we should have been. The Japanese garden within the Zoo grounds had to bear the heat the best it could. 

 

Ju Raku En Japanese Garden in Toowoomba

 

Toowoomba the Garden City boasts one of the best Japanese Gardens in Australia - the Ju Raku En. This week is Toowoomba's Carnival of Flowers - Saturday being one of the best days to visit because there is the parade down the main street with floral floats, street performers, stilt walkers and bands. Starts at 12.00pm on Saturday, 22nd September. Lots of open gardens to visit and of course the Ju Raku En.