MenzShed 29 August

MENZSHED SOCIAL TIME AND BBQ DAY AGAIN

Hi Sheddies

Where did that month go again. Last Thursday of the month again and our Haining Street Shed is geared up for a good get together to talk, eat, drink and meet guests who may or may not have been invited. Its often too noisy to have a conversation but these special Thursdays are a good chance to talk about interesting things and ideas.

Members are asked to help get the place cleaned up and ready starting from about 10.00am ready for the invited guests to arrive about 11.00am

There will be BBQ bangers, eggs, bread, tomato sauce, etc PLUS Scones PLUS a taste of freshly Smoked Fish.

Yes we have had a small fish smoker donated and one ot two people fancy they know what they are doing. We're good at the eating part.

ANY SPECIAL TREAT CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME

Lets get together for a good catch-up with each other and come up with ideas for things to do in the future.

We look forward to seeing you there between 10.00am and maybe 1.30pm

PS. Looking ahead. There is to be an Annual Members Meeting Thursday 5 August to get some plans and people into place for the coming year. A real opportunty for others to contribute in either a small or larger way whatever suits.

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MenzShed Thursday 15 July

More progress on the Firengine. Starting to look like the real thing now. It could have wheels back on it soon. We need to get our wood turners organised and the lathe going to produce some dummy emergency vehicle lights to make it look realistic.

Any takers for the lathe work???

THE BIG NEWS OF THE WEEK IS THAT HENRY'S RESTORED MAHOGANY COFFEE SOLD THROUGH TRADE ME FOR $250. A great contribution to our funds to help set up other projects.

Dougs kindling project is going very well with I think a stock now of about 7 bags ready for sale. There have already been quite a few sales to add to the coffers.

Malcolm was onto some bookshelves for a nice young lady client.

Garry's Mahjong case was complete and I will catch up on whether the lady has picked it up.

If anyone is interested we have 3 meltica computer office workstations that might normally be used in an open plan type office with low partitions. Any interest please speak up. They were donated to use to sell for raising funds. Excellent quality units. Quite heavy. Two are corner units with adjustable keyboard height and a long wing table on one side. Make it known if you are interested or know someone who might be.

SOUP EMULSIFIER FOR SALE!!! Very much an industrial grade and sized unit this. We intend to try Ruth Pretty Caterers and cooking school at Te Horo for interest but any other ideas please let us know. If we can find the right buyer this should be worth good money. Otherwise the component parts like the 1.3 HP motor will be very useful to drive one of our machines and the motor raising winch will make a good general purpose winch if we can find space to store it.

NAENAE COMMUNITY FAIR We have been invited to participate in the Naenae MenzSheds stand at the Naenae Community Fair on Saturday 7 August from 10am to 2pm. Seems like a good opportunity to socialise with fellow sheddies, sell a few of our fine products and make the general community aware of what MenzShed is all about. I could see us having kindling, bird feeders, potato peeler aids and anything else we might like to sell or show off. What do you think?

Norman will be away tomorrow. Maybe he is getting over his big Grumpy Old Man session today but we will be there from about 10.00 am tomorrow along with everyone else. Hope to see you there.

Cheers to everyone

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MenzShed 1 July

G'day all Sheddies

Last Thursday was a great day at the Shed in Haining Street. The topsoil mixture was delivered by the Council staff, and the gardens at the side and rear of the build were filled to the brim. A fantastic effort on the day with minimal equipment to make life simple. Some of Tom's Thursday afternoon group also planted out both patches with silverbeat that the Council people also kindly bought along with them.

The food and conversation was fantastic and our special guests gained a good idea of what a great place we have PLUS they can see it is doing a fantastic service to us men. Henry on BBQ and Malcolm on Scones made the place sing to the smell of food. Then there was the cakes and things bought in from home specially made by John and others. The impression these visitors gain from these guest invites can make an enornmous difference in the future as we go looking for funds to pay the bills. Which leads on to news that the DHB have just advised they have approved a small financial grant to help toward our ongoing costs. Gillian Burns from Habitat for Humanity (another guest) has offered to do a presentation to us sometime to outline what they do and discuss how we might work together. Any interest please let me know.

John Spittal and Archie Kerr from other MenzSheds enjoyed their visit and felt they could learn from how we were going. They thought we had organisation. I apologised for the misrepresentation of the true chaos that mostly exists.

SHED NEWS

Stuart has delivered us a large TV ready to run DVDs or videos or whatever might be necessary. This will have more bearing upon Tom's mens group sessions he runs alternate thursday afternoons. This will need mounting on a shelf high on the end wall of the main room along with the equipment cabinet we already have waiting to be set up. Steve has another TV that has been waiting to be picked up from his office in Newtown. That will happen this Thursday.

The DHB have given us some office workstations for either use or disposal. They are large meltica corner and straight wall units. We will be looking for 3 or 4 able bodied men to make a quick trip with a trailer to get these plus the tv from Newtown.

Doug produced 4 bags of kindling wood last week and 3 of those were grabbed by the members for the bargain price $5/bag. He is working away on this at home in his spare time. Help with a hatchet to split the palet wood out the back would be helpful if anyone is willing.

Garry has completed the Mahjong case he was building for a Mrs Won, a customer who came in to see if we could make something for her. Looks a treat. Just needs lots of wax to make it a million dollar game set.

Malcolm has been in touch with our 2 other young ladies looking for help with book cases and bike shelters. They are now all in hand and if anyone is looking for a project I am sure he could do with some help with the bike shelter.

Bill Flanagan has all his bits ready for the sawhorses. Looks like a real professional job to me and I for one would like to learn from his experience on this important job.

John has the Charitable Trust registration well in hand and hopefully good news any time now.

AND NOW THE NEW WORKSHOP DAY

Thursday is back to the usual workshop activities.

1. More fire engine project progress and lots of other things.
2. Last week we got to talking about anything special that could be useful and it is obvious that Murray, John would benefit from adapting the small tables at the end so that they are able to sit and quietly get on with their projects. It will just need some blocks or wheels under the table legs to raise them slightly. We might manage to do something this week.
3. Bills' sawhorses are a valuable item for many projects and maybe others might help and learn on this project.
4. Lets get a start on mounting the TV and sound system.
5. More palets are due to arrive so its demolition time plus kindling splitting too.
6. Norman has a bunch on computer towers for upgrading.
7. The work stations from the DHB are to be picked up
8. The TV from Newtown ot be picked up.

We would think thats enough to go on with for now.

See you all tomorrow.

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MenzShed 27 June

Yes its the last Thursday of the month again and time to have a brief shed tidy up, light up the Bar-B-Que, sizzle some bangers, bake scones, boil the jug and generally have a good day of talking amongst outselves along with a few invited guests expected to arrive about 11.30 ish.

Among this Thurday's guests we can expect a group of people from Hutt Valley Health who have provided us with some of our funding, a lady from Habitat for Humanity who are interested is seeing what we might do for them, a fellow sheddie from Naenae MenzShed and possibly the Northern Suburbs MenzShed bloke as well.  They are presently without a shed to do things.

Could be some interesting things to hear about and share our place with others.  Naenae are preparing to build their own purpose built shed.

As a side issue the topsoil for the gardens at the rear and side of the Shed is being delivered too.  So there will be an initial hive of activity to shovel it into the raised garden boxes.  Anyone locally with a wheelbarrow and shovel is asked to please bring it for a little walk to Haining Street.

We look forward to seeing you all at Haining Street starting from 10 am.  Since we now have a small oven that works, Nigel will bring the scone mix.

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MenzShed 17 June

Another good day last Thursday.

John getting stuck into his peeler handles. Looking good they are too.

The computer crew were making great headway on their present recycling challenge too.

The fire engine took several more steps forward. What a difference it makes when the materials are all there.

Henry checked out our 2 small benchtop ovens to see if they are ok. One is a bit short of heat at the bottom but I am sure we will get good use out of that anyway. The other one with an element on top is working fine. We might even try a small natch of scones to prove their worth this week. Just watch this space.

A member we haven't seen for a while, Bill Flanagan came in specially to help make up some saw horses that we need. With his help we have now the materials ready to put them together. He has the designs. We have the tdechnology and the materials. So this week could see us set up with those as well.

There was another delivery of pallets from Bunnings and breaking them down for firewood began with a vengence out the back. What a hive of activity. All that noise from the wee chainsaw created some great slamming of windows on the apartments overlooking our yard. Woops, we will have to get that silencer fixed. Dougs electric one was a lot more suited to the confined space. This still needs a big effort to catch up with supply and get the sales under way.

We were going to do some extra on the pile of pallets this Tuesday but with the cold wind and rain that didn't happen.

ITS ALL ON FOR THE FIREWOOD TOMORROW IN FACT THIS THURSDAY WILL BE MORE OF WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK.

So people know the fate of our magnificent mahogany table that was so beautifully restored. It is currently for sale on Trade Me with a reserve of $200. If you know anyone who might collect such items then point them in the right direction. It comes up as a Coffee Table in Kapiti (where our TradeMe member lives).

You might also like to know that Refugee Survices now have a fully operating Electronic Whiteboard with printer. Following a request for help Norman paid a visit to their office to have a look to see if it might be something for us to take on and while there managed a complete repair on the spot. How satisfying is that now.

LETS SEE IF WE CAN COMPLETE A FEW THINGS THIS WEEK BECAUSE NEXT WEEK IS THAT LAST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH AND SO ITS BBQ SAUSAGES AND SCONE TIME AGAIN!!!

WE WILL BE INVITING SOME GUESTS WHO WANT TO MEET UP WITH US.

See you all at the Shed in Haining Street.

Addenda

Following a quietish day today we were just sitting down thinking where to from here. A couple of important issues came quickly to mind.

1. Doug, Henry, Stuart, Don and everyone who could lend a hand did a fantastic job attacking the pallet firewood stack today. When I saw the effort involved and the physical stress being put on the people, it crossed my mind as to "is this what we should be asking of our members"? My immediate thought is if we have to put in this much effort every week then firewood will have to dominate every Thursday and I wouldn't want to see that. What are the thoughts of others????

2. Next week is the last Thursday of the month and so it will be BBQ and socialising day. There are a number of people who I think we could invite to come along and find out what MenzShed Wellington is about.

Firstly there are our associates from other MenzSheds in the area. In particular there is the currently inactive Newlands Shed known as the Northern Suburbs MenzShed. Doug and I met John Spittal at the conference. We had discussed the possibility of their members making use of our facilities while they find a new venue. Any disagreement to that invite?

The second is MenzShed NaeNae. Our contact there is Archie Kerr who was also at the Masterton Conference. They are facing venue issues to and are working to build their own shed in the Hutt Valley. Could be lots of help to us in the future. What do others think about them being invited?

The Community Garden people for Wellington (Innermost Gardens) through Sarah Adams have expressed interest in meeting our Shed people with the view to exploring how we might be able to help one another. We have been in talks with another community garden group as well and there are major synergies between the two groups. Any problems with an invite to Sarah next Thursday?

Mary Strang of the Hutt Valley District Health Board is one of our source of helpful funding. An invite to her could aid better understanding of what is being achieved on the Wellbeing of Men front. Any problems witrh that?

This past week we also met Gill Burns from Habitat for Humanity who was interested in how MenzShed might be an important support group to a concept of refurbishing items for resale through an organised group of outlets about the country. What do people think about an invite there?

These are the contact details we have. If you want to add to the list please add contact information to the list.

John Spittal, Northern Suburbs MenzShed Group (Newlands) spittals@xtra.co.nz

Archie Kerr, Menz Shed Naenae archie.kerr@clear.net.nz

Sarah Adams, Innermost Gardens innermostgardens@gmail.com

Mary Strang, Regional Public Health, Hutt Valley District Health Board mary.strang@huttvalleydhb.org.nz

Gill Burns, Habitat for Humanity, Lower North Island gillb.habitat@xtra.co.nz

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MenzShed 10 June

The temperature is cool but the welcome warm at our Shed in Haining Street. This Thursday its business as usual starting from about 10am until whenever we get hungry about 12.30pm or later as the mood takes us. More tea and bickies to start the session with then onto our projects once again.

Now that Mitre 10 Mega in Petone have come to the party, the Johnsonville West Kindergarten Fire Engine is under way with a purpose. We have the materials so now its time for produce the goods. This will be something worth doiung in the community.

John's potato peeler aids are taking shape so this week could see real progress with those.

Norman, Henry, Robin and John (probably many others too) have made some excellent progress with the old PCs. I think we now have 2 ready for donationj (for Koha) to a school desperately in need of these for disadvantaged children.

Thanks to the efforts of Garry and Bill the garden at the rear is now also ready for filling with topsoil and planting. (But first we have to empty the middle of the firewood pallets stored there.

The firewood project got started last week with delivery of a number of pallets. Doug and Stuart got the job under way last week and now have a better idea of what we have to deal with. This week we intend to attack the stack with chain saws and make a big impression. Doug has bags to pack the finished wood into ready for sale.

SO THE BIG EFFORT THIS WEEK IS TO HELP DOUG AND HIS TEAM PRODUCE THE FIRST BATCH OF FIREWOOD FOR SALE. Anyone who can help on this for an hour will make a big difference to this job.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

We think the next big effort is to get the workshop layout all complete and safe for real action but that's something to plan for along with getting things ready for a Saturday Garage Sale. By the way if anyone has a pair of saw horses excess to requirements thay would be very welcome.

Let us know if there are any pet projects you want help with or if you have an idea that might be something for the whole shed to get involved in.

We look forward to seeing you all for Thursday's Workshop Session.

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MenzShed 3 June

Just a brief note to prepare everyone for our weekly workshop session starting from about 10.00am tomorrow morning

There are 3 items of special note tomorrow.

1. Bunnings have already delivered a batch of pallets to be made into firewood and kindling and a second delivery will happen between 9 and 10 am tomorrow. Firewood crew get ready for action. We will have to keep on top of this or storage of pallets will rapidly become a big issue with our fellow tenants like Vincent. Vincent goes to a lot of trouble to make sure we have plenty of parking room on our Shed days so I think he need to be considered at all times.

2. Mitre 10 Mega will have the materials for the Fire Engine project ready and have offered us the use of one of their trailers to pick them up in the morning. Andrew, Alan, Wayne and I will detour on our trip to the shed to make that pickup.

SO ITS ALL ON WITH 2 IMPORTANT PROJECTS!

3. Last week the side garden for the soup kitchen was completed ready for filling with topsoil and then planting. Soil delivery cannot take place until our own garden at the rear is ready too. Tomorrow Garry and I are hoping to see to that. When thats done we get paid for the materials used for the side garden.

As well as that we need to move ahead getting sale items ready for a garage sale to raise funds for materials and tools etc etc etc. So more Weta Motels and Bird Feeders, Spud peeling stabilizers, bath seats, and anything else that are saleable are needed.

At our meeting this week we though a 6 week lead time to a Saturday garage sale might be something to work toward.

By the way Philipa at the Soup Kitchen has a couple of small welding jobs needing attention from someone who knows what they are doing and I think she said there was a trolley needing some pop rivets too. Rolf and an assistant might be our crew there.

We look forward to seeing you all there tomorrow.

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MenzShed 27 May

Another good day last week. Lots of progress on a number of projects.

The plans for this Thursday are focused on a last Thursday of the month lunchtime BBQ. We hope to make this a regular social occasion when partners and friends can be invited along also. Nothing flash. Sausages in bread, a fried egg sandwich, tea, coffee, scones maybe if someone makes some. Once we have a small oven that will be a piece of cake to do but for now a little more of a challenge. Feel free to bring along a few biscuits or anything you want if it takes your fancy.

Alan Royal from the Steering Committe is stepping down and we will take the opportunity to offer our appreciation for his efforts to get the place off the ground.

Apart from the food it will be business as usual with the small jobs being done all round the place. For John - I have not forgoten the grinder and things to help shape your potato peeling aid project. I will even bring in an old rasp that might help.

The news from last week.

I noted that the Mahogany Coffee Table is now complete. It looks a million dollars and ready for sale to a good bidder. Andrew took some pictures to see if he can find a buyer. If we have a Trade Me expert maybe thats another prospective way to get a good price.

We had a lady visitor asking if we could make her a nice box to replace the plastic one that came with her Mahjong set and is now falling apart. She asked how much but I told her we relied upon donations for things and that when we had a box to offer we would negotiate with her to the satisfaction of both parties. Seemed a very pleased customer. Garry leapt at the opportunity to make something special to do the job.

Another lady came in the door with some excellent older joinery hand tools that had belonged to her father. A beautifully kept brace, a wide range of auger bits in a cloth case, 2 excellent wood planes (one a large Stanley and the other an older wooden one), a large aluminium level, a beautiful old carpenters square and especially useful is a large flooring clamp. (I know there is another name but the brain cells wont release it to me).

Robin's excercycle generator is definitely now a goer. Ready to demonstrate what can be achieved. An interesting one to watch.

The raised garden along the Soup Kitchen side wall has now been reconfigured, realigned, full seat installed and carpet placed inside ready to be filled with soil and planted. The progress here is important because when its completed we get paid by the Sisters. The other raised garden at the rear of the Shed was raided for extra timber to complete the Sisters one properly, and for now the spare macrocarpa is stored in out storeroom ready for a rebuild with whatever is left. It might be a bit smaller than originally intended, but that will make our drummer neighbour much happier and will probably suit our needs anyway.

Our Fire Engine project took another forward step with Wayne bringing in refurbished front wheel assembly for fitting to the new chassis. But the big news with the Fire Engine is that the holdup with sourcing materials from Bunnings has been overcome by a Plan B; definite agreed written sponsorship from Mitre 10 Mega to provide all that is needed for the rebuild except for wheels that they don't have. This is a big step forward. They are also insisting the use of premium materials to ensure the result to the community is long lasting. The things needed are to be picked up ready for use next thursday 3 June.

Further to the Bunnings problem, Stuart and Steve have sorted out any issues that got in the way with our relationship there. All will be OK when Susan gets back as the Manager.

I look forward to seeing you at the Haining St Shed from 10.00am onwards until we give it away.

Nigel Clough

Operating Committee

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MenzShed 21 May

Last week was a great day with lots of things completed, started, and planned. We all went home with the same number of fingers as we started with. Joking aside safety could be a big issue so lets take care with all the equipment we have.

There's still more ideas to work on and jobs to be done. There's some good stuff happening here and it can only get better.

The bandsaw blade has been welded so those shapeing jobs should be all on again. Peter is away in Taupo so his sawhorse patterns will come to a halt for now.

We have a prototype bird feeder idea to let people see and adapt to come up with our unique design.  All suggestions and ideas to make it work are welcome.

10.00 am onwards at the usual place, 6 - 8 Haining Street.

By the way we need a letter box solution for the Shed.  Something thats fireproof and that can be adapted to fit the building.

See you all tomorrow.

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MenzShed 13 May

Once again Thursday is rolling up tomorrow and the regular weekly Shed Workshop will be all on.  Last week went well with lots of suggestions for useful saleable items put into the great bucket of ideas.  We even started on making our first Weta Motels.  This week should see more progress there and I expect a few more of the suggested items will get started.

Ready for tomorrow I have also put together some information on winter bird feeders that should sell well plus gathered up information on feeders for honey eaters like Tuis, a real favourite in the garden.  Needs a bit of development that one.  I have some suggestions on "how to make a tui station" but there must be some better ones.

It is also worth noting that Garry bought in the first woodtuners tool last week so once the lathe table is adjusted to the true height work can start on turning out things on the lathe.

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Last week we also had an offer from the lady at the Sisters of Compassion to buy some of our excess outside garden chairs.  That will help buy some of the materials we need to start some other projects. We look forward to seeing everyone again tomorrow from about 10.00am