{"id":384,"date":"2012-01-02T13:27:02","date_gmt":"2012-01-02T19:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=384"},"modified":"2012-01-02T13:27:02","modified_gmt":"2012-01-02T19:27:02","slug":"ricks-super-secret-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=384","title":{"rendered":"Rick’s Super Secret Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m still working on updating the WordPress stuff and finding a template to fit what I want. Nothing looks very good though. Tried some hand coding without any luck. Maybe I really need to explore the world of blogging better.<\/p>\n

Last Christmas, I had seen these little metal creatures and I wanted one. I put it on my Christmas list as an item that the guys could get for me. I gave them the catalog address even. There was no way they could miss how much I wanted one.<\/p>\n

While cleaning up the roadside with the Streeters car club, Rick found a 6 foot piece of rebar lying in the grass. Rich got the idea to save his money and make me a garden gnome. I didn’t really care, but I worried what a homemade one would look like. One cold day in December, Rich got out the welding equipment, left over car parts, and the rebar with an idea in mind. What I got was the cutest little guy!\u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Vanessa and Kelli had really liked the garden gnome and expressed definite interest in one for their own patio. This blog is about getting Rick to make a couple of gnomes. Sorry, it’s not about Sascha today.<\/p>\n

Back in October, I tried to get Rick started on a little project as Christmas presents for his aunts.\u00a0Needless to say, he didn\u2019t jump at the chance then.\u00a0So on Dec 22, I gave him no choice.\u00a0He had to make a garden gnome for his Aunt Vanessa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I guess the real problem turned out that the last time Rick was welding, he caught his glove on fire.\u00a0That kind of scared him away from gas-generated flames and something you had a hard time seeing until it was burning well.\u00a0But Rick had to learn to weld and handle working on metal.\u00a0He\u2019s going to own a really old car one day!<\/a><\/p>\n

On that Thursday, Rick set off to the hardware store for rebar, bolts, nuts, and other odds and ends that he might need to make a suggested human form from car parts and other metals. He returned with enough for one gnome.\u00a0Why hadn\u2019t he gotten enough for two then?\u00a0He was pretty sure one was all he could make. OK.<\/p>\n

So I fed him breakfast on Friday morning and kicked him out into the garage.\u00a0After consulting with his father on a couple of facts, Rick began to cut rebar down to size.\u00a0Bending and shaping, a pair of feet emerged from the bar. Bird-like in their structure, they were kind of cute.\u00a0And look, Ma, no gloves on fire.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was really cold on that Friday.\u00a0This meant that Rick went back and forth between the house and the garage a lot.\u00a0The tongue (previously known as a mower blade) was welded into place after some design flaws were corrected.\u00a0After the feet were attached to the bottom of a brake part, he decided to give up until the next day. I assured him that I would once again fix breakfast and send him back out to continue his work.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday was Christmas Eve.\u00a0True to my word, there was breakfast a plenty before the garage door opened.\u00a0It was a good thing the gnome wasn\u2019t needed until the 29th.\u00a0Rick seemed pretty happy to return to his work today.\u00a0Was he beginning to like welding, hammering, and shaping metal?<\/p>\n

By noon, the entire gnome was put together and waving his arms in the air. On close inspection, the welds appeared to be smooth and well sanded. All the bends were nicely turned. Wow! A garden gnome had appeared on the work table in place of the rebar, brake drums, bolts, and pile of nutes. I thought it needed ears, but Rick assured me it was completed.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

All day Christmas, I continued to mention that Aunt Kelli really needed a garden gnome also.\u00a0She might feel slighted if one didn\u2019t have her name on it.\u00a0Rick finally gave in and accepted that he had work to do on Monday and Tuesday.\u00a0So bright and early Monday morning, Rick set off for the hardware store.\u00a0He returned with more rebar, bolts, and a pile of nuts.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Once again, a pair of bird-like legs appeared on the work table.\u00a0These were welded to the bottom of a brake drum.\u00a0Arms appeared with small fingers.\u00a0A tongue was welded in place using the latest design.\u00a0Finally, the head and body were connected.\u00a0A second gnome was completed.\u00a0To add to the unique design of each, this gnome had one hand up and one hand down.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Dec 28th, the gnomes and other presents were packed into the back of the car for the long trip to Michigan.\u00a0On the 29th, the gnomes were presented to his aunts.\u00a0Vanessa got first choice since she had put in her request first.\u00a0I do believe his aunts were suprised by the effort and their little metal creatures will find nice homes.<\/p>\n

Norm and Norma wishing everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!\"\"<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m still working on updating the WordPress stuff and finding a template to fit what I want. Nothing looks very good though. Tried some hand coding without any luck. Maybe I really need to explore the world of blogging better. Last Christmas, I had seen these little metal creatures and I wanted one. I put […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}