St. Jacob's Market-isn't wood wonderful!

A couple of years ago their was a fire that burned one of the buildings at the St. Jacob's Market to the ground.

The wooden building was quickly replaced with a soft top building as a temporary measure.

The soft top building is very nice, super bright but only a single story which displaced half of the vendors.

  Last week my wife and I went to St. Jacob's and as well as all the good things to eat we got to see the completed replacement building in all it two story glory.

  The market is run by Mennonites, maybe even owned by the Mennonite community and the buildings show their barn building heritage, also their practical good sense.

  This replacement building is wood,the walls are wood and the beams, and roof are wood.

  The posts and beams are laminated soft wood.(spruce I think) I suspect most of the wood was milled locally there is a large milling operation not far away, that cuts local timber.

  The design inside is high, bright and airy.

  






The floor is poured concrete. The bathrooms are tiled but everything else is rough lumber that will age gracefully and be easy to repair or replace for years to come.

 

   I am always so impressed buy the organization of the market and of course the beauty and practicality of the buildings.  This new building is filled with food booths so the smell of cinnamon rolls and coffee mixed with new wood is heady.

  It love to see wood instead of cement. Many of our public buildings look more like concrete bunkers than inviting living spaces. 

  Well done Market Management.

cheers ianw

Before there was plastic there was Raw Hide.

  A while ago I replaced the end on one of our garden hoses. To hold the new fitting in place I used a hose clamp and the result looked like this:

The clamp is doing the job perfectly but it is not very nice to hold on to while splashing water around the yard. Having a nasty thingy on the end of the hose is not really an issue for grown ups.....but shortly there will be grand children playing in the yard and I don't want a four year old's hand messed up by a rough edge.

 The solution:

before trimming

 a raw hide wrap.  

after trimming.

   Once raw hide is wet it can be shaped easily and once it dries it is very hard.

  I started out with a cheap cheap piece of raw hide for a cheap cheap bag of raw hide chew pieces for dogs. I bought the bag at a $ store, not even a pet food place.  There are a dozen irregular hunks of raw hide about the size of the palm of my hand.

 First stage to making the raw hide workable is to soak it for a good long time.  Usually I soak the piece I want to work with for at least over night and usually more like 24 hours. Once the hide is that soaked it is kind of spongy, a bit slimy and ready to be shaped and stitched.

 

  I cut the wet hide with a sharp utility knife and punch holes in it with an awl. After getting the wet hide shaped I leave it to dry out, usually a couple of days. Once dry it is a bit rough but quite hard. For this project I will probably smooth the dried hide down some how, sand paper I expect.

  Yesterday was Canada Day and as I rode my bike around the neighbourhood I saw some school kids playing road hockey. 

   The great Canadian summer tradition.  There is even a reference to playing road hockey in one of the Murdoch Mysteries episodes. Aside from a part of my history as well as Canadian Identity I just love it when I see kids outside playing. 

 cheers,ianw