A Hot New Hobby

Hubby took an 'Introduction to Blacksmithing' class from the local junior college in the spring of 2011 and he was hooked (and also the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012...). Three short hours each week was just not enough blacksmithing time, so in November, he bought his own propane forge and set up shop in our back yard.




Apart from the huge mess right behind my back door, it was a lot of fun to watch him work from the comfort of the warm house.



It is neat to watch the iron get red hot in the forge and then to watch him bang, twist and ease it into shape.







He is very prolific in his creations, in fact, a good portion of our Christmas gifts this year were homemade:


House numbers for Lin and Joe



Treble Clef for Randy




Huge Iron 'J' for Ted




Leaf Door Knocker for Barbara



To further encourage and support his hobby (and to encourage the grass to grow again by the back door), we cleaned out the area behind our garage and set up a proper smithy for him. I miss getting to see him in action as I putter around the kitchen, but I do like having my back yard back.