The Hori Hori Knives are Back!

Those of you who have used the Hori Hori Knife can understand my excitement. And those of you who have not . . .well NOW is your chance. This is by far the best gardening tool, and I say that from personal gardening experience (despite my black thumb). Numerous master gardeners have verified and confirmed it, as well as the Wall Street Journal (March 26, 2012: Can You Dig It).

A Hori Hori knife is for dirt and roots. It allows you to really dig into the dirt and loosen it to remove thick heavy roots. We ran out of them just before the end of 2012, and now they are back in stock. I know many of you have been waiting for them, so I just wanted to let you know that they are here and ready for you to come and pick up or for us to ship to you. Of course, January and February are not the typical months for purchasing gardening supplies, but while the snow flies we are all dreaming of summer and the veggies and flowers we will grow. Get your supplies ready because spring is just around the corner.

Item Number: 02GA20001 Price $25.00

Basic Tools Workshop

You know that piece of trim that needs to be replaced, or the door that sticks in the kitchen, or the light fixture you want to replace. . .you can do it yourself and many other much bigger projects with the right tools!

My Mom always said – a woman may not have the strength to bash a beam into place, but she’ll find a way to get it there one way or another. Having the right tools and creative mentality are key to making that happen. A few years ago I gave a tool talk to an audience of women at a library in Damariscotta – the enthusiasm and standing ovation made me want to offer it at Shelter. Awhile ago I read an article in one of my FAVORITE magazines about tool selection and it was such a disappointment. It didn’t feature any of the really cool tools available. So here is my version of that article in real life. I offered this workshop last year to Women-Only and there was an outcry from the less-experienced men out there interestd in learning some basic tools in a friendly environment so I've opened this workshop up to men and women alike! This workshop will be an easy space to learn about tools and get your feet on the ground, an opportunity to bring your questions and have a discussion!

This is a four-hour workshop on tools—how to assess the problem and visualize practical solutions, what tools to look for, and how to evaluate them based on your use and your budget. We’ll discuss the basic tools you should have in your toolbox regardless of where you fall in the spectrum of house building, renovating, maintaining, and woodworking in general. A base level of knowledge about tools enables you to make confident decisions about where to spend a little extra money and when you can get a base model that will do exactly what you need. I’ll discuss hand tools and power tools and what to look for – which brands are ergonomically friendly and which brands are touting the best battery life! I can’t promise that you’ll never have to deal with a condescending salesman at the hardware store again, but I can promise that you will have confidence to speak clearly and accurately about a tool when you do have to deal with a sales person.

It doesn’t matter whether you're hanging a picture on the wall or building the wall yourself. There are a few select items that will make these projects manageable. We'll have on hand a selection of Shelter's favorite tools for you to handle and try and I’ll show you my absolute favorite essentials that you won’t necessarily find at the big box stores.

Great New Tools

If you are like me you are still scrambling to get those last few gifts for loved ones. We just received a great new line of tools and projects for kids! As a mom of two little girls I am always looking for ways to get them building and to help them improve their dexterity. My parents had me out on the house building site at a very young age and it has always made me feel as though I could tackle any project . . . sometimes to a fault. But I would not trade it for anything.

Please visit our store on Route One in Woolwich or Online to see this collection. There is still time to get these to you by Friday. We have tool belts, gloves, bug barn kits, birdhouse kits, air hockey kits, tool sets and even a real cordless drill just for kids -- it comes with bits! What could be more exciting than your very own, properly sized tools?

Merry Holiday and Happy New Year
-Blueberry

Bangor Daily News Features Tools for Women Workshops

Blueberry at work.
(From Bangor Daily News)

Blueberry is featured in today's Bangor Daily News. Writer Christopher Cousins asks her about the challenges of working in the construction industry as a woman and highlights the upcoming Tools for Women workshop and class series at Shelter. Here's a selection from the article:

Read more »

Update on New Weekend Workshop Series

Shelter Institute has organized a new series of weekend workshops at the Shelter Institute Campus, starting this weekend.

This Saturday!
February 4, from 9:00-1:00: Blueberry Beeton is offering a four-hour workshop in Basic Tool Selection for Women. Patsy Hennin, co-founder of Shelter Institute, often said, “A woman may not have the strength to bash a beam into place, but she’ll find a way to get it there. Having the right tools and a creative mentality are the keys to making that happen.” Blueberry will discuss what hand tools and power tools to look for and how to evaluate them based on use, budget, and fit for a woman’s frame. She’ll list the tools everyone should have on-hand regardless of where one falls in the spectrum of house building, renovating, maintaining, or woodworking.
Tuition is $45 per person. Register online today to reserve your spot.

Read more »

New Class: Basic Tools Workshop for Women

By Blueberry Beeton, Shelter Staff—You know that piece of trim that needs to be replaced, or the door that sticks in the kitchen, or the light fixture you want to replace? You can do it yourself and many other much bigger projects with the right tools!

My Mom always said, "A woman may not have the strength to bash a beam into place, but she’ll find a way to get it there one way or another." Having the right tools and a creative mentality are key to making that happen. A few years ago I gave a tool talk to an audience of women at a library in Damariscotta—the enthusiasm and standing ovation made me want to offer a similar class at Shelter. A couple of months ago I read an article in one of my FAVORITE magazines about tool selection and it was such a disappointment. It didn’t feature any of the really cool tools available. I like to buy great tools like I buy great shoes, dresses or cooking tools. So this new class is my version of that article in real life. This workshop will be a comfortable space to learn about tools, get your feet on the ground, and an opportunity to bring your questions and have a discussion!

Read more »

Shelter at the New England Woodworking and DIY Show

Shelter will be one of the exhibitors at the New England Woodworking and D.I.Y. Show in West Springfield, MA, January 13-15. (Directions.)

Tickets are $12 for adults and can be purchased online. Children under 15, active duty police, fire, and military with ID get in free.

The list of exhibitors includes Fine Woodworking, Lee Valley, Veritas tools, Kreg, Delta, Bosch, Bessey Tools (more clamps!), and many more. There will be lots of free stuff, tools on display, and discount buying opportunities.

The show also offers an impressive list of educational seminars, including a seminar on tools offered by Shelter's very own Blueberry Beeton! Another seminar on making a hand plane and building cabinets is offered by Bob Settich, author of Built-Ins (in Taunton's Build Like a Pro series). He will talk about cabinetmaking details, plane techniques, and more. Maybe he'll get me motivated to start the built-in bookshelf/window seat I've promised my wife for years.

We're very happy to be part of such an impressive lineup. If you can make your way there, please stop by and see us.

Housing Industry Changes on the Horizon

By Blueberry Beeton, Real Estate Broker

High-priced homes may be harder to obtain

Over the last 6 months I have seen more real estate activity than I have in the last six years! Perhaps it's a sign of people being sick of waiting, or maybe it's an anomaly to the Midcoast area of Maine or just to my own practice. It is exciting—people are ready to build additions, purchase new land, move into their dream homes. But they are being put through the wringer to get their loans processed.



It is more important than ever to research your loan options and build up your credit. If you are looking for a construction loan, having your plans really well defined and an itemized list of costs as well as a clear time line is more critical than ever.

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Northeastern Woodworker's Show

Are you living or visiting the upstate New York area this weekend? Come check out Shelter at the 20th Annual Woodworker's Showcare in beautiful Saratoga Springs, New York!

The show, located at the Saratoga Springs City Center and put on by the Northeastern Woodworker's Association, will feature lectures, demonstrations, and all kinds of examples of fine woodworking from across the region. Shelter will be displaying great woodworking tools including Japanese saws, Flexcut carving tools, woodturning tools, Veto ProPacs, the Tormek Sharpening system, and an assortment of woodworking and building books.

You won't be able to miss our booth at the show, which will feature a gorgeous 8' by 8' timberframe in douglas fir. It demonstrates through tenons, trusses, wedges and birdsmouth joints.

Woodworker's Showcase hours:
Saturday the 26th - 10am to 5pm
Sunday the 27th - 10am to 5pm

Admission:
Adults - $10
Children under 12 - Free

The Golden Rules of Finance No Matter What the Market Climate Holds

By Blueberry Beeton, Real Estate Broker

Shelter Realty, formerly Midcoast Realty, continues to provide clients with thoughtful and clear guidance to both buyer and seller clients in this turbulent market. Recent transactions include owner builders, foreclosures, custom timber frame homes, 200-year-old homes revived to be put on the market, raw land and more. With all of these come the abrupt starts and stops caused by lenders. This is a market where buyers and sellers alike have to hurry up and wait regardless of their particular debt-to-income ratio or property value. The climate of lending and borrowing money has gone through tremendous transition in the last five years and continues to evolve. However, no matter how a loan is packaged there are some golden rules that seem to be timeless.

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Gardening and Farming Books

30% OFF ALL BOOKS ON THE GARDENING AND FARMING SHELF NOW THROUGH FEBRUARY 28th. (While supplies last.)

It is that time of year—the snow is flying and it seems like the gardens and fields are all sleeping. It is winter. Actually the snow really is flying outside right now. We have about 18-inches of it on the ground and the skies are full of it. As I sit inside snug and cozy with my cup of coffee flipping through our collection of gardening books, I can't help but wonder if spring will ever arrive.

I happen to be a bit of a brown thumb myself but after reviewing all of the amazing books (over 50 titles) I'm feeling very inspired. And from what I gather, now is the ideal time to plan your garden and get yourself geared-up for a successful growing season! We've got a terrific collection of books, and in the month of February, we're offering a sale on all of the titles on the Gardening and Farming shelf.

Beginning today and running through February 28th, all of the Farming and Gardening Books are 30% 0ff. You can take advantage of this sale in the store or online! I've included cover photos of a few of my favorite titles here to pique your interest.

In our gardening section, you can pick up how-to books on everything from designing your garden to gardening in small spaces, keeping chickens or bees, opening a flower farm for profit, filling your root cellar, or even building houses for your animals! Perhaps you're not into gardening and you just want a nicer lawn. Maybe you have a lot of bugs and pests, or you really just want to know how to compost. We've spent a lot of time hand-picking the best books on all of these and more topics because of their exceptional information or for their excellent writing . . . or both!

With the slow food movement in full swing, this collection is sure to entice even the least likely brown thumbs to get their hands dirty. And these books make great Valentines Day presents for those loved-ones who don't enjoy romantic movies, chocolates, or sweetheart candies. It's like giving flowers, but they'll need some time to bloom.

Architects Scale

By Blueberry Beeton

The Architects Scale is an invaluable tool for anyone involved in design, layout, or construction - large or small. It is somewhat forgotten because of the use of CAD and Sketchup we don't need to hand draw our plans anymore. I teach its use in the Drafting, Cardboard Models and Framing Models workshops and one person in every class complains about having to use paper and pencil. But I find myself digging my architects’ scale out for any number of projects at work and around the house. It is one of those tools that will never actually go out of use because no matter how much we do in the virtual world on the computer, we will always have the tangible world to contend with. I just used my architects scale to make my gingerbread house last weekend.

Building a gingerbread house is much like building a scale model. This gingerbread house is a 10x14 structure using the 3/4-in scale, (i.e. 3/4 of an inch is equal to one foot). This means that I used the face of the architect’s scale that has 3/4-in broken into increments and called out so it is easy to measure out the 10-ft width and 14-ft length of the building. The photo below shows the 3/4-in face of the scale. Begining on the left you see 0, 28, 1, 26, 2, 24, 3 etc. There are actually two scales on this face 3/4-inch coming from the left and 3/8-inch coming from the right. You can ignore the 3/8-in numbers (the higher numbers) and focus on the lower ones that begin on the left. The nice thing about the 3/4-inch scale is that it allows you to show detail of up to 1/2-inch. Those 1/2-inch increments are delineated by the 3/4 in to the left of zero; each line within that space represents a 1/2-inch in the 3/4-inch=1-ft scale.

This is the ideal scale for residential model making because it makes the house small enough to maneuver through my kitchen (and other spaces like doorways and cars if you need to take your model to the bank for loan approval). The 1/4-in scale is ideal for drafting and the 1-in scale is ideal for building residential models showing the framing. I drew each wall and roof panel on heavy-stock paper first and cut out the pattern before rolling out the dough. The big difference between gingerbread and cardboard models is that the dough does change shape a bit in the oven so no matter how perfect your panels are in the raw; you are bound to have a few site corrections when you assemble. The key to accuracy is to mix the dough very thoroughly -- the butter can wreak havoc on the panels if not mixed thoroughly.

Below is my favorite recipe for gingerbread and my fastener is good old reliable royal icing -- which is remarkably like expanding foam insulation. If you are feeling the urge to build a gingerbread house and add the aroma to your home pull out that Architects Scale to help simplify the process. My favorite architects scale is aluminum because it is extremely durable but the less expensive plastic version provides the same accuracy. These make a great housewarming gift, or gift to a budding architect, engineer or designer as well as anyone considering designing or building their own home.

Favorite Gingerbread House Dough Recipe:
1 C (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter
1 C Brown Sugar (firmly packed)
1 C Molasses
5 C Flour (All-Purpose)
2 t Baking Soda
1-1/2 t Ground Cinnamon
1/2 t Ground Cloves
1/2 t Salt
1/3-1/2 C Water

Royal Icing
3 Egg Whites
1-1/2 Pounds Confectioners' Sugar