Summer Sab Update

Hey everybody what are you making?
I'm Roger in Sabbatical and welcome to the Lost and Foundry

I spent a good while pondering over how to do updates and which ones to combine into a single post, as I spent a few weeks out of the country and a good fraction of that off-grid. I'm going to do a quick round-up here, and in the next few days I can go into more detail on each project.
So as a taster of the projects on their way, here is what to expect from the Sabbatical Blog:

As of this week, construction has finished on the Lost and Foundry forgehouse and I've started setting up and getting projects done. It's been a long old ride getting here and the makespace it provides is amazing and brimming with potential.
The first handful of projects are all tools, gear you need to make other tools, and things to organise the shop - each of those is a project in it's own right so I'll give each its own write-up as I go along.

I've bought a GoPro, so should be able to get some pictures of these projects with a good chance of some build-along videos of each project too. The GoPro is an amazing peice of kit and I need to do a seperate review of just that really. It'll record 4K and 1080p @ 30Hz which is all I need, but also has a setting for 720p @ 240Hz - if those numbers don't mean anything to you then don't worry! It just means I'll be playing with a bunch of video recording really soon.

I spent a good weekend in Vancouver for the Canada Day 150th Celebration, food, fireworks, drinks and good company in a welcoming city - not really any pictures there but i'll type up half a page on Van City as soon as I can and I do recommend a trip out that way if you can make it.

That was followed by the Kwanlin Dun cultural festival in Whitehorse, Yukon. Again this was an amazing experience and deserves it's own write-up to describe the experience.

From Whitehorse I got in a couple of canoes with two other guys and we spent eight days paddling downriver to Carmacks - A trip on it's own. There is something about being hundreds of miles away from civilisation with a hunting knife and a fishing rod that really makes you feel alive.

The next trip won't get much of a mention, because it's personal, but I managed to spend time in North Carolina with my Brother and his Wife. Some of that I'll make public, we'll see how that goes.

Before leaving the States, I flew up to New York State to meet the Anvil Ringer himself, Chandler Dickinson. Look him up on Facebook and Youtube - He's a great guy. And after chatting away all afternoon he invited me back to work on a project... and you don't say no to an invitation like that.

Back in the UK, I've got a host of projects lined up - Swords and Armour, tools, knives, a new crossbow, some commissions and a couple of projects that will presents and may have to remain secret until then. In fact, there are so many projects that I'll be busy for a long old while.

I've also have a few requests for visits to the Lost and Foundry, and I'm humbled by the interest I've received. To that end, I've bought spare ear defenders, protective eye-wear and filters, so I can - in theory - fit a couple of guests in. For those who were interested in coming up, talk to me in private and we'll talk about the other clothing you'll need, and what sort of projects we might be able to do. I'm still looking into separate insurance, but that won't take long to get sorted.

Until I see you again, stay busy! This is Roger at the Lost and Foundry saying good night - and happy building.