MattKendrick.com

This morning I go out to find my car frosted over. A very clear reminder that winter is coming soon! I thought I would share with you the winter scene on the roof of my car. The twisted line to the right reminded me fine weld on a car’s inter structure. The ripples made me think of ripples of water frozen in time. Old man winter is using my car as his canvas!

The Forge Is Complete! My friend Dave has finally got all the pieces together for his home blacksmith forge. It all started when Dave got a hold of this thing that we believe to be an old feeder for livestock. We started thinking about how we could turn it into forge. We had everything pretty much planned out but a good air source. For months we debated different ideas. At our blacksmith class we used hand-crank bellows or blowers. The equipment we used was a blower made by a company called Champion Blower & Forge. However they’re antique and quite rare. Often these units can be found online for big bucks. Dave lucked out on this one at a local swap-met. It did require some work. The internals were locked up. Dave took some time and got it working again. After that the rest was plumbing and building a stand for the blower. Hopefully we’ll get to use it soon. All that’s left to do is to add coal!

Here’s a quick picture of me at the 2011 Ohio Renaissance Festival on Highland Games Weekend. This lovely photo was take by our good friend Shawna of Shawna Dorris Photography. As you can see I’m dressed in a kilt! I found this neat kilt at a great place online called Stillwater Kilts. This is Black Watch Tartan Thrifty-Kilt model priced at just $29.95. I thought it was very reasonably priced. Especially since I don’t go around wearing kilts on a daily bases. The quality is excellent made from nice washer friendly materials. The large Velcro straps ensure that this kilt isn’t falling down. It is very comfortable! No I didn’t go full commando. It was too cold for a kilt as it was. I also purchased the nice belt and sporran from Stillwater as well. If you’re in the market for a affordable high quality kilt don’t hesitate to take a look at Stillwater Kilts.

Just recently got back into flying model rockets. Earlier this month I put together my first Quest brand rocket. This kit is called Big Betty. She is a clone of the popular Estes Big Bertha minus one fin and a slightly different fin design. At the last Bluegrass Rocketry Society club launch I flew Big Betty four times. All four times were using Quest C6-5 motors with their lovely Q2G2 igniters. Needless to say I’m a fan of Quest now. Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean I don’t love Estes products! Matter of fact, I’m working on another Estes kit at the moment. More on that later. Till next time, enjoy this view of Big Betty.