Creativity, Squidge-style

Our summer hols have been more of a stay-cation than a vacation... especially after T's axe-ident which meant he wasn't able to get out and about in the first few weeks. (Pleased to report all is healing nicely).

Anyway, the Squidges have still had plenty of time to get creative, and there are a few summer projects to share with you...

1. The waa-waa box.

Apparently it's a technical term - honest; T was given a bass guitar effects pedal last Christmas from his uncle. However, said waa-waa box had to be built from scratch. Now we're not really into electrical engineering in this house, though Mr Squidge knows enough to get by. So Squidgeling T and Mr Squidge sorted out their resistors from their transistors, got to grips with a soldering iron and hey presto;

Doesn't look much on the outside...

...but it's spaghetti junction on the inside.

There were a few teething troubles when they tried to connect it to the amp, but after a bit of playing with the balance knobs, the bass sounds brilliant - all ready for WBV Rock Club in the new term.

2. Airfix.

Another Squidgeling T project - a model of a Type 45 Destroyer. It's yet to be finished, but there are, I'm informed, some VERY fiddly bits on this one, so it's taking a lot more time to put it all together.

The official Airfix desk

3. Extending the tree house.

When the Squidgelings were one and three, Mr Squidge decided to build a tree house in our pear tree. Fine, says I, just make sure it has a retractable ladder so they can't climb up without us. We ended up with a shaped platform and roped sides which looked a bit like a boat. And a retractable ladder which cunningly folds in half as it's lifted. (Hooray for engineers!)

Pirate 5th birthday party on The Jolly Knickerbocker Tree-house Ship.
(Squidgeling T is on the platform, second from left...)

Thirteen years later, and it's time for an extension. T drew up the plans (floor space long enough for a bed, walls, ceiling, a solar panel for the TV and a cat flap) and he set to work with Mr Squidge. Again, it's not quite finished, but it's coming together.

Squidgeling T, nine years later, cutting the old ropes away...

The new platform takes shape

4. The electric violin.

Squidgeling J plays her normal violin with an electric 'pick up' through her amp - but after borrowing a friend's dad's electric violin for a production, she decided she'd like to build herself an electric violin of her own. Except it wouldn't look like a normal violin. The core would be wood, but the shape would be cut from acrylic and lit with LED's. Plans were laid for the building of a prototype; various bits arrived in the post, wood was hewn, acrylic was cut - and it all came together yesterday. Granted, some bits are still sellotaped on, other bits need a few tweaks, but it worked!

From this...

...to this!

It looked like a violin - albeit a funky one - and this morning, Squidgeling J tuned and played the protoype. In fact, I think she only put it down to eat her dinner...

5. The King Stone.

I'm not able to help much on the technical side of the aforementioned projects (Mr Squidge has been kept VERY busy!) so I  have used the time when the rest of the family was in the garage/garden/their bedrooms to work on the second draft chapters of my WIP. I am up to Chapter 10, and tomorrow will see my one hundredth day of writing since I began my 100 days challenge. Hooray! Here's to the next 100!

So - got any summer projects of your own to share?