Thursday, January 03, 2019

ROKR Wooden Mechanical Locomotive: Merry Christmas to Astrid


It's hard to believe it was only 2 weeks ago that I showed you the ROKR pendulum clock I made.  As I said back then, we don't usually give gifts to each other on birthdays or Christmas, saving our money for the trips we like to make.

But this year it was different, when I couldn't resist these wooden mechanical "puzzles."  They are so totally up the alley for us both.  So the clock was for me and the locomotive was for Astrid.

These 3D puzzles are true challenges,
not for the faint of heart.  HA!
My clock was 170 pieces; Astrid's locomotive was 349.

The manual is fairly straightforward, if you can follow instructions.
It tells you where to start and step-by-step thereafter.

I got excited with every new addition as Astrid made it take shape.

All the gears inside would make the train run once wound up.
At least that was the hope, as with my clock.

It was time to give it a try.

There on her hands and knees, she let her rip....
(pay attention to her fisherman's sweater).


Hallelujah!  It would have gone farther if  nothing had stopped it.
SUCCESS!

Just call us two peas in a pod!
And now which of us will do the tractor...with only 135 pieces???

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Speaking of Christmas gifts, look at what Astrid made for ME, finished on our 2nd Christmas Day, 26 December.  

It's a long story about how my mom made me a fisherman's sweater back in the 80s,
but how it got lost in the condo fire of 1994 when I was with my then partner, Jo.
Astrid had made herself a fisherman's sweater out of Texel wool 20 years ago,
which I admired (did you pay attention to the photo above with her on the floor?).
When she asked if I'd like her to make one for me, she didn't have to ask me twice!

I chose the color and she did all the rest, finishing it in 3 months.
(But as she told our FB followers, NO, she doesn't take orders.  HA!)

It doesn't get any better than that.
Merry Christmas...and Happy New Year!
Here's hoping we're all off to a good start in 2019.


12 comments:

  1. Great post. The locomotive is fantastic. The sweater is beautiful, made with love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Marie. Isn't it fun when gifts totally fit the person! :)

      Delete
  2. This was so much fun to get that locomotive to run. It was a great project and it reminded me as a child to built those plastic plane-models and car-models. Patience is a virtue and I think we both have it when it comes to this kind of projects ;)
    That sweater is indeed made with love and wool. I am glad that it turned out well. I had to make some adjustments. Thank you for taking all those pictures during the process, I totally forgot to take some along the way.... IHVJ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are so lucky to have so much in common, aren't we! Two peas in a pod. HA! Well, it was fun for ME to watch YOU this time with the ROKR project. I'm so proud of you.

      Delete
  3. Oh my gosh...349 pieces???? Wow...that's just so incredible. And that sweater....to die for. So talented you two!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can probably see why we married each other, Robin, right?? :D

      Delete
  4. LOVE the locomotive. Are the instructions in English? You two are something else, never letting your gears get rusty! And that sweater, OMG, it is absolutely fabulous. Just perfection!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Ruth. You know us by now. We love keeping our hands busy with projects like these. :) And, YES, the instructions are in English, and with very good diagrams, thankfully.

      Delete
  5. awwww haha i LOVE the train!! we used to have a trainset with trains about that size when i was young... you guyz sure do have a lot of patience! AND talent!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What you see is what you get, Elaine, with projects like this. We both have the patience of Job. :) Thank you.

      Delete
  6. The sweater is gorgeous, the train sensational!

    When Melissa was as yet unborn, Jane began knitting what was to be a tiny stuffed frog for an infant. I watched as Jane knitted and the frog kept growing. By the second trimester it infant-size. By the time Melissa was born the skin was twice her length at which point, I think, Jane gave up on the initial pattern, stuffed the green amorphous skin she had made, vaguely frog-like with no features and much too big to hug at nap time. Melissa took years to grow into it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, Ted. What a fabulous story. I love that you still remember it! :D

      Delete

Texel Island, NL, 2024: Renovations

  To be honest, I thought I had already posted about our January trip to start some renovations in Jaap's bungalow, as a gift from Astri...