Toad

Kay Larion

I have been asked to say a few words about mom Kay Larion , I have been thinking about this for

a day or so and have found that when I try to summarize my mom in words that all I get is

memories. My mother was born Mary Catherine Barron in the little town of Glace Bay, Cape

Breton Island , Nova Scotia on June 2 1927 to Irish Catholic parents. She would answer to many

names and she is beautiful. She was a coal miners daughter and would grow up knowing that

you have to work hard for anything in this world. At her very core was a heart of gold that

would later prove to be an integral part of who Katie was. Katie was the third child of parents

that would have eleven children and then adopt two more so Katie would learn responsibility at a

very young age , helping to raise her younger siblings and with housework. Her very short

childhood was spent on the eastern shore of Cape Breton growing up in a house that was teeming

with life. When Katie was twelve years old Canada answered the call to war and in 1941 Canada

needed girls to work in our foundries and factories to keep up with the war effort. Ontario was

heavily industrialized and was the destination for the young women that answered the call. Katie

answered that call......at age 14...There were minimum age/weight requirements in place..In order

to sign up you must have attained the age of 16 and weigh 115 lbs. Katie was only 14 and being a

slip of a girl was lucky to weigh 100 lbs , but with a minor fudge on her date of birth and

weight...she found herself on herself on a train bound for Ontario. When Katie arrived in Ontario

she stayed at a girls dormitory and worked at Cockshutt Plow here in Brantford. . At that time in

our history there were dances and big bands where people would go to socialize under the dark

curtain of war and uncertainty. At such a dance when Katie was just eighteen she met a young

man named Frank Larion whom she would marry and raise a family with.

 

We as people learn and adapt to certain traits that make us unique . As children growing up

under Kay’s roof we were taught the basics of life. Our lessons were simple and yet they have

become ingrained in the very fabric that makes who we are. With quiet disposition Katie would

often dispense her wisdom upon us always tempered with love .If there is a will , there is a way

was a favourite platform of Katie’s and with a brutal and yet very quiet perseverance, her will

would shine through. She could make do with very little to work with and do her work with such

fervour that even the most mundane or unpleasant tasks were performed quite happily.

Our cousin Catherine was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to stay at my moms house for

a portion of her childhood and she has asked me to express her fond memories of her aunt Katie.

Katie would make the day fun and colourful all the while working. Instilling hope and values upon

a young child was a gift my mother had and it was a gift she used well.

Mom had an infectious laugh and a very keen sense of humour. She had the ability to produce

laughter even in the most awkward situations. Her laugh was a rolling staccato , was from the

heart and once she started laughing it wasn’t very long before the whole room was useless from

laughter. As of late Sunday afternoons would find Katie at family homes recounting stories over

food and music and she would prompt laughter with her tales and memories. At the end of the day

that is all that counts, is the love of friends and family.

 

Our mother gave us all gifts in which we could grow and prosper from .

 

Absolutely unshakeable core values..it is an integral part of our genetic makeup

Compassion...The ability to see and embrace goodness in life and with a heart the size of Katies

everyone around her felt it. She had the innate ability to see good in everyone and would gladly

give her last possession to those less fortunate around her.

Passion..We all possess the drive Kay had in her life’s work. Whether it is dealing with children,

siblings, work or everyday life situations. She would make sure everyone else was taken of and

happy before she would rest.

Katie set a threshold of dignity for herself and everyone around to follow and would protest if

she seen inequities along her path. She would gladly give you the shirt off her back, her last crumb

of food if you were in need. I have this vision of my mom eating while standing, not having the

time to sit down. She would worry and fret that her family were getting enough to eat . Selfless acts

were typical of my mom and I strive in my own journey in life to somehow mimic that trait..

My mother had an undeniable spirit and passed it along . I see that same spirit bubbling inside my

own children. Katie was stoic and possessed a fight far bigger than her person.

Hope.....we all need hope.....my mother always had hope...regardless of the situation. She would say

Don’t worry , something will happen , something always does...and even in the worst situations

something good would always happen. My mother and I share a belief that someone is indeed

watching over her.

Katie has a flame , an unwavering, bulletproof flame of hope that lived within her big heart. That

little flame is still burning within Katie and will eternally. She is now in Gods’ hands and knowing

her I know that she would love to share her little flame with all of us.

 

When you get to heaven look her up. If you don’t see her right away don’t worry. Just follow the

smell of Javex. Katie will be the angel with the hairnet on cleaning all the really hard to get to places

all the while telling the others ït is simple...if it stinks it is dirty ...clean it or she may be out back

with her feet up. My one hope is that she doesn’t give God a hard time. If she doesn’t like the way

things are run I pray she holds her tongue and just rolls her eyes in her own Katie fashion Hopefully

she gives God licence of Providence and to us licence to flourish in our own lives.

I would like to say a few words about Katie’s family if I may. Katie had 5 children..each one is

completely different than the next and yet we are the same. We have a bond...a commonality. This

common thread is Katie. We all have her hopes and we all have her dreams because we all have

Katies lifeblood pumping through our hearts.

 

 

We would like to thank you Mary Catherine for everything you are and all the gifts that you have

shared along the way. We are proud to call you wife, mother, sister , grandmother, aunt and friend.

We wish you well on your journey Katie and it will be filled with grace and dignity. We are all

richer for having known you .Above all thank you for just being you.

Rest well Mary Catherine......amen

 

Ok they were damn near giving these plants away so I spent $38.00 on building new gardens and bolstering up old ones . I built some window boxes for the cabin and filled them the other day . This cabin has survived a brutal storm already with only the Mental's lawn furniture being toppled . The Lead Mental is convinced it was the work of vandals and I would be the chief suspect . In all probability I would be the only suspect .

 

 

 

Hey , Happy Birthday to the Moose . Eight years ago a moose was hatched and grew to be an intricate part of our lives . I knew when we took him home , a little ball of fur that we had made the right choice . My dog is the most loyal creature I have ever met . My only hope is that when my children grow they don't expect all dogs to be like this . Kato grew with my babies and he is always there for them . He has slowed up a little in the last couple years and has talked his dad into letting him sleep on the couch . Here's to many more moose filled years !!

 

Hey, I have finally put crank out windows on the side of the cabin and I am impressed . I have always built stuff too big and too strong and whoever designed and built these windows had the same thing in mind . These are truly fat ! I hacked a hole in the pine and sat them in the holes . I was afraid they would look gorphy but I was wrong . The kids love them and they allow light and more importantly ventilation in . I also slung the bunkbeds in today and now I am falling asleep at the keyboard typing this and it is only 6 pm.... . I had my neighbor across the road plane some wide pine planks down at the free sawmill and I will build the beds from that .

 

Enjoy the pics and let Toad get some rest  ...... k ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Happy Birthday Canada !!!!!!!!!

Hey, busy day today . Cabin is almost complete . I made some windows for the front of her and have been looking at my pics . I reposted the truck build album for anyone who is interested and my favourite view . I miss the lids pretty bad ,where only you know the quality of work you are doing . The smells of roofing mixed on the heat of a summers day and of course the height . Thats what it all about is the height. Although the climb hurt like hell I didn't manage to kill myself.

Hey, great day today and I actually accomplished something . I freaked the neighbor out by showing off some of my fine carpentry skills via a circular saw !! I cut out the windows today and made sills and trim for the front windows . Normally this is done before siding but I didn't have the windows in my hot little hands so I had to cut them in . The side windows are coming but I haven't told my supplier which size I want.....

 

 I wired it today for lights and hydro and had to keep in mind monkeys climbing the walls when I can't watch them . Why do my kids come up with the toughest obstacles for their Dad ? The wires had to be well inside the framing out of reach of little hands . I will run phone and cable out underground tomorrow so the TV works and maybe a computer some day ....

 

Warning my neighbor to move his new to him car and hiding the Suburban across the road , donning a long sleeved sweater and respirator I was set to stain . Why all the panic ? Well Toad stains with air and the wind was travelling today carrying all the overspray towards the Mental's so the game was on . I used a gallon more than I thought I would but this pine has sat for a week or more drying . I was warned not to do this by the experts who I scoffed at . I chase the spray with a brush and the air can get stain places you can't even imagine doing with a brush .The offgas coming off this building with take your breath away and I have instructed the monsters to keep clear for the week.

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Hey , all done ! The cabin is complete, sans windows and stain . The windows are coming and I will cut them in when I get them . All went well and she is fat . I haven't took pics for 2 days because I have spent every waking moment outside building . I have to pick a stain colour and I am caught here somewhat . I stained with cedar oil 2 weeks ago and a clear last week . The cedar oil looks like the building is ablaze and Kato isn't as chocolatey as the the clear . Hmmm ...maybe a custom mix ? The kids won't stay out of it even with the threat of a nail piercing a foot and are pretty excited too say the least . I had help with this building from a nieghbor and friends. I didn't think this one out and built from the gut most of the time . I hate building from plans , rather letting my mind design it as I go along . I have thrown 1000's of thorns this week and it feels good when something this fat and strong is born .

Hey , hot and sticky today ! I managed to get gravel and building materials for the cabin today and get a start on it .

 

 

Day 2 : Today went well except for the pouring rain that came down forcing the hiding of billions of dollars worth of tools . I stopped for 2 hrs until the rain past and then set all the rafters by hand . It feels better to set them without the air nailer . There is nothing like the feeling of a nail going home . So tomorrow I hope to have a lid on it if the dormer cooperates . I have to dig my framing brain out for this one . My kids are getting excited over her and are already making rules for its membership. I watched as their joy slid from their little faces when I told them they probably not sleeping in it this weekend . I will stain it and it will have to stop offgassing before they set foot in it . On a funny note I noticed something about the steel door I bought . It was a fresh install that went bad for the government and somebody hung it with the hinge pins on the same side as the key lock .....

Hey I finished the Shanty and then threw a 1000 sq.ft lid on a shop . This puts me over the top as far as cabin money goes . I am going to start tomorrow with the base and hopefully get the walls up . Now I will be working at home so the pace will be slower . It should be faster being closer to any tool I could ever use but it never works out that way. Maybe build it offsite and then truck it in ?.....I have windows and a door for it and in tomorrow's early light I have to go and get gravel . A good friend whom I share tools with stole my trailer and is going to the cottage for a month . I asked if he would take me with him but he flat out refused  . He said something about me always talking him to very large and expensive renovations . Well I have never .....  well maybe once or twice . He does appreciate my build it too big and fat thing though.

 

So tomorrow my kids win . I haven't really made anything for them before and I have always wanted to . I made them cars with engines when they were smaller but never anything like this . Most Dads would take a summer to build something like this and I plan to have her done in four days . Now I am not slapping it together it is just that I have been at it for a thousand years or so . We will have to see what tomorrow light brings ....

Hey , my day started at 5:30 am and I just got home at 10 pm . But what did I do all day ? Well I started with a hole in a garden and now there is a building with framed walls and shingled roof. A fat little 5x8 Shanty sits in amongst the plants and under a crabapple tree . Tomorrow I will get pine and side her and then that is all I have to do on this one . The owner wants to finish it himself ( stain and doors ) . So then it is cabin building time here at the weirdo ranch and my plans have changed everyday on this so who knows what it will be when I am done . She will be retarded fat and strong ..... thats all I have down so far .

 

Hey kids, unproductive day today and it ended badly . High maintenence friends who couldn't organize a piss up at a brewery were running the show as far as materials pickup went . After pissing away half the day I went and did it myself so I would have material for the long weekend . I finally got set up in the driveway to do some serious woodwork , mapped out the building with my framing square , cut some studs and then just as I started nailing ......

My only son jumped from the side door and landed inches from my head and I moved the framing gun just a hair . Bang !!! , ow , ow , ow . I looked down at my hand to see that I had just welded three fingers together . There was a 3 1/4 inch nail running through 3 fingers . At first it didn't fizz on me . I calmy put down the gun and disconnected the airline and looked again .... yep they were nailed together . Ok boy get in the house I said and then I got mad enough to pull the nail out . It hurt more coming out than going in but the neighbor was there to witness the carnage and I am pretty sure his viewing was free. I washed the hand under water and then wrapped it in papertowel so I could continue working . I managed to frame one wall and nail it together ( with the neighbors help ) before the pain got a little high even for me . So a bloody stump of a hand we cleaned up , put my baby (saw) downstairs and then I went to ER for a 3 hour wait . Sorry I didn't get any pictures of this event .

On a way happier note the first thing one can do when getting a sliding compound saw is to build a table for it . Well my baby is 7?? and I just put a fresh billion dollar blade on her so I made a new saw table and outriggers for her .

Hey , I have been rolling this cabin idea around in my head and it is ever evolving . I have made a few phonecalls and burned up a few favours . I would like to make this building portable so I can move it when I leave. My kids are getting crazy over this idea of a cabin in the yard and I am almost regretting telling them about it. I am having trouble deciding the roofline and window placement . I want it to have scalloped eaves or gingerbread work and the window will have shutters unless it is set in a dormer....

 

 It was supposed to be simple but then someone out west on a boat suggested a skylight and while out driving I considered a 5 or 7 sided building with a glass top . This wouldn't be any harder to build than a cottage or hip roof and would look cool when it was done. I also considered mounting it on posts and having a spire roofline with a lookout below.

 

She will have hydro and lights and will probably house sleepovers in the summer and hide my gardening tools in the winter . I have designed fold away bunk beds that are made from rough sawn pine . I will have the lumber dressed and then glue them together to make sheets of pine . I will have to find mattresses to fit or maybe buy them first and build from there...

 

I should have stuck with the A frame I envisioned in the first place .

I found that I have a talent that people want....Duh  Ok so I built another shed today . I had a friend come over today and he knocked over the old shed while I framed . Slung the walls up and done ! Fat , fat ,  fat she is and framed from 2x6  I don't think it will fall over soon . I will roof her tomorrow and then side it in pine .

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2 I put a lid on her in the pouring rain !! Yay ...actually it was fun because I truly miss the height and smell of roofing . Silly I know but true.

All done ! This building started off big guns and then stalled for three days before a final blast that had her finished . Sporting crank out windows , a steel door and encased in stolen pine (almost ) this is a fat building . I even wired it for hydro and lights . It feels good to be able to build again although my body won't allow this full time .

 

This is what I found this morning when looking for tools on my one bench . I noticed that something had been busy renovating one of my vases and there was a little sawdust beside the turning . This little insect had been borne from a worm and survived an initial soaking in polyurethane and then car clear urethane . He was emerging from a hole when I took this pic. I then squashed it like a bug , get it, like a bug ?  Oh I slay me ......

 

Hey , I have been wheeling and dealing for 5 days now and I am full up. I used to be able to go all day everyday and know where everything that was for sale was laid . I found some building materials on the cheap for a friend of a friend and then got myself sucked into putting up a building for him ! All I wanted was machine parts and a bit of extra money for the build . Now there is 3 ton of lumber in my driveway waiting for me to build something with . I will build it here and then transport to the site . That way I can still be a dad and build at my leisure . I have already did the training for this gig so it is gravy time now . If they want me it will cost them . I am going to frame tomorrow , something I miss badly . Come the weekend I will sling the walls up and then rafters . I can see a roof by Sunday as long as they don't try and help me lol.

Hey , I am happy to tell you that I have thought, thought , rethought and then scrapped all those thoughts just so I could come up with new machine building plans ! I have spent an amazing amount of time just pondering different ideas and it is sitting well with me . I haven't designed anything like this toy in a long time and the cobwebs are slipping away from my mechano brain . I have come up with a design that will keep me happy for awhile and I won't outgrow it in two months . I have wanted a huge lathe since I was a boy and spun my first piece of lumber so I will take my time and think this out and weld once.

 

I have designed a multi shaft / multi center lathe with a transmission . The clutch / jackshaft will be a safety deadman style in case it gets away from the operator . I am currently heavier than the $ 30, 000 machine of my dreams and the turner is building this so it will possess all the qualities that I want . The neighbor asked me why I keep staring at the machine and haven't done much to it and I told him that I will think it through and then build it . I have built enough stuff that I know you can waste serious time and money plowing through something .

 

Ain't she sweet ?

 

Well I managed to pay for my machine with a single turning today and feel pretty good about the deal !! The guy that had these parts had seen my turning work and had made a deal yesterday on them . Today I thought I would sweeten the deal for him . If he liked a turning he could swap the parts for a turning . He made a cell phone call to the boss and asked her to come over . She came and flipped out when she seen them and then proceeded to pick something . I told her to take her time but she was so hyped that I thought she would faint when I told her that I was keeping her pieces and she couldn't have them until I finished them .  . She chose the water pitcher / basin set and then didn't want to part with them . I told her to take "Nova" home and we would swap when I finished her set . So I am ecstatic , she is delirious and redecorating her house around her new find and Joe is content . My new machine is home and I am wondering if maybe she is too fat ...nah .

 

 

Ok kids this am I started to harvest all the goodies that I will need for my new lathe and my friend sweetened the pot even more . I can now have more than I originally wanted and that means 10 x what I actually need . So now I will build a monster !! These pics are a glimpse of how monstrous she will be and the little parts are  pieces that I use on my current machine . The main shaft has a drum that wieghs 600 lbs on it and I think I will keep it assembled . The drum is covered with 1/2 inch  of rubber and I think if I do it properly it will act as a shock absorber and will calm the logs that are spinning on it . Once it is done I will endanger myself and neighbors by using it all day everyday !!! Oh baby I haven't been this excited for a long time. I am going to escape shortly to cut the drums up to make my new faceplates for this machine . This just makes sense because these drums were made to fit the shafts . The big sprocket in the pics is my big face plate and it wieghs 40 lbs with it's hub . Cool ! See why I am so excited ? Now all I have to do is pay for it ......

 

 Current faceplate next to new faceplate

 

 

 New shafts next to current size and these are the little ones!!!

 

 

 

Hey , I realized today that is has been a full year today that I have been pecking at a keyboard throwing my version of what actually happened out there . All the highs and lows that come with this Space thing . The Mentals , Scuzbuckets , turning , being a Dad and mechano . Its all here or most of it . Thanks to all my dedicated readers out there and I appreciate the support for this site. I wish more of my readers would leave comments (you know who you are ) because I have noticed that I have way more readers than comments . Anyways I will try to keep it real and entertaining for you and thanks for stopping by .

Hey these were done today and this new approach is awesome ! I think if I were selling these pieces I would offer this finish as an option . Only the odd one will be done like this because of the cost . This finish is crystal clear and hard as hell . This wood is extremely wormy and therefore bumpy but this urethane chased the holes effectively and laid down smooth .

 

Hey , I have been thinking/scheming/planning a new machine for a long time and the sun broke cover on it  this am . I was at  friends shop and one of my pair of eyes came in with good news . It seems a local company installed a liquid nitrogen furnace/finishing machine in their plant and never used it . Something about not being able to get permits and the motors never turned a single revolution . So they scrapped it ! After investing 1.5 million dollars in this brand new machine they sold it for $5000 as scrap . My friend bought the machine and is parting it out . He has already sold $20,000 worth of parts off her and there is still 60 ft or so to go . My new lathe is in there ! All I have to do is get it off . There is more flange bearings , 80 schedule sprockets and pillow blocks than you can shake a stick at !!! I hit the jackpot so now my machine is going to be biggest , fattest from the start. Oh ya enough brand new painted thick wall steel to drive even the sanest Toad crazy !!I may disappear from the horizon for awhile and that is what I will be doing . I am going to build my new girl so fat it will be retarded and I would like to thank industry and the pointy heads for getting my parts for me . Oh ya baby!!!!