mybigadventures.com

Half term has rolled around again and this year I headed off to Amsterdam with mum for a few days. We headed off from Doncaster aiport on Saturday and after just a 45 minute flight we were back on the ground. As it turned out, that was the short part of the journey with it taking us about the same amount of time again just to get through the airport. We stopped in a pretty central location with tram and metro links pretty close by which was handy for getting about. On our first full day we set out on a bit of a walk, which turned into a pretty long walk along the canals, through the red light district, past Anne Frank's house and along the nine streets. By the time we got back we had covered nearly 11km and were feeling pretty knackered. We decided on the next day to make use of public transport and caught the tram across to the Rijksmuseum. There was a special Rembrandt exhibition with lots of his early work spread across a series of rooms, so having managed to get some timed tickets we went in. It was really interesting with a huge selection of drawings, paintings, prints and engravings in the collection. Whilst there, we also popped in to the cafe in the museum for some tea and cake which was nice, it was pretty busy but very nice. 

On our last day we had tickets booked for the Anne Frank House, but as they weren't until the evening, we decided to drop by the Heineken experience. I actually managed to book tickets and save a few Euros on the way there which had the added benefit of skipping the queue when we arrived. I really liked the brewing room most with the big copper tanks and all the dials and guages! In the evening we went to Anne Frank. We arrived a little before our time slot but didn't have to wait too long before we went in. Despite the evening timeslot it was still really busy and we moved along in a queue most of the war around. It really is amazing that the two familys managed to keep hidden in the house for two years. We stopped for tea and cake in the cafe which has been added since me and Dani came just over a year ago.

Then it was time for home. We had a great time and were really lucky with the weather with blue skies and sunshine every day apart from the day we were leaving when there was a bit of rain. I've added a few photos to the album, let me know what you think. 

OK, This is a very quick one just to wish all and one a very Happy Valetines Day - especially Dani ;-) Hope everyone has a nice evening if they have plans - or infact even if they don't! Enjoy!

We had another busy day today on the storage project. We started off early at B&Q again getting some more wood cut. We had MDF cut for the doors and also some MDF sheets to make a shelf across the sop of the units. The shelf had been a last minute addition to the project, it had the benefit of adding a new place for the many books we have, and the added benefit of bringing the height of the sides down to a point where we could fit 4 to a sheet.

 

After a productive morning at B&Q, we set to work. We made ourself a jig to help us with cutting the holes for the hinges. It's the first time we've used cabinet hinges in one of our projects and we were a bit anxious about getting it right. We started by making a demo up on some MDF offcuts and then when we were happy with it, we turned the demo into a jig. With the template in place, we got the hinge sockets drilled quickly and then spent the rest of the day getting these fitted onto the units. Although the whole unit has to come apart again for painting, we wanted to check and see the doors would all fit as planned and get the holes in place, so we don't have to ruin any painted surfaces later. 

The hinges ended up being so much simpler than we had anticipated and by the time we had finished the day, all doors were in place, perfectly aligned and part of the shelf was measured up.