It's done for another year, and at the end of a particularly challenging year. Christmas is different for everyone, it can be a joyful time, full of anticipation and happiness, it can be a time of intense pressure, trying to get everything just the way it should be, it can also be sad and a reminder of loss. Jon and I fall into the latter category, and it's traditionally been a tough time for us, but we've been focussing on the creativity and crafting opportunities that come with the season, which is definitely what brings us joy!

We had a couple of Christmas themed pieces to do, a Christmas village tree display stand, and star hanger, which were thoroughly enjoyable projects. We do enjoy the challenge of devising the best way of completing a piece that someone has requested and seeing it come to life.

I also had some of my own, craftier, projects to work on, including a non wood based project, I do enjoy a bit of painting from time to time :) not to mention other craft pursuits (winter is always a lovely time for a bit of crochet!).

I also got this excellent T-shirt!

​So sometimes it's about doing Christmas your way, and making things is definitely a big part of how we do Christmas!

"Hi there, can you build a catio?" said the text. The answer ended up to be "yes", but I'll admit we had to do an internet search first. A catio is a cat run, for cats that are essentially indoor cats, to be able to spend time outsite. We have a cat, he roams around the local area, regularly bringing home presents for us, but the too young cats we were asked to build this for had slightly different circumstances; they were found under a shed with their mum and sister (who also got adopted) and are an unusual mix of bengal and bombay cats. So, a catio was the preference to keep the little guys safe, not to mention there is a stream at the end of the client's garden.

It was a bit of a design challenge, but Jon put a lot of thought into it and worked closely with the client to ensure all requirements were met. It needed to be large (16ft x 8ft) have a two door entry system, and a closed, insulated back room with a cat flap and a human door.

The cats have since spent time in the catio and seem to be enjoying all the climbing opportunities offered by the mesh, which also allows them to get into the roof and look down on their human servants, who are also happy with the finished item; the Highlands Catio.