I have reached a cross roads and I need some help. I have just finished my last video project, and so its what to do next.

I have become known for a diverse range of projects, although there are linking threads if you dig deep enough. I tend to work with the same group of materials and techniques, which can all be traced back to wheelwrighting and carriages, I work in timber and metal well that’s obvious that’s wheels, leather, comes from harness making, Traditional Upholstery = carriage seats. So you can see there are links.

In recent times I have gone slightly sideways into making food creation structures, Wood Fired Ovens, Smokers, and most recently dehydrators. These are all things I wanted in my garden, I would have built them anyway, The video is just a by product and judging by the numbers there popular.

Now some of my videos can be made fairly quickly and some take slightly longer, partly because life just gets in the way. At the moment I have two I am working on. There is a portable barbeque which can be converted into a pizza oven, which has hit a technical challenge. I think I have the solution but until we get the “bit” I don’t know. The second one is a Horse powered Ice Cream machine, which can also work off a bicycle. Construction has started, but again there is a vital bit, a stirrer which I need to make, for which I will need to create the furnace necessary to melt and then sand cast aluminium. When you see it written down it sounds bizarre, but I think I can make it work.

The issue is what to do in the short term. I have a couple of projects in mind. When I make the videos I always assume that my audience is someone like me, a middle aged man who likes pottering away in a shed somewhere, so I make the videos I would like to watch. Therefore I have the plan for a video which I am styling as “The Grand Romantic Gesture”. Its a well known fact (certainly in my shed) that the most romantic section of the population is middle aged men, unfortunately this is a fact often misunderstood by middle aged women.

My starting point is having been married for many years its hard to think of presents because after so many years of Christmases and Birthdays you have probably already brought it. Therefore a Grand Romantic gesture is called for and so instead of standing outside a shop trying to purchase something you really don’t understand, you make something in your workshop instead which can then used as the basis of presents for the next few years. This solves the perpetual present problem, delights the lady in your life who gets something very personal made just for her, whilst at the same time bestowing  upon your beloved great bragging rights with her friends none of whom have husbands who could manage such a magnificent gesture ( because they didn’t watch the video)  Clever I hear you cry.

My problem is I fear I have I lost the plot, am I leaving my comfortable world of wood and metal to far behind, and digging a big hole for myself, or is this a logic extension of what I do?  Help me out an independent opinion would be appreciated. What do you think?