The infinitely scalable dog kennel

Sometimes the simple approach is best to shield your pooch from the elements.

I don’t think my father-in-law believes that I did woodwork at high school. I don’t blame him either, because I’ve shown little aptitude for carpentry in our 11-year association. He also owns a construction company and holds a qualification in carpentry. We don’t see eye to eye on many things and didn’t agree on which breed of dog to get when we needed a new puppy to help guard our smallholding, so I acquired an Australian cattle dog in December. And now winter is setting in.

Although I do possess the skills to build a doghouse and my father-in-law has a mighty collection of reclaimed wood, I’m more comfortable supporting the local economy and purchasing a ready-made solution. The old man is old school and took matters into his own hands during one of his low periods. What follows is the impressive fruit of his labour. What’s nice is that it can be scaled up or down to suit any size outdoor* dog.

STEP 1 - MEASURING This doghouse is designed to fit a medium-sized animal and uses the wood from 10 pallets with minimal wastage. First measure the dog, or find the breed standards if your pet is thoroughbred. In this case an adult male Australian cattle dog stands 51 cm at the withers, so we made the opening 55 cm high. The floor is around 120 x 100 cm, with blocks from a block pallet used as stilts in each corner. Floor dimensions are only limited to the largestsize pallets you can source.

STEP 2 – CUTTING I wasn’t around for most of this part, but my father-in-law bevelled* one edge of the 120 cm pallet boards at 35˚ for the sides and roof shingles. He also sourced 100 cm pallet boards and bevelled that at 35˚ to

Open bottle of wine with a shoe

If you find yourself with a bottle of wine and no corkscrew, and you are the type of person who wears shoes, you are wearing a solution to your problem. Remove one shoe and place the bottle of wine inside, so its bottom rests where your heel would go. Find a sturdy wall that will not scuff (brick is best). Holding the shoe and bottle so the bottle is parallel to the ground, repeatedly bang the flat of the heel against the wall. The cork will begin to work its way out of the bottle. When enough has protruded to grab it with your hand, remove it manually. Return your shoe to your foot. This may not work if the cork is synthetic. It is not recommended for sparkling wines.