The Old Man's Workshop

This is a counting song: Start with the intro, and then, after each new verse, repeat previous verses in descending order as per 12 Days of Christmas or Rattling Bog. It's a marathon to memorize, but worth it when you pull it off in a live setting.

Intro:
Well I remember my Grandad raving
About a fella who'd keep anything worth saving
You could find a little treasure to match any craving...
Down in the old man's workshop

Verses:
Two bed posts from an old brass bed
An army cot and a buffalo head
At least that's what my granddad said
He found in the old man's workshop

A sledge and a wedge and a hedge cutter
A bucket of balls and a left-hand putter
Copper tube and a hinge for a shutter
Churn for making butter

A license plate from a 43 Ford
99 feet of extension cord
A volleyball net and a diving board
And a Japanese samurai sword

A mirror cracked right down the middle
Bag of cement and a pancake griddle
Propane torch and a hand-made fiddle
Snowshoes big and little

A brand new blade for a lawn-mower
Starter cord for a snow blower
Picture of the Queen with a champion rower
A window that won't lower

A sign that said Sweet Corn For Sale
A mailbag that said Royal Mail
A keychain that said Red Cap Ale
Hanging on a rusty nail

A Santa Claus suit and an old bed pan
A pair of sandals from Pakistan
You could find anything but the old man...
Down in the old man's workshop!

There really was an old man with a marvelous workshop who inspired this song. He was a World War II veteran, a crafty old codger with severe lung damage from a gas attack and a lifetime of smoking. He could build anything.

Some of the items mentioned could actually be found in his shop near Oxford, Nova Scotia. Others are drawn it from my memory of all the old men's workshops, basements, sheds and garages I knew.

I'd like to see this song laid out as an illustrated children's story. At the end, the picture would reveal the old man, happily fishing by a nearby stream.