We enjoyed a lovely Christmas day with our Australian family
Christmas is special to us because it is one of the ways we celebrate God's gift to us of Jesus - our Lord and Saviour.
My dear wife did a marvelous job of preparing our house for the festive season, and cooked a fantastic Christmas meal in the Canadian tradition. It took us some convincing to get our Aussie members of the family to try some items on the menu, like pumpkin-pie and jellied salads, but once they did it all quickly disappeared. Turkey, ham, even some home-made Sushi, traditional Christmas pudding, smoked salmon - well, you get the idea. There was too much food for one meal and it took us about three hours to consume.
Our two grandchildren had a great time and parents and grandparents enjoyed Christmas vicariously through their eyes.
Fortunately, we had a cold wet day ( reminds us of home) so we put the fireplace on. Can you imagine - it's supposed to be summer?
Merry Christmas to our Canadian family! Wish you could have been here.
After two solid weeks in my shed making them, I need a break. These are the last of the batch that I made as Christmas gifts. Each one is different, although naturally, there are similarities. (For a fuller explanation of each box, click on the pictures.) All are finished in oil that is burnished into the timber. This produces a high gloss sheen that really shows the beauty of the wood. It's not at all plastic-looking like some polyurethanes.
In previous boxes I've made, I used MDF in the base
These three boxes are the first of about eight I am making for Christmas gifts. There is no specific use behind my designs; I've decided they stand on their own right as artistic creations intended to feature the beauty of the timber from which they are created.
The deep red wood is Australian River Red-gum from old fence posts. This timber used to be the wood-of-choice for this purpose as it is resistant to rot and insect decay. It's a very dense wood and a challenge unless one has very sharp tools.
The yellow wood is Huon Pine, perhaps my favorite Australian timber species. It's also a wood resistant to rot and was logged in the early part of the twentieth century for boat building. It has a beautiful aroma and mills easily. This particular piece of timber is rare in that it features "bird's-eye" speckling throughout. The large black knot-hole has created some spectacular grain making this truly a one-of-a-kind box.
My first two grandchildren live in Vancouver, Canada. I just
received these pictures of them in the mail. Wow! It's been 12 months since I've seen them and I know this is far too long. Fortunately, Barb visited them in August. Maddie & Bailey may not have wings, but they sure look like angels to me. Can I be blamed for being a proud grandparent?
of their grandchildren as little angels - here's proof. These two lovely boys are my Aussie grandchildren.
My brother, Bryon, purchased a new boat shown in these pictures below. (Have a look at his previous boat in an earlier post - 6/09/06, or click on "boat" tag to the left.)
It's a truth that one often ignores the local treasures and is only prompted to
This week we had a visit from friends we first met in Calgary in 1976. They requested that we tour the Great Ocean Road about 150 kilometers from Melbourne. The Great Ocean Road is claimed to be the worlds largest war memorial. It was built by soldiers back from World War I in honour of their comrades who fell at Gallipoli, the Somme and other battles from the War to end all Wars.
We took a helicopter flight to better view these marvels and the weather was just perfect for some good photographs.
Our Grandson, Ethan, invited us to 'Grandparent's Day' at his kindergarten. He was the only child there that had all four of his grandparents in attendance. I think these pictures tell the story.
One of the things I like about woodworking, is that there are always new challenges, techniques to master, and skills to learn. Now, although I like this, it doesn't mean that I find the process easy. In fact, sometimes it's plain frustration. But, I suppose it's the steep learning curve that makes is so rewarding once the new becomes familiar.
cut the timber from old recycled Red Gum fence posts. (This is a beautiful timber with a deep red colour, dense grain, and is resistant to rot and insects.) I recently acquired an Incra Ultra Lite router jig. It's about time that I started to push the boundaries and learned to make some of the special joints this device is designed for.
Well, to cut to the chase, after three hours, I had nothing to show for my hard work but mismatched pieces and lots of wood chips. But that's not quite true - I also learned in the process. I learned what not to do. Tomorrow, I will start again, but not from scratch, I now have experience that will prevent me from making the same mistakes. I have used the following as a tag line, and it certainly applies here.
In the three years since retirement, this is the first time I can remember being bored.
My doctor told me that I was to rest during my recovery from pneumonia. He warned about becoming prematurely active before I am fully recovered. Apparently, this is a recipe for a relapse.
I just spent a few minutes in my woodworking shed and had to hold myself back from starting a new project. I've also got that hallway to paint. Then there's the woodworking show this weekend. And, of course, there's my church duties that need to be done each week.
I can only spend so much time on the Internet. It's a nice fill-in activity, but when it's the only thing one does, it becomes quite boring.
It's Thursday today. I think I will get back to it this Monday - if not, I'll die of boredom, not pneumonia!
