Name change and new site!

Please note that as of Jan 1, 2018 we are now "Galloway Artisans" to better incorporate all the different things that we make and do into our page. Rock Rabbit Enterprises came about as a continuation of Rock Rabbit Photo that I started way back in the early 90s and it morphed to cover all the work I did beyond just photography.

With Galloway Artisans we are now covering all that, and the wonderful work that Lynn does as well. All under one business name rather than trying to juggle 2-3 different businesses to cover the same products.

You can find our new page here: https://gallowayartisans.wordpress.com/ and look for Galloway Artisans on Facebook as well.

Welcome to our new site and to 2018, the year that we turn all of this into something really great!

Found Materials

Several people have asked me lately where I find all the materials I use in my projects. This will answer some of those questions, but not all, as there always seems to be a new lead come up that I had not heard of before.

For logs or trees, there are several sources: family and friends that need trees taken down, or friends of theirs. Some already have the trees down or they fell down in a storm, etc… Some of these are great sources, others not so much, but you have to follow up on every one of them because you never know when a lead will be a gold mine!

We have also had great luck with city workers in various places letting us know when the city is taking down trees and where those trees can be found. It seems that most cities would rather have the wood go to a good use just as heating homes or being turned into useful items rather than just rotting in a back lot or being burned up in a big pile.

Arborists or tree trimming companies have been good, if somewhat inconsistent in supplying trees or logs. If we can catch them in the process of cutting trees, they will often help us load the logs so they don’t have to haul them away. For all the business cards I have given out to those same companies however, I have yet to receive a call when they are at a job where they have more logs to be hauled away. Not sure why, but just now it has not happened.

When it comes to barn or old building lumber, that has always been word of mouth or simply driving by a building and seeing someone nearby to ask if they own it or know the owner so we can get permission to take the building down.

The same goes with old farm equipment, implement wheels, disk cutters, etc… we see them along a road or in someone’s field and work on tracking down an owner to see if they wish to part with them.

Of course, the more people we have looking the better our chances, so if you know of any of the above items, or any other items you think might be of use to us, please contact us and we will follow up on your information. 

Wood Worker versus Doing Wood work

I have been thinking a lot lately about how there is a difference between making something with wood work and doing wood working.  

At least in my way of thinking I am a wood worker, or I do wood working. That is different than making something from wood. A lot of people can make things with wood, but that is different than being a wood worker.

How, well that’s a difficult difference to quantify. To me a doing wood work implies the person has a love for the material he is using, he (or She) may not have the highest quality tools, but he always strives to do the best possible work with those tools. The layout is the best they can do, the elements complement each other and they strive for the “wow” factor when they are done.

Where as someone that makes something from wood generally (there are Always exceptions to everything) is just using wood because it is either the cheapest material, or the easiest to obtain, etc… it’s not because they love the medium.

Someone who does woodworking does so because they love the way the grain of the wood looks, they can’t wait to see what the wood reveals as they carve away whatever is not part of the end project. They understand how the wood will move and change with the changes in humidity, they know that quarter sawn board will react different then flat sawn, and plan the project accordingly.

A person making something out of wood goes to the local lumber yard, takes whatever boards the yard man loads in their rig and goes about making the project. Little thought is given to the species of wood, the type of joints, or fasteners, and they often paint over the wood. Something a wood worker would find appalling in most circumstances.

With a wood worker it’s all about showcasing the grain and color of the wood as much as the item being made out of the wood.

I know, it’s all a point of view, but at least in my current state of mind, there is a difference and it’s important. To others it may just seem like a minor issue, and perhaps it is, but isn’t that what really makes the difference in most cases, the little things? 

Found wood

I was recently given a very nice burl by a friend of mine and it got me to wondering. Is it still “found wood” if I’m not the one that found it?

I know it’s still being recycled or reused and that is one of the things I promote in my work as much as possible. While some jobs do require me to purchase new material, I try to use old wood or items in my work when possible.

To that end, we cut down trees for family and friends, we cut up and or haul away logs that are left by tree services, cut down by the city, etc. as well as take down barns or other buildings we find that are about to fall down or otherwise need removed.

By the way, if you know of any such items, please let me know, we are always looking for more materials.

While it’s not going to happen soon, we are working on purchasing our own mini sawmill to turn some of the logs we find in to lumber for use in making some of our items. Not only are the various hardwoods hard to find locally, the choices are limited. No one we know of sells Russian Olive boards, but we have some now. You can get Juniper boards, but the price per board foot is outlandish! (Again, if you know of someone wanting Juniper trees cut down on their property, let us know).

We have old farm equipment wheels, parts of old wagon wheels, stove lids, plow/ disk blades, springs, etc., that we have (and are) gathered(ing) that will be “up cycled” into new products for sale or gifts. While all of these were “found” on various ranches around the area and obtained with permission, can we really say we found them when the owners knew perfectly well they were there?

If you know of more of these items that are available, please let us know… notice a theme here? We can only find stuff if someone lets us know it’s there somewhere… or rather, it is a lot easier to find things if more people are looking! 

Memorial Day

            The tradition in the US is to make a special effort on Memorial Day to remember those that have served our country and gave their lives to maintain our freedom. It’s also a day to remember those that have passed away before ourselves.

            While there are several members of our family that have served in the armed forces, none of them that I knew directly have perished during that service. For that I am very thankful and I am grateful to them for their service to our country.

            My parents and Lynn’s mom have been gone long enough for the sharp pain of their loss to be muted somewhat and the loss of our son Joe is mostly down to a dull ache that will likely last for many more years.

            What has helped me get through the rough times when remembering my passed loved ones is to dwell on the fun times we had with them, the memories of them doing things that made them happy and created smiles on those around them. I could write a book or more on some of the great stories based on those memories if I only had the time. Or perhaps better stated is if I made the time to do so.

            For now I’ll leave you with this: When out and about today and in the days that follow, bring up those great memories and push the others to a back shelf. Don’t discard them, just regulate them to a less important station. 

Friends

It has been said that old and dear friends take years to develop. While it may be true that friendships do deepen over time, some friendships are nearly instant and it seems that you have known each other your whole lives after only a short time.

One of those friendships for me started in 2010 when Lynn and I moved to Kalispell MT. After joining the local wood turning group I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Nickel. Bill was one of those people mentioned above. We hit it off right from the start and were soon great friends. Our love for wood working was deep as were many of the conversations we had over the 4 years we lived in the area.

Our ideas for projects ran the gauntlet from practical to sublime and all reaches between. We turned, or tried to turn many projects, made our own tools when the ones we had failed to meet our needs. We helped teach many teen agers at the local schools with demonstrations given by the local turning club. Found old lathes from some of Bill’s many friends and gave them out to the kids (both young of age and young of heart) so others could enjoy our love of turning, working with wood.

We used each other’s strengths to push our own limitations and create things that neither of us would have done otherwise. Most of those succeeded, some did not, but that’s how you learn, but not succeeding the first time.

 Bill was devoted to the community, doing volunteer firefighting for years, helping local library districts near his mountain home, heck, helping anyone that he thought needed help and would be thankful for the help.

It is also said that a dog is a great judge of character. If that is the case, Bill was of Great character. JJ loved that man! He could hear Bill’s pickup pull up outside our house and would start whining and wiggling at mach II. The only issue was that JJ is also a jumper, and due to his size, tends to jump on a person at precisely the Wrong height! It was a constant source of amusement to those of us watching, if not to Bill, when JJ would time Bill’s entry into our house perfectly to nearly bring him to his knees!

As you can probably tell from the tense of this story, Bill has been taken from us at far too young an age. A dear and great friend is no longer around. He is missed by all that knew him.

Good bye Bill, may we meet in another life, and be friends for many many more years the next time around. 

Happy JJ!

Everyone has funny stories in their life. One of our recent ones comes from our inability to leave our house arranged in any given way for longer than 6 months at a time. We always say we move more times in our house than we ever have from house to house.

The latest move, rearrangement, call it what you want, has us changing our living room around once again. What was the living room will now be the sewing/ silversmithing room and the dining room will become the living room. (We always eat in the living room anyway, so this seems appropriate.)

Here is where the funny part comes in: We have an old trunk that we padded and covered last year for JJ to be on and look out the window. At that time it was at the window facing the driveway, we moved it last year to the front window, figuring it was a bay window with three windows actually and he would be happier to be able to see more. Nope, he would get on there but never really seemed to like it. We moved it back today. He is SO happy about that! He gets up there and just wags his tail while looking out the window! Not sure why he likes that window, but it shows that he does... He has spent most of the afternoon looking out that window and then running outside to bark at birds, greet other dogs walking by, etc... All things he could have done from the other windows, but didn’t seem to.

It’s So nice to do things that make others happy, even when that “someone” is a dog. 

The CJ2A

It was a surprise to me, but one of my friends told me they would be interested in hearing about all the projects we are working on.. from wood working projects to the CJ2A project(s) and the barns/ buildings we are taking down.

To that end, I decided to write up something about each project and post it here on my blog, once a week (what day each week yet to be decided). This week I think I’ll cover the CJ2A project(s) and give everyone a bit of an idea where we are and where we hope to be in the not too distant future.

The CJ2A

Last September I told Lynn about an estate sale in Wallowa that had 5 CJ2As for sale. Figuring that there was no way we could afford even one, I sent the guy a message… and got back that he would take $400 for the 3 Jeeps he had left. One rolling chassis and two tubs… We have looked at and talked about these flat fenders for long enough to know that one of the “tubs” (the body of the Jeep) was worth that much… Yep, we scrounged and came up with the $400.

Since we didn’t get the reply back until late on a Sunday, we asked if he would hold them until the next weekend.. and he agreed. We headed over with Robert and his small trailer to get them, figuring we would have to make more than one trip.

Once there we were busy loading the Jeeps (the rolling chassis fit Perfectly in his trailer) when the guy came by and offered to throw in another trailer ( mid 50s Jeep pickup box trailer) to hold the extra tub. With one tub on the pickup and one on the other trailer we towed Roberts trailer down the road to a spot we could leave it and hooked up to the 2^nd trailer that we took to dad’s place in Imbler.

After returning for Robert’s trailer and making 2 trips to home we had all the parts and pieces (plus extra stuff we had bought from the guy) at home.

Fast forward a couple months and an add on Craig’s list came from a guy in Burns that had another frame (the one on the rolling chassis needed work) that had just been rebuilt. Yep, off to Burns to get just the frame and some misc parts for $320…. But while there we learned that he had 3 other tubs, a couple transmissions, more fenders, etc… left overs from when he and his son were building a CJ2A each, a project that ended up being 1 Jeep after the engine for his was toast. He said he was interested in selling all of the stuff, but we were tapped out on funds and had to pass…

I waited a few months and our son James offered us some money for many things that we had done for him in the past, etc… Yep, you guessed it, I offered the guy a lowball price for the whole lot of parts he had, and he agreed. By not though, its mid winter and Burns had gotten hammered with snow.

Fast forward again to late March, and we are again headed for burns with Robert and a different trailer of his… Just the axles alone were enough to convince Robert we had made a Great deal!

Now we have 6 tubs, 3 frames, 4 sets of fenders, 4 hoods, well, you get the idea. Between all the dealing I was talking to a guy back east that sometimes makes trips out to visit his wife’s family near Spokane and he expressed interest in buying all the parts we didn’t want to keep. I’m pretty sure there are enough parts to make two running Jeeps (minus one engine). With the other parts being sold or traded to the guy from back east to get us the other parts we need I hope to have at least 1 of them running by this fall! 

Spring renewal

We have all heard that spring brings renewal and re-growth. Well it seems that has many meanings.

The grass is growing like made, the flowers are blooming, the trees are budding out and my to-do list is growing by leaps and bounds! All the projects that were on hold because it was too cold in the shop are now either higher on the list or underway. We found another small barn (or part of a barn at least) to take down and are currently hauling in the boards from that project, for use on other projects.

New ideas for projects start with every sunrise, the materials for the most part are on hand, it’s the time to accomplish them all that is the issue. I know, I Know, we are not the only one’s suffering from this conundrum! It seems to be a fact of life that either you have lots of time and no money or materials, or lots of materials, and no time. Since I don’t see that every changing, we are just doing the best we can with what we have available of each and moving forward. Of that there is no choice, we could not just sit and do nothing anymore than we could wiggle our nose and make it all happen by magic!

Look for photos of new projects on here or on my facebook page soon.

Lack of shop time

There seems to have been a conspiracy going on here at my house. It’s all the things that are happening to keep me out of the shop. Broken water pipes, new jobs, more orders for Llama Hardware, taxes to get organized and off to the accountant… you know, the things that are our lives.  

On a side note, we have found a few more barn boards and will be headed out to gather those up and brought home. A few of the projects I have in mind for those are cut outs of the state of Oregon. Some I hope to add chalk board in the opening and perhaps I’ll put a mirror in one of the others.

Still on the “to get done” list are a stack of bread troughs, totes full of roughed out bowls, and a few cutting/ serving platters. I’ll be working on those soon I hope. Additional plans are in the works for a “little library” to be put on the street in front of our house.

  

These little libraries are a place where people walking by can borrow a book, leave a book or perhaps trade a book. They have proven very popular in other locations and we have an old cabinet to use to make ours.

More ideas and other projects to be added to the list soon and finished products will get photographed and put on here as well. 

Insulation

This winter has reinforced in me the need to insulate my work space. When it’s zero outside and below zero in the shop it’s easy to tell that something has to change!

Higher on the priority for this spring will be to get some insulation up on the walls and get it covered by the old boards we have from the bunkhouse we tore down at the old barn site. Something has to change, even if slowly.  

I have been thinning down my “surplus” of items. I no longer have 3 forges, just one. The dark room has went on to someone that has the room and time to make use of it, and I’m gaining room a bit here and a bit there.

The project list is still every growing but that too is getting more organized, with set goals and time lines… as much as the weather will allow at least. And, I hope to be back on a more regulated schedule of blogging as well. 

The year in review

            While it’s a cliché’ I know, I also know it’s pretty easy to be focused on the bad things in your life. The things that you perceive as preventing you from going the direct you desire or think you should be going.

            As a way to prevent that I have spent the morning thinking about all the things that have went my way this year. The things that show that my life is pretty great and that while I may not have reached the goals that I put in my sights, I am still doing pretty good.

            My shop may not be the giant space I would like, it’s far better than some of the shop spaces I have had in the past. In Anchorage I had a 10x12 storage shed out back, no heat, etc… I put up plastic sheeting on the walls in the dining room space and used a shop vacuum to keep the dust down and turned there. Not ideal, but it does make the heated space I have in my shop now seem a lot better when used as a reference.

            Now every time I think to myself that I could sure use X or Y tool, I look around at all the tools there and remember that many others are coming to my shop to use my tools, and that I have been told I must have every tool already…  (I don’t, but I can get things done).

            My wood working business has not taken off in the manner I wish it would, but it has grown considerably over the last year. Much of the issue I know is from my lack of pushing my work. From my own slacking on pushing my work and then after that, pushing it even more.

            I know that if I don’t sell my stuff, than I can’t expect anyone else to do so.  To that end, next year, well starting Now, I will be pushing my own stuff more, to a variety of places and working on stock piling product of a variety of types to show that I am serious about making this work and become profitable. 

Found history, not written history.

We all know historic archaeology is just about validating the documented history of the American west, or do we? The important things that happened in history are all written about, but almost always that is just the highlights, the important moments in time.

Seldom are those important times what life was really about. Those are just the short blips of time that happened between the long periods of simply living. The day-to-day aspects of what was required to be alive when those important events happened.

 The reality is that when we do an archaeological dig, we are far more likely to find the items of everyday life than the items used during that short period of excitement. All those items were noted for their importance and picked up at the time. What is more likely to be left behind are the items considered mundane at the time. The trick is that those items may not be mundane now. Depending on what the location was, what trade the person may have been engaged in, etc…, those mundane items will vary, but always give us more info about what happened on the site.

Think of the stereotypical photo of the “prospector” you see in all the Western movies. Name off as many of those items as you can… Great, now did you list a pocket knife? How about a fixed blade belt knife? How about a salt dish? How about a spatula? Or a Spoon, fork, bread pans, the staples of life? All the items that once you think about your own life, know that the prospector had with him, but are seldom if ever listed as items that would be found at a site.

And don’t forget about the many items that were easily procured at the local hardware store, but became very precious the farther one went from civilization: Nails, hammers, pliers, files, copper rivets, even thread and needles.

If we compare the list of items sold in a general store to the list of items that prospector is said to have, you will see a lot of missing items on the second list. It’s not that the prospector didn’t have or use those items; it’s just that those items were considered mundane at the time and unworthy of being written down. Those same items though tell us a considerable amount about the prospector. How long he might have been planning on staying (10 lbs worth of nails verses a hand full), his financial status when he set out (new knives verses well worn knives), what his drink  preferences were (lots of whiskey versus bottles for root beer), the list is long.

The size of pans could tell us if it was a single person, a small group, or an organized party with a designated cook making food for many.

So, while the “important” items might make the history books, it’s the everyday items that will tell us about who the person (people) were at any given site. 

Rehash

 I know my readers have been here before. I know because I have, and yet the solution has yet to make itself known to me…

Few artists are good at promoting, and even fewer are good at self-promotion. I fall into that category. What needs to be done to sell more of my wood working, well more of it must be presented to those that would purchase said wood work. Best way to do that, well that is a good question. A web site is one option, but a web site is only as good as the person promoting it and keeping it up to date. The same goes for other sites, Etsy, EBay, etc., they all require time spent getting items listed and following up on those listings. Like most artists, I’d rather be making items than selling items.

Where is this leading you asked? Well, I’m on the idea that there must be a better way to make this happen. I’m a small time artist so most professional promoters are not interested, there simply is not enough money in it for them. However, if I can round up enough other artists perhaps we as a unit can make it worth the person’s time and effort?

So, this is a call to all my artist friends who would like to possibly join forces. I’m not sure how much it will cost each artist, if the cost is a percentage of sales or a certain fee per month; I need to have a few people on board first to get that information. Nothing will be set until all the details are worked out of course.

If you have an interest, please let me know and we can go forward with finding a promoter and get some details on the cost and type of payment. 

Importance

            We have all heard it, most have at one time or another thought about it… what is important in our lives. I know I know, somewhat cliché, but so be it, I’m still going to ramble on about it

.

            My wood working tends to happen in spurts. Some months it’s the main thing I do in my off time. Than all of a sudden I realize I have not been in the shop for a month or more. There are many factors in that, temperature, other things I’m doing, calls for my time from other people or for other projects, the list in long and varied as I’m sure yours is as well.

            What it really comes down to is how much priority or how important a project is or how important we think the time is spent in the shop. If it’s not thought of as important, we won’t do it… now that word could mean a lot of different things to different people.

            Is it important because someone wants one? Or important because it’s time spent relaxing? How about because there is an order, or it’s to replace an item that sold in a shop? It could be important for a lot of reason to many different people. The one that matter though is the one that gets you out into the shop in the first place.

            For instance, it’s very important that I get in the shop today, right after the wash is done and the lawn is mown, oh, and the hand rail at my niece’s house is re-welded… importance also has to sometimes take a back seat to things that need to happen Now.

            In the end though, what’s truly important is that you are spending time with loved ones, and enjoying life. If you are not doing that then your priorities are all messed up anyway! 

Promote, Promote, PROMOTE!

As you, my faithful readers know, I have two “at home” businesses that I’m trying to turn into something that makes something in the resemblance of an income. While one really Needs to do so, and I’m gaining, the other is more of a hobby status right now.

Everyone that I talk to about this, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the Service Corp of Retired Business Executives (SCORE) says it’s is simply a matter of greater promotion, more advertising, getting my businesses Know and my product in front of people. Simple to say, not so easy to do I’m finding. I do have a meeting next week with the SBDC to work on it in greater detail. It’s a slow process it seems when I am not a slow process personality.

 To that end, I’m back to doing more blog posts, getting photos of my product up in a regular basis, and doing as much promotion as I can, with little to no budget. So, that brings me to how to do that… for now, it has to be word-0f-mouth… a.k.a., YOU!

So my friends, would you please help me with this? All I ask is that you share my blog posts, my posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram… If you have accounts on those and I am not following you, please let me know, I’ll change that Now. If you know of any online stores that might be better than Etsy, let me know. I’ll check them out. I’m finding that it takes a ton of inventory to sell in more than one place and am working on correcting that as well. If you know of someone that has mentioned having something specific built/ made, give them my contact info, I can do a lot of different projects.

Thank you for your time and, please, share my info far and wide, as often as you can!

The latest batch of darning eggs for my fiber arts customers.

A cedar post vase, with glass tube so you can add water, it's more than just a bud vase.

A few of my tea light center pieces. Making up your table for a holiday or just family dinner, these add that touch of class you need to make it a Wow event. 

Early morning memories

 Let me lead with this. I know that each of us deals with death and memories in our own way, we each have our own cycles of up and down, yin and yang; however you care to word how our feelings manifest themselves in our conscious minds and our daily lives.

Today at some early hour of the morning I awoke with the thoughts that I had forgotten what day Joe had died on. Now I know there are others that can tell you the exact time a loved one died. I, for whatever reason, can’t seem to keep even the day of Joe’s death in my mind. I have to look it up almost every time.

Giving in to the random and ever increasing urgency of my thoughts this morning I had to come downstairs and start writing about those bits and pieces of memories, or lack thereof, to get my mind to slow down. Of course I had to look up the day of Joe’s death in our book about him. March 8^th, 2013. For some reason I seem to be more in tune with his birthday which was April 11, 1989.

Ask anyone in my family and they will tell you that I’m terrible about remembering birthdays. The boys learned early on to give me ‘reminders’ of their birthday starting months ahead of time or I would forget. Anytime there was a need to write their birthdays down on paperwork I would have to ask them. It wasn’t that I didn’t know the dates; it was that I was a likely to put the wrong child with the right date more often than not. It’s not that I don’t think they are important, I know they are, I understand that birthdays are very important to kids. It’s just that I guess since my own birthday is the day after Christmas that I have accepted the idea of birthdays being less important than other days? I don’t know, and that’s not an excuse, it’s me trying to understand why I seem to have a hard time remembering birthdays when I can recall phone numbers and addresses from Years ago…   

Now what does this have to do with my waking up this morning and the reason for this rambling order of words? I am not sure, blame it on early morning thoughts, recovering from the flu, you choose a rationale. For myself, I think I’ll just call it part of the whole healing process that comes from losing a child at the prime of his life. That should not happen to any parent. To the two people still reading after all this, I hope it never happens to you, and if it has, I’m truly sorry for your loss.

The death of a child brings up doubts of your parenting skills, bring up all of the memories of what you could have done differently, what you are sure led to the path your child was on (good or bad, and face it, we only take credit for the bad most of the time), and what you would give up to have your child back. It will make you regret all the time you could have taken them fishing, hunting, bike riding, whatever it was that they and you wanted to do together but put off because there was not enough time or enough money, whatever the excuse at the time.

Hum, it just occurred to me that I now use Joe’s death as an excuse to not do some of those things. Because I put off doing them with Joe I now put off doing them because he is not here to go with me. Does that make sense, no it does not, even to me in my current memory filled, rambling, crying state… but I can see that it has and is happening.

I guess that’s all a part continuing on with life after such a loss? I don’t know, I’ve never lost a child before but know I felt similar things after each of my parents died. Why is it that we miss doing things with them that we didn’t even like doing? Is it just the interaction with them that we miss or the nearness, or just having them in our lives instead of our memories?

If anyone is still reading this, I sincerely thank you for the taking of your precious time, but Please, call your child (children) and go spend time with them. It does not matter what you do, just enjoy their presence while you can because you never know when they won’t be there. 

Truth: Or who wants to hear it.

While I can’t say I never lie, most of the time what gets me in trouble is that I tell the truth. Yes, you are reading that right, more people get upset with me because I tell them my honest opinion rather than what they want to hear.

Women in my family no longer ask me if I like their new hair, or if their behind looks big in a given outfit, they have learned they might not like what I have to say. After all, they are asking my opinion, not about facts.

I have always felt that if you are asking my opinion I should give you “my” opinion, not the opinion I think you want to hear. If you want to hear what you want to hear you better tell me in advance.

I guess to be truthful what gets me in trouble is not giving my opinion when asked, but rather giving my opinion when people simply make a comment, but don’t really ask for an opinion. Now this might just be a comment about something as subjective as Ford is the best truck out there, or Harley Davidson’s are the Only motorcycle worth riding, but they are not asking me what I think, they are telling me their own opinion. Where the rub comes is when I call them on that opinion. Ask for more details: Which model and year of Ford pickup, only motorcycle worth riding on the road? In the dirt, where?

It seems that some people take offence at being asked to validate their opinion. I don’t do it to pick on them personally, but rather more in a fact gathering effort. Why do they think that, what specifically is it about X or Y that makes it the best? What sets it apart from others in their eyes? I attribute it to my being what my wife calls “a data dump.” I’m never happy with just accepting something at face value; I need to know why they think that, what makes something better in their eyes?

Now generally I have a few facts to back up my opinion, and if they have their own facts we can have an interesting conversation, perhaps even a debate. So long as tempers are kept in check we all walk away a bit better educated about what makes the other person tick. Of course, some days I just am feeling a bit ornery and I’ll voice a counter opinion just to get the other person fired up. I know I shouldn’t I know it might make them mad at me, but it will also get us both to thinking about why we have those opinions. I used to think perhaps I could change someone’s mind; I have long since given up on that. While it does occasionally happen, it’s far from the norm. But like I said, if it gets us both thinking, so much the better.

So, if some time in the future I make a comment on something you have said, don’t think that I’m trying to say you are wrong [if I think that I’ll tell you ;-)], I am just trying to get you to engage in conversation and get more data!  

After all, it seems that the "truth" is often a subjective thing, or in need of clarification, don't you think? ;-)

A lost skill?

 Are wood workers a finite group? After being where we are for over a year now I have tried to both find a wood working group and failing at that, tried to start one. Only one person that was not family showed up to the meeting.

Further research has given me the info that the high school has not had a wood working program since 1996 and the only wood working program is a short one in the middle school. Even the local community college does not offer wood working, a sad state of affairs.

That then begs the question, what happens in a few years when there are no qualified wood workers? Yes, I know there will always be those that start after school, those that get jobs in a cabinet making shop, etc… but think of all those that Could have been wood workers, done their own house repairs, made practical items for themselves or gifts for friends and family?

I would love to work out a way to get the youth back in the mix, any ideas that you have I’d be happy to entertain them. 

Small steps

That’s what everyone says, do things in small steps. I tend to be a jump in with both feet kind of person so passes the small steps with a big leap. Not that I don’t understand that the small steps can be best, just that I like my mom’s saying: “I still have all the patience I was ever given because I never use it.”

With my wood working that seems to be a bit messed up since my first memory of doing wood work is with my dad making me a boat out of a 2x4 when I was 5 or 6. While he was more cowboy than wood worker, he did get me started with those simple toys.

Now that I am trying to take my wood work to another level I am finding that the small steps are still hard, but I’m doing them. First small step: make small items that will sell for under $50. Second step: find places that will sell those for me. Third step: use those sells to fund the tools and equipment to make the bigger pieces, forth step: find a place to sell those bigger pieces.

Step one I am working on, I just need to have more inventory. While twenty spatulas seems like a lot when you see them in a box, spread them out on a table in two different locations and it looks pretty thin. If you think about some of those selling and you need to restock them, twenty is not nearly enough. So, add more spatulas to the “make now” list.

Step two is in the one store in Pendleton and one in Walla Walla that currently have my items for sale. With the start of ‘tourist season” here soon I hope sales go up quick.

Step three could be a bit more difficult, I have a couple of bigger “art” pieces, but still need to work on more. Need to get my portfolio finished and printed off in a professional shop so when I set up appointments with potential sales locations I have something to show them prior to hauling a lot of items to them.

I guess that might be step four, getting my portfolio to a state where not only am I happy with it, but Lynn is as well. Look for progress on that in the next few weeks.  

One of the Big items.