Loss and family

There is a certain time when preparing for the holidays that bother me the most. That time when all the preparation is done, everything is in place, but the guests have yet to arrive.

That’s the time when I miss all the loved ones that are not here with us anymore. From grandparents, to parents, to in our case, our son Joe they all have had a great impact on our life. Joe was always the one that filled in the quiet time in the day, and made it speed by.

This year we are hosting almost all of Lynn’s siblings and her dad for Thanksgiving Dinner. There will be just over 20 of us here, and that will keep me busy enough to make it easier to temporarily put those who are not here out of my mind. That’s a bittersweet thing though. It’s nice to be around family and having a good time, but it’s also tough to realize you have forgotten about those that are no longer here too, even if just for a short time.

It’s all just a reminded that those family and friends that are still living deserve the most of our time and energy. Those that have passed are important, but only as the memories they bring to us. The people in front of you at the time are making new memories, let them have your full attention for now and enjoy their company to have when Way down the road; they are no longer here either.

Happy Thanksgiving  to all my family and friends. 

Subjects

I’m sure every person that does a blog suffers from some sort of “subject” mania. Either not enough subjects, or too many, or perhaps they, like me have some great ideas for their blog in the middle of the night that retreat with the shadows when the sun comes up?

The tablet beside the bed idea is a good one, if you don’t need glasses to see, don’t mind turning on a light, etc. etc… I have tried writing in the dark without my glasses…. Sometimes I can make out what I was writing, but most often it’s just hen scratches!

Perhaps a digital recorder will do that job? Or perhaps that will wake up Lynn and then the topic in mind will for sure be gone.

Current projects in the shop include (but are not limited to) Cribbage boards, natural log votive candle holders, ring holders, spatulas, bottle stoppers, more bowls of course, fan pulls, a carved burl bowl(s), a natural log ring mirror, a couple of “paw” table tops, a multi-curved wine bottle holder, and snowmen of a couple different styles, never a shortage of projects. Perhaps I need to make each of those a blog post.

From idea to completion, with photos, anyone interest in that idea? 

Joy and Effort

Not often are those words written together, but they should combined more often. People seem to think that Joy is something that just comes to them, that it’s one of those things that just happens. I disagree, I think joy takes Effort.

            For instance, we are hosting our first Thanksgiving dinner in many years. That will bring us a bunch of joy, but it will decidedly take a bunch of effort as well. As a rough count (some people have not confirmed their attendance yet) we will have 25 people here!

            Beyond the normal cleaning that a house full of guests always requires, we are going to need more seating, more table space, more place settings, etc... All of which takes effort, but in the end bring us great joy.

            Oh, did I mention this is Lynn’s side of the family? In the past we have hosted a couple of her side of the family, but never this many. Will it be hectic, yes sort of, but it will also be great fun and will take us all back to a time when we were younger and all having dinner with her parents. (only a couple years ago… that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!).

            And not I’m done with this blog for now, still many things to get taken care of to make this all come together in time for Thanksgiving! If you have suggestions to make this go smoother, or would like to attend, just comment below and let us know!

            

Priorities are ever changing

Some people will tell you that you Must prioritize things in your life, put the most important things first on the list, take care of those first and move on down the list. Yes, it’s a good idea, on paper. In reality few if any of us have the will power to make that list and stick to it.

            Face it most of the things on the top of the list are Not going to be fun.  In fact, I will go out on a limb and state here that they are probably closer to the list of things you Hate to do. So, that means that we either don’t do those things, or we do a couple of them and then move on to the fun things on that list. Or perhaps you have a whole different list of fun things you want to do, I know I do.

            So, now we have that fun list in hand and are faced with the overwhelming desire to do all of them at once. When none of them have to be done, how do you decide which is first on the list? Is it based on available funds, available materials? The answer to that is going to be different for each of us of course.

            Lately when it comes to my fun list I seem to have developed a small case of ADHD and as a consequence I have literally dozens of projects in various stages of work. The shop is getting changed around, that requires moving some things out of one room an into another so I can then move things out the second room into the first room, etc… that seems straight forward enough, but it’s not. As things come out, they need to go where other things already are, so the moving process takes several steps. Other items need to just be gone, but they are not trash, they need to either be photographed and put on one of the marketing sites or I need to find someone that will at least put them to good use. But in the mean time, all this is not getting me to any of that fun stuff on the list!

            So, Drop all the moving for now, move on to something fun. There is no lack of projects on that list. Bowls that were roughed out months ago that are now dry enough to finish turn, spatulas that were made from the pieces of log that were not right for making bowls, boxes, darning eggs, chain pulls, bottle stoppers, ring holders, well you get the idea, there are a lot of things I could be making.

            Which leads to making a decision, any decision… okay, there, grab that piece of wood and start making whatever it will make.. oh wait, there is already a bowl in the chuck that needs to be finished before I can do that. Okay, start on that instead, dang, it’s cracking and needs to be glued… start on that, but that means now I have to wait for the glue to cure. Yes, it’s super glue so it’s not a long time, but it’s time. Let it dry and move on to something else while that happens, makes sense right?

            Except now I’m three items down on the list (not necessarily in order, but three items). Now this third item does not take a lathe or a chuck, but it does take one of the tools that is still in the other part of the shop. Great, the tool is open enough to use, if not completely set up. And we are off down the rabbit hole again. Might as well make it right before I use it, Pretty soon I’m hours into the project and have yet to finish any of the items on the list.

            Am I making progress? Yes I am, but that progress seems to be happening in random directions and few of the projects are completely finished before I move on to other projects.

            Still, I guess progress is progress and I should take it where I can get it! What does this say? Lists are good, but how they are prioritized may change from day-to-day, or even minute-to-minute! But since I’m the one setting those priorities, I can do that!

            Now, it’s time to get (Squirrel) this blog entry done and put on the site, thank you for your time to read this rambling and perhaps leave a comment. 

Projects Abound!

Working on stuff for work is good, it’s what helps pay the bills, but today my mind was Not on work. There are too many projects in my head screaming to be the first one to get built. Next in line for those are the projects that are already in the works.

Currently in the works are a carved burl bowl, 5 slabs of various sizes and shapes that are going to become clocks, wall art, table tops (small, decorative versions), or ? I don’t know yet. Then there are the 12 spatulas I just cut from the scraps left from cutting bowl blanks a month ago. There is a wooden base and an antler that I want to combine into a necklace holder, three or four rounds that are waiting to be turned into boxes, and one whole tote full of rough turned bowl blanks that should be dry enough now to turn to finial shape. Then there is the new base for the “balanced bowls” set that needs finish sanding and a coat or 8 of lacquer.

Besides all those items there are “requested” items like a couple yarn bowls, a rolling pin, a salad bowl and two others that want me to make something out of some wood they have given me in the last year.

Then there are the items that I just have been thinking about making. A sculpture that has been waiting for a couple years now, a base for a big sphere I want to turn... oh and the jig to turn said sphere. Five slabs we cut this summer that look like dog prints that we want to sand down and have for the wall that will represent the team from our high school, the Elgin Huskies. Snowmen that I need to cut the blanks for and get turned for the holidays, some smaller blanks for hollowed ornaments, There are some spoons that need carved, golf balls that have faces drawn on them but have yet to be carved and some wonderful pieces of driftwood that will become faces with flowing hair, or bark that will become cabins/ castles that hang on the wall.

And all of this has not even came from a glance at my “idea” book that I have with me to make sketches in, write up ideas, etc… that would be a whole other list of things. How do other people ever make it through the day? Focusing on just the task at hand is Very tough some days!

Oh, and I’m an article behind for a group of fellow archaeologists who focus on the Aleutian Islands…  Anyone have a few extra hours they can loan me for a few days? 

Careful what you say

We all know that putting certain things on the internet can have bad consequences. Don’t post that you will be out of town, don’t put out to much information so that hackers can figure out your passwords, etc…

What may not be as clear is that sometimes even good news can be used against you. After recent events in our life, that we thought were good, we posted on Face book, on my business web site, etc… only to have those posts end up costing us money.

The old saying of “don’t post anything you wouldn't want your grandmother to know” is a good one, but in this case, it was something we would have told grandma, and thought it was simply everyday conversation. It’s a sad state of life in the world when even minor comments in a conversation (online or not) can cost you money and time.

Where is the leading you ask? My goal is simply to get you to thinking about every post, every comment you make on someone else’s page, anywhere on line. Is it something that could come back to bite you? Is it worth the end cost?  If it is, then by all means post it. I understand that everyone has different opinions on many subjects, and a good discussion on a wide range of subjects is something we need to have.

Sometimes however, it’s just best to think things through and have those conversations in person, where you know with certainty that what is said will not get to parties that you don’t want to have that info.

Perhaps Face book and other internet based pages need to come with a Miranda warning: Anything you say, can and Will, be used against you!

Hard work versus inspiration.

Writing a blog has turned out to be harder than I anticipated. I mean I have been writing for years, articles, essays, reports, fun little short stories, heck, I have even written a few poems in my time. The difference was that most of those were assignments that someone gave me, or were ideas that I had pitched to magazines, etc…

Now that I have to come up with my own ideas that have to appeal to a range of readers and even more so, try to attract new readers. I could write about my latest project for Rock Rabbit Enterprises or I could give an update on what I’m making to sell under the Llama Hardware business. The problem is, I am not sure anyone really cares what I’m making unless they are already in the market for something for their llamas.

Sure there are people buying the new packs or halters I’m making, but is my writing really what sells those? No, it’s not. You, my readers do look at the projects that I carve or turn, but I don’t’ think man of you really are interested in purchasing those items. I am just hoping that you are at least passing word along and letting others know I’m making things they could use for their homes.

So where is this leading you ask? I guess it’s leading to whether this blog is worth doing? Will anyone care if I don’t continue to write this blog? Will “I” care if I don’t write another blog? Let’s just say, Yes. It’s not that I see a lot of sales being generated from this blog, but that’s not why I started it to start with. I started it because I can’t not write. It’s in my system, I have to write. Now, what I write does change and most of it will never see the light of day, and will absolutely not see this blog, but sometimes, just sometimes I take the time to share things on here, and if only one or two of you actually read them, well so be it.

I’m told that writing is an art, that my wood work is an art, and perhaps it is, but it’s also a lot of work at times. And it’s the work aspect of it that brought on this, and Yes I admit it, this long and boring post. But now that I have some of the starving artist aspect out of my system I’m over it for now and ready to go back to the artistic part of making “art.” Thank you all for taking the time to read this and put up with the downside of my art.