LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond

Tags
acrylic paint americana angel article article birch articles arts and crafts ash aspen autumn baltic birch baltic birch plywood band saw basket basswood bedroom set beech beeswax bible birch birch ply birch plywood bird birds eye maple blade blades blood wood box brushes build burl business business designing business scroll saw ca glue cabinet camera candle card stock carving carving tool catalog cedar celtic chair cherry children christmas class cocobolo commission work compound cutting contemporary contest corian country crackle crafts creating creativity curly maple custom customer cutting cutting board damask de decorating decorations decoupage design designing dish dolls door drawing dremel drill drill bit drill press drilling easter ebony embellishing embellishment end grain exchange fall faux finishing finish finishing fish frame free fretwork furniture garden glue gothic grey elm halloween heart hickory holiday holly idea ideas inspiration instructions jatoba jewelry jewelry box jig kit kitchen koa lack ofproject progress laminate trimmer lamp lathe light luan plywood magazine mahogany mahogany sepele maple maple heart maple plywood mask masonite mdf military mineral oil finish modern napkin holder nature nautical new oak oil organization organizing ornament ornaments padauk paint painting painting gothic paper patriotic pattern patterns pau amarillo pen pens photography pine plan planer plaque plaques ply plywood poplar power carving presentation pricing primitive printing production project project progress project progress baltic birch project progress birch project progress maple project progress mdf project progress roasted birch projects publish purpleheart r refinishing religious repair review roasted birch romantic rosewood router routing rustic sander sanding sapele saw scroll scroll saw scroll saw blades scroll saw class scroll saw tape scroll sawing scroll work scroll working scrolling techniques scrolls saw scrollsaw scrollwork scrollworking season seasonal segmentation sell selling sellling sepele shaping shellac shop shop safety shop tour shop vac show shows silhouette skates skill sleigh snowflake snowman song spring spring box stain stain finish staining steampunk stenciling storage story studio submit summer table saw tape teach teaching thanksgiving tip tip aspen tool gloat tools toy traditional transfer pattern tray trick turning tutorial valentine veining victorian video vintage walnut wenge western whimsical wildlife winter wood wood shopping wood store trip wood working woodworking woodworking show word art work write yellow heart
7M views 13K replies 477 participants last post by  teaklight12 
#1 ·
Beginning this Blog

I recently was referred to this site by Steve Good, who has a wonderful, comprehensive scroll saw forum and blog page. Although I have been doing woodworking for almost fifteen years, I have finally reached a point in my life where I am able to make it the main focus of my activities. Since my life revolves around my woodworking and business, I believe that this blog will reflect that very clearly, although it will also be somewhat personal. But I think that woodworking is very personal anyway.

It has been a long journey to get to this point. There have been many good times and some not-so-good ones, but I appreciate every single step because I think that if even one thing was different, I would not be where I am today or who I am inside. It isn't only the positive events in our lives that make us what we are. Many times it is the negative things that mold and shape us and teach us to look at things in a certain way. I try to remember that when things are tough and move ahead.

I have learned that there is only one thing we can be certain of in life: change. Whether things are good or bad, we need to hold on and appreciate the moment, as we can be certain that things will be different before long. This helps us to not only appreciate the good days and things we have now, but also hang on when things are not so good, as we know that they will be different soon. I like this philosophy.

I liked reading about the new contest offered by this site in the newsletter. Fluidity. It is a perfect theme for projects because our existence itself is fluid. I am anxious to see what interpretations are going to be, as I am sure everyone else is. It will be an adventure for all of us for sure.

So why am I starting this blog? The other day I received a call from a customer who had a question for me. He kept saying how surprised he was that I answered my own phone. I have worked as a Contributing Editor for Creative Woodworks and Crafts Magazine for the past 13+ years and I guess in the scroll saw community, many people have heard of me. It seemed so odd to me that he would think I would have a secretary or staff. We kind of laughed about it, but it really got me thinking about his interpretation of my life. We all tend to form opinions of others from very limited information. We see the outside of a person as they are presented to us and many times are very quick to categorize that person in our minds. I do it myself.

But in my years of talking with and dealing with many people from many different places, I have come to realize that people are like icebergs. We only see the tip of them and below the surface is a vast, complex side of them that is the basis of their actions and thinking.

Everyone has a story. Everyone has traveled a journey. No two people have traveled identical paths. Thus, we are all unique in our thoughts, actions and creative processes. I enjoy hearing others stories. I think that listening to others and hearing their experiences helps us to understand each other. With that understanding, we learn.

I have used the phrase "Knowledge Is Power" in my signature since I have been on the web. Once someone told me that they thought it was quite arrogant of me to say that. He thought that I was implying that I knew more than anyone else and he found that offensive. I told him he couldn't be more wrong. My interpretation of the phrase is that our QUEST for knowledge EMPOWERS us to make better decisions about things in our lives. We are never finished learning. I learn every single day from my friends, colleagues, fellow woodworkers and students. We never know when we will learn something new. Sometimes you can learn from even a seemingly insignificant event. I feel the key is that we need to be open to learning.

Everyone has a story.

So I will close today with those thoughts. I don't know how often I will post here, but I hope to make it a habit. I don't know if anyone will even read this, but somehow it doesn't matter. Writing is a key in self-awareness. By writing things down we categorize our actions and it helps (me anyway) to keep my life organized. Organization leads to peace as far as I am concerned.

I am quite overwhelmed with the scope of the site here. I am still getting my footings and lurking around. I think for the first several days or maybe even weeks I will be more of a passive observer while I find my comfortable position among the others here. I want to upload the new things I am working on here. Like everyone else, I am anxious to see the response they get. I love seeing others projects and could spend my days just looking.

Although it is quite intimidating, the forum looks like it is full of friendly, knowledgeable and wonderfully creative people.

I think I am going to like it here.
 
See less See more
#2,272 ·
Day 2 - More Travel

We made it through the first day pretty well. There are funny stories, of course and incidents, but I am going to keep this really short today for obvious reasons.

Getting through customs and over the border was a lot more than we thought it would be. Usually the Canadians are the ones that scrutinize everything because they like to slap taxes on all that you bring over. But I was surprised that it was the US customs agents that were being pretty picky.

Since the boxes were filled with mostly paperwork for the show, they classified us as 'business trip' and sent us to a different border crossing about 5 miles up the road. At this time, it was starting to snow and very gloomy out. We had to go to the new center where all the trucks crossed and I think in part they just wanted to show off the new facility.

Fortunately, it was like a ghost town and no one was really there save a few truck going though. We had to park and go inside and of the three agents there, we were fortunate that what seemed to be the friendliest offered to help.

Long story short, we filled out forms and he came out to inspect some boxes, but I had labeled each one to match the list and could pull any of them out to verify the contents immediately. He was nice and even offered to copy the form for us that passed us through, in case we had some stuff left to bring back over. He said we may not need it but you never know.

We are ahead of the driving schedule today, although we have been at or under the limit. We did have one meeting with the law that I will talk about later, but it was more stupid than anything. It was while we were in the town of Amhurst crossing to New Brunswick and my partner was driving.

So all is good. We should be at Jeannies by late afternoon and we will have time all evening and tomorrow to get to know the area and set up will begin Friday.

So that's all for now. The weather is holding and fortunately non of the snow stuck. These roads in Maine were pretty steep but we are all major highway now so we should be fine.

Thanks for all the nice thoughts and I hope you have a Wonderful day!
 
#2,273 ·
Now you can always say your Mustang is big as an aighteenwheeler …. LOL
and you were very lucky it didn´t take longer in the costum , back when I did
drive all over europe with loads it cuold take up to a day to cross a boarder and
even more if it was outside the old westeurope

have a great day yourself Sheila and keith
take care
Dennis
 
#2,277 ·
Settling In - Let the Fun Begin

This is so unusual being in a different place and having my routine changed. I suppose that I am quite the proverbial "creature of habit". More so than I would have thought.

I am going to the Center today and I promise to have some pictures of that added in later. Now I get to start meeting people and learning. I am very excited.

We made it to Jeannie's by afternoon, as planned. The rest of the trip was uneventful, which was good because much of the Northeast was being hit with a storm. Besides a few minutes of it snowing, it was dry and clear. No news is good news in that case.

I apologize for not responding to all your comments. I will try as much as I can but the time constraints are hard to deal with. I am sure you all understand. I still enjoy hearing from you and I want to share all the fun things that I am going to see. I probably will go into lots of detail about things when I get back, but these short messages here will also help me remember all that I want to share.

We are having dinner with Robert, my editor tonight and that will be a great experience. It will be great to hear of all that he has planned in the future for the magazine and hopefully I can participate in some of the things.

I will also meet the people from the NWA club today and that should prove to be fun.

I have to run now, so that will be all for now. I will get pictures up as soon as possible.

Have a wonderful day! :)
 
#2,279 ·
Setting Up

Well, we will finally be able to get into the convention hall and set things up today. We will also be able to meet everyone who is involved in the show.

Yesterday was an odd day. I am really really glad that we got here when we did but I felt like it was one of those "wait to hurry up" types of days. Jeannie and her husband Bill were busy with the final preparations, as you can imagine. Keith and I spent most of the morning looking around and shopping.

Our hotel is right on the edge of a huge shopping strip, where there are numerous stores and restaurants on both sides of the streets. It so much reminds me of Chicago when everything was right at my fingertips. There is a huge Lowe's and a Super Wal-Mart right next to the hotel, and we went in there for a bit for some snacks to keep in the room and just to look around. It certainly brought back memories of the big city life.

So does the traffic. :) There are no stop lights from where I live in Meteghan until you reach Yarmouth which is 40 minutes away and I think Keith was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of traffic. It is the first time that I am driving since we left home (I think it is a "man thing" - sorry guys!) But I grew up with driving in the city and besides my ditch incident which was totally different circumstances, I haven't had an accident. In any case it works for now.

Last night we had dinner with my editor from Creative Woodworks Magazine, Robert Becker. We were also lucky enough to have Wes Demerest and his wife Alice join us. Wes (who we all call "uncle Wes") is one of the main photographers for the magazine and also works in several other capacities for them. I have come to know him and his wife very well throughout the years and it was wonderful to see them after almost seven years since my last major show with them. They honestly looked exactly the same and were warm and friendly as usual.

We had a beautiful Italian dinner and some great conversation about the industry in general as well as catching up personally with each other and I felt as if I hadn't missed a beat. These shows are great for strengthening relationships with colleagues, I believe. I feel like they not only sustain friendships, but create new ones. It was a wonderful and relaxing evening.

We got to visit with Jeannie and Bill, too for a bit in the afternoon. Even though they were doing last minute details, they invited us to come for a visit. While we were chatting, I went through my deliveries of paint and brushes and stuff for the classes and discovered that DecoArt didn't sent the Antiquing and Staining Gel for me to demo and pass out. It was an honest mistake, but it was to be part of my presentation and I need to see if I can find some today, at least enough to demonstrate. Just one of those things.

I was also sent some wrong brushes. One of them is quite a bit larger than what I ordered, but the class is still over a week away and either I will find some in Chicago or make due with what I have. I think I can make it work for them. Being flexible is what it is all about anyway.

I will get some pictures today, I promise. So far I have been settling here and sorting and have not really focused on getting pictures. The right time will come and there will be lots.

So that is the plan. All in all, things are going well and on schedule. I received my prints too and they look outstanding. I hope I sell at least one! :)

Jeannie and Bill had to go pick up some pieces for a display last night. The value of the pieces were at $250,000. She was nervous about even having them in her possession. It just goes to show the caliber of the pieces that will be here. I can't wait to see them AND meet the talented people who made them.

So that is it for now. I need to get to it, but wanted to update everyone while I could. I will post as often as I can. After the weeks and months of anticipation, the show is finally here! YAY!!!

Have and incredible day! I know I will!
 
#2,286 ·
Better Late Than Never

Hi guys and girls! Is it too late to post today?? I hope not. It has been an incredibly eventful couple of days and this was the first chance I actually got to write. The show was crazy/busy today which is a great thing. I was there late last night doing the judging of the projects and I needed to get up early today for a 6:30 breakfast with the other judges. They kept me on quite a schedule.

I have lots of stories and pictures for you all, but it is still difficult for me to write them on this laptop and once again I am TIRED! (in a good way!)

So I apologize for the short update, but I will have lots to tell you when I get the chance. In a nutshell:

I heard that attendance was better than ever.
The classes went well, although not without incident.
I met many wonderful customers that were friendly and fun to talk to.

All in all, it has been a 10 plus on the "good scale". YAY!

I hope the kitties are ok though! Lee said they are happy and doing fine. They are probably busy plotting to retaliate!

I hope your weekend is going well. Have a wonderful night!
 
#2,287 ·
Hi Sheila,
Glad for you that you enjoy and having fun. Having fun and enjoying work is the key of obtaining 10s. I can imagine how your students are very glad that they got a really expert teacher.
Bit of advise, when you are back and meet the ketties…. have a lot of food for them to be distracted on their plot… LOL.
God bless and congratulations for the job.
 
#2,290 ·
End of a Great Show

Wow! The show was incredible! I promise to catch up better in a bit when I download all of my pictures. By the fourth lecture I felt really comfortable and "in my element". People were SO nice and I was happy to hear such positive feedback about the lectures.

Today we are leaving Saratoga Springs and heading for New Jersey and visiting the magazine. I will take some pictures and hopefully be able to catch up more when I get to Chicago and on a regular computer. I just wanted to update you all and let you know what a great show it was.

I do have lots of pictures but haven't even had time to put them on the computer yet. I will get to it soon and share them. Wood shows are awesome!

Have a great day everyone!
 
#2,296 ·
Better Early than Late

Thank you all so much for the well wishes. It certainly has been an adventure!

I am writing this on Monday night because we are off early tomorrow and have 13 hours of driving to get to Chicago. Right now I am in Milford, PA staying at Keith's auntie's house (she is a lovely woman named Sheila!)

Today I finally got to see New York City. Google directions screwed up and took us through the city and we got to go through the Bronx and on the George Washington Bridge. I had always wanted to go to NYC and it was fun and exciting. Good thing I was the one driving, because Keith was a bit overwhelmed in Saratoga Springs. I could only imagine he would be crazy where we were. Right before being on the bridge , they had bottle necked five lanes of traffic into one because of construction. Gotta love city driving! My Chicago roots kicked in though and it was like riding a bike - not bad at all. I wasn't even flustered. I suppose I can take on anything these days!

We also got to visit the offices of the magazine. Keith got to meet all the people there and the two sons that owned the company took us out to eat with Robert our editor, and Debbie his assistant. It was nice and fun and everyone had a great time. Then Keith got a tour of all the offices and was able to meet everyone else involved in the magazine. What a great day!

Tomorrow it is Chicago and my son. I truly can't wait! I will have better computer access there so I should be able to post some pictures.

Windy city, here we come! :)

Have a great day!
I am going to turn in for now, but wanted to check in and let you all know where we are.
 
#2,297 ·
Sounds like fun Sheila. (Except the New York city part). Five lanes into one? That must be that new math.

Better you than me. I would have had either a nervous breakdwn, or a heart attack. Or maybe a serious case of road rage.

Enjoy your visit with your son.

Lee
 
#2,308 ·
We have arrived in Chicago!

(Well, Plainfield anyway!) After a week of excitement, we are ready to begin the next leg of our trip. We arrived in Chicago after a little over 13 hours of driving and everything went according to plan.

For the next several days, (until Monday) we are staying here with my son Phil and his wife Brianna. It has been nearly four years since I have seen him and since then they have purchased their own house. Phil is a Joliet Police officer and lives in Plainfield, which is just outside the west side of Joliet. He has been on the force for four years and loves his job. He had wanted to be involved in law enforcement as long as I can remember. He also loves computers and builds them and repairs them on the side.

For recreation he loves to try different foods and now he is building a scale model train set in his basement. I will have pictures tomorrow, as everyone is sleeping and all our things need to be unpacked and organized. I can also start adding on the pictures of the show and the people from there at the same time.

I loved the drive here yesterday. I realize that most people prefer to fly, but I truly love seeing the landscape and experiencing all that driving has to offer. It has been six years since I have driven here and so much has changed. The speed limits have been raised to 65 miles per hour in most places which means that the minimum you need to go without having everyone on your tail is 70. I was happy that 70 was sufficient because for the first time in my life, I felt that on the open and uncrowded that it was fast enough.

We drove most of the morning through the beautiful hills of Pennsylvania (Interstate 80) and took that directly to Chicago. I did take some pictures of the mountains, but I need to see how they came out. I am sure that they will not show the beauty we were able to experience.

Almost immediately upon crossing the border into Ohio, the landscape changed from hills to flat farm land. There were acres upon acres of fields and you could literally see for miles in the distance. It is funny that when I lived here in the Midwest I never noticed it, but since moving to Nova Scotia with its many hills and cliffs, I am far more aware of the landscape.

I drove most of the day, as Keith was quite tired and fighting off a cold, but for one long stretch across Ohio he took the wheel. While looking out at the farmlands, a favorite painting of mine came to mind. I had not thought about it in quite a while, but I remember when I first saw it when I was in university, I was quite taken with it. It has always remained one of my favorites and now I am wondering if I will be able to find a good quality print of it for myself.

The name of it is "Christina's World" and it is by Andrew Wyeth.

Ecoregion People in nature Sky Grass Art


While looking for an image of it to show you here, I also found this information on it : Christina's Worldhttp://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A6464&page_number=1&template_id=1&sort_order=1

While driving and looking at the miles and miles of farmland, I couldn't help but think how lonely and isolated it looked - especially now when the landscape is so barren. Keith and I were amazed at the number of abandoned and collapsed buildings we passed and it truly shows the state of how things are.

I attended university at Southern Illinois in Carbondale, which was a six hour drive south of Chicago and I remember the many, many times I made that trip back and forth and thinking how vast our world really is. With growing up in a congested city area, we tend to forget the other cultures and lifestyles exist. I think it is a good thing to venture out from time to time and experience different places first hand. With flying you can't do that.

While traveling thorough the country this way, I also noticed the gradual change in landscape from mostly soft wood trees in the east to mostly hard wood as we continued west. The changes were very subtle, but they were something that I would not have noticed from a plane.

I like that these things have me thinking in this way. It is as if my senses were awakened and made aware again of the many differences that we have in the world. It is so easy to become complacent in our lives. We each live in our own world and find comfort in its familiarity and routine. There is nothing wrong with that, as comfort is a good goal to strive for, but I encourage you to every once in a while take a step out and look around at the other things that our world has to offer. Be it by reading books, looking on the internet or even by watching a movie, you can open yourselves to all kinds of inspiration and understanding of others.

And I do feel inspired. Although I am only partially through my trip, my head is already nearly exploding with new things and ideas that I can't wait to implement when I return.

Today will be an organizational day. I finally have a decent keyboard to type on and am able to type near my normal speed. I need to download my pictures and present them to you along with my thoughts on the show. I may be doing a "sub blog" of that just to make it easier to follow. After living out of a suitcase and the car for a week I need a day to reorganize and take a breath.

Again I want to thank you all for your comments. I feel like many of you are right with me here on my journey and it is fun to share it with you as well as those of you who are not. I have had the chance not only to meet many of you personally, but also to meet so many new people who share the passion and love if woodworking with me.

This is truly the trip of a lifetime. :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
 

Attachments

#2,309 ·
We have arrived in Chicago!

(Well, Plainfield anyway!) After a week of excitement, we are ready to begin the next leg of our trip. We arrived in Chicago after a little over 13 hours of driving and everything went according to plan.

For the next several days, (until Monday) we are staying here with my son Phil and his wife Brianna. It has been nearly four years since I have seen him and since then they have purchased their own house. Phil is a Joliet Police officer and lives in Plainfield, which is just outside the west side of Joliet. He has been on the force for four years and loves his job. He had wanted to be involved in law enforcement as long as I can remember. He also loves computers and builds them and repairs them on the side.

For recreation he loves to try different foods and now he is building a scale model train set in his basement. I will have pictures tomorrow, as everyone is sleeping and all our things need to be unpacked and organized. I can also start adding on the pictures of the show and the people from there at the same time.

I loved the drive here yesterday. I realize that most people prefer to fly, but I truly love seeing the landscape and experiencing all that driving has to offer. It has been six years since I have driven here and so much has changed. The speed limits have been raised to 65 miles per hour in most places which means that the minimum you need to go without having everyone on your tail is 70. I was happy that 70 was sufficient because for the first time in my life, I felt that on the open and uncrowded that it was fast enough.

We drove most of the morning through the beautiful hills of Pennsylvania (Interstate 80) and took that directly to Chicago. I did take some pictures of the mountains, but I need to see how they came out. I am sure that they will not show the beauty we were able to experience.

Almost immediately upon crossing the border into Ohio, the landscape changed from hills to flat farm land. There were acres upon acres of fields and you could literally see for miles in the distance. It is funny that when I lived here in the Midwest I never noticed it, but since moving to Nova Scotia with its many hills and cliffs, I am far more aware of the landscape.

I drove most of the day, as Keith was quite tired and fighting off a cold, but for one long stretch across Ohio he took the wheel. While looking out at the farmlands, a favorite painting of mine came to mind. I had not thought about it in quite a while, but I remember when I first saw it when I was in university, I was quite taken with it. It has always remained one of my favorites and now I am wondering if I will be able to find a good quality print of it for myself.

The name of it is "Christina's World" and it is by Andrew Wyeth.

Ecoregion People in nature Sky Grass Art


While looking for an image of it to show you here, I also found this information on it : Christina's Worldhttp://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A6464&page_number=1&template_id=1&sort_order=1

While driving and looking at the miles and miles of farmland, I couldn't help but think how lonely and isolated it looked - especially now when the landscape is so barren. Keith and I were amazed at the number of abandoned and collapsed buildings we passed and it truly shows the state of how things are.

I attended university at Southern Illinois in Carbondale, which was a six hour drive south of Chicago and I remember the many, many times I made that trip back and forth and thinking how vast our world really is. With growing up in a congested city area, we tend to forget the other cultures and lifestyles exist. I think it is a good thing to venture out from time to time and experience different places first hand. With flying you can't do that.

While traveling thorough the country this way, I also noticed the gradual change in landscape from mostly soft wood trees in the east to mostly hard wood as we continued west. The changes were very subtle, but they were something that I would not have noticed from a plane.

I like that these things have me thinking in this way. It is as if my senses were awakened and made aware again of the many differences that we have in the world. It is so easy to become complacent in our lives. We each live in our own world and find comfort in its familiarity and routine. There is nothing wrong with that, as comfort is a good goal to strive for, but I encourage you to every once in a while take a step out and look around at the other things that our world has to offer. Be it by reading books, looking on the internet or even by watching a movie, you can open yourselves to all kinds of inspiration and understanding of others.

And I do feel inspired. Although I am only partially through my trip, my head is already nearly exploding with new things and ideas that I can't wait to implement when I return.

Today will be an organizational day. I finally have a decent keyboard to type on and am able to type near my normal speed. I need to download my pictures and present them to you along with my thoughts on the show. I may be doing a "sub blog" of that just to make it easier to follow. After living out of a suitcase and the car for a week I need a day to reorganize and take a breath.

Again I want to thank you all for your comments. I feel like many of you are right with me here on my journey and it is fun to share it with you as well as those of you who are not. I have had the chance not only to meet many of you personally, but also to meet so many new people who share the passion and love if woodworking with me.

This is truly the trip of a lifetime. :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Hi Sheila;

You're going to need a week to unwind, by the time you get home.

I like long drives like that myself. Just you and your thoughts, mixed in with the scenery. I drove I 80 through Pennsylvania many times, as my father had a farm in Northwestern Pa. It is truly beautiful there.

Well, I'm glad to hear you're having a great trip. I'm anxious to see your pictures.

Oh, the picture by Andrew Wyeth is really very nice. One of my favorite artists.

Lee
 

Attachments

#2,321 ·
Playing Tourist

There are so many things that I find different now that I am back. Even though I spent the majority of my life here and grew up in the city, I feel like a tourist. Everything is so different. I believe in one of my earliest blogs that I mentioned that I think that the one thing that we can count on in the world is change. What I am experiencing here is a fine example of that theory.

I left the Chicago area seven years ago. Since then so many things have occurred. Where once there were empty fields, now there are full shopping malls. My son now owns a beautiful home and he and his wife are planning their family. And my daughter, who had lived with me until only recently has grown up even more and is turning into a beautiful young woman. It is all good.

But I am no longer comfortable in this type of atmosphere. The constant activity, although exciting and stimulating, can be overwhelming to me. It is still good though, because I know that it is only temporary. Soon I will be back in my own comfort zone and able to walk on the beach or through the woods and hear nothing but the sound of the crashing waves and seagulls screaming or the rustle of the leaves underfoot and the rush of the river.

There will be plenty of time for that though. For the moment I am enjoying the short time I will have with my children.

We had a dinner at Phil's last night and I was the cook. I made them one of their favorites (Chicken Alfredo with broccoli and mushrooms) and it wasn't until later on when laying in bed I realized that it was the first time that we all sat around the same table in years. I am kicking myself this morning for not getting a picture of the three of us. I would have liked that. But perhaps there will be one more chance before we leave to get together again. It will be difficult though because my daughter Danielle works two jobs and is on call every day. But we can try if her hours are good.

It was a lovely visit and we had fun. We took turns reminiscing about funny things and gently kidded each other about many things. I loved it so much and the moment seemed to pass by much too quickly.

Today we are headed to the Museum of Science and Industry and then to Navy Pier. I charged the camera this morning and promise to get something up soon. After this venture, I don't think we will be running so hard for the remainder of the visit.

I find myself missing the kitties quite a bit. We were looking at pictures and talking about our various pets over time and it really made me homesick for a bit. Phil has custody of Salem, Danielle's cat that we rescued in 1997 and he is showing his age. He used to be black and white, but is now white with black and white peppering and looking quite frail. Phil also has a dog named Wicket that "plays" with Salem and has incessant energy. I can't see how Salem likes it, but he tolerates it and on occasion I am told that they cuddle up together and sleep. So it apparently works for them.

I must run off now and get going. Another whirlwind day. I will upload some pictures to my Picasa album soon so they will be online for you all to see. We just didn't really stop until late again last night.

Keith's cold seems to be getting better. We still haven't figured out if it is allergies or not, but it is on the mend in any case.

Thanks for all the nice thoughts again. I like reading them at night when I settle down. It puts some normalcy into the day for me and helps me feel less homesick. :)

Have a wonderful and creative day!
 
#2,331 ·
I'm really trying!

I have a load of pictures to share and I am having trouble getting them loaded up here. I am at my son's computer and he has things set up differently than what I am used to and I don't want to mess with his settings.

We went to the Museum of Science and Industry yesterday, as well as Navy Pier and I got some nice things to show you. It will just take a bit to get everything in its virtual place and uploaded properly. I don't want to have to do it twice, so I will wait and get them up as soon as I can.

Today I plan on seeing my friend from high school, who is like a sister to me. Then for the following couple of days, it will be more relaxed and I should have a bit of time to catch up and play before we leave on Monday. I don't want to bombard you all with pictures at once, and I am figuring out how I will divide them up. I think that I will use my Picasa albums and post a couple directly on the blog and link to the rest for those of you who are interested. I took many good shots of the show and the beautiful items that were entered for judging that you will want to see, as well as the town of Saratoga Springs, the countryside, the museum, Navy Pier including the Tiffany glass displays, and downtown Chicago. I will divide things up so they will be organized for everyone to see what they want. You all know I love "organization" :)

So once again, I need to ask you to be patient with me regarding pictures. I am like the proverbial duck out of water without my own computer and stuff here and may try some things on my own laptop, although I only loaded it up with limited programs. I should have some nice slide shows when I am done though so that will be something to look forward to.

Check in later, or you can even watch this blog and I will let you know when things are ready.

Have a great day!
 
#2,332 ·
Shelia , I think you need to quit worrying about putting up the pictures . and enjoy your time with your family and love ones . Relax , We will still be here.
Yes we would love seeing them , but we can wait knowing that you had a nice trip and a safe one is good.
David
Ps so they will all be done tomorrow LOL LOL
 
#2,336 ·
Finally some pictures!

I had some time this morning (everyone is still asleep) and I prepared some pictures for you to see from the show. This part was the items that were up for judging. There were so many beautiful and incredible pieces that were displayed that it was truly hard to pick which ones were the best. Fortunately, we were able to give out several "honorable mentions" which were indeed honorable.

Most of the pieces I took pictures of were of turnings. I don't know why this occurred, but they were separate from the other entries and were not something we judged in the regular contest. It took a couple of hours to decide on the judging and I suppose that since I didn't really see the turning pieces I wanted to have a record of them. I apologize for not taking more pictures of the other entries, but I will be looking for pictures posted by my friends on facebook and I will be able to compile an album of them at a later date when I get home. But for now, I have mostly turning pics for you.

As always, if you click on the title of the picture, it will bring you to my Picasa album so you can see them all. I am only putting a small representation of them here, as there are about 25 in the album. I know that many of you don't like to navigate from LJ's site and I do apologize for not posting them all here, but I think it would be excessive if I do.


This jellyfish is one of my favorite pieces. It is fun and cool and just beautifully done!


The little vessel on the upper right was absolutely stunning. So delicate and the finish was perfect.


This one made me think of Martyn and his impossible boxes. Again, look at the intricacy of the design.


More beauty!


A cool stingray that was simple, yet beautifully shaped. I loved the simplicity of this design.


Hand carved basket weave embellishment made this table amazing.


This box elder piece looked like marble. Just incredible design and finish.


This starfish bowl was another favorite of mine. So much detail and so beautiful. The picture doesn't show its beauty.


I met Paul Petrie who designed this beautiful piece and I hope to spend some time with him next week. He is a wonderfully friendly man and incredibly talented!


Another of Paul's beautiful pieces.


I don't know how they made these delicate finales without breaking them. Look at the vessel on the left. The balance is perfect!


Oh, Canada! :)


It was fun and very satisfying to see some of my own designs made by others. I often forget that people make them.

You can imagine how overwhelming the show and all its pieces were! I wish I could have spent more time looking at them, but I was on a pretty tight schedule. I have more pictures of the show in future blogs. They need a little more organization.

Today I am just going to take it easy and work on my son's train set with him. He is building a pretty large set in his basement and it will be fun to work on it with him. We are also going to do some cooking together. So all in all it will be a somewhat relaxed day. No running and no schedules. I will like that. :)

I hope you all have a great one too. Enjoy the pictures!
 
#2,337 ·
These are some great pieces. Wow, I can not figure how the star fish bowl is classified as a turning.
Do you have any idea of what processes went into building that bowl??? I am sure you met some
incrediable new people, and learned a lot. Enjoy your train building.
 
#2,344 ·
A Little Hiccup

Well, things were going a bit too smoothly. Today I went with Phil to the store and we took my car. When we returned we parked it on the other side of the driveway and I noticed a puddle of oil under the rear axel. Thank goodness everything is open Sunday in Chicagoland. We took it into Firestone where he usually takes his cars and trusts the owners and it turns out that the differential seal on the rear axel is shot.

So I am waiting for it to be repaired before we leave tomorrow. I could look at it as a negative, but I choose to look at it as a great thing that we didn't get on the road tomorrow without finding it and no further damage was done to the car. Can you imagine what would have happened if we went through those mountains without knowing? I consider myself very LUCKY!

I suppose that is to be expected with older cars. Part of having them. I am happy we are safe and everything will be ready to go tomorrow.

As for today, I am going to play with the trains more and I cooked crepes for breakfast and made stuffed jalapeno peppers and stuffed mushrooms for lunch and French onion soup for dinner. Sharing all the recipes with my daughter in law is fun! :)

More later . . .
 
#2,345 ·
there you was lucky you discovered it in time :)
proppebly something that has been on the march for the last copple of days
with all that driving :)
so before you returning back then check the oil / water and brake stand in the motorroom
just so you ain´t cought by a surprice

take care and have some funny hours in the play room …. lol

Dennis
 
#2,351 ·
Back on the Road

Did you ever wish you had two lives to live? Sometimes I sure do. I have been fortunate to experience two completely different lifestyles and wish that I could live them both.

At least with technology and things being what they are today, it isn't all or nothing one way or the other. I can experience both worlds pretty much on a daily basis so it is at least workable.

This week has been just wonderful. Seeing my son and his wife and my daughter has been so good for me. It gives me such pleasure and fills me with pride to see how successful and independent they have become. Yesterday was one of the quietest days spent here, but it was also one of the best. We spent the day cooking together and working on the train set and just talking and visiting. It was low key and quiet and I wished the day could last forever. As today arrived and I know my time to leave has come, I am filled with emotion.

I can only hope that if I work a bit harder I will be successful enough to afford to visit more frequently. This last run was four years and it was much too long for me. But I was going through many difficult times and changes in my life and it was impossible to come 'home' to the comfort of my children. I just couldn't swing it. Life is ironic that way sometimes.

But things are getting better and I am optimistic that I will be able to see the kids a bit more often. In the mean time, we will be able to share our lives with each other over the computer and phone. At least we have that.

Smile Shoulder Picture frame Iris Happy


So its back on the road again we go. I don't know where we will end up tonight - probably somewhere in Pennsylvania. We are holding back leaving until a little later this morning because of the rush hour traffic on the Illinois/Indiana border. No sense in leaving when it is a tangled mess. It is about 16 hours back to the Saratoga Springs area in New York where I will be teaching Wednesday through Saturday. I have a scroll sawing class on both Wednesday and Saturday and painting classes on Thursday and Friday. Then we will finally be able to head home.

Now that this leg of the trip is behind us, I am really beginning to feel homesick. I will enjoy these classes I will teach in the next couple of days very much, as it will be at a much more relaxed pace than the show and there will be lots of personal interaction with others. But I am thinking of the kitties and my own bed and missing our quiet walks in the night.

I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to see so many people. As I promised, I will give detailed stories when I return and be able to show the many pictures that I have acquired. I am sure I will have much to talk about when I am back.

Have a wonderful Monday!
 

Attachments

#2,352 ·
Back on the Road

Did you ever wish you had two lives to live? Sometimes I sure do. I have been fortunate to experience two completely different lifestyles and wish that I could live them both.

At least with technology and things being what they are today, it isn't all or nothing one way or the other. I can experience both worlds pretty much on a daily basis so it is at least workable.

This week has been just wonderful. Seeing my son and his wife and my daughter has been so good for me. It gives me such pleasure and fills me with pride to see how successful and independent they have become. Yesterday was one of the quietest days spent here, but it was also one of the best. We spent the day cooking together and working on the train set and just talking and visiting. It was low key and quiet and I wished the day could last forever. As today arrived and I know my time to leave has come, I am filled with emotion.

I can only hope that if I work a bit harder I will be successful enough to afford to visit more frequently. This last run was four years and it was much too long for me. But I was going through many difficult times and changes in my life and it was impossible to come 'home' to the comfort of my children. I just couldn't swing it. Life is ironic that way sometimes.

But things are getting better and I am optimistic that I will be able to see the kids a bit more often. In the mean time, we will be able to share our lives with each other over the computer and phone. At least we have that.

Smile Shoulder Picture frame Iris Happy


So its back on the road again we go. I don't know where we will end up tonight - probably somewhere in Pennsylvania. We are holding back leaving until a little later this morning because of the rush hour traffic on the Illinois/Indiana border. No sense in leaving when it is a tangled mess. It is about 16 hours back to the Saratoga Springs area in New York where I will be teaching Wednesday through Saturday. I have a scroll sawing class on both Wednesday and Saturday and painting classes on Thursday and Friday. Then we will finally be able to head home.

Now that this leg of the trip is behind us, I am really beginning to feel homesick. I will enjoy these classes I will teach in the next couple of days very much, as it will be at a much more relaxed pace than the show and there will be lots of personal interaction with others. But I am thinking of the kitties and my own bed and missing our quiet walks in the night.

I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to see so many people. As I promised, I will give detailed stories when I return and be able to show the many pictures that I have acquired. I am sure I will have much to talk about when I am back.

Have a wonderful Monday!
be safe coming home

glad you got some quality time with the family
precious times

ok i'm finished with the front pages now

pass the crossword puzzle lol
 

Attachments

#2,361 ·
Back in Saratoga Springs

Hi, everybody!

We drove most of Monday and half a day today and are back in the Albany/Saratoga Springs area. We arrived here around 1pm and had a nice lunch at Olive Garden restaurant. I haven't eaten there in ages and love their soup. We then took the afternoon to go through the large shopping mall nearby and just bummed around a bit. It was the first time we really had some slow time since we left two weeks ago and we just enjoyed it.

It rained pretty hard all day yesterday and driving through Ohio was really tedious. The roads were really wet and we just had to be careful, but it reminded me of when the car hydroplaned so I took it pretty slow. We stopped just past Niagara Falls and called it a night after 9pm. I didn't write a blog because I was just too tired. We got back on the road again around nine this morning and although it rained a bit, it was mostly drizzle and not nearly as wet. It seemed everything drained so much better. The sun was coming out just as we were leaving the mall around 5pm.

Tomorrow is going to be a full day of teaching scroll sawing (10am until 6pm) and it should be a fun day. I am not nervous about this at all, as I look at it as a fun opportunity to meet and talk to people. I promise to take more pictures and if I don't post them tomorrow, I will do so in future blogs. I have over 300 pictures so far and just need to organize them at home and load them up so you can see them all.

In driving today, I was mostly thinking about what a nice time this has been. I saw so many friends and met many more new ones and have visited my favorite places in Chicago, saw my children and my friends from there. The next four days will be great with the scrolling and painting classes and then I am sure I will be ready to head home. Lee, who is watching the kitties says they are fine, but miss me. He said he fell asleep there one day watching a movie and woke with Richard sleeping on his legs. I am sure they really do know we are away and hopefully they won't give us the cold shoulder when we return.

I will be ready to get back into routine too. I can't wait to use my new saw for the first time tomorrow, as I didn't have much time to do so at the show. It will be fun and exciting for me to have something so nice to use in my work.

I am really happy and love my life. I know that may sound silly, but with seeing everything and having so many wonderful people in my life, including you all who are my friends here, I am a very lucky girl. I never take that for granted.

I am getting a cold, as my nose is stuffed and dripping at the same time, but I know it won't damper the fun I will have tomorrow teaching the class. I can't wait to see how everyone does.

So with that, I will sign off for tonight. I don't know about a blog tomorrow, although I do promise to document the class for you all to see. I am also anxious to see how everyone will do.

Have a great evening and wonderful Wednesday!
 
#2,366 ·
Homeward Bound

Hello, my neglected friends! I just wanted to say hi to you all. Its 4am on Sunday and we are more than ready to hit the road and begin our journey home.

The week was good, but it was oh, so busy! I have had enough 'road food' to last a lifetime and I miss the soft cuddles of my dear Coco, Pancakes and Richard. Surely they think I have met with evil by now!

I have many adventures to tell about and many pictures to share, but find that I will do so better in the comfort of my own home and computer. Although the laptop served us well, it just isn't the same.

We are heading for St. John, New Brunswick today and will be taking the ferry across to Digby tomorrow morning and if all goes well I will be in my own place by tomorrow night.

Home never sounded so inviting!

I will see you on the other side of the border. :)
 
#2,367 ·
good news sheila

mission accomplished
done thoroughly and completely i'm sure

enjoy your ride home
spring is coming too
new life
new living to do

and your favorite
mud and sleet
to walk in
with a new step
 
#2,373 ·
Border Song

I am trying to think of an easy and organized way to tell you all about everything on the trip. With the time changes and busy schedule that I was on - especially at the end of the trip - I would have needed to be superwoman to be able to keep up with you all and post daily.

The classes at the Center all ended in the evening, either at 6pm or 9pm and after that and the ride back to the hotel I was simply too tired to write. After being away from teaching for so long, it was truly something that gave a workout to another part of my brain that has perhaps been coasting for quite a while. I quickly remembered why I loved teaching so much though as I answered questions and felt as if I was actually contributing to my student's lives.

Many artisans and designers leave a legacy of artifacts that others can experience and enjoy long after their time here on Earth has ended. Teachers, however, by the simple nature of teaching leave something that reaches much further - knowledge. I find we are all teachers here on Lumberjocks. Each and every time we answer a question or blog a process in which we created a jig or a beautiful piece of work we are sharing our knowledge with others and helping perpetuate our craft. Whether we are teaching our children or grand children in our own basement workshops or writing a blog to assist another woodworker half way around the world, sharing our knowledge and experiences is truly important.

We drove for over 20 hours on Sunday. We left Saratoga Springs at approximately 5:30 Eastern time and didn't arrive at our own door until about 1:30 am on Monday morning. We could have stopped in St. John, New Brunswick overnight and waited to take the ferry home at 9am Monday morning, cutting eight hours off of our trip, but we were in St. John at approximately 4pm and we knew that neither of us would be able to sleep and would be too antsy to wait until the following morning to continue home.

Besides, we had both had enough of road food and public washrooms and being crammed in that car. Although I must say that I give that little mustang an "A+" rating for comfort. The seats do have a lumbar support for your back that is fully adjustable in addition to many other adjustments that you can make so we weren't stuck in the same position for hours on end. It did fine on mileage too. Of course it wasn't going to be as good as a smaller hybrid, but for what it was, I was quite satisfied.

We figured out that even with the prices of gas being almost $4 per gallon in the United States. it was still cheaper than what we pay here in Canada at approximately $1.35 per liter. The exchange has the Canadian dollar ahead of the US dollar right now (it was .93 yesterday) and that also makes the US gas a better value. I am not even going to start to attempt to figure out the exact numbers, as it would not only be nearly impossible, but I find it also doesn't really matter anyway. I don't want to get caught up in numbers like that.

Getting across the border was shall we say - eventful. Although we attempted to list everything we were bringing back, the saw certainly was a red flag for the border petrol. Apparently there is a clear separation between "business" and "personal" use as far as customs is concerned. With a sole proprietorship such as I have, it is somewhat of a gray area.

As usual, depending on which border guard you encounter, you need to follow one set of rules or another. When passing through, we answered the usual questions as honestly as we can. We declared the saw in our items, but when the guard asked if it was going to be used for business or personal use, that changed things very quickly. Actually, we said "both" and he immediately filled out a form and sent us to report to two young officers, a man and a woman, who proceeded to ask us to get out of the car while they began unpacking and going through everything with a fine tooth comb.

Now I had told you all that I had planned to rent a trailer if we decided to bring some larger tools back, but as events had it, we didn't see it necessary. Any tool we would be acquiring we decided we would be able to get here in Canada, even with the extra fees and charges. The cost of renting a trailer one way would far exceed any savings we would incur by purchasing tools in the States. That with the additional taxes and charges we would have had to pay to bring the items into the country in the first place weighed heavily on our decision not to buy any big tools. That was a smart decision.

We had fit what we decided to bring back in the car like the proverbial can of sardines. We were able to fit the saw into the trunk, but only because we removed the steel table from it and set it on the bottom. The tilting head also helped things along, as when the head was at the normal 90 degree angle, it would have been too tall to close the trunk. Here is a picture of the saw in the trunk:

Hood Motor vehicle Vehicle Automotive design Car


We then proceeded to pack all the loose things around it that we could, both to pad it and to make room in the back of the car for the other things. By the time we were done fitting everything in, you could barely fit a sheet of notebook paper in the trunk.

We sat by and watched helplessly as they unpacked and questioned just about every item as they removed it onto a large cart. There were two boxes which contained bits in them - one a set of router bits and one a set of forstner bits that I had purchased about 8 years ago at a wood show in Chicago and finally was able to bring back. The agent questioned that they were 'used' because I keep my stuff in good shape, even though you could see the small wood dust in the box and on a couple of the bits. Many of the router bits still had the wax coating on them, as they were more suitable for cabinet making than what I would have used them for. So I suppose he suspected that I was trying to pull something over on him.

The male officer had sent the female officer into the building with my folder of receipts and she emerged approximately 15 minutes later. Apparently she had separated the food and hotel receipts from the ones where we actually bought items. She reappeared with the receipts for items purchased neatly stapled together and came to me to go over each of them. After seeing that we listed everything that she questioned, I believe she began to soften and could see that we were honest and had tried to follow procedure correctly.

Even the male officer began to soften his military-like attitude. After opening a box of candy that my daughter had given me to inspect it and make sure that we weren't trying to smuggle drugs, he went into the lecture mode as to what procedure we should have followed. However when I produced the paperwork from when we had left Canada with the stamp on it from the US Customs agent, he also saw that we were trying to do the right thing. The lecture consisted of how we should have went to their "simple and comprehensive" website for procedure rules and I found myself trying not to smile when he said that. Anyone who has visited that site knows that I am not kidding when I say it is neither "simple" or "comprehensive" and is probably the furthest thing from any descriptive of that kind.

I found that when dealing with authority figures such as this agent, it was best to shut up and be respectful and listen to them and look upon them as if their word was gospel. Even though I had paperwork saying that the saw was a "loan" (as it remains to be seen as to how much I will actually pay for it) I offered to pay the taxes on the full price. At this point, I am thinking that he felt he had tormented us enough because he said that it wouldn't be necessary and we should just keep all the things he told us in mind for the "next time" we come over to do this. I did my best to muster up my "grateful face" as he told us that "since you know how you had everything packed in the car, I'll let you repack it. But if you need help, let me know." as he walked away.

Needless to say we didn't take him up on it. We wanted to get the he** out of there as fast as we could.

In the end, here is how the trunk looked repacked:

Car Hood Automotive lighting Motor vehicle Trunk


Holy Moses! "Welcome to Canada, Eh?" I am surprised we didn't leave skid marks . . .

But all is well and life can now continue. I still have lots of stories to tell of our travels, but as you can see, each one will be a small novelette. I have decided to share things one at a time and they will simply have to be out of order. But I do feel there are many things worth sharing with you.

One thing I found out is that there is no such thing as "over preparation" for something like this. Even with the best of plans, there is always room for something to go awry. But because of the months of planning and preparing for this trip and all of its adventures, those little bumps didn't derail me.

It will take me several days to get things back to normal again. But that is expected. The car is unpacked and we have already scheduled it to get an oil change and new brakes - another story for another day. I have lots of emails to catch up on and orders to get out and then I can begin on the new ideas that I have been inspired with. But for now, I am safe and sound here at home and after the initial stand-offish-ness from Richard, I have received his forgiveness and he once again adores me, as does Coco and Pancakes. Although Lee did a wonderful job taking care of them for me (he came three times a day to play with them!) there is nothing like "mommy/grammy" to make them happy.

All is good!

Cat Vertebrate Comfort Textile Carnivore


Have a wonderful Tuesday! :D
 

Attachments

#2,374 ·
Border Song

I am trying to think of an easy and organized way to tell you all about everything on the trip. With the time changes and busy schedule that I was on - especially at the end of the trip - I would have needed to be superwoman to be able to keep up with you all and post daily.

The classes at the Center all ended in the evening, either at 6pm or 9pm and after that and the ride back to the hotel I was simply too tired to write. After being away from teaching for so long, it was truly something that gave a workout to another part of my brain that has perhaps been coasting for quite a while. I quickly remembered why I loved teaching so much though as I answered questions and felt as if I was actually contributing to my student's lives.

Many artisans and designers leave a legacy of artifacts that others can experience and enjoy long after their time here on Earth has ended. Teachers, however, by the simple nature of teaching leave something that reaches much further - knowledge. I find we are all teachers here on Lumberjocks. Each and every time we answer a question or blog a process in which we created a jig or a beautiful piece of work we are sharing our knowledge with others and helping perpetuate our craft. Whether we are teaching our children or grand children in our own basement workshops or writing a blog to assist another woodworker half way around the world, sharing our knowledge and experiences is truly important.

We drove for over 20 hours on Sunday. We left Saratoga Springs at approximately 5:30 Eastern time and didn't arrive at our own door until about 1:30 am on Monday morning. We could have stopped in St. John, New Brunswick overnight and waited to take the ferry home at 9am Monday morning, cutting eight hours off of our trip, but we were in St. John at approximately 4pm and we knew that neither of us would be able to sleep and would be too antsy to wait until the following morning to continue home.

Besides, we had both had enough of road food and public washrooms and being crammed in that car. Although I must say that I give that little mustang an "A+" rating for comfort. The seats do have a lumbar support for your back that is fully adjustable in addition to many other adjustments that you can make so we weren't stuck in the same position for hours on end. It did fine on mileage too. Of course it wasn't going to be as good as a smaller hybrid, but for what it was, I was quite satisfied.

We figured out that even with the prices of gas being almost $4 per gallon in the United States. it was still cheaper than what we pay here in Canada at approximately $1.35 per liter. The exchange has the Canadian dollar ahead of the US dollar right now (it was .93 yesterday) and that also makes the US gas a better value. I am not even going to start to attempt to figure out the exact numbers, as it would not only be nearly impossible, but I find it also doesn't really matter anyway. I don't want to get caught up in numbers like that.

Getting across the border was shall we say - eventful. Although we attempted to list everything we were bringing back, the saw certainly was a red flag for the border petrol. Apparently there is a clear separation between "business" and "personal" use as far as customs is concerned. With a sole proprietorship such as I have, it is somewhat of a gray area.

As usual, depending on which border guard you encounter, you need to follow one set of rules or another. When passing through, we answered the usual questions as honestly as we can. We declared the saw in our items, but when the guard asked if it was going to be used for business or personal use, that changed things very quickly. Actually, we said "both" and he immediately filled out a form and sent us to report to two young officers, a man and a woman, who proceeded to ask us to get out of the car while they began unpacking and going through everything with a fine tooth comb.

Now I had told you all that I had planned to rent a trailer if we decided to bring some larger tools back, but as events had it, we didn't see it necessary. Any tool we would be acquiring we decided we would be able to get here in Canada, even with the extra fees and charges. The cost of renting a trailer one way would far exceed any savings we would incur by purchasing tools in the States. That with the additional taxes and charges we would have had to pay to bring the items into the country in the first place weighed heavily on our decision not to buy any big tools. That was a smart decision.

We had fit what we decided to bring back in the car like the proverbial can of sardines. We were able to fit the saw into the trunk, but only because we removed the steel table from it and set it on the bottom. The tilting head also helped things along, as when the head was at the normal 90 degree angle, it would have been too tall to close the trunk. Here is a picture of the saw in the trunk:

Hood Motor vehicle Vehicle Automotive design Car


We then proceeded to pack all the loose things around it that we could, both to pad it and to make room in the back of the car for the other things. By the time we were done fitting everything in, you could barely fit a sheet of notebook paper in the trunk.

We sat by and watched helplessly as they unpacked and questioned just about every item as they removed it onto a large cart. There were two boxes which contained bits in them - one a set of router bits and one a set of forstner bits that I had purchased about 8 years ago at a wood show in Chicago and finally was able to bring back. The agent questioned that they were 'used' because I keep my stuff in good shape, even though you could see the small wood dust in the box and on a couple of the bits. Many of the router bits still had the wax coating on them, as they were more suitable for cabinet making than what I would have used them for. So I suppose he suspected that I was trying to pull something over on him.

The male officer had sent the female officer into the building with my folder of receipts and she emerged approximately 15 minutes later. Apparently she had separated the food and hotel receipts from the ones where we actually bought items. She reappeared with the receipts for items purchased neatly stapled together and came to me to go over each of them. After seeing that we listed everything that she questioned, I believe she began to soften and could see that we were honest and had tried to follow procedure correctly.

Even the male officer began to soften his military-like attitude. After opening a box of candy that my daughter had given me to inspect it and make sure that we weren't trying to smuggle drugs, he went into the lecture mode as to what procedure we should have followed. However when I produced the paperwork from when we had left Canada with the stamp on it from the US Customs agent, he also saw that we were trying to do the right thing. The lecture consisted of how we should have went to their "simple and comprehensive" website for procedure rules and I found myself trying not to smile when he said that. Anyone who has visited that site knows that I am not kidding when I say it is neither "simple" or "comprehensive" and is probably the furthest thing from any descriptive of that kind.

I found that when dealing with authority figures such as this agent, it was best to shut up and be respectful and listen to them and look upon them as if their word was gospel. Even though I had paperwork saying that the saw was a "loan" (as it remains to be seen as to how much I will actually pay for it) I offered to pay the taxes on the full price. At this point, I am thinking that he felt he had tormented us enough because he said that it wouldn't be necessary and we should just keep all the things he told us in mind for the "next time" we come over to do this. I did my best to muster up my "grateful face" as he told us that "since you know how you had everything packed in the car, I'll let you repack it. But if you need help, let me know." as he walked away.

Needless to say we didn't take him up on it. We wanted to get the he** out of there as fast as we could.

In the end, here is how the trunk looked repacked:

Car Hood Automotive lighting Motor vehicle Trunk


Holy Moses! "Welcome to Canada, Eh?" I am surprised we didn't leave skid marks . . .

But all is well and life can now continue. I still have lots of stories to tell of our travels, but as you can see, each one will be a small novelette. I have decided to share things one at a time and they will simply have to be out of order. But I do feel there are many things worth sharing with you.

One thing I found out is that there is no such thing as "over preparation" for something like this. Even with the best of plans, there is always room for something to go awry. But because of the months of planning and preparing for this trip and all of its adventures, those little bumps didn't derail me.

It will take me several days to get things back to normal again. But that is expected. The car is unpacked and we have already scheduled it to get an oil change and new brakes - another story for another day. I have lots of emails to catch up on and orders to get out and then I can begin on the new ideas that I have been inspired with. But for now, I am safe and sound here at home and after the initial stand-offish-ness from Richard, I have received his forgiveness and he once again adores me, as does Coco and Pancakes. Although Lee did a wonderful job taking care of them for me (he came three times a day to play with them!) there is nothing like "mommy/grammy" to make them happy.

All is good!

Cat Vertebrate Comfort Textile Carnivore


Have a wonderful Tuesday! :D
glad you made it home

is that keith packed in the trunk
from the border re-packing
and why does he have three legs

good to read your dailies again
i am up to my eyeballs with kadafi on yahoo news
in the middle of the night
and all the ridiculous comments there
(and i thought LJ's had some strange ones)

let us know how you like the 'excalibur'
i had the old model 30" for a while
but the new one looks even better

welcome home
it's good to have you back
 

Attachments

#2,384 ·
Still Recovering

It seems to be taking a little longer to get back to normal than I would have liked it to, but I suppose that is to be expected. As I look around here, there seems to be more chaos than ever, although at last the piles seem to be going down as everything is once again finding its place.

Yesterday turned out to be a 'running day' for us again, as I got word that my taxes were completed and I needed to make the trip to Yarmouth to pick them up and get them in the mail. Having two countries to call home definitely has its benefits, but like anything in life, it also comes with a price tag. I get to pay taxes in two countries instead of one. :)

In speaking with my accountant though, we have both come to the conclusion that this is the best way to proceed. I have my business based in the United States, as most of my customers are from there and I don't want to have to deal with exchange fees and such with the majority of my orders. Also my wholesalers are all in the US, so it just makes sense for me to keep the business there. It is a matter of "six of one and half a dozen of the other" as far as that is concerned and for now I think that things are best left where they are.

I spent the majority of the day running around again and doing errands and getting some much needed fresh groceries. My partner decided to order a lathe to work on and we found that there was a General International distributor located in Yarmouth. We went into the shop and ordered a nice lathe that we felt would suit us nicely. Here is the link to it:

General International Lathe

Keith spent a good deal of time with Jeannie's husband Billy, who is a very talented lathe worker and teaches regularly at the club. He truly enjoyed the experience and wants to continue to work on this aspect of woodworking. Unfortunately, with me teaching during most of this time, I had no time to even look at the lathe, let alone turn anything on one either at the show or afterword, so i will have to wait until our own equipment arrives until I get a chance to give it a try.

I found that I am still quite tired, as I nearly fell asleep on the way home from Yarmouth at only 5pm in the evening. I then took a two hour nap when I came home and got up for an hour or so to watch some TV and went to bed early. I slept until 8am this morning, which most of you who know me realize that is unheard of. I suppose it is just catching up time and kind of let down from the adventures of the past several weeks.

I don't know if I mentioned that I caught quite a cold last week. The last four days of teaching in Saratoga Springs were done with my head and nose clogged up. I took as little medication as I could to be socially acceptable and not be constantly dripping while I was trying to teach. I hadn't been sick at all for a couple of years, so I suppose that with all the running and upset schedule and poor eating I was due to get something. Everyone was quite understanding though and all went well.

I am going to stay home here today and really sort through things, including downloading all my pictures. I have many of them from the many different aspects of the trip and I will try to divide them appropriately so that they make sense. There aren't as many as I wanted for the classes and such, as I was more in tuned to teaching than taking photographs, which I know you will all understand. The class pictures were taken by others for me and they will at least give you an idea of our workspace and environment.

Already we are thinking about "next year". Hopefully, there will be something that can be worked out so that we can make the show and the trip. I doubt I will do a three week venture again, as that did turn out to be a bit much, but there are certainly a lot of good possibilities that we can explore with both the Showcase and additional teaching.

It feels great to be back and on my own computer and keyboard again. It is amazing how quickly I can type on it without making mistakes. I am thinking I may have a "jammy day" today and just hang around here and get things back in order. I have a pile of receipts to go through and organize and Big Tiny would be proud that I documented and kept every single one. :)

I will also finally get to my email and try to answer the many wonderful letters I have received. I am well on my way to "back to normal!"

Have a wonderful Wednesday.
 
#2,385 ·
Hi Sheila.

Welcome home. Yes, I am proud of you! Take an "atta girl" out of the petty cash fund. :)

For the cold, I offer my grandmother's prescription. To one cup of hot lemonade add one tablespoon of honey and two ounces of 151 proof rum. Drink while still hot. Repeat as necessary. It might not cure the cold, but after two or three of these, you won't care. (grin)

Have a great today and a better tomorrow,
 
#2,390 ·
Returning to Normalcy (slowly)

I am finally feeling like I am getting a bit back to normal today. I was still so tired most of yesterday, but I did manage to accomplish a lot of things. I keep wondering if the reason it is taking me so long to get to normal is due to the scope of the trip or the length of time I was away, or is it just because I am a tad older than last time when I traveled. I haven't been away for so long before though. And even though we had the laptop and everything we could think of with us, it wasn't the same as being here and running the business from home base.

I spent much of the day making phone calls and talking to and writing to people to thank them for the different kinds of support that they offered during the show. I believe that I was very successful in getting the products out there that I believe in and explaining to others why I choose them in the first place.

One of the main points of interest was of course the saw. There were so many questions regarding it. Although I had a DeWalt saw in the lecture room where I spoke to people, I had the Excalibur set up at my table for people to try (and during the lectures I had invited them to do so.) Keith said he was quite busy telling people about it and letting other try it while I was gone (which was much of the time at the show) and that several people had said that they were going to order one. My initial impression of it is that it is a beautiful machine, and I look forward to really running it through the paces.

Although I haven't had much time to actually cut on it, I am already convinced that it was a good decision not to get another DeWalt and move up to the Excalibur. During both the lectures and the classes, the DeWalt saws began to rear their ugly heads with the same characteristics that my own saw at home was experiencing. The main problem seems to be the blade slipping out of the holder and the tension not holding tight. I fortunately knew how to fix this by sanding the small stop which holds in the blades and took the opportunity to demonstrate that to others at one lecture.

I didn't want to bad mouth the saw, but when asked which saw I would recommend and why I had to answer honestly and it didn't show the DeWalt saw in a very good light. It seems that the new "Type 2" saws are full of small and irritating problems (as well as major ones) and I understand that the Type 2 DeWalt is made so much cheaper than the Type 1 that it weighs a whopping 13 lbs. less! That translates to cheaper materials and more undesirable vibration. It appears that DeWalt has been cutting corners every way they can. Now I also hear that they are no longer even going to continue making the saw at all, leaving only the new Grey Delta saw (which is identical to the DW788 except it is gray instead of yellow) to carry on. This was the saw that was introduced last year and I fear that it is made exactly the same as the DW788, including the same problems and issues.

Another issue that seems to be plaguing the DW788 is the front to back blade motion. Instead of a true up and down motion of the blade when cutting, there have been alignment problems which cause the blade to also move slightly forward when in motion, causing problems with cutting the workpiece. There are ways to adjust this to minimize it, but they are tedious and limited and don't seem to fully solve the problem. It is a small thing, but it can make a big difference to someone who is doing delicate work or is new to cutting. Although this type of saw will never have a completely true up and down motion, due to the nature of how it is made, there are, as I stated ways to minimize this motion so that it is barely noticeable.

I am going to do a better review and probably a video on the Excalibur in the near future when I am able to really try it out for a bit. So far though, I find it runs smooth and I am happy with it. The way the head tilts instead of the table when bevel cutting (something that I do on all of my candle trays and other things) is awesome and much easier than trying to cut and follow a line with your workpiece on an angle. The overall feel of the saw is smooth and solid, although I don't know whether to attribute that to the fact that it is new or not. I suppose that only some real cutting will tell me.

I am finally ready to start thinking about the next deadlines that are in front of me. I have to get some Christmas projects (YES - CHRISTMAS!) done for the magazine in the next couple of weeks and I need to start there. I also need to talk to the wholesalers and get their next deadline dates for new projects so I have something new in each issue. The painting company (the Artist's Club) who is looking to market my skating pond scene and perhaps my new shell painting packets that I taught at the painting classes is meeting today to make some decisions so I should hear from them next week as to how I am to proceed with those. And of course, the website needs desperately to be updated, as it has been over a month since I have done so and I need to change things around.

There are videos to make and instructions to write and my partner Keith spent the day yesterday working up an order for accessories and tools for his new lathe that he is waiting for. It is great to see him so excited about it and I am so happy that he enjoyed turning some nice pens and will be making more things on it. Unfortunately, I never had a spare minute to even try the lathe, as I was teaching all the time, but I am sure that when Keith gets his he will help me learn how to do some nice things on it too. It will open a new dimension to our business I hope and will open a floodgate of ideas for both of us.

I am happy that I am starting to feel back to normal. My cold kind of went to my throat which is sore, but at least I am not as stuffy or coughing. With some nice hot tea and honey and being here at home I should be one hundred per cent in no time.

I keep telling myself to look at things one at a time and not overwhelm myself. I still have to get to many emails, and I should be able to accomplish that today. It seems so long since I have talked to many of you that I want to catch up.

"May today mark the beginning of many new joys and accomplishments… and a continuation of all of the good things that you have already achieved."
 
#2,397 ·
The Lectures

I can't believe that I am still sleeping like I am. I am not sure if it is the cold or the relief of returning home or the adrenalin level finally returning to normal after everything. Maybe it is a little bit of everything. I just feel like I have never been so tired in all my life.

The cold is really on its way out now, with just a little congestion and sore throat left. I haven't taken medicine for it is a couple of days, and the fact that it is tolerable without anything is a good sign. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will be back to normal again. I am sure that getting the extra rest and with getting my eating and everything back to normal it won't be long.

I am slowly getting things caught up. At least I have done all the important things that needed immediate attention. As my American friends realize, it is tax day today and I was able to send those off on Tuesday, so that is one big thing I don't have to think about anymore.

I figured out the numbers for the trip and it came out that I just about broke even. The cynics may look at that as a failure, but I think it is wonderful. I have long ago learned that in business you can't put a dollar value on everything and look at it all as black and white. Of course you need to be responsible and the business needs to make money, but you don't always have that 'eye for an eye' as far as investment and return, be it time or money. The contacts that I made and the good will that I earned both from customers and from colleagues is as they say "priceless". Not to mention the fun I had and also the wonderful experiences I encountered.

In reflecting back on things, I suppose I have to say that the lectures were probably the most difficult part. Typically, I consider myself somewhat of a social person. When meeting new people, I am genuinely interested in what they are about and like to hear stories and get to know people. Lecturing to a crowd is quite different though. I am not as comfortable with all eyes locked on me and looking for me to enlighten them. I far prefer back and forth interaction.

The lectures at the conference were (as I eluded to in past posts) not without incident. Although nothing was tragic, there certainly were some glitches.

Upon arriving at the center, I was very anxious to see the place where I was was to make my presentations. Somehow not knowing how big or what type of room it was added to my anxiety and I was sure that once I saw the actual place, I would be able to feel more comfortable about the whole thing, knowing what I would be up against. I am told that I have a "quiet voice", (although my own children would probably attest to the opposite!) and I wanted to be certain that what I had to say would be heard.

The room was a good size, with approximately six to eight rows of chairs lined up. There was a workbench up front and a scroll saw (a DeWalt) and a TV monitor on a stand to the far side. There was also an easel with paper and markers which I had requested. Everything looked in order.

The man in charge of the presentations stopped by to ask if I found everything satisfactory and I inquired about the camera that they were going to have to show my cutting demonstrations. He said they were getting it and that I would also have a helper there for the presentation so that if I needed anything at all I would have assistance. That was good.

I had never really made a formal outline of what I was going to talk about. Initially, I was planning on a somewhat beginner lecture first and then for the second presentation of the day I would cover more involved material. However, upon talking to people at the show, there were many that were not what I considered 'beginners' that had come with larger groups and they were on a schedule and needed to be at the earlier demonstration, so I decided to just cover everything in a general sense and then take questions and allow the audience to direct the level of expertise. This, I felt would be most beneficial to all involved.

When I arrived for the first presentation, there was a moment of terror when I realized that the room was quite crowded and that there were people slightly spilling into the hall. Could all these people come to see me talk? YIKES! I sucked in a deep breath and saw the gentleman who was in charge of arranging things and asked quickly if everything was ready and he said it was and zero hour was upon me. I was "on".

I began with an introduction as to who I was and it amazed me how quiet the room had become. I felt as if all attention was on me, which was something that I certainly wasn't used to. I kept talking though and started to feel a little looser and more at ease in front of the crowd. They really wanted to hear what I had to offer. That was good. I proceeded with some demonstrations on how to apply the pattern to the wood and such and it got to the time when I would be cutting on the saw and something dawned on me - no camera.

I kind of looked up and asked in general "weren't we supposed to have a camera here?" and a voice from the back of the room calmly replied.

"Oh, we weren't able to get one."

I was momentarily dumbfounded. I am certain I had that 'deer in the headlights' look as my mind raced as to which direction I was now to proceed in. Part of me wanted to bolt for the door (just part) while the rest of me was frozen in front of a room full of eyes looking to me for the next word. I thought of the dream I had before I left where I was standing there speechless in front of the crowd and how some of you chuckled at the though of me ever being unable to speak and somehow it gave me absolutely no satisfaction knowing I was right on that issue.

After what seemed like hours and was literally only a second or two, I looked up and saw the easel and marker and thought "now there is plan B". Instead of being able to demonstrate things on the saw, I would have to settle for using the drawing board to clarify my thoughts and ideas on cutting. Although it was not quite as effective as the actual demonstration, it was certainly sufficient and did help get the point across.

After the initial changing of gears, I felt that things went fairly smoothly. People began asking questions and the lecture turned into somewhat of a discussion of many different aspects of scroll sawing and cutting. I did know my material and was able to answer things that were asked and I even learned some things from others who had their own ideas of how to do certain procedures. Scrollsawing is like many of the other aspects of woodworking in that there is more than one way to do most everything. There is no one correct method as long as you are comfortable and safe in your approach.

Overall, I think that first class went well. In speaking to others who attended afterword, most said they learned something new and all said they enjoyed the presentation. When I returned to our table, it seems that Keith had heard that I had a glitch and many thought I would be upset about it. I truly wasn't, as these things are to be expected in putting on a production the size of this show and everyone seemed to be quite concerned with getting a camera for the next presentation which was to be given in a couple of hours. Mistakes do happen and God knows I make enough of them not to chastise others when things like this happen. Besides, people who attended were quite understanding and as long as everyone had a good time and hopefully learned something from the information that I had to offer, that is all that mattered to me.

All in all it was a good experience and I am grateful that they asked me to participate. The subsequent lectures were each a bit easier for me to do. Once I got on the saw I felt at ease and knew that I could offer something to the newcomers and maybe even the veteran scrollers alike.

It has been nearly seven years since I have done a show or been around people like this. It struck me as odd how much I, myself have learned and advanced in that time. I think that it is good for me to get out into the real world from time to time because it raises my awareness and helps me be a better designer. I love hearing stories and getting to know others and I also like hearing not only what successes others have had with their scrolling, but also what stumbling blocks that they encounter so that I am better aware when I design and write instructions so I can help them overcome them.

A trip like this was long overdue.

I see that this story has gotten quite lengthy and I apologize for that. I suppose that I am getting back to normal after all! :D

I have so many good stories and observances to share with you all and I will do so in subsequent blogs. Although the past weeks have been incredibly busy, I have missed my daily dialogues with you and I am happy to return to this important part of my life.

I hope you all have an incredibly creative and happy day!
 
#2,398 ·
great blog Sheila :) enjoyd it , like the way you tell the stories …
but I most say when you told there was no camera my jaw nearly hit the keyboard
glad to hear once more you know your trade so well that you cuold transformate it
to paperwork ….. I think 98 % of all others wuold have had to stop the course right there
you most be a hell of a teacher when everything is right on place so you can jump around
between media´s and materials as you like

good to hear from the journey :) looking forward to the next history

take care
Dennis
 
#2,403 ·
It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like CHRISTMAS (!?!)

Working in the publishing industry sometimes make you feel like you are Alice in Wonderland. Nothing makes sense. There is no sense of time, space or season.

Displacing holidays has been a part of my life for many, many years. I remember well the hot summer days when my friend Cari and I sat at the pool, watching the kids swim while we were on the side painting Santas and Christmas items. I remember how ironic it was that the beads of sweat would be falling on Mr. Snowman while I was trying to paint him and the only problem we had was that the acrylic paint was drying too quickly in the hot sun. Those are wonderful memories and I think that Cari and I truly kept Christmas in our hearts all year long!

Working for the magazine and catalog companies also keeps Christmas alive throughout most of the year. It seems that everyone loves to do Christmas projects no matter what time of year it is and I see this not only through my wholesale sales, but also through sales on my website. There just is no bad time to offer Christmas items.

Usually before the snow is even melted I am thinking about what I will be offering for next year. Although I was somewhat side tracked this year with the show and all, it hasn't taken me long to come up with some cool ideas for holiday decorations for others to make. Actually, I am somewhat behind in my submissions, but my Editor has graciously saved some space for me and my partner to fill in the Holiday issue. That is one of the benefits of having a standing relationship with a company for so long. I am grateful that he is holding the positions for us to fill, as I would hate to miss that special issue.

The week has been one of recovery for me, as many of you have read. Each day, little by little I am feeling back to normal and getting things back in order. It only makes sense that what took months of preparation to accomplish would take a little time to get back to normal. It seemed that the total focus of my energies for at least a month or more before leaving has been on the trip. Now it is time to get back to designing and the site and the "meat and potatoes" work that will sustain my business. It feels good though to be focused on something that is familiar to me.

While cleaning and organizing and getting things back in order, my mind has been racing. What to do for the Holiday issue for the magazine? I want something new and different, that I haven't seen 'out there' yet. My Editor always loves ornaments, and I do have some ideas for that, but I somehow wasn't excited about making a set of ornaments just yet. I have ideas for some and may also offer a set to them, but I wanted something that was different.

Yesterday while cleaning and doing my mail I had an idea of something that I think would be really nice. The more I thought about, the more I liked it. Little by little I am figuring out the details of this project in my head and I feel that by today I am ready to hit the drawing board with it and it is ready to be born. Although the fine details are still incubating in my head, I am thrilled and excited at the thought of it and I am getting that familiar feeling of excitement and anticipation in seeing it come to life.

How I have missed that part of designing!!!

For those of you who also design, you know exactly what I am talking about. It is that 'high' you get just from thinking about something. You can picture it in your mind down to the finest detail and the anticipation of actually building it and seeing it come to life is exhilarating and thrilling all at once. What a wonderful way to christen my new saw!

I am not going to tell you about it yet. I will be a stinker and make you wait. Although I promise that I will give you a sneak peek when I get going on it. I have some other ideas too for a couple of different projects that I will submit, but this one will be the springboard that will get me back into designing.

As I sit here this morning I can't help but think that I am truly happy and all is going well in my life. Have I made millions? No way! But I am happy to report that I "broke even" on what I made in teaching on the trip and what it cost me to make it. The way I look at it (the pink cloud way) I got to meet people and make contacts and see my children and reconnect with the people from the magazine and it cost me nothing but my teaching time (which I love to do anyway!) The long term of those contacts and meetings cannot have a price put on it. How can you put a price on experience?

I am back home now and full of ideas and my dear companion Pancakes is stretched across my lap gently purring as I write. His "grammy" is back and all is right with his world, too. Take notice, my friends, of the simple things around you that make you happy. Focus on them and appreciate them for what they are. Be it your family or a smile from a stranger or a devoted look from your pet. It is these things that will bring your heart joy and peace.

I wish you all a wonderful day today!
 
#2,404 ·
good morning on a sunny day Sheila :)
now we know you are back ….. Chrismas , Alice in Wonderland and the pink Cloud not forgetting
a little secret you won´t reveal yet ….. yes all fits in …. :)

I know you say you wont do something that has been done
and its proppebly offered on several other sites they seems to be very easy to saw
but the painting isn´t I´m thinking on the old classic and new classic cartoons … like this
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/47398
I know its with acrylic colours ...... and every one likes them ….... just a bread and butter thought for your site .. in a werd moment …. LOL

have a great day ….. don´t forget to enjoy the spring outside too despite all your new idea´s :)

take care
Dennis
 
#2,415 ·
Ready for Cutting

Just when I thought I was in the clear from this cold, it seems to have reared its ugly head again. Yesterday. around mid afternoon, I began to get pain in my head. It felt like it was in my sinuses, but I barely felt stuffy. By 9pm, I needed to take some medicine for it because it was really getting to me and not subsiding. I awoke in the middle of the night, again stuffed to the point where I couldn't breath and had to take another dose. This morning my nose is clear, but I still have the pain on the one side of my head and behind my eye, so I am not out of the woods yet.

So much for the medical report. :(

I apologize for whining about it here, but it has really kind of debilitated me to a point. Here I was all excited about things and I am finding it very hard to concentrate with this stupid head pain. I did manage to get one of the three drawings done that I wanted to yesterday and hopefully I will feel better later on to cut them out and try out my new saw. As always, I am optimistic that will be the case. :)

The two subsequent drawings are merely variations of the first, so the ground work has been laid and those two should be easy and I should be able to accomplish them. I feel good being well on my way to getting some good work under my belt.

I was asked by William in yesterdays comments to document the different features of the new saw, and I think that is a great idea. I have my camera all charged up and ready to go and I promise that I will have many pictures of it so that I can highlight the differences and improvements over the DW788 (my old DeWalt saw.) I will not be able to do a true side by side comparison, as I needed to immediately move the old saw out to make room for the new one. However, I think i still have enough pictures to show the major differences between the two. It should work out fine.

In other news, I awoke this morning to a wonderful message from my friend here Erwin. He had his eight year old grand daughter over for a visit and did a wonderful blog about their experiences with him teaching her how to scroll saw. You can read about it here:

Erwin's Blog

There is something about teaching others what we do and sharing our love of woodworking and creating that really makes it worth while to me. I know I felt it when I was teaching again for the first time in years. Although I do consider my patterns a form of teaching, there is nothing like experiencing the instant gratification of seeing the look in someone's eyes of accomplishment.

I think we are all teachers here on Lumberjocks. Whether we realize it or not, we are sharing our knowledge and experiences with our fellow woodworkers and craftspeople and making them better at what they do. I feel that sites like this are social networking at its finest, developing friendships and sharing knowledge and helping each other. Be it the hobbyist or the seasoned professional, there is always something to learn here. As we regulars realize, this is a wonderful and positive part of our lives.

So with that said, I will get to work and start breaking in the saw. I so look forward to this part of my work, and I can't wait to let you know what I think of it.

I hope you all have a great productive Sunday, doing the things you love to do.

"Teachers who educate children deserve more honor than parents who merely gave birth; for bare life is furnished by the one, the other ensures a good life" - Aristotle
 
#2,416 ·
Hi Shelia, Sorry about the cold. There is some stuff called Cold-eze that coats you with zinc. The cold bugs can't stick to your throat. At the first sign of a cold I start it. I load up on lots of Enchinacea too. Very seldom have much of a cold. The Cold-eze will destroy your sense of taste for a day or too, but it is much better than when it first came out. It used to taste awful!! My wife will put up with the cold rather than take cold eze for a day or 2. She is so stubborn, just like her dad, once her mind is made up there is no way to ever change it no mater how many facts support the change ;-)) She loads up on Enchinacea, but it isn't enough to kill the cold bugs;-(
 
#2,421 ·
My New Excalibur EX21 Scroll Saw!

After several months of waiting and anticipation, the moment finally arrived when I got a chance to really get to know and work on my new Excalibur scroll saw!

Even though I had the saw delivered to the show in Saratoga Springs, there was little time for me to enjoy it and really run it through the paces. I was very busy at the show and I must say that I was only at the booth a couple of hours a day, during which time I was usually talking to people who stopped by. Both Keith and I were asked many questions about the saw and we allowed many people who inquired about it ti give it a test run. We both felt that the best part of demonstrating something like this scroll saw was to allow people to try it first hand.

In the short time I got to make a couple of cuts on it at the show, I could immediately feel the difference between the EX21 and my DW788. It seemed smoother and quieter, but I couldn't really tell if it was because of the noisy environment that I was working in or if it was truly the case.

The following week when I returned to Saratoga Springs to teach, the classes were quite full and while I was teaching, I also had little time on my saw. Besides, there were others who wanted to try it and in the first class I gave anyone who wanted to a time at it so they could see how it felt in comparison. The second class was full, as I said and we were actually short one scroll saw for a few hours so it was used the entire time by the students.

We came across a small issue during that second class, and I thought it was worth mentioning. In order to tension the blade properly, you need to go through a two step process. First you flip a lever in the front of the saw, where the blade is held, and then you are able to fine tune the tension by adjusting a knob in the back. Since the blade is not totally removed and replaced with every inside cut (you only release the top or bottom of the blade, depending what you are used to) it isn't necessary to fine tune the tension with this knob every single time. It is only really necessary to do so when you are changing a blade completely, and it only takes a second.

When there is not blade tension from the lever, the knob in the back is also under no tension and we found that the vibration from the neighboring saw was causing the knob to inadvertently turn, changing the tension on its own while the sawyer was re-threading the blade into another hole. I want to point out that this was also due to the fact that the saws were both clamped to the same workbench and the vibration from the saws were passed on to each other - something that would not happen in our own shops or if we had it mounted on the stand that it came with. This was really the only 'glitch' that I have seen with the saw and was absolutely no fault of the design. Once we discovered what was happening, we just put a little piece of tape on the knob to stop it vibrating out of place during the blade change and everything was fine.

I was asked to show some more detailed pictures of the saw and its differences between it and the DW788 and I did so yesterday while I was cutting. As many of you know, I have a small place here so I am sorry to say that I immediately put the DW788 into storage last week in order to keep my work area clear and clean. If you find it necessary for me to post comparison pictures of it, I will do my best to look into my pictures and see if I have any that pertain to your specific questions or comments. At the worst case I can go and take pictures on a later date to help you out if necessary.

So without further delay, I will present my new saw - the EX-21 Excalibur:


On first look, you can see that instead of the tear-drop shaped table that the DW788 had, it has a rectangular table. I don't really do large pieces, but someone like William will be able to tell you better than I would if this is really an issue. Although the table is slightly more narrow from side to side, it is longer in the back and the "business part" of the saw action is closer to the front of the table. For myself, I like this feature better, as the work is closer to me and I can control it better. I can always step back a little bit if I need more room in front, and I don't have to lean with the saw right into my chest anymore.

I am going to show you all the process of setting things up so you can get a better look at the saw.

First, I put the blade into the upper blade clamp. This clamp is much like the DW788, where a thumb screw is used to tighten it in place. There is a difference though. Because of the different tension system, there is a (white) stop right above where the blade is inserted into the clamp. On my DW788 I used to have the blade sticking up approximately 1/4" above the clamp. This is impossible with this saw because the stop will cause the blade to bend slightly. For this reason, I find it absolutely necessary to attach the top of the blade first and then the bottom. This is a good thing I feel and eliminates blades slipping out because of improper placement in the holder.


Once the blade is seated in the upper clamp, you simply tighten it in using the thumb screw, as with the DW788.


Now you are able to guide the blade right into the lower blade clamp underneath the saw. After the first few times, you can do this by feel and don't have to stick your head under the saw to see what you are doing.


Again - tighten the thumb screw to clamp in the blade securely.


This is the lever that I was talking about to set the tension. You simply move it from the front position . . .


To the back.


There is a bit of resistance when you are doing this. You will quickly see if there is too much resistance that you need to loosen the knob on the back. Once it is set the first time though, you are just about ready for anything with only minor subsequent adjustments necessary.

This is the fine tune adjustment on the back end of the saw. You simply turn this knob clockwise to tighten the blade to your desired tension. Once this is set, it is pretty much in place. When changing blades, you may need a little adjustment here to compensate for different size blades and slight differences in placement, but for the most part that should be it.


You are now ready to turn the saw on.


The on/off switch is located right on the front of the saw. It is a bit smaller than the DW788, and I must admit I need to get used to it not being as large, but many people like to use the foot pedal on their saws so it wouldn't be an issue. I have a foot pedal, but I don't really want to use it. I know there are die hard foot pedal people out there, but I am not comfortable using it and prefer not to. It is here if I ever change my mind. :)

Once the saw is running, you can easily adjust the speed by turning the dial on the top of the upper arm.


I find that the EX-21 doesn't top out with as fast of a speed as the DW788, but that is inconsequential to me because I never ran the saw at top speed anyway. When I pushed the DW788 to the higher speeds, there was too much distracting noise and vibration anyway and I felt uncomfortable. For those of you who want to fly when you saw, it may be an issue, but I don't think it is at all. It is just something that I noticed.

The next feature that I am going to talk about is really something that sold me on the saw. As many of you know, I am in the process of designing many candle trays and also design many self-framing plaques and baskets. In order to accomplish this, it is necessary that you make bevel cuts with your scroll saw (cut on a slight angle.) Although my DW788 was able to do this, it accomplished by tilting the table of the saw. This meant that when cutting on a bevel, the piece itself was angled and I was cutting either uphill or downhill. I found this somewhat difficult because usually these bevel cuts were either large circles or ovals, where precision was necessary. By the simple fact that the piece was on an incline, it was not always easy to control and maneuver the piece as you wanted, as gravity would not allow you to let it go and reposition your hands during cutting.

The EX-21 (as all the Excalibur models) allows for the saw HEAD to tilt, leaving the table and your workspace level. This feature alone is one of the biggest selling points for me with this saw. The head is capable of tilting 45 degrees in each direction, giving you a full range of bevel. It is an easy adjustment and is done in seconds.

First you loosen the lever underneath the saw by gently turning it:


Then you turn the dial underneath to the desired angle. There is an indicator right there, but I would use a combination square if you really need to be accurate.


Remember to tighten the outer lever again before cutting:


You are then ready to cut your piece on a bevel. How slick is that???


Guys and girls - this really is cool! I am already thinking of all I can do with this process being so easy. I do want to tell you though that when bringing the saw back to 90 degrees, it is best to use a combination square to make sure the blade is at a true 90 degrees from your table.


The DW788 had a kind of 'set point' where the table settled into place at 90 degrees, and the EX-21 does not. I don't know how accurate the DW788 was, but I always found it best to check anyway to be on the safe side.

Tomorrow I will go into the actual cutting on the saw and my impressions of its performance. I know this is getting quite long. Overall, I am thrilled and excited about having such a wonderful tool to use in my designing and even though I know it cost a bit more, it is absolutely, positively worth it. In just the short time that I have used it already, things are so much easier and the cutting so much more accurate that I wish I would have changed over a long time ago.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of the EX-21. I am hoping to make a short video about it soon too so you can see first hand how quickly everything is adjusted. If you want to see larger pictures, just click on the title of them and it will take you to my Picasa album. I know some of you don't like to go off site here so I included them all here for you to look at, but you can see them better in the album.

One final note too, I am still waiting for my light, as it was on back order. I got my saw from Ray at Seyco and he has been wonderful with getting everything to me for the show and all. Even though he is in Texas and far away, he has an outstanding reputation on every forum that I am on and also with others as to his wonderful customer service. I felt great about getting the saw from him and I am not disappointed at my choice in the least. He has been helpful with any questions and with setting it up and getting me up and going. It is great to know that there is still good customer service still out there.

I am still working on my new projects today, and will have more of them tomorrow for you. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this beautiful Spring day and have some fun! My cold is feeling better and I thank you all for your suggestions and nice wishes.

Happy creating to you all!
 
#2,422 ·
Sheila,

I, for one, am looking forward to your next post on this topic. I am an AVID fan of the DW788 and for the life of me can't see how a saw could get better.

This might be that very saw - I am very happy for you being able to test these two side-by-side and curious how the EX will rate compared to "old faithful". :)

One thing I am really curious about (and would love for you to test) is the length of time it takes to re-thread the blade from one cutout to another. As we all know, that's what takes the most time on projects that involve a lot of isolated cuts.

Looking forward to your reviews!

-bob
 
#2,425 ·
I have the Ex21 and love it Sheila you did a great job on the review of the saw , I met Ray and his wife the 1st time was at a scroll saw picnic in Pa and then in Ohio last year Ray was there both are great people and Ray knows the EX . As Sheila stated , "he has an outstanding reputation" and "wonderful customer service."

Bob , Re-thread the blade is really easy . I leave the blade in the top and raise the arm move the piece to the next hole and feed it in . Like anything else at 1st it was hard but after a little while came natural . lowering the arm gives you a reference point to were the saw hole is . Tighten the blade flip the tension leaver away you go. take like a minute . Now that is a guess cause I really have never time myself .
 
#2,439 ·
More on the Excalibur Scroll Saw

I want to start out today by saying that I didn't get the video done yesterday. There was just too much going on with things and my partner Keith and I were both kind of taking turns on the saw. We both have projects to submit to the magazine for the Holiday issue and it is kind of 'crunch time'. as we were away for a while and need to really get our projects done.

I did, however save a piece from my own arsenal to cut in hopes of making a couple of small clips today. Hopefully I can put something together so that you can get a feel for how things work on the saw and see the way the blade is re-threaded and such. My problem here is that I am not as versed on the movie software as I would like to be and even though the clips are short - five minutes or so, it takes me quite a long time to get them formatted and edited and together enough to make a decent little production. I ask your patience in this matter and I promise that it will come as soon as I am able.

I truly appreciate your comments regarding yesterday's blog. It is good to hear not only about the positive experiences others have had with the saw, but also what may be considered negative experiences. As with most other tools, I am certain that there is a degree of give and take on features and such. Seldom is there something that is suitable for everyone in every scenario and I don't for a minute think that this is a "magic saw" that will fill everyone's needs equally. What I am looking for is something that will fill my own needs, and perhaps the needs of my average customer.

Of course there are going to be others that will not fit into that category. There are the occasional scrollers who need a saw only a couple of times a year to perhaps fill in and make some cuts while working on other projects. This saw would be quite an overkill for them, and the price would in all probability be prohibitive.

On the other end of the scale, there is the sawyer who does a lot of production work and will need a machine that will fill that need, running constantly several hours per day on a daily basis. Perhaps for them, it would be better to look into purchasing a industrial grade tool, which is specifically made for that type of wear and tear.

The Excalibur line of saws is considered a mid to upper line of scroll saws for the scroll saw hobbyist. Now many of us serious woodworkers don't like that term "hobbyist" because it seems that in some ways it may demean our passion and ability to make fine woodworking projects, but the way I look at it, I don't agree. I think that it encompasses anyone who is passionate about scroll sawing and who spends as much time as they can at the saw, but doesn't necessarily support themselves fully by their work on the scroll saw alone. (This is only my own personal interpretation of the term, and I don't want to start an argument on semantics please.)

As for myself, I believe that a saw geared for a scroll saw 'hobbyist' is a good fit for me. Yes, I do earn my living using the scroll saw, but that is just a small part of the many other aspects of my job which include designing, writing, finishing, painting, etc. You get the point. I am not sitting in my kitchen cranking out 532 pieces a week of production work. Naturally that would wear any saw of this type to an early death. What I am looking for is a comfortable and reliable machine that will do the job I need it to do with little or now muss and fuss. I believe that is what most woodworkers are looking for.

With that said, I did get some time at the saw yesterday, as did my partner Keith and we both were very happy with how it performed. Could it be because we were used to using a 14 year old saw? Maybe in part. But overall there were little things that I felt were a large improvement over the DW788.

I actually read through the manual to make sure that I was using the features correctly. I had received a message from someone on my Facebook account that told me that she had the same saw and that by dialing up the tension knob at the back of the saw, you were actually raising or lowering the upper arm and bringing the two arms out of parallel, which caused problems with tension and cutting.

In examining this further, I realized what she was saying could truly happen, but if the saw was set parallel prior to inserting the blade, there should be little problem, as the 'fine tune' adjustment that would be required by turning the knob after the blade was in and the front tension lever flipped was so minute that it wouldn't make a real difference. At least it didn't in my saw.

I made sure the two arms were parallel, inserted the blade (top first) as I showed yesterday, flipped the front tension and the blade was about 90 percent as tight as I wanted it to be. I then slightly turned the rear knob probably 1/16th of a turn to gently give the blade that extra tightness I like to saw with and it was good to go. From that point on, I never had to touch the rear knob again. I don't know if her saw was out of whack from shipping or just not set properly, but I honestly couldn't see any problems with mine or any need to further adjust. It is at times like this when I wish I could be there to physically look at her saw and see what was going on.

The actual cutting session was very pleasant and I was able to cut dead on the lines. The control was something that was noticeably better. I thought it was only me, but when Keith was cutting, he mentioned to me that he felt that his cutting had "stepped up" being on this saw. That comment was unsolicited and I had not yet mentioned to him that I had felt the same way. I think I attribute that to the fact that the front to back motion of the blade is next to nil. That is probably the biggest difference that I noticed from the DeWalt.

In my lectures and classes, the way I described this 'front to back' motion characteristic of scroll saws is somewhat like when you picture train wheels moving. With every turn there is the front to back circular motion (although very slight). This can cause the blade to jump from one place to another when you are diving into the piece and turning, and when it is more severe, it also can cause the piece to be grabbed by the blade and chatter on the table. For someone who is new to scroll sawing, this is startling to say the least. The blade jumping from one place to another is also very frustrating, even to the seasoned scroll sawyer and is a clear indication of the unwanted front to back motion being present. There are ways to adjust the saws to minimize this, but usually people don't realize that it is the cause and many times just get frustrated.

As far as cutting went, I found the saw to be smooth as silk. When scroll sawing, maneuvering is accomplished by a series of pivots and I tend to lean to one side of the blade or the other, depending on which way I am going. The movement of the blade was really smooth and I was able to go exactly where I wanted every time. Overall the control on it was as good as I could have asked for. I was able to cut spot on every time.

The saw ran much quieter than the DeWalt too. Perhaps that added to the feel of smoothness when cutting. It just felt good to cut on it.

I realize (again) that I am getting long here, even for me. I am truly trying to give a fair review of the saw and point out my observations. I appreciate ALL your input - positive and negative and I do like you to keep your questions coming. I am also learning more about the saw with answering these questions.

Hopefully I will get to doing a short video today. I did draw the other two companion pieces for my submission to the magazine and as I said, I saved a piece to cut today which I will hopefully film for you to see the saw in action. I want to share my experiences with you all regarding this tool so that you can decide if it is something that you may want. I realize it is not for everyone, but I must say that so far I am very impressed with it and happy with my choice.

Have a great Tuesday!
 
#2,440 ·
pull the side cover off and look at the way the saw is made you will see bearing in aluminum I am a tool maker by trade if you are going to make a comments on a product I think you should be looking at the hole picture not just what is on the outside
 
#2,460 ·
Two Short Videos for You

Well, I actually was able to shoot a couple of short videos for you yesterday. I find that I feel much more at ease behind my keyboard writing than I do in front of the camera. I suppose that is natural, and I am sure with practice I will get better at it.

These are both showing some of the highlights of the new saw. The first one shows the general set up and highlights the tensioning of the saw. I want to stress the point that the knob on the back end of the saw is used to raise and lower the arm. In essence, it sets the distance between the upper and lower arm of the saw. Initially, this may need to be adjusted slightly to fit your blade in properly, but doing so too much will pull the arms out of parallel and cause poor blade fit. Once this is done in the beginning, there is little need to mess with it in the future.

Here is the first video regarding the basic blade installation and setting the tension:



The next video that I did was of me doing some basic cutting on the saw. I hope that it will give you the sense of how much time it takes to change the blade from hole to hole and also shows you the general smoothness of the cutting.



I am cutting two layers double stacked of quarter inch oak and I am using the size 2 reverse-tooth Olson scroll saw blade. (For those of you who I met in New York and gave blade samples to, I would love to hear from you as to how you liked working with them.)

In doing my project, I found the saw to be solid and smooth. It is much quieter than my DeWalt, and I found it very easy to follow my lines.

As far as vibration goes, due to the place where I have it, there is certainly some. I don't however, believe that this is because of the saw. When we had it on the stand on the concrete floor at the show the vibration was nearly non-existent. I am sure that being on the stand is optimal, but even where it is the vibration is so little that I feel it is inconsequential.

Not only am I excited about the saw, but I also am getting quite excited about the new patterns I created for my submission to the magazine. I am finishing the project up today, as all the cutting is done and now I only have some shaping and assembly work to do, and then on to the next thing.

It is a pleasure to have such a wonderful work environment. Although my space is limited, I have excellent equipment and also a wonderful group of friends and advisers (you all!) who help make every day fun. Not to mention the board of directors (the cats!)

I hope you enjoy the short videos. They are not fancy or funny like Steve, but I do hope that they clarify things a little for you and give you a little bit more information. As always, critiques are welcome.

I wish you all a wonderful Wednesday!
 
#2,461 ·
don´t worry not being Steve , Mads or H.C.Andersen … :)
you do it great with the vidio´s
from the vidio that is placed right after your first I got he empression of how queit the maschine can bee
when its bolted to a stand and the floor
do you ever use the variable speedcontroll … just curius , since I found it could be great to have
in thicker materiel… well what do I know I don´t have one except the tinyest on the market
hardly able to cut the thinnest plywood … LOL

have a great day
Dennis
 
#2,491 ·
Sharing Through Teaching

I am very pleased that you all liked the short videos that I posted yesterday. It shows me that there are lots of people who are interested in scroll sawing and would like to learn more about it. It also makes me want to do more teaching and help people understand how much fun and how relaxing scroll sawing can be.

Earlier this week, I received some wonderful pictures from my friends Erwin and Edith (Bearpie here on Lumberjocks.) While I was away, I had received a message from Erwin that he was planning to have a visit from his grandchildren and was having trouble finding a simple scroll saw pattern that he could use to help teach his granddaughter Evelyn to scroll saw on.

Being fresh from the show, I immediately thought of the design that I had used in my lectures to demonstrate many of the basic aspects of scroll sawing. Since I still had the file with me for the printout, I sent it to Erwin to see if he thought it would be appropriate for them to use.

Upon my return home, I received a beautiful note form he and Edith, telling me about their experiences with their granddaughters. It made me so happy to think that I was able to help in a small way and I felt so proud of the girls and also of Erwin and Edith for sharing their love of creating and teaching their grand children.

I asked them if I could share the pictures here and they said I could.

This is Evelyn's finished bunny dish. She is only 8 years old and did a wonderful job on it.


Evelyn was getting her footings on the saw and made the back of the bunny a little more ripply than the original pattern. She said it looked more like fur that way. You know, I think it does too! I like her version of it much better!

Here is Evelyn with her bunny all painted:


I think her smile says it all!

While Evelyn was busy scroll sawing, Edith was busy painting with the other girls.

Silvia (age 5) really liked painting and did a beautiful job. She painted this figure from the skating pond set that I had designed and did a wonderful job with it:


Even seven year old Gretchen did some painting. That is her tree along with more of Silvia's artwork:


If you want to read more about Erwin's experience, he wrote a blog of it HERE. I know his story will inspire you!

Spending time with children and teaching others is one of the greatest ways you can share your creativity. Several years ago when my grandmother passed away, while going through her things, we came across a card that I made her when I was six or seven years old. It was an Easter card with a bunny on it. It was made on pink construction paper and had a white cut out bunny on it with an orange carrot. Each of the pieces were cut out of colored paper and glued on the card. It had "Happy Easter" written on the top with purple crayon and a white cotton ball stuck to the bunny for a tail. And of course, there was a speckling of silver glitter in the grass.

Seeing that card brought back memories of my grandmother telling me that "The best gift I get from you would be a home made card." I remember asking her what she wanted for this occasion and that and it seemed that was always the answer. I also remember thinking at the time that I didn't understand why such a silly thing would be a good gift for her.

I do understand now.

I attribute much of my creativity to my upbringing. Not only to family members who encouraged me to draw and paint, but also those in my young life who encouraged other forms of creativity (my neighbor, Mrs. Kuba, who taught me to embroider on dish towels on her front porch when I was a young girl comes immediately to mind.)

These activities may seem trivial at the time, but I do feel they make lasting impressions on children. The connection you make with them, along with the sense of accomplishment they feel is a wonderful self-esteem builder at a time when they are perhaps unsure of themselves. Don't underestimate its impact.

Perhaps that is why I choose to do what I do. I don't just consider myself someone who sells patterns. I try to teach in every pattern I produce and share the joy of accomplishment with others. Nothing gives me more pleasure than accomplishing that.

I want to thank Erwin and Edith and all the rest of you who have encouraged me to continue to teach. I maintain that I still learn from you all too every single day, and together we enrich each others lives and make this world a little happier.

Have a wonderful day today and share some of your skill with another. It will surely make the day even better.
 
#2,492 ·
and here we are still
learning
thanks for teaching

i like the cookies and milk
and being tucked in
for the nap

great gifts with the girls
the smiles do say it all
 
#2,500 ·
An Unexpected Post

I awoke this morning to my daily email delivery of the New York Times and the headline read "Nation's Mood at Lowest Level in Two Years, Poll Shows"

I get the paper delivered to me each day in order to kind of keep up on things that are happening in the world. The Times (I feel) has a good range of both national and world articles and does a good job in keeping me updated with what is happening. I also get the Chicago Tribune sent to me, which arrives around lunch. Unlike the Times, the Tribune has more local stories about things happening in the Chicago area. I like that too because it keep me close to my roots in Chicago. When reading it, I feel like I am still connected to a place that I grew up. Somehow I find comfort in that.

As you may or may not remember, I do not have regular television. I realized that in this day and age that is practically unheard of, but it is true. We do own a 50 inch screen, but it is networked with our computers and when we do watch, we spend most of our time watching instructional DVD's or older series of shows or movies and what is available via the computer. I haven't seen a commercial in over two years here at home. I don't think that is a bad thing at all.

While on my recent adventure, many nights were spent in various hotel rooms. I can honestly say that the only time the TV was even turned on was one night in the first room in Saratoga Springs. I don't even know which show was on and couldn't tell you if someone had a gun to my head, but I suppose that it just goes to show how little importance it is to me. The most we watched anything was at my son's house one night we sat in on a couple of shows from The Food Network. I like cooking shows and I do sometime miss that. But not really enough to subscribe.

So why am I off on this tangent, you may ask?

I suppose reading that headline made me realize something. Many times I am asked how I stay so upbeat and positive all the time. For you who read regularly, you know that I do have my up days and my down days, but I try to stay focused on the positive and good aspects of life and look at it from what I refer to as my "pink cloud world". Even pink clouds get dark some days though. And it is my own responsibility to pull myself back up again.

I have a wonderful friend who taught me that we follow where we focus. It is a simple statement to me and makes a lot of sense. For myself (and I am only talking of myself) I choose not to bombard myself with and focus on the negative things and people around me. I find that if I look for the positive things in people and life, there is certainly enough good happening around me to fill up the day. That doesn't leave a lot of room for the negative things.

That doesn't mean that I have no compassion for what others are going through - I think it is quite the opposite. But I feel that in some very small way I do help people by being positive and introducing positive things for them to focus on. It may seem trivial to some, but I find that people in general are looking for happiness and hope and migrate to positive things. And that is good.

In reading down the list of my emails further this morning, I saw an email from an old friend that I have not spoken to in over a year. He lives near Digby where I used to live and he had several major tragedies in his life in the past several years. When I lived closer, he and his wife and I had become good friends. At the time, I was going through some difficult times myself and they were both there through the worst of it with me. I was alone then and they had each other and together they supported me with their kindness and friendship. As things got better for me, I in turn did my best to support them and help them as friends. That is what true friendship is.

With me moving, it has been difficult for me to keep in touch with them. They don't have a phone which makes it very hard. The busy-ness of all our lives has caused us to lose touch.

But this email today, sitting right under the above headline from the Tiimes, was like a gift. My friend said that they had gone through hell, but now things were getting better. The letter told of their plight, and I was proud of them both for what they had overcome.

And then the final paragraph. It made me stop and really think about things and my life in general. Below is an excerpt from what was written:

I really hope you never, ever have any crap chase you
into your future because you have inspired me where no other
person ever has. You are the reason I set out, without fear, into
the market once again. You continued to forge ahead with the
world's weight upon your shoulders ,nothing truly stopped
you and it is that persistent desire to succeed facing the worst the
world had to offer that motivates me now.

I am at a loss for words which can describe how I feel after reading these words. During my own difficult times, I only did what I could to survive. No more and no less. I couldn't, however, have made it without friends like them and others who have helped me. I know that in my heart.

So why am I telling you this?

It isn't to pat myself on the back and say "look what I did!" Please be assured of that. It is to ask you to look into yourself and understand how much each and every one of us affects the people around us. We do it without even realizing it. Through our actions. Through our creativity. Through our teaching. And of course, through our woodworking. We never know when others will look upon us as an example.

I had a different post that I was going to write today. But that can wait until tomorrow. I felt - especially after reading the headline in the New York Times, that this was more important. We all unknowingly touch so many lives throughout our day. There are people around us who are going through who knows what. Sometimes even just a smile or a small act of courtesy or kindness can go a long way to heal our wounded world. I hope you all think about that and remember it. You don't know how many people you can potentially help.

Have a wonderful day!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top