Rain and Roses

Hello! The shop is warming up as I type, and Jane is warming me up by snuggling on my lap. Jai and I just had some grilled cheese sandwiches before he left to go back to work - the perfect lunch for a grey, wet day. It's the darkest the house has been in the middle of the day for as long as I can remember.


We've been out and about a little this week. We visited with Sarah and Dereck on Valentine's day. Those are the roses Jai got me at the top of the page. They look so pretty I took a million pictures.


Jo and I took a trip to Halifax on Friday to hang out and so I could pick up a few things I need for various pieces. We went through the entire walnut lumber pile at East Coast Specialty Hardwoods trying to find a piece with a natural edge. I have to say it kind of pisses me off that they are cut off and thrown away. Anyway, we managed to find one really nice piece with a little bit of bark still on it, so I consider it a successful mission. Plus it's always so much fun to go there and just look around.
Saturday was an eventful day, as it started with the annual library book sale, where I picked out a whole carton of new-to-me books. I got some definite finds like: A Son of the Circus by John Irving, the Randomhouse Quotationary, Keeping a Nature Journal (the librarian couldn't believe that was in the sale as the library just purchased another copy for $40, and I paid $2), and so much more...yup, I had fun.


Saturday night Jo and I went to the King's Theatre (where Jai works) for their Valentine's Event. It was a silent art auction, with pastries, and a movie. They showed Lars and the Real Girl, which I would highly recommend if you like quirky movies. This was the view coming into Annapolis Royal:


I just went out to check on the shop, and it's getting nice and toasty, so I better get moving. Here's one last rose shot to send you on your way :)

Snow Days

Hello! We've got ANOTHER snow day here. It is pretty cold. Yesterday I looked out the window and saw the bird pie down on the ground with a little birdie flapping like crazy. I ran out and grabbed Jai, who was just coming in the door, and we went out to see what was the matter. The poor little bird had his tongue frozen to the cord. We got warm water and a pair of scissors and freed him, but I figure it's got to be pretty cold out for that to happen.
Jai and I both tried to start a fire in the shop yesterday, but it just didn't want to light, so I stayed in the house all day. The cats and I spent some time looking out the windows.


Then I spent the afternoon painting. Last time we were in Halifax, I splurged and bought some acrylic paint tubes. It's the first time I have painted in probably five years. It was perfect. Here's some shots of my results.




It was a definite treat. Today we are trying to warm up the shop again, as there is lots of work both of us need to get started on. Until then, however, I am sitting here and Jai is hauling load after load of firewood in. We figured out that the wood burns better if it's not frozen solid (geniuses, I know), so we are building a wood pile inside beside the wood stove.


Jai whipped up a batch of his *famous* ginger-beef and chow mein last night, along with a test batch of wonton crisps. YUM! I guess I better go heat up the leftovers for lunch. Stay warm! :)

Hello. We've had a busy work week this week. But we got a couple of big orders out of the way, so it was good to get something accomplished. Tonight Jai is working at the theatre, and I am having a couple of girlfriends over for tea and some knitting. I'm just sitting here listening to Iron and Wine and completely enjoying myself.



We finally got our new load of firewood, but it's pretty wet. If only we'd known we would be going through so much! By all accounts, it's been an extra cold winter that started early, so I think we're not the only ones. But next year, we'll definitely be buying more firewood! February is not really a good time.


Anyway, I'm still taking lots of bird pictures through the windows. Yesterday Jai came running in telling me to grab my camera and come see. Just outside the shop window, a hawk was sitting in our tree. I didn't get "the perfect" shot, but it was pretty exciting all the same!


He's been scaring all the little birds away, but I did sneak in a couple of shots of a cute little chickadee. Now I just need the time to get some marquetry pictures made!

Little Gatherings

Hello! It's another one of those stormy, yucky days outside. Not that we aren't enjoying the winter, because for the most part we are. I really like how it doesn't seem like much is going on, but in reality, people are getting together all over the place. Lots of little gatherings. It's fun to have a whole season dedicated to being cozy inside. As long as you don't have to go outside!


We have spent most of the week just working away at things. I got a couple of custom jobs finished up, and now we're working on the next ones.


Every day we make a little bit of progress.

We had a warmish day last week so I took the camera out for a short walk, until my fingers got too cold. The snow this week was really weird. It was like sand almost, and impossible to shovel. Then we got freezing rain, and everything turned to ice. There was a very slippery couple of days. You could walk on the snow-covered spots as long as you didn't step too hard, or stand still for too long, because if you did you would break through into a foot of snow. It was fun in an adventure sort of way.




And I have been taking lots of bird pictures still. It's so much fun! Our friends Jo and Brandon have lots of cardinals that hang out at their feeder, so hopefully I can visit them and get some cardinal shots before the end of winter (which is still a long way off!)



So that's all our news for now. Hope you are all keeping warm and well!

Pictures and News

Hello! We have an official Snow Day here in the Valley. The perfect kind of day to sit around the fire sipping hot chocolate (which Jai is making as I type!) I've been having lots of fun playing with my new camera, but so far I haven't been able to take it outside, as there's all sorts of warning about taking it out in minus 10 weather, and about sudden temperature changes. So, for now, I'm a window photographer. I'm ok with that, as I kind of feel that I should have all sorts of warning on me about minus 10 weather!



I've been having lots of fun, though. Jai hung a bird pie outside the library window for me, and it's had all sorts of interesting visitors.




Plus the cedar waxwings swooped in for a day, and I got some pictures of them in our oak tree. If you zoom in on this picture (by clicking) you should be able to see them pretty good. I just love them, and already see several marquetry pictures looming in these photos.

I finally framed the little bird portrait I made a while ago. It looks good, I think. I'll list it on Etsy some time this week.



The newspaper article about us came out this week. I think if you zoom in, you could probably read it from this photo, but if not, here's a link to the on-line version:
http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-176705-A-Sleeping-Forest-through-the-trees.html

Other than that, not too much news here. I've got a couple of big walnut pieces I'm working on, which is nice, since walnut is my favourite wood. I'll post pics of a couple of them, as they are finished. Jai has been salvaging firewood pieces for his lathe masterpieces, and is working on a really nice little container out of figured maple right now.

Hello! Well, I was trying to hold off posting until my NEW camera arrives, so I could put up some amazing new pictures that will blow all your socks off! But it didn't come in the mail today, and I did say last time I would try not to leave it so long between posts. Oh well. Now that I've set up unreasonably high expectations, I've also used up all my news.
Mostly I'm just excited about my new camera arriving. On Monday, I'm sure of it! (I've been saying all week, "Tomorrow it will be here for sure!")
We had a big winter storm earlier today, with lots of snow and blowing winds. Now it is perfectly calm. Tonight I've got a couple of girlfriends coming over for some tea and visiting, while Jai is working at the theatre.
Jai and I went for a walk along the old rail line a couple of nights ago, before there was snow on the ground again. Here's some pics from that:



And my favourite:

Something about blurry pictures...

And we've gotten some work done in the shop over the last week. Jai finished his bowl, and it looks great!

We didn't get as much done as usual, though, because we took a couple of days to do a big clean-up and get the office closer to being usable. We had the interview with the Spectator reporter on Wednesday, and the article will be in the paper this coming Wednesday. I'll take pictures, so you can see it.
Anyway, that's about all for now. On Monday, when my new camera arrives...

New Years News

Hello! I guess it's about time I updated on our news. The sad thing is we don't really have any!
We had a lot of snow over the New Year, which was really fun. We didn't do such a good job on the whole clearing the driveway thing, and there was a couple of times when we almost didn't make it out. That would have been a great excuse to miss work, hey? I'm sure everyone here was a little disappointed, as all the major snows happened before school started or on weekends! Anyway, I totally enjoyed walking around in the snow, where it didn't come up past my boots.




This last week has been very warm, and all that snow has melted completely! We even had a day that hit 15 degrees! It's 8 degrees right now, but next week it's supposed to start cooling off again. I guess it's a good chance to get a fresh start on keeping the driveway clear.

We've pretty much been homebodies the last couple of weeks. I finished making a couple of more books - here's a pic of one of them. They came out nicely, but I had a lot of problems with the tools. It was good because I ended up with a new bandsaw fence, a new resaw blade, a new benchtop jointer, and a fresh set of blades on my planer. Let that teach me for trying to work with arbutus!


Jai has started a new bowl out of some burl that Dereck's parents gave us to play with. I think it will be beautiful when he finishes it. It was a little scary to share the shop with him while he was balancing it, though. The whole floor was shaking, and I kept picturing it flying off and braining me. It's such a small shop, there's no way to get out of the line of fire. I'm still here, though.

Today we have spent most of the day cleaning up the house. We have a reporter from the Annapolis Valley Spectator coming on Wednesday to interview us about Sleeping Forest Studios, so we want it to kind of look like a house someone might actually want to live in, instead of a big storage area and unfinished renovation project. There's not much we can do about the unfinished renovation project part, but we're trying to work on the rest. It's getting there! We got a bit further in the bathroom, and added one of our auction finds to the top of the dresser. It's looking pretty good, I think.


A little organization can go a long way. We were so busy before Christmas that everything just started to pile up.
Right now we've got more work than I really know what to do with. I think we need a chalk board or something in the shop so that we can keep track of what's been ordered, and when it's due. Sometimes it's too overwhelming to keep all that in your head. Probably if it was written down somewhere, with a few items checked off, it wouldn't seem like much at all. Right now, everything is written down, pretty much, but it's all in different places, so I keep coming across something else that I forgot I had to do. The worst part is that I'm in work avoidal mode, and would much rather work on my new marquetry panel.
Anyway, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining - I'm glad to have the work! As Jai says, it's kind of a good problem to have.

So with all that exciting news, I'll sign off for now. I hope this finds all of you well, and enjoying your New Year. I'll try not to leave it so long between posts, next time!