|
|
     
|
Summer 2008
Autumn came in with a... …Bang and a bit of an exy one at that, see below. However it progressed quite satisfactorily with me adapting to not having Brian on a regular basis by casting around for someone else to get on the other end of that heavy bit of wood. More of the new helpers later but first what began as one of those days and ended with a search for the cheque book.
… late, but a puncture on the Landrover and then a struggle almost to the death attaching the big trailer laden with Oak to the aforementioned meant that by the time I dropped the flat one at the Blacksmith and got to Vernham Dean I was very you know what. However, Chris the customer was waiting patiently and he soon jumped into the passenger seat for the mile up the track to the woods. We hadn’t gone far when there was the biggest explosion outside of Bagdad and cloud of smoke which prompted a “shit what was that”. It was fairly obviously something nasty around the gear box and we were stuck. I walked to the wood and got the tractor and Chris retrieved his car.
As the tractor has a different towbar attachment I had to cunningly tie
it on with a chain and managed to drag it to the woods.
I then had to put on my distressed lone female voice… … to the AA so that I wasn’t
left abandoned all day. Fortunately for me ‘Bob’ had booked a half days
Annual leave and was with me, loaded me and dumped me at Dave’s garage
before I could say where the bloody hell are they. Brian turned up for
a squint as it was unloaded and both he and Dave pissed themselves at
the horrible crunching noise from underneath as it slid off the truck.
Dr Dave worked his magic… … and the ol’ girl was
back on the road within a week with a new propshaft and a few other bits
that help it go forward. Over the years…
A library picture… see if it has been returned. It works much the same with names I get three Daves on the trot. This confuses me and I forget who I’ve sent what where, if you see what I mean. A recent coincidence was in July when I sent a parcel to a chap with the surname Green who worked at Lancaster University. A couple of weeks later we went to Dorset to visit some friends who’s surname is also Green. I was amazed to find their daughter Belle had just completed her first year at Lancaster University. Exciting life I lead, eh.
… I wrote about Steve Macdonald, an Englishman living in Ireland. He not only bravely struggles back to Ireland with suitcases full of Lime for carving he’s spread the word on the internet. One of the best websites I’ve seen is UK Workshop which is excellent for information for Turners and Carvers with a superb forum and a huge following. Steve put a link to my site with a personal recommendation. They have recently changed the site so that it no longer shows the number of times people have followed the link but the last time I looked Steve had put nearly 2000 people my way. I owe you a beer mate, maybe a whole pint. One carver Steve sent to me… … emailed the following. Hi, I need Walnut but I can’t afford the outrageous price everyone is asking. I quickly replied telling him to sod off and bore someone else about his problems. I decided to send him a box of odds and sods anyway which was just what
he wanted. No one has limitless cash to spend but Jedders’s (Almost his
name) budget was so tight it squeaked. We agreed a deal that he would
scrape the cash over the next month and send it recorded delivery or I’d
slag him off in the next newsletter. The money came through as promised
and the finished article of one of his pieces made me glad the walnut
went his way on sensible terms. Here it is :
My picture editing skills don't really do it justice but you get the gist. I don’t like to charge outrageous sums for my wood. Everyone is on a budget and has better things to spend on. Sometimes however you get a bit of wood so special in the quality and the rarity that you have to up the price. I have a few cube of the most beautiful ten foot by 14” walnut planks.
Planked a year ago, when fully seasoned I will ensure they go to a good
home. By the way , a good home is not a loving , happy one or one thoroughly
vetted by the social services . It’s one belonging to the person who gives
me a fantastic price for them because I doubt I’ll see as good again.
Of course having written that I managed to obtain four equally good in
their own way planks around Christmas but I've promised two to Andy a
walnut craftsman and a provider of good advice so the other two will be
available in about a year.
John, the madge gamely struggling with the walnut as we relocate it. I must have been mad to sell a rather nice bit of Burr Oak to a mate
of Mark at the sawmill for a paltry £40 a cube. My man in the deep
south ( Dorset not Mississippi ) Peter tells me his mate flogged some
Burr Oak to a Belgian company for £1000 and they in turn made £50,000
of veneers out of it. In the back end of the Autumn... ... mostly I was adapting to working, very slowly on my own, usually just filling boxes for the restaurants and selling a bit of wood. Rob Walker bought a milling device similar to Gordons but with a much bigger bar with a potential to cut up to 50" diameter logs. There are enough pictures and dramas from the early outings with this to fill separate articles which will be published on the new site www.hampshirewoodsuppliers.co.uk blog page. This is the last of the newsletters on woodbypost for now as Hampshire Woodsuppliers site is easier to upload and I can use bigger pictures which I think help bring the stories to life rather than words.
Regards,
See our page of interesting things produced
by our customers from our wood. Copyright Goulden Management Limited 2006 |
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)