Friday, June 17, 2011

The Workshop: Luck and lumber. Gord will take it

[After a lengthy intro, I’ll get to the nub of the story. Really.]

A week ago Wednesday, hockey defence partner John Day gave me a small pile of wood, and during the exchange - from his car trunk to mine - a plan for wee wren houses came to mind.

I later wrote about the life-changing experience. Well, not exactly life-changing, though getting five houses from a pile of scrap is “something”, in my opinion at least.

[You’ll find The Londoner column “Experience helps when trying to get something from nothing” here.]


["A two-tone blue one caught my eye": photos by Dusty Jeans]

This past Tuesday I spent the afternoon cutting and organizing wood for eight Rietveld chairs, a dusty afternoon if there ever was one, and at five-thirty p.m. I slowly sunk into a deck chair to look through a book for inspiration for my next birdhouse project.

A large two-tone blue triplex caught my fancy. I pulled a pencil from behind my ear and sketched a few plans. Then I assembled bits of rescued hemlock, but as I looked at the base I thought, Gordie, you might as well make two at the same time.




Thoughtfully, I left a note to myself to remind me.

After the next day’s hockey game (finally, I’m getting to the nub) another player said he’d brought lumber for me. And during the exchange - from his trunk to mine - I couldn’t believe my luck.


["I'm having luck with lumber. I'll take it."]

Dry old cedar. Two-tone plan already locked inside my brain. Enough for three. I'll take it!

More to follow. Surely you knew that.

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Please click here to visit The Workshop again.

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