Introduction


I started my on-line diary in the 1990's from my studio in the North of England. After a lapse of ten years, I resumed the enteries from my present studio on the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the far beginning, my intention was to give an insight into my working methods, and to share the triumphs, trials and tribulations of work-in-progress.

Now, by way of a change, these pages will focus on finished work, both recent and retrospective. As Dominica has recently been ranked as one of the least visited places on earth, it is one way of bringing the mountain to Mohammed.


Monday, October 24, 2011

Football isn’t life and death…

Simon Barnes, chief sports writer for the Times Newspaper, began one of his commentaries with the words, “Football isn’t life and death - it’s more important than that!”

Our nineteen-year-old daughter Tania, a member of the Dominica women’s football team, would certainly agree.  If interests are inherited, she must have picked that one up from her mother or grandfather, certainly not from me.  I can proudly boast that I have never been to a football match in my life.

On the other hand, Tania and I share a love for poetry.  Maybe she picked that up from me, but where did I pick it up?  Apart from the rhyme schemes of Toby Twirl, the only poem my father taught me was Rudyard Kipling’s If.  I can still remember every line and today these particular lines came to mind:

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools…

The reason being, I was making a replacement chair for the one washed away by the floods a few weeks ago.  So, washed away rather than broken and tools as sharp and true as ever.  Nevertheless, it hurts to loose something that you have given loving care to. 

Here are the chair parts, in an assortment of local hardwoods, ready for the spokeshave and lathe.
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1 comment:

  1. I'm hoping we will see a photo of the finished chair. (Plus other things you have crafted in wood?? It has to be the best material of all!)

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