Wood Stories

The other week we had a visitor a tatter and lace maker who brought with her some very special bits of wood, a piece of horse chestnut which came from a tree that once stood near her home when she was a child. The other piece you see in the picture is a piece of Laburnum which she also produced from a plastic bag. You will notice that it has a very interesting grain, quite purple inside, this may fade as the wood dries, hopefully not. She has obviously requested a shuttle or two to be made!

This is the wood before it was cut

Back in February I talked about one of the wood suppliers who lived in America, we purchased purple heart and cocobola wood from him. The first delivery was delayed because he managed to saw his thumb off. Well just before Easter some more wood was ordered. “I’m in the garage” kept in touch by e.mail with this wood supplier and although he did develop an infection in his thumb, he was getting on fine and he informed us that he was about to post the consignment. We did not hear from him for a long time despite trying to contact him via e.mail. One evening a few weeks ago an e.mail was received from a relation of his to say that he had been badly burnt in a house fire and had died a few days later from his injuries. Curious to know more I searched the Internet and sure enough found a newspaper article about the fire and even a picture of the burnt out shell of his home. In there was our wood which he never managed to post

On a happier note this is a picture of “I’m in the garage” with a chain saw. The wood he is cutting is a huge piece of cherry wood that was given to us by a friend about 3 yrs ago, the tree used to stand in his garden.

Here are the cherry logs before they were cut, well seasoned in the garden


There is one good thing the garage is now a lot warmer than it used to be in the depths of winter!