A Man and Two Horses

I've been pondering horses lately.  Several blogs I follow have described beautiful creatures with sleek coats and elegant necks and tails.  I'm not yearning for a horse, but I think they are wise and lovely animals.  My husband is not a horse lover.

My father-in-law was a building contractor.  When I'm off on one of my woodworking projects, I often think about him, his skills, his tools, his love of wood.  We inherited a couple of his sawhorses at one time.  We stored them outdoors (too big to take up precious space in the garage), and every year the legs got just a tiny bit shorter as the wet Northwest weather slowly rotted them away at the bottom.

Team of horses

Now those horses my hubby remembers with fondness, especially if he is having to use the cheap, fold-up, plastic models from the big-box store.  "Now if we had Dad's sawhorses, this would be. . ." he has frequently intoned.

So the other day when Things I get to do today included hankering for another wood project and thinking of making it out of eucalyptus wood, Hubby was enthusiastic about my doing a test using that wood to make a pair of sawhorses to replace the old respected and admired horses from his dad.

All saddled up

We found a plan.  I bought the wood (not cheap--legs for two horses--$95). Cut the lumber:  all angles are 10 degrees to make the legs super stable.  Assembled the parts.  Learned lessons (all the legs are cut exactly the same.)  Learned lessons (if the leg seems backwards, turn it around until it works.)  Learned lessons (measure and cut each end brace individually.)  Learned lessons. I love all that I'm learning, and I like these horses, too.

A Gaggle of Swifts

Completed wood project of three swifts for winding yarn

I'm pretty sure they come in flocks. But if this group of swifts were ever again to be together, it would for sure be more of a gaggle. Tomorrow they all fly out to their respective new homes here and there about the country to live with friends of mine. That's where the gaggle comes in. We are a talkative bunch who know well enough when to be still, but that event does not arise often.  So when we are together, gabble and gaggle we do.

Giving wings to these swifts is my friend-related item of Things I get to do today.  It's taken awhile to cause these "birds" to come into being from a 1"x6"x 8' piece of maple lumber.  I've learned and loved the process.  It all started with an idea.  Any idea held firmly long enough will come into being one way or another.  The thought took wings and landed, finally, fully-formed, in my hands.

Slowly a Swift

Words don't teach.  Life experience teaches.  And I'm learning.  Several months back my post was about one of the simplest and most clear devices I'd come across in a long time: an Amish-style swift.  A swift holds the yarn so that a person winding a ball of it can do it by themselves without growing another full set of full-length arms.  Brilliant contraption!

My first Swift

When I saw one and then bought one, I knew I could make this thing called "swift."  I bought the wood, enough for four it turns out, and cut it to dimensions.  Then I shaped it--all four of them.  Sanding and smoothing came next. The Things I get to do today will see me finishing the first one.






Which brings me to a quote from Confucius adapted for woodworkers, "By three methods we may learn wisdom (woodworking): First by reflection (seeing the process completely before beginning), which is noblest; Second, by imitation (watch Hubby demonstrate), which is easiest; and Third, by experience (learn as you go), which is the bitterest."

Somehow as I drilled the holes in all the parts of this swift that needed holes, I thought of my comment to Hubby last night that I would have him show me how to use his mini drill press device so I could learn by imitation.  But today I moved directly to experience which, though it was not really bitter, was a bit disappointing.

Whoopee!  I have three more that will benefit from what I've learned so far.  And as you can well see, this one looks pretty darn good regardless of its being my lesson book.