Category Archives: woodwork

Bonsai moves

I did some digging at the local nursery and found an azalea that had a decent single-stem structure. I forgot to take a photo before I hacked it down, but trust me when I say it was a good-looking little azalea with plenty of branches and leaves.

I may have waited too long post-bloom to work on it, but we’ll see. I got to use bonsai cut paste for the first time. It’s a lot like glue, and I got to use a good amount because I was a little loosey-goosey with the pruning saw. I’m sure it will be fine.

I moved the little maple sprout out of this pot and replaced it with a, what the nursery calls, “pre-bonsai”. It’s a plant that’s been through the first couple of bonsai prunings and is set up for success.

I’ve got both of these plants in a moderately shady spot on the back porch. We’ve had plenty of rain and hot sun, so I’m hoping they get through to the fall. We’ll see.

Joinery Poster

This is a sharp Joinery poster from Brighton Exchange!

Joinerylarge

I know enough to know that a lot of those joints are over my head.

[via my woodworking crony Adam]

Terrific Aimee Mann interview

You just do it a million times and then you get a feeling for how it feels when it’s right. That’s not talent either. That’s practice. Talent is hugely predicated on practice.

This interview with Aimee mann is a lengthy read with some dynamite ideas in it. I’ve pulled a couple of quotes that I found especially relevant to where I am right now. These are ideas I’ve come across organically so it’s gratifying to hear that I’m on the right track. Gratifying might not be the best word, but I do like reading that someone has come to some of the same conclusions that I have. Wanting a “life that works” is a great turn of phrase. Doing things in your life that lead to that is hard these days. Maybe it used to be hard because I didn’t know how it should work. Time is really he only thing that can teach you. I’ve got some idea of what that might be now. It’s exciting.

So that’s what aging probably means. You’ve got to be around long enough to try all the dumb stuff and then get sick of it and then kind of reach the conclusion of, look, I don’t care if this is cool or sounds cool, I want a life that works now, because I want to be creative, and it’s not being creative to be obsessed, anxious, depressed, trying to control other people, trying to control circumstances, and flipping out when stuff doesn’t go your way.

[via Tom Pappalardo]

Allied Maker iPhone5 shelf

This is exactly the kind of woodoworking I want to try my hand at. Small and (potentially) useful. The material cost wouldn’t be out of hand so when it goes wrong it’s not the end of the world.

Allied shelf

Allied Shelf 2

[via Cool Hunting]