Sunday, January 8, 2012

"Life is Wood" or so says WoodWorker magazine.  I know this because yesterday (which was a 64 degree day - a 17.7C- day in January, a rare occurrence here in NJ) Pk and I traveled 2 hours to attend a wood crafters' show down near Baltimore.

He  had plans to attend with his brother in law who had to back out at the last minute due to a back injury.  I didn't want him to drive all that way alone so I went along for the ride. 

We passed over the Susquehanna River and drove south.  When we got to the place (where the state fair for Maryland is held each year), we were able to leave our coats in the car and just wander around in sweatshirts. 

It was crowded with woodworkers.  There were demonstrations of power tools which are noisy things so unlike a knitters' crafty convention, this one was loud. Men with microphones (and more than a few women) were demonstrating lathes and table saws and techniques (like parquetry-very cool).  I enjoyed seeing some of the projects on display and it smelled like freshly sawn boards.  A Very Nice Smell.

The Holy Grail of the show according to Peter Kevin.  He drools over the Lee Valley catalog like I drool over WEBS.  We wandered the show but after a while, I was creating a log jam since I was waiting while he looked at things in the stalls.  I was watching people but I felt like I was in the way. 

Fortunately, I was prepared.  I took myself out of the main show room and sat in the food court with a sock and my mp3 player.  I didn't want to make Peter Kevin feel like he had to rush through the show.  He got to browse the tools and I spent some quality time with my yarn.  Not a bad deal.

He bought an attachment for his drill press and we headed home.  It was a beautiful day for a drive.  The laundry got started and we had some leftovers for dinner and were settling in for the evening when Em called and cancelled our visit for today.  She had a craptastic week ending with some car trouble and was not in a "company's coming" mood.  (She seems better today.  We had a text conversation and some of her innate Emilyness seemed to have returned)

Today was not as warm as yesterday, but still a nice day.  Pk spent the day in the garage and I spent some quality time with the spinning wheel.  I probably should have taken down the tree but I couldn't.  It looks so beautiful and even though it blocks the light in the room, I love the look of it.   I haven't put away any of the Christmas stuff yet.  Peter Kevin asked if we could leave it up "just one more week?"  and so we will. 


It was just about 5 and I was putting the last of the laundry into the dryer (I kinda forgot about it) when I saw the moon rising.  It was huge and glowing and I wish my camera did it justice. 

And now the house smells of roasting chicken which makes me hungry.  It's hard to believe the weekend is over already. But that's the way it always seems.  This is a full, normal, back-to-work week. 

And no holidays off until May.  I don't get any of the federal holidays but Peter Kevin gets some of them.  I'll just have to make my own holidays.  National Knitting Day anyone?  (should be a day off with pay!)

7 comments:

amy said...

It is a long stretch. My husband doesn't get any holidays until May either, but I'm sure he'll take time here and there. Even the kids have some of their February vacation taken away to make up days lost at the start of the year.

It's fun to go wander around somebody else's obsession a bit, isn't it? Sounds like an interesting outing and I just bet it smelled awesome! I love that smell.

Galad said...

I like the smell of fresh cut wood also. Glad PK didn't miss out on his show and you got some knitting done.

The weekends do fly by! Can't believe we are back at Monday already.

Saren Johnson said...

I usually schedule days off during the year. Because it keeps me from calling in sick when I'm not really sick.

roxie said...

Thanks for taking us to the show with you. Too bad they can't make a perfume that smells like new-sawn wood. Just dab a bit behind the ears and that fine woodworker will not know why he finds you SO attractive!

Weekends go just too fast. And it's so hard when you get a four day weekend in November, a three or four day weekend for Christmas, another four day weekend a week later, and then nothing till May. Too bad we couldn't spread those holidays out a bit more reasonably. My birthday is in March, and I think it would be a perfect time for a national holiday. close the shops, the banks, the postoffice. Let there be fireworks in the night, feasting in the kitchens, dancing in the streets and necking in the parlors!

DPUTiger said...

I think a woodwork show would be awfully tempting ... and fun! I'm discovering that one of the perils of freelancing is that you don't have defined holidays, so it's hard to take full advantage of the days when you aren't working. They just aren't different enough from a workday to flip that mental switch.

And yeah, it drives me nuts when I see an amazing sunset or moonrise and can't even come close to getting a decent picture. You did pretty well, though!

Louiz said...

International Knitting day sounds good to me:)

Bells said...

your line about the roasting chicken and the weekend is so fitting. I'm sitting here with a chicken roasting and a sense that it's over, back to the grind.

I'd sit and knit and wait for Sean at something like that too. No point in making him rush, especially when he waits for me at things all the time!

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