Apple harvest time...

We've been blessed with an abundance of apple trees on our property here outside Ottawa, Ontario. So much so that we needed to cull the apple trees down to a manageable 40-50 trees or so, down from hundreds. In the process, I have acquired some nice apple wood which is currently stacked. I will use this apple wood mostly for small tool handles and any smaller pieces of it for enhancing the charcoal grilling we often do here. Apple wood in itself is a beautifully figured wood, great for tool handles and for small panels and drawer fronts, as are most fruit tree woods.

Today we had some family over to help pick these apples, the ones on the trees, as many have simply fallen, nature's way of dealing with too many apples on a tree. Did I mention that deer love apples. Well you can't walk around the property without getting a whiff of apples, the result is many deer grazing in and around here throughout the fall. I'm currently enjoying a great novel written by a Cuban Air Force pilot who defected to the US in 1991. It is a true story and includes interesting episodes on different aspects of life in Cuba throughout the past four decades. The novel "Wings of the Morning" was mentioned to me by a Cuban friend who himself was a fighter pilot in the Cuban Air Force and the story is based on his commanding officer. This is one of those books you can't put down once you begin.

So lately I've been dividing my time between any outside work I need to do at this time of year and current work in progress in the studio. In three weeks or so, I'll be free and clear of outside chores and will be able to dedicate my time fully to my studio handcrafting custom pieces. I have some exciting ideas and designs I would like to incorporate into furniture. These are ideas I have accumulated over the summer from having visited historic sites, villages and the odd museum exhibition.