Dreary December Day

Today found me going to Lukens sawmill in Knightstown. Last week there was a bonanza of slab wood at the sawmill. Today there were some slabs that were very nice but would have taken 4 guys to move. Since my shop is nearly full, I didn't fret too much. Going to the sawmill is a lot like fishing and birding. You are not always successful.
My secondary target became birding a little at Summit lake. I was able to swing by Sparky's Dog house in Mt. Summit which has the best ham sandwiches around.
I did see about a dozen buffleheads. They were very dramatic against the dullness of the day, their white sides brightening up the day. There was one ruddy, a goldeneye, and tons of coots. The buffleheads are often seen during the winter. I also saw a group of ring necks on a small retention pond. They have the same ultra clean bright white sides of the buffleheads.I think the ring necks are my favorite ducks. They are also among the easiest to get close to. They seem to favor small ponds. They are similar to scaups, but they have a stripe across their bills.
Christmas at the shop is unpredictable. Days of no visitors can be punctuated by one customer arriving out of the blue as happened last week. This one customer bought 4 four of my largest and best pieces. Business overall has been pretty good considering the economy. Most of my artist/craftsman friend are singing the blues over slow sales. The arts are the first casualty of declining disposable income.
Utilitarian items such as mine are less affected.
I have been working on some bed headboards made from the slabs from the sawmill.I have sold one and have made another, and more are on the way.
I also made some curly willow lamps. I made one for a custom order last year, and it was very well recieved.

It can be boring doing production work, runs of 12-35 items, but it is much more practical and efficient to do many items at once, such as picture frames or vases. John Bundy's is getting his Christmas orders out. He always has a lot of activity this time of year as his ducks are great for gifts.
I am getting ready to cut curly willows. These need to be cut while the leaves are of during the winter.I will trim probably 5 or 6 trees. I need a large quantity for the Flower and Patio show as well as the country living show, where they do very well.
The end of February will be here before you know it and then I will welcome the blossoming of the pussy willows which will happen when the weather changes and we have a few warm days near the beginning of march. It is very hectic, because the pussywillows only bloom for a couple of weeks.