Adventures of an Imperfect Man In Search of a Handmade Life
The art and artifacts from Pompeii have been much on my mind since the major new excavations have been published the past couple years. I was looking at this wall mural and noticed the very Roman workbench in the lower left, complete with bench dogs while the young carpenter whacks away with hammer and chisel. …
Continue reading "A Workbench from Pompeii"
The Stonebridge Lantern; a classic, lightweight, packable candle lantern that was very popular once upon a time in the U.S. The Stonebridge is an ingenious piece of design work as it folds almost perfectly flat for travel; like origami in tin. Weighing in at only 11 ounces (.31 kilos) without a candle it's a camp …
"My ceiling the sky, my carpet the grass, my music the lowing of herds as they pass; my books are the brooks, my sermons the stones, my parson’s a wolf on a pulpit of bones." — Allen McCanless (cowboy poet), 1885
I have been trying to write this post for a month now... Even small posts can take too much time. Anyone who knows me well is probably aware that sometimes my attention span is like that of a goldfish. Since more or less recovering from surgery I have been in a frenzy to catch up …
https://youtu.be/a4Xlyi8Is98 "I'm On My Way" from Rhiannon Giddens' album 'There is no Other' with Francesco Turrisi.
"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future." via "Oscar Wilde Says"
Although this blog isn't really focused on our daily activities, I thought I'd share a few photos. We had time for a beautiful day out this weekend in the eastern Ozarks. Many plants were in bloom, the insects were moving and ticks had their presence as well. It was also an opportunity to get out …
Once again, I am producing some large, traveler's wallets. While some are waiting their finishing touches, here's the first of six. They are all of the same general size and design but each has some variation in shape and closure type. I think my dying is improving. Having read more on the subject, I've been …
Why do this? In my life-long quest for better designs and finer gear, I am constantly on some sort of hare-brained mission to make something new. Some readers may remember the earlier backpack I made and eventually traded off to a new owner. My friend Jacob, even made a fine copy for himself and it …
