Category: Handmade Life

Summertime Update

~ George Crawford ~ 3 Comments

 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 on the many things I’ve wanted to do these many months.  I did accomplish a few small leather working projects, messed around with watercolors, did some good reading, and took some actual paid work (yes, an actual job) to cover the ever-present bills.

Watercolor miniature in the works.

I’ve now been released back into the wild by the surgeon and the physical therapist and declared healthy enough to begin working out and to go about my normal activities. With so many things to do I have little interest or time to spend in front of a computer screen and I loathe it more than usual.  I am very happy that I have been encouraged to re-integrate real exercise back into my daily routine.  Just because we get older, doesn’t mean we need to let ourselves go.  I am as guilty of this myself.

We learn to be lazy, but we don’t have to be.

I have taken much inspiration by the work of my fellow artisans and the projects they post online, without the stupidity you find in regular social media.  I am sometimes shamed by my own lack of productivity but still thrilled that so many people I know have grown their talents to such heights.

Pressing onward.

Victory Gardens

~ George Crawford ~ 2 Comments

Springtime is just around the corner.  Now that we’re in a more hospitable growing environment, I feel obligated to get a better garden growing.  Of course, it is some work but the payoff, even for a small garden more than justifies the effort.

It’s always a good time to grow food.

In times of crisis, it is wise to have a bit laid aside.  Try canning and preserving if you have never done so.  It’s easy and rewarding throughout the year.

 

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Bill Coperthwaite

~ George Crawford ~ Leave a comment

lastactonearth's Blog

It’s one of those things, that a week or so ago, I heard a thought to write a blog entry all about Bill Coperthwaite, but sadly, it has now turned into a eulogy as we just received the news that he died, when he drove his van into a rock, in his local town, Machiasport, Maine.

Bill has come into our story a few times: the last time was last summer, when we were on the road in Austria in the early conceptional stage of the zome, the central structure of the Zodiac Tent. He was a man of action and the weather then was such that we couldn’t really work outside so much, so Bill went wooding a lot and carved a few spoons, in-between design discussions. One of his memorable pointers was about the redundancy of jogging, and other exercise routines when instead you can go out into…

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Sad to See You Go…

~ George Crawford ~ 1 Comment

PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER’S NOTES

This isn’t the blog post I wanted to write tonight. A few readers emailed me with the news that Bill Coperthwaite died in a car accident in Maine on Tuesday. Icy road conditions, lost control of the van. Died at the scene.

So what am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? Simple –  having met Bill. About 10 years ago, the museum acted as training ground and consultants for a PBS program called Colonial House. I had little to do with it, other than making 4 housefuls of furniture. But my wife Maureen & I, along with several of our great friends and co-workers back then, were part of the clean-up crew. That meant we travelled to Machias,  ME and stayed out in this glorious seaside house, while we worked at the site dis-mantling the innards of several 17th-century style houses…in absolutely perfect New England early October weather as I recall…

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