today at CSS

Today in my own workshop, I've been competing with the Chinese, making small boxes for sale. It is an ongoing enterprise... ceaseless. About the time I get one set of boxes done to fill a hole in the inventory, another item is running low in supply. Remember this is a small business, run between making custom furniture, writing articles and keeping up with things at school. Working on small boxes is like going on vacation. Because many of the operations are repetitive, I can think about many interesting things while my trained hands proceed through the milling and assembly of parts. When my attention begins to lag, wandering far from the safety of my fingers, I quit and do something else for a time. Now I have most of the parts milled and am ready to inlay the lids.

The 4th, 5th and 6th grade students returned from their Arkansas travels, having gotten rave reviews on their journals. Their teacher, Michelle, regards their school made journals as an unmitigated success, and she hopes we can make them again next year. If we do so, it will be easier and the students will get even better at it. I also have a few suggestions to add to the refinement of their work.

Today the students wanted a "free day" in the wood shop to do what ever they wanted. I gave them spoon carving knives and some green sycamore, and free access to the scrap box. Some carved spoons, and some made things from their own imaginations.