Summer is usually a slow and, consequently, stressful time around the shop. Usually people are spending more time outdoors, on vacation, and at the water park and not thinking much of dining tables. This summer was an exception. Lots of tables and generally lots of work. This is a huge blessing for us. My busy season is typically Labor Day through the holidays. There's usually a post holiday lull and then another rush in the spring. We have to live and budget accordingly. Thankfully this year's been much more steady. Even hectic lately. But I'm grateful for that. Some notable pieces (to me anyway) were the two walnut tables that went out in July. A live edge slab table on steel frame and a really nice early American inspired walnut dining table with slim tapered legs and extensions. Air dried walnut's such a beautiful wood and so nice to work with. I'm currently in the middle of a large built in project and then on to another walnut trestle table. Lots of odds and end fit in between the bigger projects too.
I've made time for the garden as best I could . We spend more money on food than anything else. My kids eat like it's a full time job, so this year we decided to take gardening from hobby level to a point where it actually affected our grocery budget. I'd say the weeds did better than some of our plants but we haven't had to buy potatoes for quite some time and there's more cucumbers and tomatoes than we know what to do with. After another failed attempt at a flock of free range chickens (thank you foxes, raccoons and possums...) we compromised and put our new "girls" in a mobile coop. Or chicken tractor. They should be laying within a few weeks. Looking forward to crossing eggs off the grocery list too. As summer's winding down the kids and I are putting out some fall plantings of potatoes, carrots, kale, spinach and chard. We're experimenting with a little greenhouse to see if we can grow greens through the winter. We'll keep you updated.
New members of team Johnson. LAY EGGS!
No vacation for us. There's rumors of a quick trip to Michigan if I can finish the projects I'm buried in now. The kids are set to start up homeschool again in a week or so. My youngest son Wesley will start his first year of homeschool with his older siblings. He's been my shadow in the shop for a few years and I'll honestly miss his company. Maybe his little sister Penelope will fill his shoes.
The fall's starting to take shape for us. We're signed up for two local shows. One in downtown Stl with lots of other local makers and one in Chesterfield MO. I'm not a huge fan of craft/trade shows but it's a necessary evil. We'll be keeping everyone informed on the when and where via Facebook so come see us if you're inclined. We should have lots of small items and maybe a table if I can squeeze it in. We're also very seriously considering offering some classes and weekend workshops at the shop. Some aimed at beginners, some aimed at ladies (think Pinterest), and some at weekend warriors who want to up their hand tool game. The shop space is going through some re-arranging in preparation for the possibility of these classes. An open house after the "remodeling" is likely. More on that in the coming weeks. Feedback on what folks would like to learn and/or projects you'd like to build is welcome.
Hope everyone's having a great summer and back to school transition. Maybe we'll see you around this fall.
