Now What?

So I’m done that binding around the back, actually done the whole 9 yards. Here’s a quick update on what I’ve learned about the whole thing.

Come Together

I’ve reached that point with the mandolin where all those bits that I have been working on individually – the neck, the sides, the soundboard and back – all get put together and a real instrument takes shape. Great to see all this happen, but the road to a playable instrument certainly still has it’s hazards!

Finding my Groove

For a number of reasons, I’ve been spending more time than usual working on the mandolin. First off, it’s actually starting to look like a mandolin, so there’s more interest in working on it now than when it was just a bunch of sticks and sawdust. It’s also a very pleasant summer here, rarely getting above about 23 degrees or so (75 or so for those that are Celsius challenged), quite unlike the oven that most people have been living in this summer.

Figuring Things Out

Progress on the mandolin has been slow for a couple of reasons. I whined in the last post about my crazy travel schedule (I just got back from Whitehorse on Wednesday, and I’m in Toronto over the weekend), but there’s another reason for the delays.

Go Back to Your Woods

It’s been a while, time to send out an update on the mandolin. Slow progress, but progress just the same.

Ah…So That’s Our Hand-basket

When Osama was whacked a couple of days ago and the world rejoiced (well, half the world, it seems), I was saddened. Not because I’m part of that other half, but because the act and the world reaction clarified for me why we’re a doomed species.

So Far, Blocks and Red Sawdust

So why is it that I start on a new project, and people come back with a litany of projects that are half-done, sitting somewhere in a closet around the house? Them’s fightin’ words, you know you’re just egging me on here…

A New Project

Along with trying to drive a business and raise a couple of kids and all that mundane stuff, we’ve been quite crafty with the things we do around the house. Winney does her weaving and stained-glass, Owen and Lauren…well, they craft new excuses for not doing their chores, mostly. I’m coming to the end of a couple of those long-suffering home renovation projects, and starting down the path of my next project. I’m interested in building a mandolin this summer (hopefully finishing it this summer, too!), here’s some thoughts to start out a new thread here.

Appreciating Loved Ones

I just got back from a quick visit with siblings in Ontario. It’s been more than a couple of years, and as usual, sitting with my siblings can get me thinking.

Feelin’ Allright

Remember Dave Mason’s song from way back? Remade a thousand times, there’s a bunch of local artists that did a version for charity that’s pretty cool. The time between posts here has grown longer these days, and I don’t have any problem with that. We’ve got a few inches (and even more centimetres) of snow on the ground this morning, pretty cool with that as well. For me, apart from the title and the funky groove in the song, the tie in to this post is the first line of that song: “Seem’s I’ve got to have a change of scene…”