"O wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind."
Apparently it can be. It snowed all morning on April 2 and it is still on the ground! I don't know if the sun and warmth on Thursday or this snowy nastiness is the "trick"
James has continued labouring long in the shop and has finished his mandolin/mandola/ bazooki - beautiful 8 stringed instrument (4 sets of strings) and it plays beautifully.
This has been James' project to chase away the winter blues. He figures he has about 350 hours in it.
Earlier this winter James built himself a 16 inch band saw from wood.
He used his band saw to cut parts for his mandolin. The top is made from part of a cedar block a friend brought him from up the Pend O'riele. The wood was very old and the tree was rotted out in the middle. The grain is very fine.
James cut it, hand planed it, and book-ended the pieces.
James "milled" the fret board from a piece of Brazilian Walnut another friend had given him. The back is milled from a the beautiful mahogany of an old door jamb and the sides and neck are from a mystery wood James had.
James carved and stained The Twa Corbies.
All in all this has been quite a project. Now he is ready to get back to painting for the summer's shows and for a show in December at Center 64 in Kimberly.
