Not original, but a good story anyway

Once upon a time…

Outside a small Macedonian village, close to the border between Greece and strife-torn Yugoslavia, a lone Catholic nun keeps a quiet watch over a silent convent. She is the last caretaker of a site of significant historic developments. The convent once served as a base for the army of Attila the Hun. In more ancient times, a Greek temple to Eros, the god of love, occupied the hilltop site.

The Huns are believed to have first collected and then destroyed a large gathering of Greek legal writs at the site. It is believed that Attila wanted to study the Greek legal system and had the writs and other documents brought to the temple.

When the Greek church took over the site in the 15th Century and the convent was built, church leaders ordered the pagan statue of Eros destroyed, so another ancient Greek treasure was lost. Today, there is only the lone sister, watching over the old Hun base.
 
Hence:  "No Huns, no writs, no Eros, and nun left on base. "

I have no shame:-)

Happy 60th Anniversary, “D” and ”L”!!!

D and L's Lovespoon

“L”, the recipient of this spoon, is the female half of a wonderful couple we know who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on June 6th.  I completed the spoon last night -- not any too soon -- so that I can present it when I see them on Sunday.

“D” approached me a couple of weeks ago to ask that I do a spoon for him to give to “L” for their upcoming anniversary. 

“What do you want the spoon to look like?”  I asked.
“Whatever you think would look good,” “D” replied. 

“OK, when do you need it?”  I asked.
“Our anniversary is on June 6th, but whenever you can get it done will be OK.”

...Things that make you say, "Hmmmmm."  Typically, the customer has some preconceived notion as to what they want in the way of a lovespoon and when they want it -- Not this time. 

I got home and really had to scratch my head to come up with a good design idea.  I stared at the blank sheet of paper for quite some time and finally decided to start with the letters hoping that they would tell me what they wanted done with them.  As is usually the case, they were really quite specific.  They said that the spoon handle needed to sweep down from the upper left towards the lower right.  That made it possible to nicely support the top end of the “L”.  Then, in order to keep things balanced, the bowl had to swing back to the left.  I have used the Acanthus leaves many times.  They always seem to work well in a spoon.

Three evenings of carving and sanding, three coats of sanding sealer and a heavy coat of Carnauba wax and Voila!…another finished spoon.

So, Happy Anniversary “L” and “D”! 

If you want another spoon for your 65th, 70th or 75th just let me know, I’ll be glad to do it for you.  But start thinking about some design ideas now.  That will make my job a lot easier:-).

One From the Bench

“God gave men two ends - one to sit on and one to think with. Ever since then man's success or failure has been dependent on the one he used most.” - George R. Kirkpatrick

‘Til next time…Keep makin’ Chips!