HAPPY NEW YEAR

It's Jan. 1st. so it would appear a suitable time to continue with my rant. Mike, my son, sent a rather frank letter to the editor of F.W.W. No reply as yet. I don't expect too much in the form of substance, but we'll see.

After 30 odd years in Vancouver, Marie and I decided to move to the southern interior of B.C. It's a beautiful place gorgeous in the summer, but cold in the winter. Apparently it's known as the Napa Valley of the north, and now I know why.
We are fortunate to have a 180 degree view of the Okanagan lake and city of Kelowna, gorgeous at night. Lots of vineyards and world class wine.

Something which I consider significant occurred during our move, we needed a new dining room suite, and since I've made 95% of all our furniture, I was prepared to design and make the table and chairs. However since we knew it would take an age, particularly with the chairs, we decided to buy. It turned out to be a fairly expensive venture, and on the surface looked beautiful. Initially I lost a bit of confidence in my abilities, since I wondered how I could possibly compete with this apparent classy piece of art,I was also childishly miffed that Marie could so readily abandon my efforts. To cut a long story short she is now totally exasperated, and sincerely wishes we had been a bit more patient, and I had gone ahead and built the set. The top of the table began to get dull in patches which is a problem we never had before. If you use a cloth to wipe, it leaves faint scores all over the glaze (which is a very dark almost black finish). First she asked me to refinish the top and I agreed, until I looked underneath and found the top was made of particle board and veneered. I also found that the legs are secured to the apron, or rails with steel bolts through a corner bracket, something I would never dream of doing, I would have created a permanent joint at each leg utilising 12 staggered dowels. I should never have made the assumption that because the set was expensive it naturally follows it must be good. My confidence in my own furniture making has just been given a boost. The dining suite that I made almost 30 years ago, now sits proudly in our friend's dining room!!

I am now working on a new bedroom suite. It will be completed 100% utilizing dowels. and I'll explain about that in a later post. Thanks to the people who have viewed this blog and sent me great comments. I truly appreciate the time taken to respond.