Heirlooms

Memories in wood
Wet despondent recovery
Crafted treasures glow

Yesterday we picked up these three wooden bowls from Leith who had turned them using wood we gave him.  The big bowl is from a slice of an oak tree that had to be felled because it grew too big for the front of the section.  The little bowls are from the last of a supply of matai timber we recovered from a forest in 2003.  When a crop of pine trees was harvested the original native timber was exposed again.  For whatever reason some logs were left behind when the land was first logged.  It was a cold wet weekend in June when we harvested the matai.  The forester and a friend operated a portable chainsaw mill.  Our two teenagers and I were the labour units loading the sawn planks onto the trailer.  I remember by lunchtime we wanted to stop but the forester wanted to continue.  This was the last time he would have access to that forest.  We did continue and eventually the wood was further processed and left to dry stacked in the backyard or under the house.  Over the years it has been made into pieces of furniture.  The bowls are sitting on our dinning table that was made from that timber.  We had a chest of drawers made for the daughter when she turned 21.  They are in an American Shaker style.  The son got his pieces of furniture when he had finished varsity.  He designed a modern chunky set of drawers, rather like a filing cabinet and two bedside tables.  As it ages the matai turns a deep orange colour.  We are glad we had the opportunity to recover this treasure of native wood and have it transformed into beautiful furniture.

More information than you needed? :-)  I do find this blip journal is sometimes a way of recording my family history and that's why the story is here today.  Leith was a teacher I worked with and when he retired he became a full time wood turner.  From time to time the forester drops him off bits of interesting wood he finds in the forest.