So where are we up to?

This week saw Jeff and his wife, Marlene, come all the way from Wales to collect Jeff’s new twin-point mandolin. It was a real pleasure to meet them both and we greatly enjoyed hearing Jeff play the mandolin. There is a link on my side bar to Jeff's website where you can hear some of his music; a very talented guy!

I’ve set-up David’s Standard Plus, “in the white” and have now striped it back down to start French polishing; so not too long left for David to wait! I love seeing the first few coats of polish going on; visually, the whole instrument comes alive.

In between waiting for grain filler and polish to dry, I’ve start preparing the wood for the next three instruments. As they all will have Indian rosewood backs and sides, it makes sense to thickness all of the wood at the same time and get one of the messiest stages out of the way! Shooting board and sash clamps -still my favoured method of joining tops and backs.

More details to come............

Country Life

Up until a few years ago, when we moved to the Fens, Amanda and I had grown up and always lived in London. I’ve often joked that I didn’t see a cow until I was 21 and that’s not too far from the truth! Anyway, I keep meaning to post some photos of our “new” area, so that those who have known us forever can see where we now live. However, we recently discovered a delightful blog, “The Two Terriers”   written, and illustrated with excellent photos, by a couple who live in the next village; and I think they can give a much better  insight into Fenland life than I can, so I’ve added a link to their blog. They also have links to some other interesting Fenland sites, businesses etc. Take a look if you’ve got a few minutes to spare; delightful!