I built the Rocking Chair!

It took me six days and a lot of hours (we worked three of the days at least 13 hours) to get to the finish line, but we made it. The photo above is of me and my class mates and teachers. From left to right, Dan (geologist), me, Mark (teacher), Doug (who drove from Ft. Bragg N.C. to build a side table), Frank (lead instructor), Bob (investigator in Oklahoma City) and "Pete from Blue" (home builder). Interestingly, Dan lives on Painted Cup in The Woodlands (about three blocks from my home) and has a woodshop in his garage. I plan to visit soon. But the funny guy of the class was Pete. He was a hilarious addition to the class. Every time he made a mistake he squealed, and I'd come unglued. He also was one of the funniest people I've been around in a while. A real character. Reminded me a lot of John Candy, the actor. 

The top photo is the finished rocker (sans oil finish and corbels under the arms that I'll add later in the week). It is a Craftsman Style with a couple personal embellishments. The primary embellishment is the contour of the arms. The proper thing to do is to make the arm flat, but the comfortable thing to do was to cut a recess into the arm's inner sides so when you set in the chair, it was a more pleasant experience. The second photo from the top is yours truly not wanting to get up and drive to Go Away Farm. We didn't finish Saturday until 9:15 pm. We were all very tired, but extremely satisfied with our accomplishments. 

The instructors are top-notch! Frank Strazza is a compassionate, yet compelling artisan who pushes us to do it right. Mark, his assistant is very good as well, and is always available to laugh with you and help you fix a problem. I highly recommend any of the classes at Homestead. Mikki and I have been blessed to get to take classes there.