Steadfast Conviction: Just Me

One of the many lessons Thorkild (correct spelling) has taught us is to have a wee bit of patience. Everyone one in class was starting sentences with "I'm just going to..." cut this piece of wood, or finished sharpening this chisel, etc... We're learning to not just do something, insinuating that we will quickly do the task, we take the time and thought to do it correctly. Over morning tea, yes we have morning and afternoon tea, I was talking to someone about tramping over the weekend and my next adventure. When asked who all was going I responded "just me." But then I thought, wait a minute, it's not just me, it's ME! I'm making a conscious effort to take time to do things in life with thought, and effort, not quickly. It all comes back to the present and making sure I'm enjoying everything. I won't be in New Zealand forever, and am always thinking of people not here, places not here, events in the future (such as Fantasia getting here in 51 days, 2 hours, and some odd minutes). I'm also learning to focus on what I'm doing, the sunshine on my face during my daily beach walks, the people I am connecting and learning with in class, the delicious craft beer at the local pub, movie nights laughing in my new home with Angie, George and Coma, the taste of fresh milk from the farm next to school, the lemons we picked from the neighbors tree (don't tell haha), getting to spend all day in a workshop with some extremely talented individuals.

Here are some photos from school from the past few weeks:

My oak wall cabinet. Check out those dovetails! The door was one solid piece of wood, which we cut into three pieces, angled out the sides so they fit back together at an angle, then used a curved plane on the back to make it smooth. Beautiful!

This is my finished took shelf, which I placed next to my work bench to hold snacks and of course some tools as well. You can see my little wooden puzzle on there too :)