Today I've come to the conclusion that BackWash needs a lumberjack, or a carpenter, some kind of man who makes crafts with wood. After having a look for woodworking and furniture I came up with very little. One link, which I remember adding myself, for rustic furniture. Nothing at all for woodworking. Where are all the hunky looking lumberjacks? Probably in the backwoods somewhere competing with the beavers for wood.

Wood is something we take for granted, about as much as we take furniture for granted too. No one really thinks about wood or furniture until they aren't there. A room without furniture is like a forest without trees. Where would you sit?

I love wooden furniture. It doesn't even have to be antique. That grain in the wood makes me want to touch it, trace it with my fingers. Some wooden furniture is finished until the wood is almost like marble, so smooth and sleek to the touch. Staining or worse, painting the wood spoils it, you can't see the natural colour and have the whole wood experience. Other wood is fresh from the axe, rough and splintery, furniture you're afraid to sit on. However, it's all natural.

When I was a kid I bought myself a necklace made of wooden beads. My Mom thought I was wasting my money but I knew I was buying a treasure. The beads were of different sizes, going from small at the clasp to large around the front, just like a fancy pearl necklace. At the time I wondered if one day (way in the future) that would be a priceless necklace, made of wooden beads, rarer than the finest pearls.

I'm moving back to Ontario this week. One thing I especially want to do is visit the grave where my Grandparents are buried. It's been a long time since I was able to say hello, buy them a Tim Hortons coffee and tell them what's going on in my life.

How would it have been for the pioneers who put their family in a small cemetery right on their farm land. Back in those days it may have been comforting to know you had some family not far away, not across an ocean or a country.

You can still see those old limestone cemeteries, some still have the traditional fence and pine trees. I assume the current family living and farming there are related to those buried there. But, I guess it's not necessarily so. People move in all sorts of ways and directions.

Not so different from flowers that start by their own roots or seeds each season. They only have a short time to be around, enjoy the sun and rain and leave the Earth with fresh air to breathe. They grow, flower, go to seed and then fade away to decompose under the snow. A lot of changes in just a short time.

I guess that's what I'm doing too, going back to check with my roots. I want them to know that I'm doing ok, not wasting the life they had a part in giving me and I haven't forgotten to miss them.

I like sewing. Whether it's sewing on a button, mending a pair of rippy jeans or working on a completly new project like a denim backpack or holiday crafts. I really enjoy threading that first needle and pulling together fabric. Sewing is such a nice old traditional thing, practical too!

When I was a kid my Mom and I sewed together. Neither of my sisters would really learn. Now, when we are all adults they still need to get my Mom to hem pants and mend rips for them. Not me! Over Christmas I got my first sewing machine. Before now I have done everything by hand. I still haven't done much with the machine but once I'm moved and settled somewhere I am really looking forward to putting that machine into motion.

In particular, I have patterns for quilts, Raggedy Ann dolls, teddy bears and backpacks. Once I get the hang of using the machine I can get back to finding cheap sources of fabric and then start selling some of my work. There are always places to sell sewing crafts. As fewer people learn to sew those of us "in the know" can take advantage of them, in a crafty way.

I haven't sold much of my work. Once I hemmed up pants for a young guy at work and charged him by the pair. That was a nice extra bit of cash for me. I was able to do all the pants in one night, by hand back then. It only cost me my time and the thread.

What do you sew, if you sew? I really like seeing quilts in particular. This summer I will be back in Ontario and in the late summer, shortly before Labour Day you can be sure I will be down at the CNE (The Canadian National Exhibition) looking at the winning quilts.

I like sewing. Whether it's sewing on a button, mending a pair of rippy jeans or working on a completely new project like a denim backpack or holiday crafts. I really enjoy threading that first needle and pulling together fabric. Sewing is such a nice old traditional thing, practical too!

When I was a kid my Mom and I sewed together. Neither of my sisters would really learn. Now, when we are all adults they still need to get my Mom to hem pants and mend rips for them. Not me! Over Christmas I got my first sewing machine. Before now I have done everything by hand. I still haven't done much with the machine but once I'm moved and settled somewhere I am really looking forward to putting that machine into motion.

In particular, I have patterns for quilts, Raggedy Ann dolls, teddy bears and backpacks. Once I get the hang of using the machine I can get back to finding cheap sources of fabric and then start selling some of my work. There are always places to sell sewing crafts. As fewer people learn to sew those of us "in the know" can take advantage of them, in a crafty way.

I haven't sold much of my work. Once I hemmed up pants for a young guy at work and charged him by the pair. That was a nice extra bit of cash for me. I was able to do all the pants in one night, by hand back then. It only cost me my time and the thread.

What do you sew, if you sew? I really like seeing quilts in particular. This summer I will be back in Ontario and in the late summer, shortly before Labour Day you can be sure I will be down at the CNE (The Canadian National Exhibition) looking at the winning quilts.

Happy Crafting!

Isn't it kind of weird to think that people are all over the Earth? While you are sleeping there are people in Australia in school, learning how to spell and divide. While you are eating breakfast someone in Hong Kong is getting sleepy and thinking about going to bed. While you are riding your bike on the weekend someone in Africa is riding their bike on the weekend too.

You don't see all those people, you won't even know their names but they are all there all the time. I think about that once in awhile.

I also think about all the people through time and still to come. Isn't it interesting to wonder what a cave man thought about on a nice sunny day? Just because most things weren't invented didn't mean they couldn't feel and think some of the same things you do. Enjoy the sun on their face, enjoy being warm and having the things and people they like around them.

Even after you are gone or living your next life, there will still be people here. Still be people riding bikes, flying kites, learning to spell and falling down and skinning their knees. Forever and always and all over the world.