Category Archives: quotes and excerpts

Hal Borland on Snow

Posted on December 15, 2025 by Dave Fisher

I’ve taken a few photos during our snowy December here. I’ve paired them with words from an essay Hal Borland wrote in 1961, from his essay collection Sundial of the Seasons (1964): One of the penalties of modern life is … Continue reading →

Posted in nature, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

More than Wood: Black Walnut Season

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Dave Fisher

You’ve got to watch your head walking around here in October as the black walnut trees drop their heavy fruits. A walk is accompanied by a chorus of soft plinks and solid thunks. The plinks are acorns, the thunks are … Continue reading →

Posted in historical reference, nature, quotes and excerpts, sketch, trees, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Birch Ummik and Woodworking in Estonia

Posted on August 21, 2025 by Dave Fisher

Making and using shrink pots for grain and food storage is an ancient practice. In one of the greatest woodworking books, Woodworking in Estonia, Ants Viires, dedicates several pages (89-95) to it. In various regions of Estonia, these containers were … Continue reading →

Posted in books, historical reference, quotes and excerpts, shrink box, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Birds, Birds, Birds

Posted on May 23, 2025 by Dave Fisher

What’s the matter with me? I… I got to get birds off my mind. Maybe I’ll take up a hobby. — Sylvester The Cat (Mel Blanc) in Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981) My workbench has looked like a … Continue reading →

Posted in bird bowls, design, quotes and excerpts, sketch, tools, Uncategorized, workshop | Tagged | 14 Comments

Streamside Treasure in the Allegheny National Forest

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Dave Fisher

Over the weekend, a friend and I headed to the Allegheny National Forest, less than a two-hour drive from my home in western Pennsylvania. We hiked up along a small stream, fishing a little along the way. A steady light … Continue reading →

Posted in books, nature, quotes and excerpts, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

A Poem

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Dave Fisher

My paternal grandmother kept for decades a tattered scrapbook of poems she had clipped from magazines as a girl in a little coal mining town. Later in life, she and my grandfather would visit nursing homes to offer some entertainment … Continue reading →

Posted in quotes and excerpts, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Mallets

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Dave Fisher

Mallets are indispensable, and are made principally from the wood of the apple tree, plum tree, beech, and elm. Paul N. Hasluck, Manual of Traditional Woodcarving (1911) If you’re going to carve, you should have a mullet mallet. Sometimes they’re … Continue reading →

Posted in photography, quotes and excerpts, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 29 Comments

Fresh December Snow

Posted on December 22, 2024 by Dave Fisher

The perfect surface goneCriss-crossed and written onWhere the wild creatures rangedWhile the moon rose and shone. May Sarton, “December Moon” from Coming Into Eighty Looks like it will be a white Christmas here this year. The bird tracks in the … Continue reading →

Posted in nature, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Fall Fluttering

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Dave Fisher

My workshop is our attached garage at one end of the house. While it’s not an idyllic cabin-shop among the trees, I did get pretty lucky that there is a grove of quaking aspens just outside one window. For much … Continue reading →

Posted in nature, quotes and excerpts, sketch, trees, Uncategorized, video, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Wandering Cherry Bowl

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Dave Fisher

This is the third time I’ve carved these words from J.R.R. Tolkien on a bowl, but it has been several years. Each bowl has been different, and so has the lettering. I think working with green wood straight from the … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, cherry, Lettering, quotes and excerpts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments