Klosterman Girls Visit Walnut Grove

Before last week Olivia had never been to Walnut Grove Farm. Because little brother Brad was coming up for his chair making course, Aunt Kim decided to come down for a visit and bring along Olivia.

The three days Kim and Olivia were here were great. Because she had only seen Uncle Lance and Aunt Heather a few hours of her life, she was a bit shy at first. She stayed close to Aunt Kim for the first day. Fortunately, while she was here we celebrated her 5th birthday with a "Chocolate Mountain Cake" that Heather had made and decorated with snow on the peak (coconut) and some animals. What kid can resist chocolate cake and birthday gifts? She definitely warmed up to us after the cake.

Then came the visit to the farm. Olivia was cautious at first since she had never seen a chicken up close. She really liked the baby goats and was all into collecting the eggs.

Lance

Pictures included are 1. Olivia with the baby goats, 2. Kim and Walter making out, 3. Olivia and Lance collecting the eggs, and 4. Olivia with an egg basket full of delicious eggs.

80 hours, 2 chairs, and Too Many Stories to Count

About two years ago Heather bought me a week long chair making course with Curtis Buchanan who is a renowned Windsor chair maker in downtown historic Jonesborough. Because of the house project, it took a while to finally get around to the much anticipated week long experience.

Little did I know that my younger brother was taking an interest in furniture making himself. After coming to this realization near Christmas I had an epiphany - the two of us could do the course together. Curtis was amenable and Brad was able to get time off from work so we were set to go.

The course involves beginning with a freshly split oak log and turning it into a windsor chair. The spindles and back were split and shaved from white oak. The chair was carved from a hunk of yellow pine. And the rockers are cut from rock maple. The whole process took us about 80 hours from Monday until Saturday night. Brad and I finished at 10:30 Saturday night - only 6 and a half hours before his flight left the next morning.

One of the most interesting parts of the week was the seemingly endless supply of stories that Curtis has to draw from. Most of the stories come from his youth when he hitchhiked all over the US and Central America for 7 years of his life. Oh, to live on the road.

Lance

Pictures included are 1. Brad on the shaving horse, 2. Curtis on the horse (notice Heather in the background who stopped by to entertain), and the final chairs.

One fine March Week

This past week (March 3-11) was eventful. It all started with Brad (little Bro) arriving on Saturday for the beginning of a long week of chair making with Lance and master chairmaker Curtis Buchanan. Details will be filled in the following blog titled "80 hours, 2 Chairs, and Too Many Stories to Count." Shortly after Brad's arrival on Saturday, Aunt Kim and Olivia (Scott's daughter) came to visit the farm. The details of that story are documented in the blog titled "Klosterman Girls Visit Walnut Grove."