As I walk through the streets of Oxford before the lunchtime food providers open their doors, I am always fascinated by the lines of upturned exposure of the undersides of chairs and stools used for cafe seating, In this case, it’s the ingenious multi-grooved spindle moulder cuts in the backs of chair rails just to...
That’s to say I am doing well, great, better than I thought I would be by now, my hands have been fixed by the surgeon and staff at Pulvertaft Hand Centre and so I thank them and thank you for all of the support and well-wishing over the past few weeks. The Dupuytren’s contracture on...
It’s my seventh day since my hand surgery and the advice sheet from the Pulvertaft Hand Cebtre in Derby and Burton NHS Hospital said, ‘Plan to avoid activities which involve strong grip for one to two weeks after the procedure as the hand [s] may be a little tender. However, you will not do yourself...
I wrote recently on beech wood and spoke of what I might see and describe as more soulless methods of making in the sense and mix of it giving very little if any sensory feedback. It wasn’t to open a conversation so much as to try to explain why we hand-tool woodworkers handle our materials...
It’s still dark now as it’s just 6 a.m. I still do not feel nervous and that is because for several days I did and that’s over. I booked my taxi to the hospital for 6.30. It’s a 20-minute drive and I wanted a hedge as a margin for traffic or something else going wrong....
. . . . at least on the outside! Confronting doubts and fears can be for outward appearances when inside something is churning away and you’re not altogether sure why. I slept well, opened my eyes at my usual; 5.15 A.M. start to my day, but it wasn’t to be in my usual direction for...