It appears that I have reverted to my Amish habits of not being involved with the “modern contrivances” of computers by neglecting this blog for such a very long time. To be true, life has been very busy and varied for me since my last post, but I am quite sorry that I did not continue the post for those of you who took interest in them. Forgive me my neglect!

With so much “water gone over the dam” since my last post, I will not attempt to cover all that has happened in the interim, but rather fill you in on what is happening at the present as well as important developments and projects I’ve been involved in.

After two years of not having a furniture booth at the Common Ground Fair, I decided to again have a presence there. It seemed that last year we had almost no visitors to our shop during the fair despite using the same signs to attract visitors as we had the year before, with good success. So I concluded that my presence at the fair itself was needful to keep in view of the public.

To help with the cost of the booth, which is not cheap, I developed an item with a much lower price point for the crowd. Patterned after an old family design, I produced a run of apple crates that hold a full bushel of apples while still being able to be stacked. Made of sturdy Tulip Poplar and using ring shanked galvanized nails, these crates should last a lifetime with proper care. At only $29.95 they are also priced to sell. Surprisingly,  while selling a few, the sales were dismal. A fellow business at a nearby booth assured me that it may simply be a fluke, as they also experience this – some years selling one product and none of another.

And indeed, I sold one of my most expensive rockers as well as took an order for another! As well as receiving more chair orders soon after the fair. But I still cling to the hope of finding a market for these sturdy crates which can be used for more than fruit storage.

Also, in response to a customer request, I duplicated a pieced of furniture that I’d made for myself – what I call an automobile “chuck wagon/bed platform” for SUV’s. I’d gathered the design from a site dedicated to the Honda Element conversions to camper/RV modes and added my own refinements. I’ve since been encouraged by others to market this for other folks in search of a way to create usable storage and sleeping capabilities for their SUV’s.

Aside from this, the only major furniture design of note, aside from my typical chair orders, is the making of an amazing extension table similar to the one shown on my website on the Table page. This one is made of White Ash, and extends from 4′ to 20′, and includes a cabinet for storing the extra leaves not in use at any given time. I’ll include pictures of all these developments, but encourage the reader to also look my shop up on Facebook, where I’ve posted a bit more often than here.

I hope some of you come to visit the shop and showroom here someday! Give me a call to make an appointment, especially if coming from a distance. See you soon!