Thanksgiving found us here at our place in Floyd County this year. We had both our grown-up kids Ben 25 and his new wife Lisa and Hanna 22 and her boyfriend Dan share our 17 pound fresh free range turkey for a wonderful traditional family reunion. The beautiful weather continued. While the turkey was cooking Hanna and Dan helped out with the progress on the rock springhouse for our spring fed water system. Jenny and I started this back in early October when we had the area around the spring excavated by backhoe so we could proceed with the upgrade of the spring. This job has been needing to be done for years. Such a great watersource deserves a bit of protection from the elements. We hope to have a roof on it before 2011 weather permitting. Rocks of all sizes from our property and from our neighbor's have been coming together to make a permanent fixture to our property. We can't help but think that our efforts with the rocks could last forever.
After dark while the turkey was still cooking, a new Mac- banjo was born in the shop on Thanksgiving as well. Hanna and Dan helped out on this as well. They installed the tuners while I made a nut. Strings were put on and Hanna gave it a good try-out. She made it sound pretty good for the first tune on it.
This one is #53 and is bound for New Zealand. It has been in the works since I got the order back in the summer. Abie Horrocks will be the proud owner. This banjo is made of apple wood / birdseye maple and a black material made from recycled paper call "paperstone'.
Another one recently was 'born' but is staying close by. It is made of curly maple and paperstone for the fingerboard . It was made for Tom Deceasar who just turned 60. Such a milestone deserves a special gift. Tom's wife, Mindy, was instrumental in getting me to complete the banjo on November 19th. When other shop work is slow, the banjo making gets more attention.
More banjos are in the works for other deserving people with milestone birthdays. Keep checking back for a progress report.
