No yellow brick road. Better: Australian projects!Chips Harbour from Brisbane made this jewelry box for a friend who wanted something "a little larger than normal". (Fun fact: all Australians are loaded with precious jewels.) The top is cut from a "silky oak" log  with timber inlay, the rest is made of Merbau, which he resawed and dressed to size. This is really stunning. This is what I can an heirloom piece.

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Garden cart beer mug and a chess set

Heres a great outdoor project. Brad Rumsey made this awesome garden cart using a lot of recycle parts. It looks almost too nice to use!

"I recycled a frame from a BBQ, metal from a bed old frame and wheels off an old bike. I did buy the wood (cedar fence boards) and the galvanized nuts and bolts."

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Heres a clever project that Kevin Robbins ran across over on Instructables.com. A wood beer mug! Id kinda like to try this out. Check out the entire article here.

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Now, check this out. Michael Hedaux, 16, just completed this chess board and scrollsawn pieces. I have never seen pieces like these before. Absolutely incredible work.

Literally the day after finishing my Saw Bench (almost a month ago), I found myself craving a quick woodworking fix. My girlfriend had just left the house to tend her horses which gave me an excuse and a couple of hours to make her a quick surprise while she was gone. 

A small offcut of Pine seemed to be shouting at me from the pile saying make me a box ...

So, with no box joints or anything complicated I simply cut and squared the Pine into a few pieces and made a quick & dirty butt jointed box. After squaring the sides and waiting for the glue to dry I intended to make a really simple lid the next morning. 

Unfortunately, a week away working on the boat and then being called off to France for family matters meant the box remained unfinished... Until now.

Lunchtime today, I used a second small offcut of Pine, slightly thicker and cut and planed it to size to make a simple lid. The edges were chamfered by eye to make a wedge to fit snuggly into the box top. Secondly, a small piece of Mahogany was roughly squared and then sanded to make a knob. 

Job done - Another little box on her dressing table for her bits n bobs - A quick fix to end my period of Cold Turkey.

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Honorable mention

Happy Fourth of July!
We went to the fair yesterday and I saw how my chair ranked: honorable mention! I wasnt expecting first prize, but wow, honorable mention? First through fifth place ribbons are awarded, which means my chair was ranked along side a little chair made out of Rice-a-Roni boxes.
I also entered a cooking competition called "Bridging Cuisines", in which you combine two styles of food into something new. I came up with "Broccomole". Its kind of like guacamole, but made with broccoli and yogurt. I even grilled homemade naan bread to serve with it.
I came in second. But thats not so much of a feat, considering five people entered the competition, but only two showed up! Haha! Ah well, we had fun anyway.