Everybody's busy. I have been tardy with this newsletter. It seems everyday there is a multitude of other things that have to be done. So I am up early this morning listening to the birds and writing a few lines I hope you will find interesting.

This spring Kris and I taught the Shaker Seed Box Workshop at Pleasant Hill. It seemed to be a huge hit. We shared with everyone the history of the Shaker seed industry, a sampling of different styles of boxes from different communities and the museum even brought one of their original boxes down for comparison. Then everyone went to work. All of the participants were able to choose from one of five different boxes to reproduce. It was great fun and a learning experience for everyone. We have been invited back again next year, so if you are interested, contact us and we will see that you get the info when it comes out.

From Pleasant Hill we then traveled to Vermont to deliver and install a kitchen in a turn of the century farmhouse. I typically do more furniture than cabinetry, however this year I will have at least three other kitchens to do. The photos show just a few of the cabinets as they were being installed. What a difference this made for this house! The cabinets are cherry with hand turned walnut knobs.

After the kitchen in Vermont was finished we then met with another client in New Hampshire to plan and discuss their new kitchen in an 1806 house. We will be working on this later this summer.

Watch on our site for a few new pieces we are adding, a couple new cupboards and a seed box or two. I was finally able to obtain a few new seed box labels from a private collection that are really great. I hope you think so too.

Finally, I am in the midst of sawmill work. The logging we did over the winter of the dead or downed trees, netted us over 60 logs. So now I am in the process of turning those logs into beautiful lumber. I am sawing maple, cherry, walnut, basswood and others. Some of the boards are 15-18" wide and absolutely beautiful. It will be next year before I can use them, as they must dry for at least a year before being made into furniture. So you have a little time to think about what you would like to have made with these wonderful boards. Let me know soon though.

Take care,
Marty and Kris