Dream Forest Studios

It is the evening of October 6, 2007. This blog first and foremost should thank the guys whom I had the pleasure of working with for this project. Of course, some additional thanks go to my wonderful wife Kim. I could never have been strong enough to be able to get into projects like this without her support. She came with me today to the NJ Forestry Festival.

Non-stop action from 10 am this morning until about 3:30 pm today. We had a great day of country living in the middle of the pine barrens. Hammer and nails were flying. My last customer of the day really did bring some peace to my soul. The little girl and I were sitting on a scale map of the Forestry Service nailing a bird house together. She mentioned to me that her grandfather had been looking for a bird house for a long time, and she was happy that she was going to get this one for him. I sat in the pine barrens of New Jersey, and that comment really took me back. I don’t know her name, or where she was from. She made me feel like I was her age again. My grandfather and I had a special bond. Honestly, not a single day goes by that I don’t think about him. I miss his guidance, and spending my time with him. His last home was in the same section of New Jersey that the Forestry day was. Driving those roads brings some warmth and comfort reminding me of a simpler time of my life. So, to that little girl who was interested in hand crafting a bird house that her grandfather would enjoy – best wishes to you. My hope is that you can forge a bond with your grandfather like I had with mine. Mine died about 14 years ago, on a warm sunny day like today. Although I cried, I am so proud to miss a guy so rare.

This blog will more than likely be pretty quick. My buddies and I are near the end of what seemed to be the journey of 1000 miles and what seemed to be years of my life – even if it was just a few short weeks.

I have to give some credit to the wonderful set of guys I worked with on this project. All three of them were very dedicated to this cause. My one friend whom I met through the Central Jersey Woodworkers Association had designed a set of plans for bird house and feeder kits that are for kids to put together with hammer and nails. We milled over 300 kits in the past couple of weeks.  I’ve spent hours of quality time in front of a drill press. I think I’ve drilled over 2000 holes. But, who’s counting.

 I sincerely hope that everyone and anyone who reads my blogging will stop by and say hello at the Forestry Festival which is happening this Saturday, October 6. The link to the festival is on the website. We usually have a sell-out crowd, and are completely swamped all day. I’d advise anyone who is interested in walking away with a really nice bird house or bird feeder – COME EARLY. The NJ Forestry Service cut down some really pretty trees this year for our use. Proceeds go towards the Central Jersey Woodworkers Association. We will use this money to buy more books and tools for our “Club Crib”.

My club has a very impressive library of books which is where I have learned quite a bit. We also have a set of tools which can be rented for 1 month intervals.

Hello all,

This evening, I wanted to talk about one of the very first projects that helped me really begin my interest in woodworking. It helped me begin to think there was a future in the hobby as a potential business to make money. A friend of mine from my local wood club,  Central Jersey Woodworkers Association, and I took a class together and began talking. He said he built bird house and bird feeder kits with pre-drilled nail holes so that kids can learn to use tools like hammers and put them together. He said upon occasion, he would make them for family and friends. I told him I’d be interested in learning how he did them. He made some connections and was able to get us into a local community festival. We made 25 bird houses and 25 bird feeders. Our first 2 hours, we did absolutely nothing. This was probably the most BORING 2 hours of my life. We stood there by ourselves, and I thought the next 6 hours are going to be LONG. Well, then we had our first customer and time just FLEW by. We had lines of people putting together bird houses and feeders, wow, just amazing.

 Our second show was done by the NJ Forestry Service. They were gracious enough to offer some recently cut down and milled pine trees for us to make into these kits. This was my first introduction into green wood. My safety glasses were literally soaked with pine sap after milling the wood into kits. This time, we made 75 bird houses and 75 bird feeders.

 This is going to be my third show I am doing with my friend and I am thoroughly looking forward to building the houses and feeders. My wife and I are avid nature lovers. As much as I know that technology helps our day to day lives, I often find that it numbs our senses, and desensitizes us to the living. I enjoy watching the kids (and sometimes adults) learn how to use hammers and nails. I think there are far too many school systems that are doing away with shop programs (metal shop, wood shop, etc.) in favor of stuff like athletic programs. Unfortunately, we can’t all be starting pitchers and quarterbacks. But then again, when you’re making shavings and sawdust, and you walk inside the house covered in some un-Godly mix of wood waste and sweat, and you’re wife says “UGH! What the hell have you been doing?” – wouldn’t trade that for the world. Hee hee. I’m not sure how many kits are going to be milled tomorrow, but I’m planning to be covered in the wood waste for that ride home.