Tools, Bowls, and a 300 Pound Table

As many of my close friends know, my husband has two loves in his life: hunting and his tools.   I come in a close third, which is okay with me since he's not out doing something really horrible with his time...like playing video games (that might be a deal breaker).   Although his hunting habit isn't beneficial to me at all -not being a fan of venison or of the two deer heads mounted on the walls of my house, his love affair with tools has come in handy countless times over our nine year marriage.  He is honestly able to fix everything, build anything, and if he can't -he'll go out and a buy a new tool so that he can.  Recently he has become completely obsessed with woodworking. Several months ago he discovered Craig's List and realized it was uncharted territory for tool acquisition.  He was especially excited about a lathe that he purchased second hand and got to work immediately churning out bowl after bowl...sometimes three or four a day.   Now who am I to complain about countless beautiful bowls piling up around the house, but after weeks and weeks of bowl turning I was, shall we say, not as enamored as he was with his new found talent.

Still, it came in handy when we threw a 70th birthday party for my aunt.  Michael made beautiful hand-turned bowls out of a tree that he cut down from my parents' (and formerly grandparents') house and gave them to everyone as a memento of the occasion.

My Pottery Barn replica

The cradle that no baby ever slept in...ha!

In addition to the bowls, he has filled our house with several lovely pieces of furniture: a tv stand, a corner cabinet, two end tables, stools, shelves...I could go on and on.  Before Noah was born he crafted a beautiful cradle.  Unfortunately neither Noah or Addison would have anything to do with it.  Then, last Christmas he replicated a table that I wanted from the Pottery Barn catalogue. But no piece of workmanship has ever been as impressive as our new kitchen table.  Made from the same tree cut down from my parents' house, he milled it, dried it and began work on it several months ago.  Many thanks to all of our friends who helped him move it from here to there and back again during the time that he was building it. Weighing in at over 300 pounds (God help us if we ever have to move it) it was no small feat getting it from his wood shop to the kitchen!
So, even though the never ending sound of power tools occasionally makes me want to scream, and I think I might die if I have to vacuum up one more wood shaving from the living room, I guess those things are a small price to pay for having such an amazingly creative husband.