Strange places indeed

Wow...it's been over 10 months since I wrote on this blog. Feel free to pick from the following excuses:

1. Time flies when you're sweeping sawdust

2. I've been way too busy finding a cheap source for wood glue

3. Band-aids make my fingers too fat for the keyboard

To be honest, blogging is one of those things I always swear I will do tomorrow night...and as a result tomorrow is never today!

It's been an interesting, fruitful and deeply pleasing summer, fall and winter. Farmer's markets, craft shows, Christmas shows, the move to a new shop, custom orders and new and fascinating projects...it's been an adventure and I've loved every minute of it.

This journey has also taken me to some rather strange places, places I never would known existed before. It always seems to start with a search for a particular part, accessory or supply. During these searches, I have found out of the way and little known shops (to me at least), where I've found things that I couldn't find anywhere else.

Sure, as a woodworker I'm a frequent flyer at Lowe's, Home Depot, Rona and Canadian Tire. I know most of the staff by name at Busy Bee Tools. Melanie at Bass Lake Sawmill is always friendly and eager to help get the right boards out of the stacks. But, I also wind up in places where I feel like an interloper in a strange land.

Michael's Craft Store...gawd. While a great source for many things, you have to physically battle the store because they have, in my humble opinion, the world's worst website. Seriously...you can't find a damn thing on there, and if you do get lucky, odds are they don't have it in the store..

I'm becoming more familiar than I'd like with Fabricland and Len's Mill Outlet. I've found great deals on picture hooks at Curry's Art Supplies. I even found supplies for a craft display project at Lahay's in Orillia - a great store I never heard of before last month. But the best so far? TWO trips on the same day to Mhai O Mhai Beads in Barrie to get keychain parts. "Hey wood guy! What did you do today?" "Oh, hung around the bead store..." Sheesh.

But as strange as these trips may be, the trade off has been the wonderful people I've met, and the worlds that I've learned about. They say no knowledge is useless...but sometimes revealing what you know can earn you some odd looks!

So now the spring craft show season is about to head into full swing. God knows what places I'll discover next.

Oh, and by the way...Mhai Oh Mhai has a CRAP load of beads. Not that I was looking at them.