Thanks to our hosts Don & Yvonne (photo on left) in Florida, for their hospitality and friendship. They’re “Snowbirds” and will eventually find their way home too. So, now to get ready for the up-coming woodcarving season. “Is woodcarving seasonal?” you might ask! Well, we look at it that way. Helps to keep it fresh that way. Also, helps to not have to heat the garage/shop during the cold-blasts of winter. Today is our second day back home from Florida. I did complete the last touches on three of the twelve American Avocet Shorebird decoys today and will move on to something else. June, der Paintmeister, will take over from me and complete the paint-job on them. I’ve previously mentioned somewhere in this blog that these came into being, a new species annually, as donations for the several “Carver’s Banquets” we attend at the shows all year (5). Each year since commencing this practice, we keep one of the twelve for our own collection; this will be the fourth year. We haven’t thus far come to the point of donating one of our more detailed (expensive?) bird-carvings. We do get a kick however to see a woodcarver win them at each show as a door-prize. I wonder what shorebird species we’ll do for 2010.
Happy birding and carving, Bill
February 26, 2009
Bill & June Hamon
Bill and June Hamon, Wildlife Artists 