It's been awhile...

[Douglas Ketellapper]

It's been awhile since I've been to the ole MIMF. I don't currently have a shop, and most of my tools are currently in storage. I've moved, gotten married, moved again, traveled, brewed a bunch of beer, done a lot of photography, but haven't been instrument building or woodworking in about 4 years. I was moving some things recently, and came across some (really nice) Adirondack spruce flattop mandolin tops that I bought from Deb in a MIMF auction, plus my half finished Fatboy, and Telecaster mandolin, and I was suddenly nostalgic for my old days, and thought to check out the MIMF to see what was happening. Nice to see that it's still an active, informative, dynamic place. It's pretty inspiring, so I'm going to see what I can accomplish with hand tools this summer. Nice to see many of the old familiar names, plus a lot of new ones here.

So what's up with everyone?

[Mark Swanson]

Welcome back!

[Randy Roberts]

Douglas,
You've been missed. Stick around for a while, and good luck on polishing up the hand tool skills.

[Mario Proulx]

Welcome back! What have you been brewing lately? I took my home brewing to a new level about 1-1/2 years ago and always have a dark(black, actually <g>) stout on tap in the shop, now.

[Douglas Ketellapper]

Thanks folks. I really realized how much I miss working with wood when I was handling those half finished projects. We will be doing a remodel/addition on our house that we purchased almost 2 years ago, and shop space is a part of the plan, well actually my only requirement. It was something I wanted when we were looking at houses, but we couldn't pass up the deal on this house, and the neighborhood it's in. Who knew I'd enjoy living in an urban area.

Mario, I've got a few things going now. I have a braggot that's tasting great right now, and I generally have an IPA ready to go as well. I decided when we were in the Netherlands and Belgium that the Dubbel is my favorite beer style. I've got 10 gallons of that aging before bottling (3 months), and I have one I brewed last year that's really tasting great right now. I try to keep a stout around as well, and have one in secondary fermentation that I'm calling a junk stout since I threw in a bunch of odds and ends I had laying around. I'd be interested in hearing more about your brewing, Mario. If your beer is even half as good as the instruments you make, then your beer is pretty darn good...

[Matthew Lau]

Good to have you back.

Sadly, you're probably built more in the past time that you were out than I have the past 2 years!