Back in Action

This is a shot of my 1956 Massey Ferguson tractor ready to move bags of sawdust down to the road. This is a sign that things are busy again in my shop.  I used to compost my waste sawdust but the piles were just getting too big and the wife... .  Well, so now I bag it and put it out on the road and mysteriously it always disappears after no more than 1 1/2 days.  This last time I finally heard from the man who took it. A local dairy farmer using it for bedding his cows. This is the first time in a few years that I have met the recipient or even seen them.   I have heard through the grape vine that someone else has been taking it for their chickens.   I am glad that someone has a use for it.

Anyway, it is good to be busy milling out rough lumber after 4-5 months of not hearing from any potential customers.  A bunch of new work came in just before Christmas and a few orders since then. At this point I am back to a 6 month back log of work.  As it is just me, it does not take a whole lot to keep me busy, but this was the biggest slowdown for me in the last 10 years.   It really does rattle your world when there is no work. As a creative laborer, the psyche really takes a hit.  Is it me? What am I doing? Should I be doing something else?  A lot of self doubt and rethinking of things.  Then business picks up and everything looks a brighter.  It is amazing how close we all live to the bone.  At this point, I am very happy that I did not take out that loan two years ago when things were really hopping.  I was thinking about adding on to the shop, buying some expensive tools, maybe a car with less than 200,000 miles on it.   Keeping it simple seems to have worked for me over the years.   I have always wanted to expand my business but "how" was always the question. Now the question is; Is it a safe thing to do?

Well, I have great orders to work on now, chairs, benches, pencil post beds.  The family is healthy, the cars are running, tires are fair, and the tractor is running to clear the driveway and to haul the sawdust.

A good year to all,
Tim

Take a look at my work at TimothyClark.com.

(Let me know if you want sawdust.)