Skills Swap

My neighbour asked me this weekend if I'd be willing to look after their dogs and birds while they take a week off and go somewhere peaceful. He offered to pay me for the little I'll have to do - but I have a better idea!

I'm going to ask him to give me time instead of money. He's the wood-work teacher at a local high school. I want some basic woodworking training in exchange for looking after the beasts!

I've always wanted to learn how to work with wood, to make my own solid-wood tables, chairs, bookshelves, etc. To learn how to join things without just hammering in nails all over the place until it stops wobbling. To learn the art of creating beautiful objects from natural things. Perhaps to create something unique!

This weekend my favourite magazine TV show had a section on a guy that uses wood felled by the conservation department to make the most incredible furnishings. He buys his wood by the log/tree at auction and lets it mellow until it's needed. He uses only what he needs, never throwing away a bit that can be made into something else later. He makes a chest of drawers from a single block of wood, almost seamless. He creates incredible tables that showcase the grain of heart wood and sap wood. He's an artist - he loves the trees he works with, and uses only wood that's been felled as dead or damaged. He respects the living old-growth forest he lives and works in.

I'd love to be able to work with wood the way he does. This exercise in skills aquirement may be JUST what I need!

Now I just need someone to show me car-servicing, sustainable building, and a few other things I'm dying to try my hand at...