Thursday, June 18

Today was pretty much a day of turning. Since I had f finished my second ball ok, I  was given a lovely piece of boxwood root burl to practice again, but with the hope of turning out a really nice piece. It was almost finished when we stopped for lunch, but then after lunch we all went to the woodturning museum in the village. Aiguines was famous as a woodturning center in the last century because of the abundance of boxwood on the mountainous slopes in the vicinity. They were especially known for turning wooden balls which were then covered in iron nails and used for a game that must be like bocce. Anyway, an interesting museum which also had a bunch of contemporary works of the fanciest of these Chinese balls you've ever seen.
Back at the workshop, Jean-Claude then demonstrated an ornamental lathe, also called a rose engine, another interesting branch of turning, but we didn't do much more than have a short demonstration.  After that it was deciding what to do next, but before I barely got going, it was time for supper, or at least the time before super, as I had plenty of time for a long walk, climbing up to the old village church, still preserved as a chapel, with a great overlook of the whole area. As it was getting close to 8pm, I hurried back hoping I wouldn't be late for supper. Since it wasn't ready yet, I started this blog, and is already 8:30. It's such a lovely evening someone suggested we eat outside and so tables are being moved and set up, so maybe soon.
Love to all.