My Wood Muse Has Abandoned Me

.....at least temporarily.  I haven't written for a couple of months now, as travelling, assisting relatives with cross-country moves and other life events have gotten in the way.  By the way, I can't recommend relative-moving highly enough.  It makes you appreciate the little things in life so much more.

So I haven't been doing much in the way of woodwork, save for the bowls shown in the pic below.  These are everyday working bowls of uninspired design, but thick and sturdy for use in the kitchen.  The wood came from a poplar tree on the local golf course that came down in a windstorm.  I usually turn up my nose at poplar, but wanting to get some green wood turning practice, thought I would give it a go.

And to get my appetite whetted for more woodworking, I thought I would get back to basics.  I took the one remaining poplar log, a crotch, and split it by hand.  Nothing more satisfying that beating on a chunk of wood and watching it reveal it's secrets.