Daddy's Hands

Is it just me, or do the weeks seem to be going by faster and faster.  I cannot believe that Christmas is just around the corner. Whee! I really want to slow things down a bit because for every day that goes by, it means I'm another day older. But, on one hand that's a good thing because it means I'm still vertical.~smile~

Speaking of Christmas, I'm about to show and tell you about some items that would make wonderful Christmas gifts, all made with my Dad's creative hands.

My Dad in his shop

My Dad has some 65 years experience in woodworking. His Dad was a carpenter, so a lot of his talent came by him naturally. But, while Daddy was in high school he also attended trade school for 3 years where he learned woodworking.  And, later, when he was in the Navy he was a wood pattern maker. 

His Woodworking Shop

My Dad is a retired Southern Baptist minister and throughout his 50+ years in the ministry he enjoyed woodworking as a hobby.  Upon his retirement about 10 years ago he has been able to spend much more time in his shop creating beautiful pieces of work.


Over the years he has created different pieces of furniture, wooden spoons, boxes, various designs of crosses and his most recent design the Fleur de Lis.  

It is the Fleur de Lis that he will be featuring at an upcoming Art and Craft Show our city is hosting on Nov. 6th. He has made them in various woods and in various sizes. 

It was my idea for him to do the Fleur de Lis.~smile~ Of course, they are very popular here in Louisiana, but they seem to be popular just about everywhere.  He liked that idea and began working on patterns and soon began making them.  Very few people have any idea the amount of work that goes into this type of woodworking.  Each Fleur de Lis takes about 10 hours to make and goes through a 25 step process before it is finished.  Yea, can you believe that?  He is a perfectionist and his finish proves that.  

 This little beauty (above) is a "first" for my Daddy.  This Fleur de Lis is made from tiny little gold and black ceramic tiles that my Dad has had for over 50 years. And, the gold is 14 caret. He cut the design from plywood, painted the edges and back black and then glued the tiles to the front  and finished it with black grout.  It is a beautiful piece and there's probably a Saints fan out there that would give their "eye teeth" to own it.  Dad is thinking that he may sell this one through a silent auction on the day of the show.

He will also have some of his crosses available as they are always popular. He has both traditional and contemporary.
He uses walnut, cherry, mahogany, oak, maple and old pine as his choice of woods.  So, no matter one's preference, he probably has something anyone would like.

 My Dad will be 81 on Nov. 9th and I am so happy that he is still enjoying extremely good health.  He does have Macular Degeneration  and that does present it's challenges to him. I just pray that the Lord will allow him to always have enough field of vision left that he can enjoy his woodworking because it provides for him an outlet for his amazing creativity. 


I will be assisting Dad in his booth at the upcoming show and I look forward to that. This will only be the 2nd show of this type that he has ever done.  Most of his work is sold through word of mouth, but since this is local, he decided it would be fun to participate.  We are certainly hoping for a beautiful fall day since he opted for an outside booth. ~wink~
   

On another post one day I'll feature some of the other items that he has made over the years, such as the cradle he made for our son, his first grandchild. Yes, the Lord truly blessed my Dad both in the Word and in wood.


Do I not just love our Friday Company Girls! It's such fun sharing a little of our lives with each other and getting to know one another just a little better.  I've been blessed beyond measure by many of your friendships. Thanks Rachel for hosting us each week.