The woods

I'm really excited today about buying a vase!!! 1) now we have a large vase to hold the flowers I bought Kristin, but more imporantly 2) it's a really unique piece of woodwork. Besides, if you drool over a piece for a year, it means you really want it, right? If you didn't aleady know, I really enjoy working with wood. I spent months building a maple pool cue which I posted a picture of last month. This vase is a thin single piece of maple on one side and mahagony on the inside, curled and twisted into the form. It's by designer Colin Schleeh in Montreal; he's got a lot of very unique items for the home and office. http://www.schleehdesign.com/




















Also, made of wood are trees! I went on a hike a couple days ago straight up the Berkeley hills. There are roughly 150 hiking paths weaving up and down the hills and valleys behind us. I started at a path just a few blocks from our place. According to Google Earth, we live 300ft above sea level, and within a mile I was up to 1200ft. I'm no mountain climber like Kristin's dad, but it was steep! Apparently, I one should randomly make loud noises as you hike and keep keep checking behind yourself because of the occasional mountain lion. But I figured the view across Berkeley to San Francisco was worth sharing!















Kristin and her staff are hard at work preparing for opening on Saturday. They stay up late working while I get to be the guy that randomly brings in masses of food for 30 people. Starting tomorrow, the mass of students move in. They have an entire week without classes to be obnoxious and torment Kristin and her staff.