There's nothing like a good sunrise to get the day started.

Another long day in the workshop yesterday - in by 8.30am and out at 8pm - but got loads done. This week we're making winding sticks - best described as two pieces of wood that are lain across the wood you are working on for any given project to see whether it has any twist in it. They have to be identical in size, which meant another day of planing. The tolerance in the workshop is a max 0.25mm so there's no room for error. Needless to say my hands are pretty stiff this morning - something I've been told to expect for about the first month - just another 3 weeks to go then!!!

Stanley has also taken up residence in the workshop, much to everyone's amusement. Most day's we have what is known as a 'Dimblebie' during morning tea break. These are basically mini-talks given by either David or Daren, each lasting about 10-20mins about different wood/design based topics, and some of which are filmed, as was the case on Monday. We were all set to start when Stanley decided to abscond out the back door and took off into a nearby field. Not being the most obedient of dogs, it took about 5 of the guys to stage a 'corner and grab' to get him back inside, where he proceeded to spend the next 10 minutues wandering around as I willed him not to trip over the cables and take out the lights. Tuesday's Dimbleby provided a slightly more modest offering in terms of canine capers, with just the occasional whine when he was either a) bored or b) not the centre of attention.

Looking forward to new tools arriving later today - very exciting....