Replies

1. 
   Sancho | Jun 17, 2003 02:11am | #1

   welcome aboard blake. 

    

   Darkworks:  No Guns No Butter squilla and the bling bling.

2. 
   forestgirl | Jun 17, 2003 03:35am | #2

   Welcome Blake, feel free to come to us for commiseration (SP?) any time.  Your list reminds me of a tag line at one of the other forums:  "I've cut it 3 times and it's still too short."

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

3. 
   RANGERP75R | Jun 17, 2003 04:38am | #3

   Blake

      Welcome. Got any questions, ask. One of the folks that knows something about this will answer. I been building pieces for 30 years. One day I'm going to put finish on them. ha..ha..

   sarge..jt

4. 
   ToolDoc | Jun 17, 2003 07:06am | #4

   Blakster: WELCOME to knots.. You have just joined one of the Best WW forums on the internet,I know this cause I post & annoy on the others too.hehe..

   Proud member of the Knots Bad Boys & Girls Club..    ToolDoc

5. 
   jonsherryl | Jun 17, 2003 03:22pm | #5

   Welcome aboard Blake. I've often wondered why so many Minnesotans take up woodworking...and also why you have such a seasonal birth rate up there. Doubtless there's a climatically induced correlation somewhere in these statistics.

1. 
   BlakeW | Jun 17, 2003 04:34pm | #6

   Thanks for the warm welcome.I loved your observations John.I think it's all due to the fact that for about 7 months out of the year,we are cooped up inside because it refuses to get above 0 and no matter how much i've insulated the garageit still is too damn cold to go out there.But I will say,the summers are beautiful up here.ll,at least for the 1 month we have summer(HA).Thanks again for the warm welcome you all and take care.I'll be back shortly as I feel my first serious question coming on.

   Blake

1. 
   jonsherryl | Jun 17, 2003 08:00pm | #9

   Blake, this one-month summer you're describing must be the result of global warming. We lived in suburban Minneapolis (Long Lake) during most of the late 1960s and early 1970s. One year (I think it was about 1967) there was virtually no summer at all. I think there was one weekend where it got into the 70s F.

   Kell's observation about white legs is accurate...in that I also conducted some serious research on that subject while I was up there...But I concluded that it wasn't weather related. Those Scandinavian blondes just come equipped with them naturally.

1. 
   BlakeW | Jun 17, 2003 10:21pm | #10

   Jon,I'm about 5 miles from Long Lake,Plymouth to be more precise.Although i kid alot,it really is a beautiful state in the summertime if you can put up with the bugs and humidity!Humid as heck here today and just about to rain!Thank goodness,my lawn needs it.By the way Jon,I apoligize for mis-spelling your name in my previous post.Take care Jon!

   Blake

1. 
   jonsherryl | Jun 18, 2003 12:19am | #13

   Blake, you're about to make me cry. We were young, childless, newlyweds (barely 30 something) in those days. I had a good (right-out-of-college) job with Pillsbury and we lived in a new subdivision filled with young couples...a blissful blend of free time, enough money, good health and good friends.

   We used to go out to the beach at lake Independence for picnics and spread out on the sand, sucking on ice cold Grainbelts, while young Swedish maidens pranced around it the shallows. A neighbor and I used to canoe back through a cattail slew that crossed County Road 6 from lake Indendence eastward to a small, hidden lake called Half Moon. It was scarcely more than a puddle about  3 acres in size, but the fishing was outstanding. We seldom came out of there without at least a couple of northerns 18" to 24" in length...and the plate sized crappies were so plentiful you could almost scoop them out with a landing net...Also, I remember one fall night, while we sat out in the back yard drinking homemade wine, overhead the northern lights flared beyond the zenith, with strobe-like flashes, brightening the sky like lightning...and how fun it was to go down to Lord Fletchers on lake Minnetonka for prime rib on special occasions.

   Those were the happiest days of my life...and memories of them rank as my very own, personal Lake Wobegone...It's sad to think that that time & place is as gone now as Brigadoone (sp?)...I understand from old friends that it's become wall-to-wall suburbs out HWY 12 all the way to Delano.

   ...But back to woodworking...I hope you've had a chance to cruise all the small sawmills out there in rural Minnesota...especially up along the St. Croix... at least they were there when I was...and the deals were so good, I'm even tempted to believe Frenchy about the fabulous buys he claims to still be getting up there.   

   Edited 6/17/2003 7:25:12 PM ET by Jon Arno

2. 
   wop | Jun 17, 2003 11:03pm | #12

     O.K. I can understand that places of virtually perpetual winter Exist( I've even been to alot of them, Iceland, Finland, Sweden Etc.... )but, why does anyone want to live there. It's like; there are lots of nice places to live that have seasons.(including warm ones)

                                                                          Philip

1. 
   jonsherryl | Jun 18, 2003 12:25am | #14

   Philip, I'm surprised an Italian like you wouldn't have picked up on this right away: It's the Swedes, my man...those gorgeous, long legged, blonde Swedes...and the close proximity to cheep sawmills doesn't hurt either.

   Edited 6/17/2003 5:44:32 PM ET by Jon Arno

2. 
   wop | Jun 18, 2003 12:05pm | #15

      O.K. look at it this way, Greek, Italian and Spanish women year round in warmer climates; plus Swedes do go on vacation. That cold for blond and long legs.... I'll wait for them to come here. Now the saw mills that's a better reason.

                                   Philip

3. 
   Kell | Jun 19, 2003 12:54am | #16

   I wasn't necessarily complaining about all of them, Jon!  <grin>

   Kell

6. 
   Kell | Jun 17, 2003 05:26pm | #7

   Welcome blake,

   I had heard that Minnesota only had two seasons, winter and road repair.  When I visited in April and the temps hit 50+, I discovered another one, white-legs!

   Hope the forum is as helpful to you as it's been to me.  The people here are just terrific and the collective knowledge is astounding.

   Kell

1. 
   BlakeW | Jun 17, 2003 06:47pm | #8

   Kell,I can relate to the white legs thing.And your right,the whole entire month of summer is nothing but road repair and traffic jams.Rivals Atlanta and L.A. for worst traffic nightmare.Oh,and I forgot,the state bird is the mosquito.Seem to be out year round.

   Take care Kell!

   Blake

1. 
   Steinmetz | Jun 17, 2003 10:32pm | #11

   YO! Blakester. Welcome to knots  You were kidding about the mosquitos right?

   In New Jersey the Mosquitos are SO big, that one bit a Grayhound bus and it swelled up SO bad, that it got stuck in the Lincoln tunnel.

   Stein.