MONDAY 4 SEPTEMBER      HOWARD SPRINGS

We drove back towards Darwin, to the landscaping place previously visited. John wanted to see if the mahogany man was there. He was. He told John much about the timber and showed him lots of it. We were able to see items – like big tables – made up from it.

Because of the tree removal program, the place was getting lots of the timber.

It really was a beautiful wood. Mostly a deep, rich red, and with distinct grain lines that made it really interesting.

John spent $600 on buying wood. He was able to select three long slabs, cut from large tree trunks, along their length. The sides were mostly the natural edges still, just stripped of bark. They would make brilliant, irregularly edged  tables. He bought other pieces to be table legs and bases, plus a couple of chunks for wood turning. He had a wonderful time.

The timber would be shipped south for us. No more transport in the van for us, after last year’s disaster!

Before the timber could be shipped, John had to fill some of the naturally occurring cracks in the timber with a special solution that he had to buy, then inject with a syringe. Painstaking work, that would be! Definitely man’s work though……..The solution was quite expensive, too.