Another Birthday Blip... and The End of an Era

I had every intention of blipping "The End of an Era" today but the photos I took kind of stank. So instead here is another Blip birthday blip.

After checking out the new location of the balloon, Mehitabel looks up ((Look large to get a closer view.) to see if a different view might explain the odd ways of the house apes. No clarity ensues so soon she will meander off and settle either at a window to watch the birds or on a soft cozy surface for a good nap. Her day's work is done.

On the walls behind the balloon are paintings by Trish Harding, my teacher (on the left) and me (on the right.) The peacock table top has my ceramic tile peacock in it. My brother Dave built the wood table top for the piece. The plate is by my friend, ceramicist Irene Lawson, and the crow by an artist from Anacortes whose name I've sadly forgotten.

So what is "The End of an Era" you may wonder? Well today Arvin passed on his amazing tool chest and tools from his years as a tool and die maker to their new owner. Arvin worked many years and became a master tool maker. He could make things with very tiny tolerances and great accuracy. He's that kind of guy. Precise. Careful. Thoughtful. Clever.

Dennis is a retired physician who has a metal shop in his garage. Arvin and he have spent many hours together in Dennis' shop playing and discussing metal shop stuff. Guy stuff mostly I expect. Dennis offered to buy Arvin's kit at just the moment when Arvin was beginning to think of where he wanted it to go. Arvin's wish was that the tools and beautiful box would end up in an environment where they would get daily use. Dennis plays every day in his metal shop and loves the tools. He has a few that Arvin already gave him on permanent long term loan so it seemed a match made in heaven for Dennis to buy the rest of them.

Before the box and tools left the house, Arvin and I went through them. We selected some of the best tools Arvin had made. I chose them based on how cool they looked in our display case. Arvin on his memories of their use. Dennis was there and was totally supportive of our saving some of the special pieces for a home display and eventually for Arvin's daughters to keep to remember him by. Of course we all hope that time is long from now, but it doesn't hurt to plan.

So now we have one shelf in our display case that we have filled with my dad's memorabilia, for Arvin's stuff. And it looks great. I will make a point of blipping some of those tools at a future date. For now, they are on display in our entry hall for all to see.