We awoke refreshed this morning to a cool and clear day. Knowing it was not very far to our next stop, were in no real real hurry to get away.
We rode to Canterbury for breakfast. From there it was a short run north to Woodstock to catch up with Bruce Fink. The road led us through forests, past lakes, through pretty towns and fields with dry stone fences.
We first met Bruce when he hosted the Shindig for metal artists in 2006. We hadn't seen him since and were looking forward to seeing him again and staying with him.
Bruce is a remarkable person. He lives in an amazing house he designed and built with his own hands It's a work of art in itself, from the circular front door that rolls sideways, to another door that has no hinges - it bends to open and close. It is imaginative and innovative in every aspect of its design and construction. The house is made mostly from on-site and recycled materials.It has a huge solar collector that heats water for space heating and general use. It also has a huge studio wher Bruce has a foundry for casting bronze and aluminium sculptures.
We arrived around lunch time. Almost as soon as we arrived, Bruce's phone rang: it was Wray Schelin - another friend we met through the Artmetal list server back in the early 1990's, and whose home we visited when were were here in 2006. Wray is a master at working with sheet metal. For many years he manufactured replacemnt panels for older Jaguar cars and is known (in name at least) all over the world. His workshop is packed with tools, many of which he manufactured himself. He has at leat 3 English wheels for shaping and smoothing sheet metal, as well as a power hammer, several planishing hammers, rollers...
Wray had heard we were staying with Bruce and rang to invite us to lunch with his wife Lee. We went to a restaurant near his home in Massachusetts. Bruce took us there in his car - it was nice not to have to ride for once.
After lunch we went back to their house, where Wray demonstrated his TIG welding skills, working with a one sixteenth inch tungsten rod, tiny arc and hair thin filler rod to weld thin sheet metal. Such are his skills, that with minimum finishing it was impossible to see the join.
Bruce invited Wray and Lee to his place for dinner that night. Bruce cooked spare ribs on his barbeque.
Wow! Talked about being spoiled! We continued chatting and suddenly it was midnight and time to call it a day. As late as it was we didn't feel as tired as we have over the last few days.
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