Wood Shop and Kaffe Break

Yesterday (Wednesday), we spent the afternoon in various workshops around the Solheimar community. Each is manned by a staff member or intern, and several of the home people help out with tasks within the shops. These workshops include: felting, weaving, soapmaking, papermaking, ceramics, candle-making, "forestry" (landscaping), greenhouse, and woodworking, just to name a few.

I headed down to the wood shop with my classmate Jordan yesterday after lunch. A staff member (can't remember her name... she was French though!) greeted us and introduced us to the project that we and all other CELL students will be working on. Everyone will design a tree and create it out of wood. We will then put all the trees in Sesseljuhus, our classroom building, and each year students will add on to the collection...creating the CELL forest! Cute idea!

The hardest part for me was the actual sketching of my tree. I can't draw to save my life, but I managed to a draw something resembling a tree. I traced the sketch onto a mahogany plank with carbon paper, then used the band saw to roughly cut out the tree.

 Jordan and I looking confused and excited

 Jordan concentrating at the band saw

My tree before the final touches

After the band saw, I used a belt sander and a few other tools before spending an hour using sand paper to round out the edges. Finally, I painted my tree with oil and left it to dry. I was so proud! I want to be a carpenter when I grow up!

Final product!

I almost forgot to mention, in the middle of the afternoon, we stopped for a coffee (kaffe) break. Icelanders are serious about their coffee. It was accompanied by rhubarb tarts and chocolate cake. Wonderful.

We are heading out tomorrow afternoon for a 4 day backpacking trip a little ways east of us on a popular trail here. We'll be staying in huts along the way and enjoying glaciers, hot springs, river crossings, and rain! I'll catch you all up on Tuesday or Wednesday!