Do You Recognize This Space?

Woodshop Turned Pottery Studio

We are in the experimental stages with pottery creations and loving every minute of it. Garrett willingly gave up his woodshop so is girls could have more room. We moved into the warehouse space and have the needed breathing room necessary for growth.

We wanted to show some of the before and after photos of some of the fun pottery Beth is making. There is a learning curve for sure but it has brought a new creative outlet for her. She is loving it!

BEFORE GLAZE

AFTER GLAZE

Even the glazing portion is experimental and is lesson in chemistry. Mixing glazes are not like mixing paints together to get a certain color. This is why Beth kept it simple with turquoise and white glossy glaze.

Wouldn't a yummy sandwich look great on this plate. Oh....what about a soup cup...the possibilities are endless. Can't wait for you to see what Beth comes up with for a soup cup. Stay tuned!

Kristy and Leslie have been amazing teachers and have help Beth get started with this process. THANK YOU LADIES!!!

Something as small as an acorn...

So, it seems that I messed up last week. In my endeavor to not only put out an interesting blog, but to also get it out on time, every time, I stated that I would be using artificial intelligence to help me with that. I seems that some folks thought that I was going to have something like ChatGPT write it for me and that I would never have to think about it again. I'm thankful that these folks brought that to my attention because that is something that is NEVER going to happen. Our whole goal at timber bronze 53 and Dry Creek Design is to create meaningful, productive and lasting relationships with everyone we meet. That is something that artificial intelligence cannot do and it certainly isn't something we are going to employ to do that for us. While it can remind me that I need to send the blog, it cannot build the relationships that you have allowed us to build with you. That requires the human touch and we promise to remember that in everything that we do.

To show you that we are good for our word, I'd like to tell you a short story using the words of a business partner, mentor and friend of ours. For years I've been sending out small acorns that are not only a token of our appreciation, but also exemplify the truth that great things come from small beginnings, like the beginning of a relationship. As a "thank you" to OMEP (Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership) for some help that they gave us, I sent a small acorn to their office in appreciation and told them that their efforts on our behalf were the start of something great. And it was...and it has grown from there... But let me let John tell you in his own words. He can do it better than I...

"A few words about our Acorn Celebration:

OMEP’s strategic plan can be visualized as a robust oak tree. Acorns are the fruit of an oak tree and are their potential for future generations. Inspired by Garrett and Beth, we developed an “acorn celebration" that is tied to our image of our long-term strategy. When a member of the OMEP team makes a unique and compelling contribution to OMEP’s future, they are awarded an acorn at our monthly Staff Meeting. Going forward, that staff member then carries the responsibility of identifying and awarding the next acorn to another employee. This simple event has become a celebration and a commitment to the future..."

"A few words about the Plaque:

The idea of the plaque was inspired by two events. A number of years ago OMEP ( the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership) put together a rather ambitious strategic plan. We visualized the plan as a stout old oak tree with deep roots to honor our prior accomplishments and strong arching branches to characterize our service offerings to our clients. As we were refreshing that plan earlier this year, we realized that we had accomplished the majority of those goals set years ago. Coincidentally, I was celebrating twenty years of service with the OMEP. With two good reasons to celebrate, I commissioned the piece that Beth and Garrett created as a gift to the organization that I have enjoyed being a part of for so many years." …John V.

These are the kind of relationships we look forward to building with more of you. It starts with one and grows from there. Together, we are much stronger. Thank you for letting us be a part of your lives.

Garrett and Beth

A 1929 Chevy Truck

I was going to continue the blog by showing and telling where we are with the refurbishing of our grain elevator complex. But I got a phone call from my dad about a week before the 4th of July that changed my direction. Hence, I lost track of time and haven't posted since then.

He said that he had a 1929 Chevy truck sitting in his barn that we could have if we could come and get it. He had intentions of restoring it but it just was taking too much time and he wanted to do other things. And it would go with our Elevator complex quite well.

So, along with two grandkids and one son-in-law, who, THANKFULLY, is a mechanic, we headed off on a road trip from Wallowa, OR to Coeur d' Alene, ID. It seemed to go well. At least no one got car sick and we only heard the question "Are we there yet?" seven times. When we pulled in, we found this beauty...

A 1929 Chevy truck that my father had taken down to the frame and then started to clean up. The running gear is good and it moved smoothly onto the trailer. We snuck the running boards and the doors under the frame on the trailer and loaded the working engine and transmission (seen in the photos below) onto the side of the truck and the back of the pickup pulling the trailer respectively. We strapped what was left of the seats onto the gooseneck under the truck and the rest of that parts and pieces, including the original windshield, went into the back of the pickup.

The thing about the 1929 Chevy truck was that everything from the back of the cab forward came standard. But the customer was able to order the back end in about any configuration that they wanted it. Some were ordered with actual pickup beds like this one...

and others came as flatbeds with rails attached (as seen below). We're opting for this one as we have the original hinges for the back-end gates and the other metal that belonged to the flatbed