Making grass

[Paul_Guraedy]

I mentioned, the other day, in the thread "Miss Tod" that I was adding more grass to the carving. I received a question from a woodcarver as to how I made the grass.

Last year, Bob Squarebriggs told me that he had made grass by carving curls off of bamboo skewers intended for BBQing. It worked great; but the going was very slow. Then along came the "third hand" device I received for Father's Day (mentioned in the noted thread). And so my Frien's here is the rest of the story.....

Last Christmas, Philip & Connie gave us a bunch of specialty items (candied ginger and such) as our gift. Connie had used wood excelsior to spruce things up a bit. We brought everything back home (from Dallas) and Diana was putting things away. She was holding the excelsior in her hands and said, “do you have any use for this?”

I took time from my novel to look up and say, “No just toss it in the woodstove; but be careful that stuff will explode like it was coated with gasoline!” and went back to following Dana Stabenow’s latest “bad guy”, who was being pursued by heroine “Kate Shugak”, who was being pursued by Alaskan Trooper “Chopper Jim Chopin”.

It vaguely came through to me that Diana was still talking to…..well, OK now at me. She had the stove door open and was maneuvering for the toss when Kate said, with Diana’s voice, “I thought you might be able to use it for your carving”.

“Hmph.” I responded, “what the hell do you know? You’re a detective, not a woodcarver!” To which Diana/Kate , observed, “It looks just like that grass you have been making.”

Fortunately, my screams at Diana of, “Wait! Wait!” were not too late.

That stuff is perfect for grass. Just cut it up with a pair of scissors, paint it, clump it together with some artist’s paste (using my brand new third hand device) and place it on the carving.

And that my Frien's, like all of my stories, contains elements of truth and if it did not happen exactly that way..........It Shudda!

[squbrigg]

Good story Paul ........ just makes us wonder what really happened! LOL Glad you found an alternative to shaved bamboo, something less labour intense. It's a good job Diana keeps an eye on you, or we don't know how you'd manage! LOL

Looking forward to seeing the new scene staring Miss Tod.

Bob

[torpidhummer]

Great tip Paul! You may not be a detecive but you solved my problem,in making grass,somebody has to look after you,I said one day 'thank God wives',LOL Oscar