My sad little gloat ........

[Robert McGowen]

I had the pleasure of having my fourth knee surgery in the past 18 months last week. About 2 days after surgery, my "tree spy" called to say that he was taking down a large mesquite tree. He knew that I had just had surgery and said that if I could just get a trailer to him, he would have it cut up and load it for me. Hard to turn down that offer. The biggest piece in the front is 16" across. I guess that I will just throw some anchorseal on the ends and watch it sit around for a couple of months ............. Okay, maybe I can stand on one leg for a small bowl or something ........ We'll see ....... :)

[Norm Zax]

Nothing like a fresh haul to speed up recovery. Get well soon!

[Keith Christopher]

See I wouldn't be excited about this for turning, but I'd have to buy about 100lbs of meat and fire up the smoker !

[Steve Schlumpf]

Robert - congrats on your wood score! Sorry to hear about yet another knee surgery! Hope you heal quickly and can finally be pain free! Looking forward to seeing what you turn out of this - sure is some great looking wood!

[Tony De Masi]

Robert, pretty decent score on the wood but what happened with the knee? I thought you were close to getting back to full duty.

Tony

[Jeff Nicol]

Bob, I understand what you are going through, but it is my shoulders not the knees. I have some bursitis in the left knee that is giving me some trouble but no surgery for that! I gave up on the surgeries for my shoulders, every time I had one done it failed and made it worse. So I just suffer with the pain and lack of mobility. I hope you are up and at it soon to turn that nice haul of Mesquite! I sure wished I lived near Texas to get some to play with!

Take care and get better,

Jeff

[Terry Quiram]

Thats a pretty good friend you have there. Nice gloat. What part of Texas are you in? A friend of mine in the DFW area says mesquite is as scarce as hens teeth. Hope you recover soon.

[Gary Herrmann]

Dang, 4 in 18 months? That's harsh. Hope you recover well and soon.

[charlie knighton]

congratulations on the mesquite, good luck with your knee

[Richard Madison]

Robert,
Very sorry to hear about yet another knee surgery. Sure hope this time is the proverbial charm.

If that's the trailer I think it is, it's about 4'x8', so those are some very nice mesquite logs. Best of luck with your knee.

[alex carey]

Sorry to hear about the knee, hope you have a quick recovery, good looking mesquite.

[Judy Kingery]

Robert,

Nice, nice score on the Mesquite! Best of both worlds; I turn a lot of Mesquite here, free, and THEN use all the shavings for the grill! Those are some nice specimens, and Mesquite is such fun to turn, so stable, nice grain.

One suggestion you might try, a high stool, like a bar stool, and see if you can sort of lean/sit and turn that way. Could work, depends on what I'm doing, I usually stand at the lathe, but if I have a small project or my back hurts, I put a high stool and lean on that a bit while turning. Just a thought!

Speedy recovery to you indeed, hope so!

Jude

[John Fricke]

My dad had bad knees and very bad feet, he did all of his turning sitting on a stool. Nice score and good luck in the recovery

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great gloat and speedy recovery to you Robert.

[Jim Underwood]

See I wouldn't be excited about this for turning, but I'd have to buy about 100lbs of meat and fire up the smoker !

Now that's just a crime right there.... I'd rather turn than burn. :D

Mesquite is a great wood for turning.

You can always ship it over here if you decide you can't get to it anymore. I'll take all you'll give away. :D

[Jim Kountz]

Robert, do heal quickly so you can get back to making things round again. Nice score!!

[Jim Kountz]

.... I'd rather turn than burn. :D



Wow I see a bumper sticker..........!!

[Brian McInturff]

Don't push it to fast on the recovery Robert. And congrats on the wood gloat!!

[Robert McGowen]

Thanks for the knee sympathy. Had a 'scope, another 'scope, a total knee replacement, and then a "foreign body removal" last week. Turned out to be two undissolved stitches connected by scar tissue. I have so many scars that the surgeon just went through the same one again. Maybe he should install a zipper? Should be the last thing for the knee though and then on to unlimited mesquite wood turning! :D:D:D:D

[Richard Madison]

Good news!

[Christopher Fletcher]

I've had three scopes myself. Next step is knee replacement. My doctor keeps saying but your only 28......well, my knees see it differently. Best of luck for a speedy recovery. Just remember to keep going to PT no matter what! Oh, and send me some of that mesquite :-)

[Don Eddard]

Nice haul, and I hope you're able to get after it soon.

[David Hostetler]

If I had a lathe, and a clue right after Ike came through, I could have snatched more Mesquite than you could shake several sticks at...

Sorry to irritate some folks here, but... I do both with Mesquite, turn AND burn... Both are creative... One just tastes better than the other, and the other lasts longer than the one...

[Robert McGowen]

Sorry to irritate some folks here, but... I do both with Mesquite, turn AND burn...


I agree with you. I am still trying to figure out a way so that the wood chips fly straight off the blank and into the smoker. It would sure save on clean up, plus I always feel kind of bad sweeping up the floor and cooking with the sweepings! :D:D:D:D:D