Surprise in the mail!

[Jeff Nicol]

Mr. Mike Cruz was generous enough to send me the beautiful Ambrosia maple blank, and it will be my first truly ambrosia piece turned! I can't wait to get the shop cleaned up and get it mounted on the lathe to core a few bowls out of it! I have always admired the look of ambrosia and have just never gotten around to buying a blank or two to try out, so this is going to be a ton of fun!

By seeing what Mike and the gang have been turning out of their haul from Mike's tree It will be a treat!

Thanks again Mike,

Jeff

[Brian Effinger]

You lucky devil, you. :D

[bob svoboda]

Can't wait to see the finished product, Jeff. Enjoy!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Looks like it is going to make some beautiful turnings! Have fun Jeff!

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Wow Jeff that looks awesome! Well done! Sure is nice the way people on here share. Knowledge, help, wood. It is a real pleasure to see here so often as it is so rare in general.

Can't wait to see what you make out of it.

Joshua

BTW, PM sent.

[Tony De Masi]

I'm not surprised at all. He told me he was sending it to you:D I think there is one more out there somewhere too.

[Jim Burr]

And it's so round too :p!! Can't wait to see what you pull outa that one Jeff!

[Michael James]

Nice to see what goes around, comes around. Have fun with that amigo, and post your beautiful turnings!
mj

[BILL DONAHUE]

Very nice! BTW - I've never publicly thanked you for the very excellent steady rest I got from you. It's a big help, especially for a basically un-handy guy like myself - who could never make one myself. Thanks.

[Jeff Nicol]

Thanks guys for the great comments and support! I would have replied sooner but I was thrown a big curve ball on Friday evening. My wife started feeling bad during the day with a back ache and buy late evening her abdomen was hurting her real bad. I could not get her to the car to go to the emergency room which is only 2 blocks from our house, we can see it through the front picture window. So I called 911 to get an ambulance to come get her, it was pretty scary and I felt so helpless and I hate that feeling more than anything! They got her sedated and calmed down and did a ton of tests to see what was going on niether the CT scan or an ustra sound showed anything, no masses, stones or blockage of any kind. So we went up to a room and waited it out and they kept her comfortable, and I must say we had the most wonderful nurses and doctors and a youg chaplains assistant that really kept me from falling apart! So anyway I think I have mentioned it before that my wife has what is called "REFLEX SYMPATHETIC DYSTROPHY" or RSD for short. It is a chronic nerve thing that causes pain 24/7 and so far is uncureable and hardly ever gets better and a lot of medicine is needed to keep her at a level of pain that is tolerable. But after 10 years of this the meds have started to have a negative effect and are irretating her gastrointestinal system and basically creating more pain. So now she has to start a detox to wean her off the pain meds and find a place with less of them to do the same of best to maintain a tolerable quality of life. It will be a long slow process and she will be working with the pain clinic at MAYO CLINIC in Rochester MN where she has a doctor who is a specialist in RSD/CRPS (Chronic regional pain syndrom) already.

We brought her home last night and she is doing much better and the pain is pretty much back to what she normally lives with. We will take it one day at a time and God will look over us with the help of family and great friends we will get through it all.

Thanks for letting me vent and I feel that this forum is a big part of my family, thank you all,

Jeff

[Bob Rotche]

Sorry to hear about your wife's condition, Jeff. RSD is a very tough problem and unfortunately is often unrecognized by community docs who rarely see it. You made a wise decision to take her to Mayo to see someone very familiar with the process. Chronic pain is a difficult problem (I often deal with it professionally). It is difficult for the patient for obvious reasons but also hard on the family to see a loved one suffering and not being able to help. There is one new technology available that may help and I will send you a PM shortly. Our thoughts are with you.

Bob

[Jim Adkins]

Ah Jeez Jeff, sorry to hear about the little woman's illness. Our prayers are with you two.
As a lesser aside......nice piece of wood, lot of possibilities. Nice gesture by a friend.
Be well.

[Baxter Smith]

Glad your wife is feeling better Jeff. Not an easy road for either of you.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

That's a big cross for both of you to carry. Our best wishes for finding a resolve.
faust