Look at the deck that hooks built!!

(images are clickable to enlarge)

YAH HOOOOO!!! You're looking at the CEREMONY OF THE FINAL DECK SCREW! My oldest son Clint, His oldest son, Clinton, my gorgeous wife Karol and Clint's beautiful wife Carla are shown here driving the last screw home in the new front deck.. the deck that hooks built! This is the BIG deck out in front of the cabin. It spans the width (30 feet) and sticks out 12 feet from the front slider door. Big enough to have a few folks up to share the view, eh?
Ok ok... you can see that not all the work is finished. I still have the railing and the roof to do, but the deck is usable. In fact i sat out on it last night for at least an hour in the quiet as evening grew up from the shadows, just enjoying the peace and the view. It was all I expected it would be... and made all the sweeter knowing that the deck was built using funds raised by the ranch and me as a team. The ranch gladly donated the materials for making hooks and i whittled away the parts that didn't look like hooks and sold them on this blog. Makes the whole thing a whole lot more special.
This other picture was taken from inside the cabin, just to ahow you (in case you were worried) that the deck doesn't upset the view from inside the cabin. I didn't want the deck to block the view of the apple tree... and it didn't; you can see the old tree just fine there in the left of the picture.
Just a short time after i took this last picture, I glanced up to see a little doe's head poking up over the deck, not 10 feet away. What a place. Just can't get over it. Hope I never do.
More hooks coming for auction soon.. Gotta catch up and start the savings for the roof!
Thanks for stopping by
Jimbo


Note... I'm posting the above stuff as an edit of the last auction post,in order to keep the Golda post up here at the top. That way, folks can come visit Golda and not have to go back further into the blog to find her.








All these hooks are GENUINE GOLDA hooks (that's what I'm calling them) from her ranch in Montana. The image is clickable to enlarge for greater detail.

(just a little flavor of Montana. This is a shot taken on Golda's ranch overlooking a little bluff where I cut the wood for her hook and for the....
looking from left to right we have:

Montany 1: This hook is from the very same Juniper bush as the hook I sent Golda (see the post below this one), only from a larger branch. The hook, like Golda's is unfinished (no coating has been applied) but the wood is still smooth enough to crochet). The reason it's unfinished is that I flat refuse to cover up that astounding aroma. A little extra care in keeping moisture away and keeping the hook away from hard or scratchy surfaces is a small price to pay for the reward you get from this beautiful wood. Some would say it smells like aromatic cedar and they wouldn't be far wrong...but this wood has a subtle difference that I wisht I could bottle.
If it matters... this hook is an I sizewise and its a smidge under 6 1/2 inches long. I made it with a universal grip that can be used comfortably with an overhand or underhand grip.

Montany 2: Here's a wood I've been looking to make hooks from for a long time now. Who'da guessed I'd find it in Montana. But it turns out that chokecherry is abundant in Montana, especially in Golda's heck of the woods, and i managed to cut a fair chunk of deadwood from a not too willing bush (got the scratches on my arm to prove it). Anyways, chokecherry is a very pretty (as you can see) and very hard wood; an excellent combination for hook wood.
Size wise, this one is an H and its 6 1/4 inches long.

Montany 3: Who says Ash has to be made into baseball bats? This is a hunk of ash taken from a dead branch from Golda's ash tree. Did I mention rattle snakes? No? Well ALL this hook material was taken with one eye on the branch and the other on the ground so i didn't accidentally get a rattler upset. Makes for some pretty painful eyestrain. I didn't get bit, nor did I even see a rattler. But they're there and I'm not afraid to say they skeer me. Ah but i digress. This particular piece of ash is a real beauty. And that's a surprise because you don't usually think of ash as a pretty wood. You think HARD.. and it is. Very hard. But as you can see, its a beauty too. Montana, eh?
Oh and its an H and 7 inches long.. done in the unique Jimbo universal grip.

Montany 4: (this hook MAY already be sold, pending notification from a previous buyer) But if it's not Beth's cup o tea... Its up for bids. It's an "egg" hook made from this beautifully spalted Beaver Bush, that grows in clusters somewhat like a windbreak to one side of Golda's ranch house. The grain and color of this wood is totally unique, as you can plainly see. Just amazing!
Sizewise its an I and its 5 inches long.

Montany 5: This is another Beaver Bush hook, made in the new shape. I've made several of hooks with this shape and have heard nothing but positive comments on the grip comfort. Plus I think the shape has a sort of classic look. Put that together with the knock out beautiful grain of the wood and you have an heirloom hook.
Sizewise this hook is just a little bigger than an H, and just a little smaller than an I, and about 5 1/4 inches long.


Lets make this a little quicker auction. I'll take bids until 10pm Pacific Std. time on Thursday, Oct. 4th.

Please e-mail your bids to me at:

jimbocrochetwhittler@yahoo.com

And I'll try to post bids below as they come in


Montany 1:
Mia's first in with $20
Vicki's here with $30
Deb S bids $35
fifteen minutes to go and Vicki's here with $40! ooooh this is exciting!!


Montany 2:
Danielle bids $25
Deb bumps it up to $30
Kirstin says $40 (Kirstin's Golda's grand daughter!!)


Montany 3:
Kathleen bids $15
Danielle bids $25
Kathleen's back with $30
And Deb S is here also with $35

Montany 4:
Sold to Beth! She likes it! She likes it!


Montany 5:
Elizabeth goes $35


Oh and PS... see that drop dead gorgeous doily under the Montany hooks?? That was made for me by Michele's (RoseRed) very talented fingers! Now isn't that just something? Another heirloom for the Ranch. Thanks again Michele!

And thanks for dropping by!

Jimbo