At the end of our day Jim showed us how to make beautiful pens from hardwood scraps using his drill press and lathe.
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> Day 4 was spent laying the birch floor that we had been anticipating.  It was hard work but very understandable for my wife and I to accomplish with a little bit of coaching.  Jim ran the chop-saw, my wife did the layout and initial fitting and I did the nailing.  In one day we had the floor cut, trimmed, nailed down, sanded, and a prep coat done for the final finishing the next day.  My wife and I felt very confident that we could do this and we did not have a clue the day before.
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> Day 5 we completed the floor finshing sanding and clear coating.  This floor was beautiful and WE DID IT!!  What a lot of satisfaction.  We both felt proud of our accomplishment.  We completed our stay by making a cutting board from some of our 'waste' flooring.  I could go on and on because this was truly a hands-on experience.  Jim shows you how and you do it!  I forgot the solar kilns, the wild flower gardens, the prarie on the hilltop, the venerable maple, burr oak, walnut, and hickory trees, the greenhouse that Grandma Birkemeier keeps, the low-moisture wood storage room, the Belgium boat builder and Alaskan chain-sawmill demo, the colorful, friendly loggers Mike Neta and DJ.  It was all here just like the website says.
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> I'm going back:):):)
Dennis

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