Wood frame

My sisters wooden frame glasses. Think they are made by some Japanese designer.

Eternal wood

A friend gave me this big chunk of petrified wood some time ago so that I could add it to my collection of minerals. As I remember it he got it on a family vacation in Arizona where there was loads of petrified wood lying around at the back of some gas-station. He packed his back pack full but had to hand over most of it at the border because of some legal restrictions. I might have misremembered most of the story, but the origin of this chunk is probably accurate as Arizona is filled with sites where there is vast petrified forests.

A piece of petrified wood is a sort of fossil that forms when the wood gets buried under sediment for hundreds of years. Encapsulation of the wood in the protective and oxygen-free environment of the sediment, enables mineral-rich water to slowly replace decaying organic cells one by one with everlasting crystals in various colors. This process preserves the structure of the wood in such a way that one can even make out the year rings of individual logs.

This image is from the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona

Scattered logs

Boxwood!

We at Bleeding Thumb are happy to report of taking delivery of a little log of boxwood. Here are our first impressions.

Jack: The buxus log was unassuming in appearance. Yellow powdery bark didn't seem too promising. However, on cleaning off the bark, a crispy, crinkly sound was emitted, and even the outer bark comes off in nice rolls. All bodes well.

Jana: Its like cutting with a warm knife through a mix of mustard and butter dipped in liquid nitrogen.

Wood Book

"A representation of inland and foreign wood, as well trees and shrubs, which, are collected by the lovers of natural history in their cabinets of natural curiosities for use and pleasure."

These illustrations of wooden boards come from the "Houtkunde" published in 1773 by John Christian Sepp. The full digitilized version of the book, with more than 100 colored prints and descriptions of different woods, can be found at the TU Delft Library.