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Posted by Brooklynbanjoboy on Monday, January 23, 2012
Good Morning BHO Friends.
I thought I’d walk you through the new Little Bear Banjo Hospital workspaces now that I have them pretty close to being fully operational.
In October 2010 when I retired and Mary and I relocated from Arlington VA, to Staunton, VA, I left behind a fine little shop, based on a stand a lone shed which house all my machinery. In our little A frame cabin in Staunton, I knew I would not have the same space so I sold off all my heavy machinery – rather than see it lie around in the outdoor storage shed we have, without any electricity or insulation, while I contemplated my options in retirement. I was initially thinking about building a new, electrified shed, but life intervened, and I ended up deciding to move my operations inside, and to focus on hand tools and the one piece of equipment that I’ve relied on for a variety of tasks, a bandsaw.
So, here’s my new inside setup, down in the utility portion of the ground floor – where I also have my office, which I share with my hounds who regard it as their primary living space housing their bed, toys, and treats and kibble.
The first post on this site, way down below – scroll down until you can’t go any further – shows the Arlington VA setup – and some of the older staff from before September 2009, when we headed for the mountains of Augusta County. That original staff, Lily, my Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy, and my daughter’s hound Rocky now live on the big spread my daughter and her husband purchased in Rixieville – 5 acres makes for great dog accommodations.
The house staff in Staunton now consists of Maggie, our black rescue hound, and Roxie, her faithful companion, or brown rescue hound. Both are mystery dogs. We got them from the county pound when we first arrived in Staunton. Maggie was about 5 months and had been born in the wild, and lived with a pack for the first 4 or so months of her life. Roxie had it a little easier, having been fostered, and now they are true buddies. One lies and the other swears to it They are a fine and reliable LBBH staff. In fact, when Maggie was first brought into our household, she’d grab a squeak toy and play along with the banjo with uncanny timing and a great rhythmic sense. Roxie prefers flatfooting – or flat pawing, I guess.
This is now the new headquarters of Little Bear Banjo Hospital. Three work sites, no waiting. You can see the banjo barracks for both in-patient banjos and my own arsenal of players – the green wooden shelving on the right as we enter the basement area. One old laminated school table and two IKEA cabinets make for great work spaces. You can see the finishing area in which a small sits atop a piece of kitchen counter material awaiting stripping, staining and finishing – I now do vintage furniture repair and refinishing work here at LBBH in an attempt to support classic home restoration efforts here in Staunton. Behind that you can see the packing area littered with cardboard boxes.
Thanks for coming. See photos at:
http://www.littlebearbanjohospital.com/2012/01/good-morning.html
Have a great banjo day.
Play hard.
Lew
1 comment on “Little Bear Banjo Hospital Workshop, Staunton, VA”
GSCarson Says:
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 @7:55:09 AM
Ah....retirement, excellent! Good to see you back at it Lew.
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