SNIPPETS — #8: Buying from fellow bloggers (my flamingos and one-eyed wood monster)

#8: Buying from fellow bloggers
(my flamingos and one-eyed wood monster)

My first employment after graduating from Texas A&M University was representing Grocer’s Supply Company — their international export division — as food conferences throughout the nation. My first conference was in San Francisco, and for a country bumpkin from the small, South Texas farming and ranching community of Kingsville (pop. 23,000 — still! 47 years later), it was the most exciting thing in the world. A company was paying me to go to California — salary, rental car, hotel, airfare…. What a life!

One of the first places I visited was an arts shop at Fisherman’s Wharf. I found all sorts of interesting things made out of wood, including a desk clock, which I still have, made out of a redwood burl:

I also bought a tree stump — remember that I had just earned a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from Texas A&M, so all this neat wood stuff was really exciting to me. Here’s the tree stump:

What’s so cool about the tree stump is that it’s much more than a tree stump. Turn it around and you find secret compartments:

With billions of people being connected via the Internet, I find that I don’t have to do any traveling to find unique things any more. That, of course, is good and bad. I’d rather travel instead of sit behind the computer…………….. It is what it is.

Recently I bought two unique items from fellow bloggers that I have met just since January when I started blogging on WordPress.

One is Dou Dou Birds (and here, too), unique hand-crafted birds. If I had enough money I think I would buy everything made by her, but, sadly, I can’t. I did buy a pair of flamingos, though:

The other blogger that I bought from is Akers of Toons, a husband & wife duo. He carves; she paints. I bought from them what I call my “one-eyed wood monster”:

I’m sure as I continue to make my way around the world on WordPress, I’ll find some more unique items.

SNIPPETS are short posts about anything and everything.
Each SNIPPETS will also have a picture.
After all, this is Russel Ray Photos.